Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-01-12
Sill" JIMs QUIT BURIAL.

Sill" JIM5 QUIT BURIAL.
ih.r. Wis >iTau.,a funeral from
the u!id'4;aker shop. - (.rern~ich
street. "Wednesday afternoon. No
minister, no weeping relatives, no
tir""rs. 10 tears We're t. lie seen.
Oily Il couple Of dozen rough men
went into the shop. -ingly CT iii
couples. AID took itoh Il, the corpse.
Ii Wa, the l,ody Of man of %, with
a high forehead. prominent nose. and
the expression Of Il lnan who had
-,rn lie III some of It's toughest
rh.s,.,. Tie undertaken said: There
Is no u-o Of publishing his name.
his last request Was that il should I've
kult secret. because he did lot wish
h, poor old mother IL know OF il
Sic wa- 20 ysars old, ard living in Il
comfortable home Down East which
h. provided for her. He said it
would Hot do any good to let her
know he vas dead"
"Hc Wa5 the s!ichcst handed man
that ever tossed pastcboard," said
by 7tandcr He went by the name
of Jordan. but his real name was
Bruce He was we'll known among
the sporting fraternity as the origin
al Slim Jim. king of the three card
monte men His real name was
James tiruce. and he was farmer
boy away down in Maine up to 1868.
One day he went to the county fair
and saw Il man tossing tn" three cards.
He Thought he could pick out the lit
tie joker 1t looked 50 easy to make
50 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.
In trying to get so out Of the three
card-monte man, on what he thought
was sure thing, he lost S25. Then
he made mp his mind it would be a
good game to learn. He learned SO
we'll that he made over S40O.UnO out
of it.
Jim was 5 feet II inches tall,
weighed $50 pounds, had Il smooth
face. and looked like a natural YER
dant OF sucker To look at him
when he was made up for business
you would think him country lout,
who needed to be- taken care of. He
used to wear a suit of 'dungarees,'
or brown country garments, that made
him look like farmers man in store
clothes. When he got on those dun
garees. with straw hat. big boots,
with his pantaloons tucked in, and a
hunk of gingerbread. he was ready
to skin the sharpest countryman that
ever tried to rob a monte man by pre-
tending to guess 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 few out OF bag of $40 gold
pieces, swear that he had been robbed
of Il part of the money he had got
for selling his farm, and in clumsy
way bring out the cards to sh0~ how
the gamblers got the best of him.
His cappCrS or contidants would
gather about him.and soon Jim would
have a first class game under way.
The greenhorns would be sure to
bite. Jim would turn up the corner
of the ace in such a clumsy way 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 sue
cessful 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 re-
Gently.
Jim offered TIE Union Pacific
Railroad Company $4,000 for per
mission to ply his game on their road
in 1870, and agreed that he would not
fleece anybody but deacons and
clergymcn. He used to say that it
was a perfectly fair thing to swindle
the pious people who We're trying to
cheat others by betting on what they
thought was a sure thing.
Jim was we'll known in Utah. Cal
ifornia, Nevada, and, in fact, through
out the West. Often the railroad
companies would put detectives after
him to keep him off tho trains Lat
terly no has worked the trains be-
tween New York and Washington.
He was not without sympathy. If he
won from a man who could afford to
lose he would not care how much he
took away from him. But, if he
thought the victim could not spare it,
he would give back part of the money
with the good vic, Dent gamble;
don't even bet that you are alive
Jim was registered at the Park
Hotel, Mat Gooderson's old place, as
James Jordan, and by that name he
was mostly known. A week ago last
Saturday night he was out with some
friends pretty well on to Sunday
morning. He got scuffling and fool
ing. all in fun, with Mat Carroll.
Carroll got into a scuflle with another
man and shot at him, hitting Jim by
mistake. The ball lodged in the
groin, and he was taken to the Belle
vue Hospital. where he died. Some
of the boys visited him in the hos
pital, and did what they could for
him. They raised $50 to bury him
decently, and some of them sat up