Evening star., 1898-07-14

the conversation, tarying long enough to-
village.
The path rapidly widens near the village
and spreads cGt almost an acre I'm extent
and quite level. which by the wav one OF
the party said was the only thing on the
level in the village. On the right a line of
sheds fitted up with small counters and
electric lights was poilted out as the place
where Dame Fortune was supposed to
reign. The games had not all commenced
when the reporter entered the village. The
inhabitants. however were up and astir-
A heated colloquy was taking place near
the little bridge which leads to the spring
One young man was protesting against
setting them up" and the other two were
breaking the Sabbath and incidentally the
Third Commandment. The flies (human
1iesl were beginning to congregate, and the
big man with the cane, who seemed to be
the director general. put stop 10 the con-
versation. word to a mild-eyed boy was,
the signal. and soon the men who fleece
the innocent commenced their preparations
They resenbled. with their hard. cruel
faces, many black spiders weaving a
web. And right quickly did they spin Il.
for scarcely had the word been given than
one game opened up. IL the old ring
game where for 10 cents man was given
that many chances to ring knife and get
the prize attached to IL. Some Of the
knives had dollar bills attached to them.
Others held pistols in suspension, while
opera glasses and watches were suspended
in like manner. But the knives which held
these prizes had such huge handles that IL
is doubtful IL one of the rings could be
forced But there are other knives,
small cheap affairs, and occasionally one
of these is ''rung" But the lucky man
does not even get the knife; the game
keeper adding, after announcing the sue
cess, The knife is a tin one and not worth
a penny. Take five more rings free YOU
might win the prize" And the man usually
follows this advice, while the operator
scoops in the dimes and nickles No one
wins but the game. How could they. es-
pecially when II IS seen that the knives are
placed at an angle of 30 degrees TO the rear,
and when one is rung 1t is an accident.
There are no prejudices in the village on
account of color, race, age or condition. Il
is stipulated, however, that you must have
money when you cCme down, and not have
any when you go up. The knife game at
tracted small boy while the reporter was
present, and before they let him go he had
spent over dollar and said he must walk
back 10 the city.
The Pin Game.
Pay ne and pay you. Everybody has
a chance and have money 10 give away.
Come and get some OF it, was chanted in
weird voice. with scarcely any infection.
Tie reporter and his friends followed the
sound and drew Up in front of a sQuars
coTnter now crowded on all sides. II was
the pin game the most dishonest gam
bling device ever thought out, requiring
Tor an operator a quick, shrewd, thoroughly
This ''pir" game, operated any way, IS a
cheat The odds are long ways against
the player, even though the dealer be
square. Up at Glen Echo It is a bare-faced
robbery, and three well-known citizens OF
Washington watched the game and all pro-
nGunced ii a swindle OF the broadest kind
But what is the pin gamer" IL is the dice
game played with miniature ten-pins, with
these exceptions There are nine pins, each
with six sides, bearing numbers from l TO
6, the same as dice. 1t is played on a
square of canvas which is divided into rec
tangles, each enc containing a number-the
vaiious products of the sum of the dice or
pins when added together. number OF
these squares are represented by the num-
tcrs which the average shows may be
thrown, wt'le others express those num-
bers which seldom occur. The latter are
usually prize numbers. while the others
are expressed by an ''X'' or a double 'X 4"
which means the dealer wins. or anything
else he chooses. Thus number is almost
impossible TO be thrown, for il would re-
quire nine ones to turn up simultaneously.
1t calls for a big prize, however, and the
players never stop to think of the big per-
cent2ge against them. But u is not this
feature of the game which attracted the at
tention of the Star reporter. 1t was the
cheating-the most barefaced and at the
same time the most successful ever prac-
uced. The nine pins are set up In n bunch
in the center of the canvas and one of the
men about the boa I'd takes a small wand
and knocks them down. Then the dealer
gets in his fine work. With knowledge OF
every number that wins, he counts the Dins
rapidly and announces the result The how
in front Immediately sets the pins up and
all trace OF the count is lost giving the
dealer all the opportunity in the world to
announce false product. And he never
hesitated about doing Il, for on five occa-
siono he made a mistake in favor Of him
self and raked in the shekels of the unsus-
Pectng- Mt content with this rapid way
OF winning the dealer has another and
very exciting method which he uses when
it is seen that man has not very much
money. He rapidly counts the numbers
and announces the result. THAT calls for
a jack pot" he announces. and forthwith
calls upon all players to double their bets.
1t costs originally 20 cents to come in. The
''pluSgers' Immediately make good the ex-
ira amount, and the poor victim seeing 9TH
ers taking a chance. goes in too. Another
brush of the wand and down come the pins.
"A double X calls the dealer. and then
ADDS, That calls for double bet.' This
means every player has to double his bet,
no one having ur TO this time won. When
after several such plays On The part of the
dealer one player is unable 70 make good
i'm other words. has not enough money TO
come in-the dealer rakes IN his money and
quietly pockets It.
4 Victim From Scranton.
This was the case last Sunday. when q
gentleman from Scranton. Pa, visited the
village. He saw the game and noted the
winnings of the "pluggers." He was on a
visit to the capital of the nation with the
educators and thought he would try his
luck. Gradually he was led along until
he had been raised out of S3s. when he was
obliged to pass" AS he was playing the
party of which the reporter was one oe>
cupied positions close to the table and saw
a great many things. In the first place,
the visitor from Scranton was deliberately
robbed. The dealer counted four times In
his own favor. Five people were playing
the game at the time. Only one was a
bona fide player. The others were plug
gers" A tall, cadaverous looking man in
gray suit collected the supposed winnings
from the "pluggers," and. edging his way
near the dealer, quickly passed the money
back to him under the cover of the table.
When the visitor had been cleaned out OF
his $3S he smiled sickly and said: Il guess
I've been done out of it" He seemed to
recognize sympathy in the faces OF the
business men who stood near by, and ap-,
preached them. He poured out his woes
and expressed the belief that he had been
robbed. His belief was corroborated by
the gentlemen, and he forthwith went back
IN register sOroyeSf and his nancy