Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-08-29
SHORT CHANGE MEN.
How the Unsuspicious Are Swim
died at the Circus.
Making Money BY Changing Twenty-Dol-
Lar Blns-Only One Man in Thou
sand Will Count His Change
Three Times.

Nearly everybody knows more or
less about all the attendant features of
q circus-the side show, the horse
tent. the cooking tent, the dressing
room, the red-lemonade man, and the
peanut fiend; but not many people,
even among the foxy old-timers who
have patronized circuses for forty
years, know any thing about the
'.short-change man." His victims are
many, but they prefer not to trumpet
their fish-like quality from the house
tops. They swallow their chagrin and
keep silent, while they economic in
number of ways to get even on the
money that the short-change man has
taken.
A number Of years ago I ran across
one of the most accomplished short
change workers in this country and
got well acquainted with him. He
didn't suspect me of being newspaper
man, and in the three months that I
knew him didn't enlighten him. He
grew very confidential and chatty, and
gave away to me the innermost secrets
of his craft. He was a little, slim fell
low. of Irish extraction, and as bright
and sharp as new needle. He had
way of fitting his head back and look
ing at folks with half-closed eyes,
while he smiled slightly, that was
clever enough to make great hit in a
dramatic creation. It was perfectly
fetching, but the fine contempt he had
for the suckers" whom his kind bled,
and the way he had of speaking of
them, was much more so. It was win
ter time when I knew him and he was
resting until the season opened up.
approached him a dozen times to get
him to tell me all about the short
change act before he became pliable.
He would take a coin and palm it as
cleverly as Mr.. Hermann and laugh
and turn away. But one evening he
opened his heart to me.
I had been talking about the ''tele-
graph" method of making short
change, and he spoke up and said
quite scornfully.
That's no good! There's no money
or one dollar out of that. There's lots
of ways stronger than thatr'
asked him what they were.
WELL" he said. taking a roll OF
small bills, mostly ones and twos, out
of his pocket, they're worked this
way; you do it with the long green"
He smoothed the bills out straight
and caressed them affectionately.
'Ah! when these new ones were
first issued" he said, 1.-The boys work ed
all the banks in the country for them
They were the best graft the boys ever
struck. You see they look just five
Or ten if you don't show the figure
Well. this is the way the boys take
the money away from the suckers.
You've noticed lot of hustlers in tn,
crowd selling tickets and saving PEG
pie the trouble of getting in the jan
at the ticket wagon, haven't you
Well, you naturally think they ar
hired by the proprietor of the show
because they sell tickets at the regu
lar price. But they are not. The
pay one hundred cents on the dolla
for every ticket they sell, and the
depend on their ability to swindle tn
buyers out of few dollars now an
then for their profit.
GA young man with his best gil
comes along-or an old man alone, Q
a solid business man with two or thre
of his family; it doesn't matter who
is. they're all victims-and he sees
great crush around the ticket wager
There isn's much chance of getting
ticket there In less than ten minute:
and here at his elbow is youn
man with "Choice reserved seal
at regular prices! How many? W
are here to relieve the rush 8
the wagon! No extra charg,
sir! How many?' and he says. 'Tw
please which. assuming that the ma
buys reserved seats. would be two do
lars. He gives the young man a ten do
lar bill, or may be twenty dollars
there's any place on earth where
man will flash a big bill. and whel
Well say he offers him twenty dolls
bill this time for the sake of the bette
illustration of the story. The youn
man takes it, puts it into his poke
draws out handful of bills, takes
ten, two aud five ones, and hand
the lump to the buyer of seats. 1t
one dollar short. but the man b;
handled it so quickly and counte
eiehteen dollars out of it so easily tn,
pftentimes the man takes it and goe
but the fakir is sore if he does no
Ifhe is q cautious and knowing part
who is dead onto the tricks of the,
circus sharps,' it suits the 'shor
change man exactly. for then he vi
carefully count his change and say:
Here young man! You're o.