The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1894-07-07

SsMrSG 70 uUe UAOSOOGU
He submita 70 lseinE Swlndled. on Nv n,
Hand Even Plays the Shell Csme.
One Of the most notorious swindlnrs
In this country once said that New
Workers. were the most provincial peo
pie in the world, and that it was easier
to separate Gothamite from his money
than to swindle n farmer out of a cent
How true this may be is question, but
ono thing is certain, and that is that
ten New Workers., If not more, fall vic.
tins to confidence men to every one
out-of-towner. The crowds that fre.
quent race track are naturally sup
posed to be composed of very shrewd
men, yet there is not class Of people
in the country to-day who are victim.
lied SO often and so repeatedly, and vet
submit without word, as a lot of race.
track people.
Every one takes turn at buncoing
the racegoer, and a trip to any of the
track with a crowd of horsemen will
furnish the best verification in the
world of the swindler's statement. In
the first place. as soon as race tract,
opens it's meeting all of the railroads
which connect with it immediately
raise the price OF tickets. Where II
usually costs but forty cents to 90 tc
and from Coney Island tnow costs fifty
cents for an excursion ticket to Grave.
send, which is only about two-thirds
III the way down. Coney Island visit.
ors can still get tickets at the old rate,
but If man happens to be going tc
the race track he must pay extra
money. On the little elevated road
which runs from Weehawlen to the
Guttenburg race track the fare all the
year round is but five cents. When the
race track was open, however, it cost
ten cents to get to the track, unless
You happened to be one of the natives,
and then by explaining to the ticket
seller just who you were you could OBJ.
tain passage at the regular rate.
Then, again. the admission to race
track is eXorbitant. 1t has been shown
that with free admission the associa.
tions can still make tremendous
amount of money. yet they charge one
dollar and a half for badges, and with.
out paying that much one cannot get
inside the grounds. Once in, everybody
takes a turn at the poor speculator. Al
every pump and water faucet on the
grounds or in the buildings there is a
man who insists on drawing water foi
you. and then calls your attention to o
cigar box with a slit in it which is sus
pended near by. In the toilet rooms il
is a case of tip half dozen people OF
get abused like ruffian, while in the
mQftar nf 1p1an1S tho es,,,
fabulous. What money man has left
after running this gauntlet the book.
makers get, nine times out of ten. anG
all in all the average man is decidedly
disconsolate individual when the last
race is run, and in his haste to get
home he jumps into parlor car only
to find that there is not seat left
in it, and then is obliged to pay twenty,
five cents for the privilege of standing
up, where he might have had a seat
and saved the money by taking an or.
dinary passage. All of these facts &c
to show what easy victims men are who
belong to class which is supposed tc
be exceedingly shrewd.
But these swindles are mild com.
pared with the games that are run on
the Bay Ridge ferrybody which carries
the racing crowd from the foot of
Whitehall street to the train at Bay
Ridge. This trip consumes about half
an hour and gives the gang of swim
dlers who infest the boat ample time
in which to hook few victims. 1t
will be hard for a great many people to
believe it, but the game worked on this
boat successfully is the old, thread
bare, time-worn shell game. The same
old gang of thimbleriggers who used
to catch drunken sailors and soldiers
fresh young clerks on the Bowery have
had the temerity to carry their game
right into a crowd of gamblers, and
judging from what a Sun reporter saw
the other day they are meeting with
success. Every one knows
the old shell game, yet there seems to
be fascination about it which men
cannot resist. With the same old cry
of Come on, gents: pick out the little
ball." the principal shell man came
walking across the cabin manipulating
the shells on a little cloth-covered
board, which was suspended by string
around his neck, and followed by three
or four cappers. who were betting and
winning great stacks of bills. 1t was
five minutes before the first victim
came to the front. He leaped from his
seat as the shell man passed him, and
placing his finger on the center shell
said: ''I'll bet you five dollars it's un.
der there.''
'Take yer" said the swindler; "gct
up yer money"
The young man took his hand off the
shell for second to pull five-dollay
bill from big roll that he had With
him, and in that second the shell man,
with a lightning-like movement, hai,
changed the position. of the shells. OF
course the young man lost. He seemed
and sat down, while the rest
OF the people in the cabin burst out
Ont upon the deck went the swindlers,
the cappers betting and winning, and
an outsider stepping in and
losing dollar or SO. Finally, in the
other cabin the gang struck just the
sort of snap they wanted. 1t was a
half dozen young men of the Jimmy
Fresh order, and when one Of them
stepped up to bet, the swindlers located
right there and let the young man win
his first bet, which was for one dollar
The next bet was two dollars, and amid
shouts of glee from his friends the
young man picked out the correct shell.
Then he bet five dollars and lost. and