Evening star., 1899-04-14
.. April l4.-Grain:
AIDS To GAMBLERS.
Ingenious Devices That Have Been
Used by Card Sharps.
From Pearson's Weekly.

From Pcarson's Weekly.
Considering that gambling is only a polite
form Of thieying, 1t is not very remarkable
that confirmed gamesters should stoop To
fraud as means of enhancing their
chances Of winning; but IL is remarkable
that other gamesters should be so blind TO
the devices invented by more ingenious EEL
lows, and fortunes have been won by clever
sharpers, from men and women who have
been well alive to their own interests I'd
not wanting in cunning suspicion. by clev 4
contrivances of their own construction.
1t is not often that gambler is subj
ciently enterprisng and mean as to have a
card room specially constructed to fac IL
tate his fleeing his victims and visitors;
but to even this length went a man, now
deceased, who, despite his vast private fur
tune, Systematically preyed upon the pock-
cts of his wealthy acQuaintances.
The room was constructed so small that
only sufficient space was allowed for
square table and the chairs of four players,
the object of this being to prevent onlook-
ers or any one standing behind the particu-
lar char which the host always took
The room was magnifcently decorated.
and hidden in the deeply carved black oak
paneling were two spy holes, from which
a person on the other side of the wall
could see every card of the person sitting
opposite the host. When cards were being
played a confederate of the host was al
ways watching, unseen, from these hole,
having his finger upon an electric button.
This button communicated with larger
button hidden under the carpet Just in front
of the hosts chair, and by this means the
confederate was able to communicate to his
master what cards were in the hand of his
tete-a-tete player.
Sitting down in his chair, the arch-scoun-
drel put his toe on the invisible button un-
der the table and received the news. ono
push of the button signifed hearts two
clubs, three diamonds and four spades. II
was the confederates duty to first wire
what was the strongest suit in the '.hani"
before him. Thus, one push of the button
Informed the arch-thief that his tete-a-
tete's strongest suit was hearts. and so on.
When it had been communicated how the
suits stood in strength, 1t was the confed-
crates duty to wire what the cards were,
starting with the highest in the highest
suit and going to the lowest in the lowest.
So quickly could this scheme be worked
that very often the host knew his tete-a-
tete'S cards before the latter had proDer-
ly arranged his hand"
After the strength of the suits had been
communicated in this way, the host felt
twelve rapid taps on the sole of his shoe.
and he knew this meant the queen OF
hearts. a short pause. and then ten rapid
taps told HIM the next highest card was the
ten of hearts. And so on. 1t is said that.
thanks to this ingenious scheme. which
was never discovered during the inventors
life, many wealthy persons were brought
to the verge of ruin. while their host enter
tained them in regal style.
A somewhat similar, but less successful
scheme was that in the practice Of which a
certain continental dressmaker was detect
ed. This woman, like many others of her
calling, made ii a custom to entertain her
customers at gambling i'm the secrecy OF
her private apartments and she probably
found IL infinitely more lucrative than her
professed trade to which it attracted Gus
toners. Her plan was to stand her hus-
band outside the room, which was built in
another room. that a passage ran be-
tween the two walls on three sides and
through an unseen opening all round he
edge of the ceiling the man could see the
cards of all players but his wife who sat
with her back to the single wall.
Walking in the passage, the man exam
lned the cards of the unsuspecting players
and opening a small trap in the wall ex-
hibited similar cards drawn from a pack
ne carried. Owing to the light. which WAS
thrown down upon the table and into the
faces of all players but the dressnlaker the
exhibited card could be seen by her only
Her eyes. shaded from the glare of the
iamn. were accustomed 10 the dim light
in which the cards were exhibited bur TO
the other players, glancing from the glare
such dimness would have been as imDe,1a-
trable the darkness of night In this
way the man was able to show his wife ex-
actly What cards were in the hand" of
the player behind whom he stood and when
one hand had been disclosed in this manner
he moved on to the next.
but IL was TOO clumsy TO be entirely
CeSsful; victims became suspicious of the
dressmaker's extraordinary runs of luck
and her habit of constantly looking up AT
the walls, and one day a victim contriyed.
during her. hosts absence, to fix the gas
shade to suit her own eyes, and during the
game followed The schemers eyes the mo-
ment she saw them rise. Then the feline
had escaped from the wallet. The dress
maker vanished.
Many attempts have been made to invent
system of ornamentng the backs of cards
In such a way that a person knowing the
secret can read them. But the difficulties
In the way are manifest. and gamblers who
have attempted such frauds have generaIIv
been speedily detected.
1t is a pretty well-known fact however
that a notorious American crook who
dled In goal rot long ago, was successful in
TINS connection. He invented a mack of
cards and demonstrated how readily ne
could read them by the backs. while 70
one else could discover anything in the least
suspicious or suggestive about them They
are now in the hands of the police. and
nave been examined by hundreds of per-
sons, but no one has been able to read their
secret. The crook" is reported to have de-
ciared that the secret was worth 81 600 a
year to him for five years, and that he sold
two similar packs for 5000 each.