St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-23
Steamers Carl Konow, Cardiff; Saale,
Bremen; Cienfuego, Nashua.
SALOON KEEPERS,
How Three Good Takers With n
Pack of Cards Are Doing 1t.

Va
Washington Star.
During the past week or two several
saloon keepers have been led into a
quiet game of cards for beer by three
strangers, and on each occasion the
saloon keeper finished from $40 to S100
out of pocket. The game is cleverly
played by the strangers, and the money
is lost Oh ...Sure" bets, in each insta ace
the saloon keeper being assisted in the
betting by his partner" A middle
aged man first steps in the saloon and
calls for glass of beer. He insists upon
the proprietor taking drink with him.
Then he says that he has moved into
the neighborhood and will be a fire.
quent visitor, or make some other
statement that will lead the saloon
Keeper to believe that he is going to
have nice thing of the mans patron
age. After a pleasant talk the man
leaves to go home. Probably he has a
carpet to put down, or has some more
pictures to hang. Half an hour later
two elderly men, one countryman,
enter and call for drinks. The country
man is on his way to the depot to take
the train, which does not leave for two
or three hours. His city friend OF rela-
tive suggests game of ''seven-up" to
pass away the time, but the countryman
objects. Finally he is persuaded that it
is much nicer to pass the time away at
a game than it is to hang about the
depot, and they start game. They
have several drinks, and the country
man loses each game. Meanwhile the
saloonkeeper's new neighbor returns,
and stands at the bar chatting with
the proprietor. The players call for
N iatc tl jni
them. They also tell him to invite his
friend, with whom he is talking, and
so the four men drink together.
Then the countryman, who has lost
every game, says he must go, but his
friend calls his attention to the time,
and says they had better play few
more games. He objects because he
has lost every game, but says that if
they will make partnership game he
will play. Then the game is made up,
the saloonkeeper and his neighbor play
ing partners against the two old men.
Then they have several rounds of
drinks, and the countryman offers to
make several bets. He soon leaves the
table for a minute or two, and dur
ing his absence his partner says that
raiser and better; that he will bet on
anything. eff he sees a fly ON the
table," says his partner, she will bet
there is no fly there" The countryman
returns, and pretty soon it is his deal.
He gives himself two sure points, and
deals the bartender six trumps, iDclud-
ing the king and jack. The latter
smiles at his good hand, which brings
forth remark from the countryman.
Their hands are discussed, and the bar
keeper of course is sure of two and per-
haps three or four points. The coun-
tryman then gets excited, and offers to
bet horse. The bartender has
a dead sure thing of it and will
bet cash. The countryman puts up
and the barkeeper loses his money.
When he discovers that he is the
victim of conspiracy he can do moth
ing. His money is gone, and if he
''kicks" he will be arrested for per-
mitting gambling in his house. Several
soloonkeepers have lost money in this
way, but not single complaint has
been made. st a saloon on FL street,
near the government printing Office. the
men played their game. The pro-
.prietor did not care to bet so much
money, but his partner looked at his
hand and added to the amount of the
bet. This induced the saloonkeeper to
put up and his $40 went. He. however,
got his money back on the old ''seven-
up" hand, but the countryman assured
him that learning the new trick was
worth thousands of dollars to him.