The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-09-29

them, for hedoesn't hide them in nap
kin or under a bushel, but, j. diciously
handled. they bring him BAG his OWE
manifold.
The " fallir,'' it ma be incidentally
explained, is the gentleman with little
hand bag and folding stand, who
during the winter haunts Broadway
corners for short periods, and who is
constantly haunted in turn by ghosts Of
the Broadway Squad. In the summer
he prefers to get out of the city where
people are apt to know too much and
he takes kindly to any irregular and
rascally industry from three-card monte
and thimble rigging to corn plasters,
the lightning calculator and bogus soap
packages, containing mythical green
backs. He is greatly given to country
fairs and rural racing tracks. He
changes his abiding place frequently
and rapidly and is the nearest resem-
blance in human way to the traditional
flea. For S1.25 he can get five pounds
of soap suitable for his purpose, which,
cut in cubes and wrapped in tissue pa
per, complete his stock with the aid of
two or three stray counterfeit bills or
ex-lager beer keg stamps or anything
else that looks ike a greenback. Or.
in an emergency, half dozen new
bronze cents QSSD may answer for
quarter eagles. A little legerdemain
and ready tongue do the rest.
The enterprising young man from
Gotham generally manages, by glib talk
and one-quarter second elimpses of sup
posititious greenbacks, to get rid of his
twenty-five cents pound soap at a rate
twenty-five cents an inch. at about the
time when the racing begins. Leaving
his tripod and handbag behind con-
venient door or under a convenient
floor, he makes his way to the spot
where the betting men are congregated
and proceeds to take a great interest in
the coming races. He gets enthusiastic
on the favorite-always the favorite-
learns the odds and picks out con-
venient greenhorn. The greener the
rustic the more likely he is to ''know
all about it." The odds are, say, 500
to $50 on the favorite. The Gothamite
in his enthusiasm offers 800 to $50,
and half dozen smart gawks offer to
take him up at once. They are even
ANXIOUS to show the stranger from the
city that they know thing or two and
that he is not as smart as he would like
work up to this point every time. The
minute the rustic has got himself to
thinking he has " caught a fiat' he is
lost, and Gotham knows it only too
well. He gets out big roll of bills, a
| judicious mixture of greenbacks and
counterfeits, the many small ones be-
! ing genuine and the few big ones bogus
and finds to his chagrin, of course, that
he has only $50. "Well," he says, 'rn
put this up against your 500" The
countryman is too smart for that and
insists on the original terms, rather
sneering at the greenness of the city
man who doesn't apparently compre-
hend what is due from one sporting man
to another. Gotham does not neglect
to become Immediately nettled. His
pride is touched. He pockets his money
and goes down in his vest for his ticker.
% Here" he says, g is my chronometer;
gave $3.50 for it six months ago. Up she
goes" If country expresses any doubt
upon the subject out comes a receipt,
Tiffany q Co., New York" all regu-
lar. for Gotham is never caught nap
ping and the country accepts the situa-
ton. Moral-lf the favorite loses
Gotham is out $1.20; if he wins he is in
$50. In taking off the ten-cent chain,
which is not in the bet, the fakir dex-
terously winds the watch, for its guar.
anteed thirty minutes, and whatever
the result of the race the rural betting
man is taken in and Gotham has time tC
catch the train before the discovery is
made.-N. Y. Graphic.