Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-12-05
SLIM JIM.
THE THREE-CARD MONTE KING
DIES IN NEW YORK.
A Sketch of His Life-HOw He
Learned the Business and APP
piled IL on the Railroads.

Learned IN Business and APP
piled it ON the Railroads.
New York Sun, Nor. 20.
There was a strange funeral from the
undertaker's shop. No. 50 Geenwich street,
yesterday afternoon. No minister, no
weeping relatives, no flowers, no tears,
were to be seen. Only q couple of dozen
rough men went into the shop, singly or
in couples, and took a look at the corpse.
1t was the body of q man Of 80, with a
high forehead, prominent nose, and the
expression of a man who had seen life in
its toughest phases. The undertaken said ::
"There is nc use in publishing his name.
His last request was that it be kept secret,
because he did not wish his poor old
mother to know it. She is 10 years old,
and living in a comfortable home down
East, which he provided for her. He said
it would not do her any good TO let her
know he was dead"
"He was the slickest handed man that
ever tossed a ~pasteboard," said one Of the
~bystanders. "He vel by the name Of
Jordan, but his real name was Bruce. He
was well known among the sporting fra
ternity as the original Slim Jim, king
of the three-card-monte men, His real
name was James Bruce, and he was a
q IN DOy away uONl III Idll up W
1868. One day he went to a country fair
and saw a man tossing the three cards.
He thought he could pick out the little
joker. 1t looked so easy to make S. by
saying that's the card when he saw the
corner turned. He bet and lost, and bet
and lost as many a greenhorn has done
before and since. Ia trying to get S25 out
OF the three-card-monte man, on what he
thought a sure thing, he lost $25. Then
he made up his mind it would be a good
game to learn. He learned it so well that
he made over S400, 900 out of it. Jim was
5 feet II inches tall, weighed $50 pounds,
had u smooth face, and looked like a natural
verdant or sucker To look at him when
he was made up for business you would
think him a country lout, who needed to
be taken care of. He used to wear a suit Of
'dungareens,' or brown country garments,
that made him look like a farmers boy in
store clothes. When he got on those dun
garees, with a straw hat, big boots, with
his pantaloons tucked in, and a hunk of
gingerbread, he was ready to skin the
sharpest c%ountryman that ever tried to
rob a monte man by pretending to guess a
card when he thought he had it sure. Jim,
dressed in this rig, would stumble into an
express train at a country station, sprawl
over the floor, spill a few ont of a bag of
twenty-dollar gold pieces, swear he had
been robbed of a part of the money he had
got for selling his farm, and in a clumsy
way bring out the cards to show how the
gamblers got the best Of him. His cap
pers and confidants would gather about,
and soon Jim would have a first class
be sure to bite. Jim would turn up the
nnppar of tho onn in S1,eh O nlnmau NOV
and let them win a few times to get them
excited. Then the simpletons would bet
all they had, and Jim would scoop it. For
years Jim has been known at races, fairs,
and on the principal railroads. He worked
them all as long as he could. He was very
successful on the Union Pacific and Cen
trail Pacific Railroads, and was the best
sure thing gambler in America. He was
the equal of the celebrated Canada Bill
the three-card monte man., who died in
Philadelphia recently. Jim offered the
Union Pacific Railroad Company $10,O 900
for permission to ply his game on their
road in 1870, and agreed that he would not
fleece anybody but deacons and clergymen.
He used to say that it was a perfectly fair
thing to swindle the pious people who
were trying to cheat others by betting on
what they thought was a sure thing. Jim
was we'll known in Utah, California, Ne
vada. and in fact throughout the West.
Often the railroad companies would put
detectives after him to keep him off the
trains. Latterly he has worked the trains
between New York and Washington. He
was not without sympathy. II he won
from q man who could afford to lose he
would not care how much he took away
him. But if he thought the victim
pnulI mt unara IL ha yynH1i piva lonlr
part of the money, with the good advice,
Don't gamble; don't even bet that you
are alive Jim was registered at the Park
Hotel. Matt. Gooderson's old place, as
Jas. Jordan, and by that name he was
known. A week ago last Saturday
night he was out with some friends pretty
well on to Sunday morning. He got to
and fooling, all in fun, with
Matt. Carroll. Carroll got into q scuffls
with another man and shot at him. hitting
Jim by mistake. The ball lodged in the
groin, and he was taken to Bellevue Hos
pital. where he died. Some Of the boys
visited him in the hospital. and did what
they could Tor him. They raised $50 to
bury him decently, and some Of them set up
with the body last night. Who were they
Well, perhaps there is nc use saying who
they. were, as the man was crooked. But,
sASt6" Ao "ho 3" SAoOhoN " ~ A"e -
good heart, and many ia the dollar he took
from those who could afford to lose it and
gave it to some poor emigrant without a
dollar in the world"
Slim Jim had many co~nfederates, and
when he piled his "trade" on tho Central
Pacific he became an intolerable nuisance
to the company and the travelling public.
In 1870 his ''beat" was between Winnie
and promontory. the latter place
being then the junction OF the overland
roads. Many efforts were made to drive
Jim and his gang from the road, but for a
long time they proved unsuccessful. His
gang became a perfect terror, especially to
the emigrants, and finally the company
made a determined effort, broke up his
gam and drove him away. One of his
chief 'cappers" and aids was a fellow who
afterwards became q United States Deputy
Marshal at Winnemucca, and finally drift
ed into publishing a Republican newspaper
in Eureka. He will be remembered by
many OF the SrNTINEL's readers.
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