The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-09-01

them. for he doesn't hide them in 3 nap
kin or under bushel, but, judiciously
handled. they bring him back his OWL
manifold.
The g fakir,'' 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 81. 70 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 like a greenback. Or.
in an emergency, half a dozen new
bronze cents QSSD may answer for
quarter eagles. A little legerdemain
and a ready tongue do the rest.
The enterprising young man from
Gotham generally manages, by glib talk
and one-quarter second glimpses of sup
posititious greenbacks, to get rid of his
twenty-five cents pound soap at 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, 800
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 a thing or two and
that he is not as smart as he would like
to have them think. His game is to
| work up to this point every time. The
minute the rustic has got himself to
thinking he has g caught fiat he is
lost, and Gotham knows it only toe
well. He gets out a big roll of bills, q
judicious mixture of greenbacks and
counterfeits, the manv small ones be.
ing genuine and the few big ones bogus
and finds to his chagrin, of course, that
he has only S85. "Well," he says, 'I'I
put this up against your S50." 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 mar
to another. Gotham does not neglec'
to become Immediately nettled. Hii
pride is touched. He pockets his money
and goes down in his vest for his ticker
4" Here he says, is my chronometer
gave $3.50 for it six months ago. Up sht
goes.' If country expresses any doub
upon the subject out comes receipt
Tiffany & Co., New York." all regu
lar, for Gotham is never caught nap
ping and the country accepts the situa
tion. Moral-lf the favorite lose
Gotham is out S1.20; if he wins he is il
$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 whateve
the result of the race the rural bettin,
man is taken in and Gotham has time +
catch the train before the discovery
made.-N. T. Graphic.