The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-06-09
HAUNT OCEAN LINERS
Gamblers Who Make the Boats Their
LARS.
Cross from side to side I'm Cain,
Security and Fleece Young Men
who Have More Money
Than Brains,

It is deplorable that so many profess
sional thieves should be able to so
easily make happy hunting grounds of
some of the finest passenger vessels
Rfoat, but there is no question about
their doing so. The fact Is certainly
due more to the crooks ingenuity and
experience in disguise than to lack of
vigilance on the part of the steamship
companies, who go to great lengths to
frustrate the designs of that consider
able class of professional rogues who
devote their talents to fleeing sea
travellers.
The Atlantic liners suffer most at the
hands of these men, and many Of them
cross and recross the Atlantic ocean
more than a dozen times year, living
In the lap of luxury, for no other pur-
pose than to fleece the gullible people
among the better-class passengers.
One of the most successful Atlantic
"crooks" was a man who served a num-
Der of terms of imprisonment and used
so many aliases that no one knows pre-.
cisely what was his real name. His ST. i.
Ncess was due to his marvellous skill =,
secretly marking the cards wit ~
nails, which he did so quickly al -
erly that once a pack had -,
through his hands he could -. 80 -,
variably identify the cards nv oo his oo,,4 -
sense of touch.
His occasional failur a.. ,,s-e ros,,,+
ant of the suspicion oromsad bT ' NJ
wonderful luck ra fN,ar tbon hT o.,
weak points in hi' methods, and no on
ever satlstac'or dry decided how he ma
nipulated the cards to such persona
advantage until one day, when intoS
ieateu' ne disclosed some of his secrets
During one Atlantic trip he fleece
three young men OF an aggregate sur
OF nearly $4,000, and on another oC
casion, when posing as a British arm
officer, he succeeded, without arousin
any suspicion, in cheating one of ou
congressman of a considerably large
sum.
One difficulty which the single-hand
ed sharper has occasionally to face 1
thepresenceon on board of rival sharper
whom he did not recognize or suspect
and this generally means bad times 70
both, and sometimes great amusemen
to those passengers who care to watc
the card play.
friend of the writer tells an anec
dote OF the kind. He was crossing fror
New York to Southampton, and anon
his fellow passengers were two men b
had previously met, and lost none
to, in gambling houses in New Yorl
In his own mind he had no doubt the
Il Oh
toned many fellow passengers agains
them.
At first he believed they were work
ing as confederates, but one day, muc
TO his surprise, he found them playin
together, evidently unconscious O
each others profession. Whether thei
methods Of playing were similar n
one could tell, but as the play proceede
each of them became more and NOR
restless. Neither won much, but bot
played with the utmost caution.
At last one man threw down a king
whereupon his adversary, doubles
fancying for the moment that the car
was the knave, threw down a secon
king of the same suit. Each rose to hi
feet and Indignantly accused the othe
with cheating. Strange to say, bot
were right in their accusations, for tn
real king of the suit was among tn
cards upon the table, which an or
locker snatched up and examined tn
moment the sharpers had thrown thei
kings.
= Such painful incidents are very rare
for these gentry know each other wei
as a rule.
The pet prey of these men is the un
sophisticated youth with more none,
than brains-they generally trave,
The result is that many young mai
who leaves port with an ample purs
finds himself compelled to cable hom
when the ship in which he is travelling
touches the arrival port for furthe
funds.-Cincinnat Enquirer.