Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-08-20

- re- y
sUPT. THOs. BYRNEs.
long as men of brains loan their intelli-
gence to crime for value received. l
have berore me on my desk an instru-
ment that two Of my ablest detectives
recently brought from Wall street Of
fce which l caused to be raided. This
is the latest game in the great mecca OF
the men OF millions. Wall street hang
ers.on, the fringe Of Wall street as 1T
were. are constantly devisinR new
schemes to swindle the man or woman
who has more money than brains. Fake
mining schemes, bogus railroads and
the like are resorted to take in the
golden dollar. But this latest game in
Wall street is far In advance or these
and is superior in one sense to the old
bucket shop methods.
You simply speculate on the prices
for mining shares that a phonograph
soueaked out from a colossal brass fun
mel. Where the quotations came from
before they got on the cylinders does
not matter Just now. The firm against
which I received many com Jlaints had
dozen cylinders and they were primed
to supply the demand for quotations
until closing time in the afternoon.
They were loaded so that a dozen huc-
tuations were recorded In q minute.
The fluctuations were recorded on a
huge blackboard, and the photograph
was stationed just
IN FRONT OF THIS BLACKBOARD.
An initial fee of 25 cents transaction
was demanded by the firm, and then fol-
lowed the original commission OF one
quarter Of per cent. The firm ac-
cepted anywhere from So TO $4,000, 600
margins. Evidently the fellow who
could overhear the firm talking quota
tiops to the cylinders down in the cellar
before 10 o'clock would have lead pipe
cinch on the afternoon quotations; 9TH
erwise he might find it exceedingly diff
fcut to keep up with the procession OF
figures the funnel squeaked out every
instant. For instance, take Maple, one
of the four mining shares quoted by the
phonograph. The photograph was
loaded early in the morning TO start
Maple at SO, and by easy stages got 1t
up TO 81, and then dropped 1t Sl.25.
The fluctuations that came out OF the
funnel were about as wide apart as the
m ost bloodthirstY gambler could wish.
Speaking Of gambling, for this Wall
street game was nothing more than
crook ed gambling, reminds me OF a new
tangled faro box, which was recently
seized in q gambling house ! raided not
long ago. 1t is what Is known as q
sure thing game. 1t was gotten up, l
have learned, by an expert mechanic.
Tie man who operated 1t and who was
taken in the raid, gave me technical
description Of this new swindllng de-
vice.
1.-The layout ard box are just the
same as any layout, so far as you can
see. - said he, shut when tell you that
the dealer can make the cards turn
somersaults in the box II he wants TO,
YOU bet it's daisy. Suppose you were
playing the nine TO lose, and the dealer
sees
BY MEANS OF A SMALL REFLECTOR
that the nine will lose, be just makes
that nine change places with the card
under it, and instead Of coming out first
it comes out second and you lose. |
tell YOU the dealer can make any card
in the box win or lose, just as he pleases,
and it's done In this way: The layout
at the place in front OF the box is hol-
lowed out, and when the cards have
been shuffled and put in the box the
dealer pushes the box close up against
the layout, and this pushes q spring
and the pin OF the layout against the
box falls back and stays back just as
long as the box Is held up against the
spring.
Now IN the box there is small
highly DO lished mirror, and II is so
placed as TO take in the card under the
top card in the box, and the dealer can
see inst what the card is. He keeps
his hand on the left side Of the box
where be can reach small spring
which shoots a blade as thin as sheet
of paper under the second card and
raises it up just the thickness OF the
blade. Then he uses his knees TO
which are attached fine catgut, and
this manipulates a spring connected
with a small clamp which comes out OF
the opening under the layout aud
catches the second card and pulls
IL out OF the end Of the box, the end
opening outward and into the opening
under the layout, when the thin blade
goes under the card. The left hand re-
leases the spring in the box and the I'M
der card takes the place OF the one
Withdrawn. When the spring Is again
pressed the thin knife flies out, and the
card which was under the layout comes
back into the box. This eau all be done
in three seconds, while the dealer is
having a bet or backing up his chip, or
asking a player what his bet takes"
I've seen a good many tricks at faro,
but this is the slickest one l ever
saw. You can keep the cases and
take the box in your hands and
examine it, and you would
NEVER KNOW IT WAS NOT STRAIGHT.
OF course, the firm or individual
making these boxes charge high Tor
them. but what is $4,000 when You
don't need aAy bank roll in the drawer