The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-04-10
ALBUM Ko MANS CONFESSIONS.

ALBUM KO MANS CONFESSIONS
Confidence Sam Explains the Mys
teries Of Three Gard Monte.
Euchre as Played in the Joints
The Diversions of Countrymen.
New York Sun.
"What do you think of cards p
asked the reporter, as he met "Con'
fidence Sam" the bunko man, putting
a cigar and deftly shutting pack of
epamelled cardboards.
"What do l think of cards, heigh p
responded the bunko man. "You
want my opinion of these here little
charners, do you! Well. II tell you.
Cards are an outgrowth of civilization,
absolutely indispensable to q gentle
mans outfit. Why, blow my eyes.
young fellow, there are more WAYS of
playing the cards nowadays, and
especially in this here Bowery, than
the inventor of the pastsboard play
things ever dreamed of. But it's
when they are unfolded as a bait for
the countryman's cash that they are
displayed in all their mysterious pow
er, illustrating, as it were, the per-
lection of human ingenuity on the one
hand and the inability of human
eyesight or intellect to follow or COM
prehend the operations offs gamblers
fingers on the other"
"For instance said the reporter
interrogatively, cutting short Sans
glowing eulogy of his professional i'm
plements. well, for instance, take
three-card mont, replied the sharper,
as he slipped out three pastebeards
to illustrate. That's a regular, first
class, tiptop example. Now, who do
you suppose could ever hope to get
Il e best of the three little jokers that
we professionals exhibit to the hay
seeds who come in here from the
country"
..Where's the secret I? How do you
work the monte business, anyway 2"
asked the reporter.
"Why. let us suppose that you are
Hezekiah Hayseed, with flush pock-
etbook, and we find it cut by the
bandshaker and steerer, and get you
;nta the sbunko Joint | told you
about. Your new-found friend the
'capper' has won some money tor you,
and now you're putting up Doodle
against tie cards. I'm the player
and l take the cards thus:
Sam held a queen of spades in his
left hand. pressing it with his thumb
against bis bent fingers. The other
two cards were the trey of diamonds
and the ten spot of clubs. He held
those both in his right hand. The
trey was placed near his palm, and
held by the third joint of his fingers
THE TEN-sPOT CARD
rested about an inch below it, and was
lightly held between the tips of the
fingers and the tip of the thumb. In
shutting them he threw the single
card in his left hand on the counter
first, and then flung the others after
it. Then he varied tie proceeding
by first casting down card from the
hand that held the two cards. He
did this so swiftly and deity that the
cards seemed to fly rather than be
thrown from his hand, and crossed
each ether in the air in their descent
to the counter like tumbling aero
bats.
"Now for the trick" cried Sam.
"You see how shuttle. Now, then,
I put the trey of diamonds between
the third joints of my fingers and the
second Joint of my thumb, as before.
The queen of spades 1 hold just be-
lew it, as you see. l take the ten
spot in my left hand and throw for
your meney. See, there goes the ten
spot and there goes the trey. Pick it
up and see"
The reporter who had kept his eye
fastened on the hand which held the
two cards, and felt sure that the bot
tom card had been dropped by the
bunko man, picked up the pasteboard.
It was the queen of spades. The trey
still remained clasped in the players
fingers.
"Rather mystical. amt it ?" cried
Sam, with a smile. "Ysu see, my
hands are quicker than your eyes,
that's all. Result. see, / rake in Hay
seeds money, while he is pulling bis
sair and trying to get it through his
shaggy head how the thing happen
ed. He cant discover, any more than
you did, that instead of throwing
down the bottom card, as seemed to,
Il