The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-12-30
THE BUNCO MANS POWER
EASE NTH WHICH ABLE CITIZENS
GIVE UP THEIR MONEY.
Hungry Joe's Art Spoiled by strain of
neutrality-suspicious. of Grand Central
No Means Unusual In Police Annals,

Pese-Honest John French's Case by
No Means Unusual In Police Annals.
Coming down on an elevated train
yesterday morning." said one of former
Superintendent Byrness detectives"
heard two men talking about the easy
way Honest John French of Brooklyn
was recently buncoed out of $1,000,
These two men We're very much disgust
ed because the old man had been gull
ed so easily and finally agreed that a
man who could be induced to give up
his money on such raw game must be
perfect chump or else out of his head, I
listened to the comments of these men
with a great deal Of interest because in
the old days when Tom Byrnes ran the
detective bureau in this town, 1t was
my particular function to keep my
eyes on the confidence men and always
to know where they were and what
they were doing. | have arrested the best
known buneo men who ever operated
in this country; each one dozen times
over; and | want to say that / never
had a case where the game, when chron-
icled in the newspapers, didn't seem just
as bald as this one b. which Mr.. French
was roped in. It's easy enough to stand
on the outside and marvel at the ease
with which a felloW-citizen has been
duped, but let me tell you that man
who has stepped into the net, or to be
palmer, yielded to the preliminary per-
suasions of the bunco steerer, is about
, as securely caught as the fly that has
ventured into the spiders web. People
still marvel at the skill Of the magician,
but the interested know that there IS
nothing marvellous in what he does, that
lit is oil very simple and easy. If [
didn't know something of the dexterity
of the bunco steerer, ] too might marvel
at the way Mr. French gave up his
money. but my experience has taught
me that the more astute and worldly
wise the man the easier it is to make
q victim of him.
II should put all Of this in the past
tense because bunco or banco, as it
should be called, although / don't know
why, is played but little nowadays, and
cases like that of Mr.. French are rare.
The old game, where a mans stock in
trade was his gift of CAB, has given way
to gold brick sales, fake horse deals and
more of these transactions than ever
get into the newspapers are carried
through nowadays, but bunco in its old
form is little played. The only reason
] can give for the change Is that the
game became too well known through
the medium of the newspapers although
it is fact that there are no such clever
men engaged in swindling to-day as
there used to be.
THE two queerest bunco-steerers that
ever lived were Hungry Joe and Grand |
Central Pete Tom Byrnes always
maintained that Joe was the cleverest |
Of them all, but I hold that there never |
was the equal of Peter Lake, in the |
swindling line. The two men worked I
precisely the same game and in their |
careers were about equally successful, /
but there was this difference. Joe Lew
is, or Hungry Joe, was born thug. If !
he hadn't been a man of brains he'd |
have been a sandbagger, and even as
it was it was a difficult matter for him .
to be even decently polite to his victim
after he had stripped him. He was i'm
petuous and although he'd start in on
a victim with gentleness and eonsidera
ton, he was always Juggling at the
chain before he was half through, I've
known him to grab a mans money and
then punch the man, when, with 1T l.
tie patience he could just as easily have
talked him cut Of It,
II remember we'll how this phase Of
Joe's character landed him in jail for
a good term once. An English tourist
named Ramsden came here and fitted
up swell hotel Joe spotted him and
introduced himself on Broadway one
day as Henry r. Frost. nephew of Cap
tain Murphy of the Galia. the steamer
in which Ramsden had come over. How
Joe knew that Murphy and the English
man had become great friends on the
voyage. / don't know. but it was a fact
that they had, and Joe was on with
Ramsden at once. Well there Is a whole
lot Of details about this case that III
skip, but by the usual methods the
tourist was induced to drop into q place
on Grand street, where deck Of cards
turned up unexpectedly Things were
going beautifully and the l2ngliShman
had ten .lve-p pound notes in his hand
ready to bet them, when the sight Of
the money made Joe lose control ot HIM
self. He grabbed the money, upper cut
Mr.. Ramsden, and skipped out. I pick
ID him up a few days later and Rams
len pushed the case. SO we sent Joe up
he river. Only q few years before that
hoe shot a man in Detroit where there
vas no need for violence, and although
re got ont Of the scrape all right It /
vas luck and nothing else
Joe could do o neat job, though. He !
made chum out Of Oscar Wilde, when