The age-herald., 1897-10-24
ABE SLUPSKY TALKS.
Says He Cannot Help Making Money-Gives
 ~a'4 His History.
From the Chicago Chronicle.


 From the Chicago Chronicle.
 A little man wearing a soft felt hat well down over-h,s brdws, looking keen fy out of half closed blus-g1'ay eyes, his hair slightly touched .with gray and g;s- ticulailng with his hands almost to the level of his shoulders is Abe Slup:ls de- tective, politician poker player and bro- ker of anything on earth that can be boug ght or sold, from pair of old pants to dia mond Ia'lng. He is commonplace in most asp cts, yet he is nationally famous. ...e
 He is short, slight of build, with lalge head thickly covered with black hair showing a. predspcsition to curl. His mouth is broad and expansive and has about. it a lurking smile, half cum ming and half good nature. His nose is large, pear shaped and decidedly Jewish in mold. On each side of 1t are the closely set blue-gray eyes, constant ly on the alert
 His shofr stature makes 1t necessary for him to loolz4up at most men he talks to, so that he has acquired the trick of turning his head sideways and look ing up through the. eoNe1s oe his eyes, which adds greatly to the shreWdn}ss
 
 His face is seldom in repose, except, i1 is said, in poker game.
 "GiYe every man something for what he gives you in return, and impress upon him that he has received just what he wa nts," is Abe's rule of practice.
 Abe iSlupsky talks about himself free and urresoTvedly Whan satisfied that he is not to be made game of. l said ro him.
 ."TeM me who you are and what your e. n, tal1 ing me of amy other man."
 He squintsd up his eyes, looked stea51y at me for "a while and then said:
 I'm a Jew My fathe- was Pole, His name was ,Slupsky. My mother is English. She speaks no language but English. I was born in London. So were my two brothers and one sister. l am the young s't. I am 3S years old and never went to. school in my life. My father is dead. My mother is still liy ing. She lives here in St. Louis. She Is very we'll off Her name is Rosenstein. She married a second time.
 'I came to America in 1869. I came alons on German line steamer. I landed in New Orleans. I was only a kid, only ten years old, and I hunted work on the levee. I got a job as deck sweeper on towlboat. They. doni. have deck sweepelgs on a ,toNiboat as rule, but I learned to pass the call and made myself useful. I changed my name. was IOll 6IOOk5. inGSS TlNef men WOuId never have time to call me Abraham Slupslly. It was Tom or Jim in a hurry in 'uhose days
 Passing the c,ali'-you know what that is? On khe towboat they generaly have five barges, two on each side and one in Front. The man with the lead line calls the depth of the wa t;r, but it is too far to the pilot house. so some one stands half way and passes the call. This is what l did.
 .I was on the river until 1875 with Cap tain Davis of the Mississippi Valley Transportation company. He remembers me wal. s..-..
 T saved a little money at the time and then openee the first red front fur nature store in St. Louis. I made money thing went into. have always made money.
 Then opened secondhand clothing store It was little shop. On the out side I had sign, This place is in mo way connected with the Famous
 T sold. clothes and bought clothes. l only had that little shop. At the bac 1 had hosepipe stuck in the wall When I could not fit a customer I would go to the pipe and call, Hello, up there Have you pair of pants 32 in the leg What? No? All right
 Then I would tell the customer was all out of that line.I The hose was bluff but it worked all right.
 I worked in the secret service for Thiel. Clarence Newcomb can tell vou what I did there. I was dong secret service work for George Allen when he was mayer, I never worked for the mo- lice department but have been all over the country in that kind of work. I have done many big jobs in that Mne and have always been we'll paid for them. Sometimes risked my life and lived right with the people was after II am doing some work of my own now. am hunting my brother lSamual. who has mot been heard of since we lefa England. I have traced ali dhs Slupskys I could find. I located one in Arizona the other day. He Is a son of my fathers brother. and he told me he had met Samuel Slupsky in Cape Town, where he runs a big transfer company. I have wftten to the chisf of police there, and expect to gesi.a let ter from him soon. We don not know if my brother Is dead or alive, but I shall find out" o ar slupsky is republican and is on the pay rcll of the ass sSsor and collector of waiter rates. Even there his work is de- | teotive work It Is his business to find out how many faucets are in the houses in his district or where leaks are al- lowed to waste the city water. "How do you make your money?" was asked
 T make it every way. I made s1 300 the other night in a poker game in a csr- tain hcfel in this city. I can always | make money playing poker. can play | poker so I always win. I arm too lucky | for my own good. Some men wont | play with me any more, even if I guar antee to return 90 cents of every dollar win from them.
 "I make money doing secret service work I make money selling you what you want. see things every day and remember where see them. Then I find a man who wants what I saw. I buy if and sell 1t to him.
 l q can't help making money. I see my chance and make 1t. Everybody has the same chance only they don't take 1t.