St. Paul daily globe., 1892-05-29
KING OF THE FAKIRS.
Canada Bill Was Known as
the Greatest Of Conf
dence Men.
Fleec9d a Man Out of 5000
and Gave the Money to
the Victims Wife.
Offered the Union Pacific
$4,000 to Practice on Its
Passengers.
Always Carried Along a Small
Company of Expert
Cappers.

"When arrived in Detroit last Satur-
day evening"" said S. V. Vail, of FL
mira, n. Y, to Detroit Free Press re-
porter. II met Mason Long, of Fort
Wayne. Ind, in the depot, and the sight
of his well-remembered face recalled
many interesting reeollections to my
mind. Long has been for number Of
years one of the best known evangelists
in the country, is thorough Christian
and active leader in all good movements,
but there was time when he was as
hard citizen as you could meet in
months journey. He was gambler
and three-card monte man, and
travelled for quite time with the no.
t0riOus Canada Bill who was undOubt-
ediy the cleveresU monte man that ever
operated in the United States. Sixteen
or eighteen years ago, when Canada
Bill was at his best. saw considerable
Of him, and despite the fellows rOguery
and crOekedness there was something
about him that couldn't help but ad-
mire. He was large-formeu man, with
cleanly Shaven face, a square jaw,
deep-Set eyes and the expression of
sphinx. His favOrite disguise was the
makeup of cattle drOyer, and. as there
were more members of that class On the
road in the days referred to than now,
Canada Bill had no difficulty in passing
himself off as one of them. He always
carried two or three cOnfederates or
'cappers' with him, and the money
that he won with his three little
cards during half a dozen years. chiefly
on the Lake Shcre railroad, would buy
l.o, nd 1fSinn oolo g..
twenty years. Whenever arrested Bill
would plead guilty when arraigned and,
10 matter how large q fine would be
imposed Oh him, he would fash up
bundle of greenbacks, count out the
amount OF the fine, thank the court for
doing its duty and bow himself INTO the
street. As an example of his audacity,
| may cite the instance of his Offering
the Union Pacific Railroad company
$4,000 year for the exclusive right of
operating his game OH its road, and,
Furthermore, he fsaid he would agree
not to fleece any Que but ministers of
the gospel. Needless to say his gener-
Gus offer was not accepted by the rail
road company.
.'ln THE spring of 1S74I was on Lake
Shore train between Toledo and Chi
cago. bound west. when :. Canada Bill'
suddenly appeared in the smoking car,
where | was sitting. and, after few
desuttory remarks, produced his three
cards and began carelesSly throwing
them around on the seat facing him. In
a few minutes he had crowd around
him, and. after two of his 'cappers' had
won SIS or $50 apiece picking the right
cards, a rustic-looking fellow with a
pipe IN his mouth. who had been IN
tently watching the game, produced
fat pocketbook, from which he took $1O
and bet that amount he could pick the
right card. He doubled his money in
less time than it takes to count five, and
ventured again. He kept on winning,
and evidently thought luck was with
him, whereas 'BilP was merely string
ing him. and in few minutes he had
won six bets. Flushed with success he
became reckless, increased the size of
his bets, and In less than a quarter of an
hour Canada BilP had drained him of
every cent he had, something over 5000.
The greenhOrn reeled out of the car
completely daZed, went forward to
where his wife was and told her that he
had lost all the money they possessed.
The woman hastened back to the smOk-
ing car, and with tears streaming
down her cheeks told Canada Bill'
that her husband. herself and
their two small children had sold
out everything they had down in
Mercer county. Pennsylvania. and were
on their way to Kansas to start anew in
life. All the money they had was the
six hundred and some odd dollars that
her husband had just lost at three-card
monte, and concluding. the heart-broken
creature exclaimed, as she sank on her
knees in the aisle beside 'Bill's' seat,
the children and / must starve, mister,
just because my man was fool" Can
ada Bil's' stoical expression never
changed particle, but he put his hand
i'm his pocket. drew forth a big wad of
money, counted out just the eamount the
man had lost. and handed it to the
forlorn woman by his side, saying:
Here's your money, madam. | never
rob women and children, but l want
you to keep it to yourself in future. as
that husband of yours doesn't know
enough to go without guardian Then,
giving her $40 more, he continued:
Here's present for the babies. Now
run back to them and stop your crying
So you see, swindIer and scoundrel that
he was, the king Of monte men had
some redeeming qualities, and maybe
they will be remembered when his final
account is made up. Canada Bill's'
full name was William Jones. he came
originally from down Montreal way.
and has been dead ten years or more"