Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-01-09
THE aT.ssvE PAPER RACKET
The Originator OF That Brilliant
idea In "Ccnndences, Card P.ayin..

idea In "Ccnndence'' Card Playing.
New York Timesl
Red Shirt was product OF life amora
the Pennsylvania coal mines, and when no;
engaged in working railway trains he made
things expensive for the rural visitors al
county fairs. He was the originator of the
brilliant idea in cards known as the ti.si4.
paper racket. His favorite role va.
that OF man bored TO death with
the monotony of riding on rail
road, who was anxious to find congenial
partners for 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 carl
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 dainty. brand
new pack of cards in his valise, and he SCI
dom had TO wait long to get up a game, and
be rarely failed to manage to select PLAYERS
who had blood in them The game of
euchre seldom progressed far before Red
Shirt would say. in careless, off-hand way,
and apparently speaking more tc himself
than to anyone else:
BY Jove! this'd be a 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 beauty in 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 Shirs
wouldn't say anything more about it, but
make out as il 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 a true-born American citizen if be
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 70 bring the matter to close. when he
would call his opponent
-Four acesr that lucky person would say
"'What,' Red Shirt would exclaim, ex-
citedly. Lets see EN-.
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 mora spots, max
ing it tray spot.
Look here, my friend, he would saw in-
Il thought was playing with /
Gentlemen. You can't run i'm any of your
Ihicago tricks on me-
SIhap he would throw down a hand that
always boat three of kind, and before the /
others recovered from their astonisEment
the money would be in his possession, and he
would make break for the car door He.
never faile,i to time his play with the move
nents OF the train, and when the climax
caros rho cars would be slowing up for sta
ion 1t was no trick at all for him to get
'Y a train moving fifteen or twenty miles an
iour, and he pever got caught but once that
know Of. Their he was followed close by
us victim, and they both got off the train
ogether. Red Shirt was given most beau
1ful trouncing, but the man did not get his
$500 1t happened that as
Red Shirt was hurrying out of the car he
ne: John Baily on the platform coming in,
ND qutc.; as flash he passed the money, all
up in wad in his hand, to John.
Red Shirt made thousands of dollars during
lis career, but he died in Pennsylvania
Of consumption few years ago.
think his name was Brown.