Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1899-06-08
HUMAN SHARKS.
Gamblers Who Frequent the Oceaw
Liners Looking for easy
Money!

1t is deplorable that 80 many profess
sional thieves should be able to sO
easily make happy hunting grounds of
some of the finest passenger vessels
ahoat, but there Is no question about
their doing 30. 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
Illustrate the designs Of that consider
able class of professional rOgues who
devote their talents to Eeecing sen
travellers.
The Atlantic liners suffer most at the
hands of these men, and many of them
cross and recross the Atlantic ocean
more than dozen times n year, living
in the lap Of luxury, for no other pur-
pose than to fleece tho gullible people
among the better-class'passengers
One of the most successful Atlantic
crooks was 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. H.is sue
cess was due to his marvellous, skill in
secretly marking the cards with his
nails, which he did 80 quicltlwandi clev-
erly that once pack had passed
through his hands he could almost i'm
variably identify the cards,by his AGATE
sense of touch.
His occasional failures were rRsuIt-
ant of the suspicious aroused by his
wonderful luck rather than by amy
weak points in his methods; andno one
ever satisfactorily decided how he ma
nipulated the cards to such personal
advantage, until one day, when intox-
icated, he disclosed some of,his secrets.
During one Atlantic trip he fibeced
three young men of an aggregatesum
OF nearly $4,000, and on another Oe-
casion, when posing as British army
officer, he succeeded, without arousing
any suspicion, in cheating one of our
congressman of considerably larger
sum.
One difficulty which the single-hand-
ed sharper has occasionally to face 10
thepresenceo on board Of rival sharper.
whom he did not recognize or suspect,
and this generally means bad times for
both, and sometimes great amusement
to those passengers who care to watch
the card play.
A friend of the writer tells an anec-
dote of the kind. He was crossing from
New York to southampton, and among
his fellow passengers were two men he
had previously met, and lost money
to, in gambling houses in New York.
In his own mind he had no doubt they
were professional sharpers, and he eau
toned many fellow passengers against
them.
AT first he believed they were work.
ing as confederates, but one day, much
to his surprise he found them playing
together, evidently unconscious OK
each others profession. Whether their.
methods of playing were similar mo-
one could tell, but as the play proceeded
each of them became more and more
restless. Neither won much, but both
played with the utmost caution.
AT last one man threw down king,
whereupon his adversary, doubtless
fancying for the moment that the card
was the knave, threw down second
king of the same suit. Each rose to his
feet and Indignantly accused the other
with cheating. Strange to say, both
were right in their accusations, for the
real king Of the suit was among the
cards upon the table, which an on
locker snatched up and examined the
moment the sharpers had thrown their
kings.
Such painful incidents are very rare,
for these gentry know each other well
as a rule.
The pet prey of these men il, the I'M
sophisticated youth with more money
than brains-they generally travel
The result is that many a young man
who leaves port with an ample purse
finds himself compelled to cable home
when the ship in which he is travelling
touches the arrival port for further
funds.-Cincinnat Enquirer.
War and Famine in CBBm.