Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1896-06-05


Leaning against the bar in one OF the
fashionable cafes up town the other
NIGHT was a man who until recently
was one Of the brightest detectives III
the police department. He had covered
himself with glory on more than one oc-
casion under the administration OF Su-
perintendent Thomas T. Byrnes, but
when the shake up in the department.
came and he was obliged to go he ola
SO without the least feeling OF regret
He did not look like q detective as ne
stood idly putting at his cigar ne ap-
,,oarnd like a man Of the world VINO
had inst left a theater or dinner party
Not until he was greeted by Press re-
| norter did he arouse from revere ne
seemed to be IN.
sIn every city on the face OF the
! earth,'' said the ex-sleuth, that mas
anv pretensions to being cosmopolitan
there is to be found certain class u
men who live by their wits, ana III Nv
mo nv their wits they do it III a manner
that does not place them within the
reach of the law, although their meth
ODDS are far from being honorable lney
are a nasty, vicious class OF men, oeslue
| whom a highway robber OF a petty
sneak thief is the embodiment OF al
that is good and decent Right here IN
New York that peculiar class OF men
flourish as they do in no other city IN
fhe world, and they go on nnhlndefed
from one wears end to another. Most
If them are i1nbued with a desire to be-
come rich and be gentlemen. That may
strike you as being peculiar, but 1t Is
nevertheless a fact. These men are
known to the police as grafters, ana
they give a good deal more trouble 10
the authorities than ten times as many
hardened criminals.
"See that well dressed, nice looking
fellow who is sitting over there IN all
attitude of studied carelessness, eymg
the elderly man standing at the cigar
| liphter? That fellow is CRATER. lie
| dresses like, looks like and talks and
acts like gentleman, and yet it seems
| to me not more than ten years ago that
he was IS clerk in real estate Office
| His people are very poor and never were
| able to provide him with any OF the
Injuries in which he INDUCES himself
| nowadays. Yet he can COW go into fash
| ionable restaurant and order splendid
meal from a bill of fare that is printed
in French. He is not well up IN lltera-
tnre and avoids the subject very cleverly
If if ID introduced Still he is hard
stndent. deyotes himself to a few select
ed books for several hours day and IN
| other WAYS tries to improve his mind
| and his manners.
s'But how does he get his money!
ssHe shakes dice. He is one Of the
| cleverest dice shakers in this country.
In fact, don't believe he has an equal.
| The plan he is going to follow now is
| this. provided he succeeds i'll making
| the acquaintance Of the elderly man.
They will enter upon general CONVEX
sation, i'll which he holds his own. They
| have several drinks. Drinking becomes
monotonous, and they drift out in the
| street together. Does he tell the old man
that he is a stranger in New York? Not
| at all. He says he has been here all his
| life. He had an engagement to meet
some friends at the hotel, but they dis
appointed him. He comes to another
| fashionable cafe and asks the old man to
| have a drink. He drinks whisky, but
| the drinks are usually small. Perhaps IT
| he gets too many he will lose one on the
floor AS they go from one place to an
other the places will deteriorate, and
| finally, the old man having had sui
| ficient number Of drinks to make him
WOODY. the last place will be one Ill
! which MIR. CRATER has dice box plant
ed.
"What do you mean by planted?''
| By tnat = Tpccr, +hat che ha1keeDer
! is = friend q the CRATER and keeps pc
! hind the bar speoiaI dice and a special
! alce box 10 be used lu special occasions
/ This is one Of the special occasions, Per
! haps l should expiajl to SOD shat in or
! der 70 manipulate dice box, or rather
| TIE dice, the inside u The box must be
/ perfectly smooth. That is because the
! CRATER holds me or un0ra oI the dice
Il his fingers and places it M Size box
! il such a way tha5 it VIII slide Ot5 u
| TIE box right side up VIXEN file proper
! time comes.
''Sore q the dice shakers hare col
luloid boxes planted, ana TINS, With
square set Of dice, makes the sliding
process an easy matter. But ceIluloid is
| likely to excite suspicion, so the leather
| boxes are most commonly in use among
| dice shakers who are clever at their
| business. A man who is clever at his
| business can shake out four aces in polk
er dice as easily as he can eat his din
uer. Not only that, but he defies detec-
Iion in the doing Of it. He would be
caught by one Of his own class, Of
course, but the ordinary man would
have no reason for suspecting that ev
erything was not right.
''The dice box having been produced,
they shake for drinks, and finally it is
proposed that they shake for money.
Perhaps the old man will not want to
bet. If he doesn't and can't be persuad-
ed to- well and good. The CRATER has
been affable and courteous all the time
and continues so. Before they part COM
pany, however, it Ia pretty sure thing
that the CRATER has borrowed OF the old
fellow about what he had spent for
drinks, promising of course to pay it
back.
s'The chances are about even that the
old man will bet something, and if he
does he loses it, of course, in which case
he is jollied enough to make him take
the thing good natnredly.
'"The clever CRATER is not a mean
fellow. If the old fellow went broke
and the amount of the loan asked was
reasonable, the shark would give it to
him. New York Press.
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
Liberty is Of no value in itself, but is
valuable only as means to equality,
and equality that did not eventuate in
fraternity would perish. Equality will
enlarge itself to the bonds of humanity
as fast as people learn that in likeness
there is the only rest and comfort and |
pleasure that men can know, and frater-