Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1897-10-24
KITE SI|)RI[ 3 GREAT GAME.
At Three Gard Monte She Had Things
All Her Own Way.
Her Celebrated Encounter With
Byron McGregor -s12. 900 Fig
ured in It, and She Met Her One
Defeat.

had lurid and generally SuccesSful
career from the Great Divide to the
Pacific as card sharp. and who, for
a woman, was probably the best polk
er player and three card monte work
er in the business, died in retirement
in San Francisco the other day" said
George Renshaw, San Diego hotel
man, at club here last night.
sShe began operations at profess
sional card swindling soon after the
completion Of the Pacific railroads. |
think she was the first gambler, man
or woman, to work those roads. She
started out as a three-card monte
worker. Her method of enticing her
victims was delightfully."- simple, and
yet almost invariably successful. She
would take the train from San Fran
cisco for Ogden, Utah, for instance,
and she would take ner place in a
sleeper in which some man who look
ed promising was travelling. From the
bag she would produce tiny pack of
cards, beautifully embossed, and, as If
to relieve the monotony of the jour-
ney, begin to play a. game of solitaire
on her lap. After repeated efforts she
would finally sigh drearily and rest
her chin in her hand, as if in deep
thought, and naturally her eyes would
thus meet those of her victim. Just
as naturally, the victim, sympathizing
with the perplexity of the pretty,
Spanish-looking girl, and perhaps with
other motives, would approach her
and calamity offer to help her out of
her difficulty with the solitaire game.
Kate would accept the offer. and the
victim, if he did not have very long
head indeed-and men were not distin-
guished for level-headedness in the
western country in those days-was
well on the way to losing a good part
of his rou-
"Of course, he would unravel the
solitaire puzzle, which was always of
the simplest, in the course of few
attempts. Then Kate would musingly
pick up three or four tiny cards,
usually aces. and inquire in a kind and
absent tone:
What is that funny, pulling game
with three cards that my brothers
were showing me in San Francisco the
other day? 0, | know, You throw
the three cards down, one, two, three,
like this, crossing them as you throw
them, and then you make somebody
guess a certain card, isn't it?'
THE victim would generally smile
knowingly and say:
80, that's the game of three-card
monte: brothers shouldn't teach their
sisters such game as that, and so on
20, but l want to learn it, Kate
would say. Show me-
"The man would show her how
monte was played-the thing was a
craze like pigs-in-clover out west at
that time, and every man could throw
the three cards after a fashion-and
Hates eyes would grow big with in
terest.
80, let me see if I can't do it, she
would exclafm in her pretty, enthusi-
astic way. and she would take the
cards and make foolish attempts to
fool the victim. After while, though
she would exhibit more proficiency.
so that she could puzzle him about
once in three times
Now, we shall bet upon it. she
would say in her ecstatic way. I love
to bet. | win lots and lots of money
from my brothers. Now | will bet SO
you cannot pick up the right cardl'
THE victim would. Of course. de-
muir at winning a woman's money, but
she would insist, saying: %, have a
lot of money!! and finally he would
give in, resolving to give the girl
her money back if he won right along,
and of course he expected he would.
The first throw, the victim, of
course. won. and he would take the
girls SO gold piece and put it in his
pocket as if it were forever lost.
though he intended to fish it out for
her when the game was over. The
second throw he would win. too. and
take the SO gold piece with a smile.
Now, you throw them. and see il
| can't guess the card,' Kate would
exclaim. 1 will wager you 500. a
whole 5000. that I cam
That was the beautiful craft Of
Hates game. She was 50 expert at
the three-card monte n. wv that no
body could fool her at 1t, and yet If
she won ii would seem 10 the victims
quite accidental.
But. child ne would say sit woul.
be quite impossible for you to do n
unless by pure guess work And why
venture your money so recklessly?'
No, no. no. like TO play it. |:
such fun. And the man still with the
resolution, of course, Of returning thu
money he won, would throw the cards
Of course, she would pick the card IN
erringly. and the victim would get lit
tie red over the size OF his unexpected
loss. The girl, quite artlessly, ~woulG
clap her hands with gee.
Now. you NAV win ii back she
would say. Another $500, and then We
STOP
Confident this time that he could re
coup. the victim would make another
throw. and. of course. lose again. Their
he'd stop, perhaps with a little suspi-
cion if he wasn't a total chump. aut
per haps not. He'd pay over his losse:
like little man. which Kate would
throw into her travelling bag. with tn
exclamation, %. what whole lot 81
money And there You are. 1t was
the slickest monte game that was eve
played in this country by man or wo-
man. and Kate Stork made a mint out
Of it. At length. however. the rail
roads got onto her. and she had to quit
the monte scheme.
Then she took up short poker. !
don't suppose the man who taught her
how TO play the game had ever done
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