The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-08

Gaso 10 glass covered md has divisions num-
bored from eight up 10 forty-aight. IN these
are laid prizes, which tho person gets when
lie throws the number Of thu compartment.
With eight dice u IA, OF course, not possible
to throw more than forty eight or less than
threw either III i thousand years The
g~ame-keeper, OF course. feels perfectly hsfe
in placing 1900 In tho eight box III $500 in
tho forty-eight box. These arc the large
prizes. The other boxes contain pieces ct
snide ieMelry. Nor.h live 70 Ten cents, q
for each throw. The people don't bite. and
the ''capper', comes 10 the front, puts down
$1 and throws. His prize II = small one, Of
about five cents value. The keeper tells
him he has hard luck, and 10 give
This bad luck business ia repeated several
times, when the thrower, .disRusted, Turns
TO the spectator he has selected as n victim
and asks him to throw for him. Greenie
hesitntes. ut won't cost yon anything.
the dollars patti" urges the "%eapper."
"Unlucky again. says the keeper. "What,
no, your number calls for d handsome gold
watch and 80" These arc handed over to
the 'oappsri,' who urges the countrynan TO
throw, paying 81 for him and arguing that
lucky for himself. GREENE has seen the
watch and the $40, and yields. He loses,
and the next throw he puts up his own
money. He continues to put up and throw
until the game has all his money, tho cap
peri takes a short walk, and the keeper 10
ready to take charge OF the cash OF tho
next sucker.
This game Ia nearer the genuine bunco
game than anything else, though q great
many people, the majority. in fact, have a
somewhat mistaken idea as to the latter.
BY common acceptance the game 10 placed
- - ~~- y nr{ n ~ n
may DO buncosd by taking up with a
stranger who is %insinuating In his manner
or address, and who claims to know him
and all his folks, and h uses this alleged
acquaintance to lead the country verdant
to a place whore by some game he may. be
bunco game is really q dice game. The
countryman, convinced that he has found
a friend who knows the city, submits to
his guidance to places where he wants to
20. This is really kind Of his new-found
friend. Suddenly the latter stops and asks
to attend to q little matter Of business. lie
enters al Office that looks moro like an
express office or a bank than anything else.
The air OF the room even begpeaks solidity.
A man who looks like an expressman comes
in and delivers a bag, which rattles as II IT
contained gold, lis this the office Of the -
lottery?" the steerer asks. 1t is, mi he pro-
duces a ticket. He was just passing, and
though he'd see If it had drawn anything.
1t had drawn $102, and 300 and two tickets
are handed over to him, with the explana-
ton that odd money was always paid in
tickets. Congratulating himself. he starts
out, when he is recalled and told he can
take his chances on the tickets then and
avoid coming back. For the first time q
box with several compartments in Ia uncov-
cred. These are all numbered, ten of them
having stars and one q double star. The
dice box is produced and the throw brings
q star, which places the dollar in chancery.
and another one must be put up to save
it. The steerer is very particular and has
the game most infinitely explained. he
don't want to lose his dollar and puts up
again, with one also for his friend. Then
his friend will not allow him to put up for
him again. and goes down in his own
pocket. A hundred dollars can be thrown
awav very quickly with this box. About
the time the greene has put up his last dol
lar q blank ia mentioned, and not until
then. They are two in number, and are
numbered boxes which have been supposed
to pay. OF course Mr.. Greenie throws one
Of these, or if he dom the dice are made
to count that way, and he has lost every
thing and has nothing left, even in cham
Gerry.
One Of the most successful of the old
stealing ARRANGEMENTS was known as the
''Tee-to-tum top" 1t was round and made
of zone or ivory, or a ready-made one could
be quickly manufactured out of a fiat cork.
II now has its successor in the Japanese
Tommy. The tee-to-tum was of good size
and had eight squares on it's side, with an
were all numbered. and between them the
edges were bsveled, alternately on the top
and the bottom. The ivory pin could be
slipped by the player without his victim de-
tecting his movement, and slipped, too, so
that the victim would throw low nine times
--A II A-n. nn.-.~ -I.---J l.u1r AL- ~~~4
would throw high. The Japanese Tommy
is a regular but good-sized die. except that
it has the corners cut so that the die stops
on a corner and cannot fall flat. LII the top
of the pin is a ball which can be pressed by
the operator. and which never fails to bring
a high throw. The victim, on the other
hand, rarely fails to get a low one. These
two tops have been the means of losing
about as much money as any Of the species
of dice games.
Hazard is a game which can be made very
crooked. The dice are very large, and are
dropped through a deep funnel-shaped
cup. which is wide at the bottom, and
across which are wires SO that the die must
strike Us it drops. The dice used in this
game are frequently loaded, with honest
ones rung in as necessary. One peculiar
feature is noticed in this game, and that is
in the tendency of the green player to stick
to one number, confident that it must make
q big winning finally. An illustration of
this tendency was seen the other evening in
a prominent saloon where four friends we're
marking" for drinks inc cigars. One of
the men made a jump at No. 4 every game,
and got through every time up to the last.
The one who did the marking IN that game
was stuck by the others taking four every
time, and concluded to put that number I'M
der the cup. sure enough, the man took four,
and for the first time in a dozen games had
to pull out his pocket-book. In dice games
this sticking to one number often enables a
gambler to swindle his victims more easily.
He ia looking out for the number, and, be-
ing able to count the dice at a glance, while
the greenhorn is opening his eyes, he can
turn a die with but very little danger of be-
ing detected. This is very often and sue
cessfully done.
One of the most successful tricks ever
played on the countryman, and n of the
most popular because Of the ease with
which it was worked, was known as the
brass lock. Another was the tobacco box,
made of wood. While these are not dice
swindles, they may be olassed with them,
rs they were employed by the same class
Of confidence men, who could not afford to
brighten their game by producing cards.
The brass lock resembled the small ones
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