Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-01-30
CHANGE AT A CIRCUS TICKET OFFICE.
Some of the Ways in Which Ticket Sellers
are Able to Pay for Their Jobs.

TO begin, one fellow paid $50 a
month for the privilege of selling
tickets. For the privilege, mind you,
and as he had to pay his own expenses
he had to steal $50 from the pnblic be-
fore he commenced to make any money.
He had to make good many mistakes
IN order to come out even. but he al
, ways managed to be from two to three
hundred dollars ahead at the end of
each month. The amount depended
on the amount of business done by the
show, for it is hard to make very many
profitable mistakes except in rush.
The great London Show was a small
affair and stayed from two days to a
week in a place, and charged 10 cents
for admission. You see it is a great
deal harder to make change for 10-cent
tickets than for tickets selling for %
and 90 cents. In the latter case the
ticket seller never has to hand back
more than two coins when changing a
dollar or less, while in the former he
has to hand from two to four coins
back, and not so many people offer the
exact change. This particular ticket
seller was what the proprietor of the
circus called chain lightning. He was
a smart fellow, and he was aware Of it.
He would sit in the ticket wagon and
when there was rush he would make
errors with precision and to such pur-
pose that no one handing him over so
cents would get the proper amount of
change. Most of the people who were
swindled did not notice the difference.
Some of them who did notice it would
. not create a row for a small amount in
such crowd. But some of them would
! kick, and in that case they would re-
ceive the proper change, accompanied
by such hearty smile and apology that
they could not feel aggrieved at
the attempt to cheat them.
"'WheneYer a guy kicks up a rum
pus,' he would say, i allus gives him
the right change, and pertends it was
all mistake, and that there never was
a straighter man than me- Thet is
Their best way ter treat Their bloke, fur
if yer tries ter argue and bluff him he
will raise such song and dance tibet
every blamed guy in Their lot will tum-
BILE ter yer game, and will watch to see
if yer tries to hold out anything. See?'
But the easest victims were young
fellows who had girls along. As the
ticket seller put it, They are just pie
you take young fellow with girl on
each arm and gloves on his hands and
he is lamb that circus man regards
as bounden duty to fleece, and he per-
forms that duty cheerfully. The poor
fellow is anxious to appear in the best
light before the girls, and when he gets
his ticket he presents ten or twenty
dollar bill.
"tThirty cents from twenty says
the seller. There is your tickets and
here is your change and nineteen
dollars and seventy cents is carefully
counted from one of the showman's
hands to the other and back again. 4
believe that is all right. he says, as he
counts it the second time. 1t is all
right, and he pours the change into the
outstretched hand of the swan, who is
anxious to treat monetary matters of
little Importance, and he drops the sill
yer into his pocket. He goes on his
way rejoicing, and feeling that no cir
Gus man man can beat him. But the
ticket seller is satisfied, as he is two
dollars ahead, having deity palmed'
that amount when he pretended to pour
what was the correct change into the
hand of the man with the girls.
another holder scheme is for man
to mount a box and begin selling con-
cert tickets at the close of the perform
ance. He sells tickets all right till
some one hands him $40 bill to change.
There is always crowd as the people
are being hurried out SO the concert
can begin, and the young fellow Jumps
tho
crowd. In a moment he has ierked off
a false mustache and walks into the
dressing-room, where he changes his
clothes. OF course the man who has
been swindled creates disturbance, but
that is all the good it does him. The
circus men are all too busy to listen to
him, and if he becomes too noisy some
burly canyasman will whip him. Of
course this game can be worked only
when there has been a large attend
ance. At such time, if no one pre-
sents bill to the fakir, he will induce
some one to do so by offering
ticket for nothing if a large bill is
offered, saying that the show does
not want so much silver, as it is
too incOnvenient.
one shrewd financier who sold tickets
for the reserved seats. He had benevo-
lent look that would seem to indicate
him as a nice victim for a confidence
man, but there were no insects per-
ceivable in his immediate neighbour
hood. When we reached new town
he went to all the candy, cigar, and
toy stores, to the news stands, and the
Post Office and secured all of the nickel
three-cent pieces that he could. These
he would pass for dimes very rapidly,
especially at night and on old people
and children. Oh, yes, these fellows
would swindle fve-year-old or CEN
tenarian with equal delight. They
did not seem to have a particle of honor
when penny was in consideration.
''Its der slickest lay in der hull biz
ness, this fellow remarked to me one
day. Deere is no danger NV bein'
pinched an dey allus goes eff yer puts
dem in der bloke's duke wild der tree
down ez easy ez sleepin' an wild der
most innocent look in der world
white pennies would also play to
pass for nickels, but it seemed that
they could be used with profit only
when dealing with ladies. children, and
old folks. The boys all lamented that
there was not more of the detestable
twenty-cent pieces in circulation as all
of them that could be secured would
90 for quarters without any trouble at
all. One of the fellows said once that
he believed it was a circus man who
suggested the twenty-cent piece.
Then when a half dollar was given
If would be dropped into the pocket or