The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-11-17
THE "TlssuE PAPER RACKET"
The Originator of That Brilliant
idea En ''Confiience'' Card Playing.

I'VE" DIRK Times.
T. Red Shirt was product of life among
the Pennsylvania coal mines, and when not
engaged in working railway trains he made
things expensive for the rural visitors at
county fairs. He was the originator of the
brilliant idea in cards known as the tissue
paper racket His favorite role was
That of a man bored to death with
the mOnotony of riding on rail
road, who was anxious to find congenia
partners for Il social game at euchre. In
those days the newsboy with his cards and
lapboard to hire to passengers had not made
his appearance on our railroads, and card
playing to pass the time was comparatively
new thing Red Shirt, who would readily
have been taken for the easy going son of a
wealthy father, overburdened with both
time and money, always had a dainty, brand
new pack of cards in his valise, and he sell
dom had 60 wait long to get up n game, and
he rarely failed to manage to select players
VINO had blood in them The game of
euchre seldom progressed far before Red
Shirt would say in a careless, ofT-hand way,
and apparently speaking more to himself
than to anyone else:
"'By Jove! this'd Re beauty of hand
IN little game of draw
Whenever Red Shirt reached that stage
of the game you could make pretty big bets
that his hand wasn't the only one around the
board that would be a beauty in a game of
draw and that other hand never failed in be-
ing four aces, cold. The man who held that
hand never failed TO be Just game enough to
remark that his hand doomed up pretty fair
for poker hand, too. Then Red Shirt
wouldn't say anything more about it, but
make out as if he was about to proceed with
the euchre game. Now, man with four
aces in his hand, who has had the value of
hands as regards poker suggested to him,
is not true-born American citizen if he
sacrifices it at euchre and nobody knew this
fact better than Red Shirt. The man with
the four aces would invariably pro-
pose that they test the value of
the two hands in the usual way Red
Shirt would at first prefer not to bet,
but finally would back his hand. The other
man would raise him, of course. And so it
would go, back and forth, until it suited Red
Shirt to bring the matter to Il close, when he
would call his opponent
-Four acesr that lucky person would say.
WHAT Red Shirt would exclaim, ex-
citedly Let's see emr
"The man would throw his cards down.
Red Shirt, picking them up would run them
over quickly, and then rubbing his thumb
on one of the ace cards would shave off a
covering that revealed two more spots, max
ing it a tray spot.
Look here, my friend, he would say, in
dignantiy, 1 thought | was playing with
gentlemen You can't run in any of your
Chicago tricks on me-
Then he would throw down a hand that
always beat three of kind, and before the
others recovered from their establishment
the money would be in his possession and he
would make a break for the car door, He
never failed to time his play with the move
came he cars would be slowing up for sta
ton 1t was no trick at all for him to get
Off train moving fifteen or twenty miles an
hour, and he never got caught but once that
| know of Then he was followed close by
his victim, and they both got off the train
together. Red Shirt was given a most beau
tlful trouncing, but the man did not get his
money-about $500 1t happened that as
Red Shirt was huITying out of the car he
met John Bnily on the platform coming in,
and quick as flash he passed the money, all
crnmpIed up in a wad in his hnnd, to John.
Red Shirt made thousands of dollars during
bis career, but he died in a Pennsylvania
poor-hous of consumption few years ago
I fEinI- hia mama 1voS BROWN