The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-09-20
pEvoL.s cATcH WATCH.
A Reformed Gambler Tells How He Mad
Hundreds of Dollars

A Reformed Gambler Tells How He Made
Hundreds of Dollars.
One trick, though a small one, that
/ used to play years ago on the Un-
suspecting has caused me many pangs
of conscience while in a repeutanI
mood. 1t was quite simple ! had q
catch watch; and it caught EN-,
too. The case was made Of pure gold.
the metal actually being hammered
into the proper shape. The works
were not worth seventy-fve cents; they
were as cheap as could be found. But
the case was very fine, and | had to
carry the watch in chamois-
skin pocket to prevent the soft gold
from wearing away. In those days
this was bcfo' the wak-brass candle
sticks were in common use. ! would
take the tallow dripping that ran down
on the outside of n brass candlestick
and rub it on the case of the catch
watch. This gave the case the ap-
pearance and smell of brass. As ]
dressed generally in the style, when a
gentleman saw me pull out thar
watch - and l always managed
to pull il out in a way to
attract attention-he would give me
the laugh, and say, well, l am sur
prised to see a man of your appear
ance carrying an old brass watch like
that" I'm bet you 500 to SO that
my watch has a finer case than yours,
sir" l would probably reply. The
man would examine my watch, and
when he opened it and saw the cheap
works, he was then more than ever
confirmed in the belief that il was a
snide watch. and that / was just Civ
ing him a bluff. I'll bet you," he
would say, land wen leave the decis-
ion to a jeweler." We would repair
to a jeweler, and after the test was
made, of course my watch was found
to have a case made of pure gold-24
carats fne-something not known as
to any watch made of pure gold.
While I rakcd in the poor fellows
800 that he had put up, / then gave
him the laugh and left him TO ponder
over the manner he had been taken in
as a sucker" In all my travels /
never found but one man who got even
with me on this trick, and he was
a St. Louis jewelers. clerk in
those times. but is now running
handsome store here Of his own. l
had made a bet with n man that my
watch had n finer case than his, and
we stepped into q St. Louis jesrclef
establishment to have the two watches
tested. One of the young clerks who
is now in business for himself, looked
at the watches and said: IN bet YOU
ten dollars that the other gcntleman's
watch case is finer than yours, De-
vol" 'See here, young man, l would
advise you not to bet" / replied, .'for
this gentleman and myself have just
stepped in to settle a little dispute as
to the number OF carats of gold in the
watch cases, and it is an affair of our
own. But the young clerk thought he
had a sure ''-i--.
va4iug, ana was anxious TO
bet, and / took him up He went up
stairs with the watches to test them.
and soon learned that my watch was
''catch. and that | had won my
friend $ money and also his ten dollar
bet The young clerk came down with
a broad smile on his face, and said nv
watch case was the finer of the two.
but that he guessed he would lust
charge me ten dollars for making the
test. That clerk was the only man
who ever got even with me on that
trick, and he was simply even-that
was all st Louis Globe-Democrat.