Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-10-03
GAMES OF THE FAKIRS
SMALL SCHEMES THAT LOOK HON.
EST BUT ARE DECEPTIVE.

! how the King Tr1ck W1nS-Vhe Tripod
and Gripsack Man--smuggled Shawls
| Which Entrap the Unwary-The Sailor
and His Cigars.
| There are thousand and one ways in
| which the unsuspecting resident or the bu-
i collie visitor in New York may be relieved
OF his money without in the least suspecting
| that he is being defrauded until the opera
| ton has been performed. There are innu-
merable schemes daily in operation in this
| city by which a great and greedy army of
| social harpies manag es to take in quite con-
| siderable revenue from their practice.
Perhaps the most successful of these little
| games is that one generally described as 1.-THE
kid glove racket The method adopted in
| this game is very simple, but is nearly always
successful because it works so strongly on the
! imagination and appeals with such peculiar
force TO the gullibility which reposes in the
mind Of the average man The gentleman
who Plies this interesting game may be met
frequently on Broadway, between Four
teenth and Twenty-third streets, and along
the Bowery. He selects a pedestrian who
from his appearance may become likely
victim He walks close beside the man for
few PAGES when suddenly he stoops to the
ground and picks up dark object.
"a RING IN IT."
Naturally the curiosity Of the prospective
victim is aroused, and he wants to know
what the young man has found. "Pshaw,
it's only a kid glove d. it' exclains that
individual, as he makes a motion as if to
throw it away. He restraints himself with
start and cries: There's ring in it, by
gosh Just feel it," and the man addressed
feels, while, surely enough, there it is. Then
the young man draws out the ring, and,
holding it at arms length, exclaims with a
satisfied smile, "Ain't she beauty, thought"
and she" is, if glitter and size count for any,
thing. To prove that the ring is valuable
one he offers the glove for inspection, and
this being always of the best description nat
urally excites the belief that person wear
ing such an excellent glove would naturally
wear a valuable ring By this time the vic
tim is in good shape, and the young man Of
fers TO sell the ring for SIS. 1t is too much,
the man says
ooh, well, I'm dead broke and you can
have it for So" At this price the victim
buys, and he walks away with the pleasant
impression that he carries a bargain with
him in his pocket which cost the young man
who sold it just three cents. He soon learns his
mistake, but seldom tells others of how neat
" he has been scooped, and consequently the
young man who works ''the kid glove rackeUn
goes along serenely on the road to wealth.
Any person who passes along the Bowery
during the afternoon will probably notice a
man who, in and out of season, wears a high
white battered hat, kind of linen duster a
wooden muller around his neck and re-
markedly red nose. He carries with him
portable tripod or stand and a weather beaten
gripsack which he unfolds and erects at q
spot near Canal street, where there is always
Il great throng of passersby He chances
around to see that no hated "copper" is in
sight, and then he is ready for gudgeons
His game is a modification of the three card
trick, or a still further illustration of the de-
gree to which the now you see it, now you
don't act, may be carried He has hole
about two inches square cut in the partition
dividing in two compartments of the grip
sack, and in the outer partition are four or
five small pasteboard boxes, something like
those made to hold cigarettes
He picks up one of the boxes, and, pulling
out its drawer, shows therein five dollar
bill. Then he announces to the crowd which
gathers SO easily on the Bowery that he will
allow anybody to draw that box who can do
SO by paying 81 for the privilege. The crowd
is not DESTROYS TO try, when suddenly tough
young man wearing pea jacket ornamented
with great mock pearl buttons, says he will
try. He puts down a dollar, draws a box,
and 1ol it is the one containing the bill.
HE TRIES IT AGAIN
He invests another dollar, draws again, and
l. al
expresses his disapproval of his i'll luck, but
announces that somebody must win. The
young man with tho pea jacket says he will
not try again, as he is So in pocket and is
happy, and he disappears from the scene. By
this time several men want to try their hands
at the drawing-it looks so simple! The first
one draws and finds his box contains a cake
of soap. He tries again, with like resul:.
Nothing daunted he slaps down another dol
lar for a chance, but fails to get the box with
the bill
OF course that particular box is always
dropped slzillfully through the little slot in
the partition. Then other observers try their
luck, but the result is always the same-they
come out losers. When the crowd is pretty
we'll worked the red nosed man gazes down
the street and cries with a start, "Heres
cop" and suddenly bundling up his traps he
disappears down Canal street. OF course
there is no ''copn in sight, and if any person
should follow the red nosed man he will find
him in company with the young man with
the pea jacket in saloon block away,
drinking milk punches while chuckling over
their luck.
The most enterprising and elaborate of all
petty swindles is the struggled shawl bust
ness. This is really an artistic little idea,
and the man who practices it deserves to be
called a Napoleon of finance in his way He
dresses in uniform similar to that worn by
stewards on first class ocean steamships. His
story never fails to make the desired impress
sion ON his victims.
He goes around IN tenement houses during
the day while the lords of creation are at
work and he carries a parcel which he de
clares contains shawl of rare value which
has been smuggled from France or Timbuc-
too or some place far away. Sometimes it
is silk he offers, but his makeup and the
plausible story he tells usually get him pur
chaser. In this way the guileless housewife
buys shawl for so which the rascal gets
wholesale on Catharine street for $40 a
dozen. To this class Of swindlers belongs the
alleged sailor one meets so frequently along
the river front who sells ''snuggled7 cigars
al s. per box Of 100 which he purchased on
Park row at q cent apiece or leSs.-New