The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-21

From the chicago lnter-Ocean.
IT have noticed" said a smooth-shaven
man In the Auditorium cafe the other
night, that the contractors who do bus
mess with the city are not greatly afflict-
ed by rotation In office. One reason of
it, l suppose, is that they are business
men, and have no real use for politics
excepting as they can make an asset Of
their party affiliations.
1.-The moment a new man Is elected or
appointed to office the contractors begin
to study him as business proposition,
and If there IS a way Of landing him they
are pretty sure to find it out. 1 re-
member case some few years ago when
S9es contracts were more IN vogue than
they are now in which 1 landed snug
sum in commissions, and one reform pol
itician found out that principles and prac-
tice are not always easy to keep togeth-
err" And the smooth-shaven man chuck
led.
There was new man In a certain Of
fee. who was put there by reform may
or for the express purpose of cutting down
expenses, and naturally the firm that had
been supplying his department was a
good deal worried. The new man-Tn call
him Jones, because that wasn't his name
had sent for the firm and their conf
Dental man had had heart to heart
talk with him and had found out that 1t
was going to be doubtful about getting
| the 1899 contracts In the future with the
same delightful regularity that had OBJ
tanned for some years previously.
ut happened that this confidential man
was a pal of mine, and we used to con-
suit a good deal in difficult cases. We
were valuable to each other because We
moved In different circles.
HE told me about his trouble that
same night and asked me If knew Jones.
l Gid knew him very well.
1T used to play poker with him fire.
quently at a certain very private club.
And / knew him for a careful, straight
forward player who was never known to
plunge but who was a pretty steady
loser, not to any great amount, but just
enough to use up most OF his surplus
income.
His check was perfectly good If he
would give II, but we knew that he hadn't
| any great balance on hand. How did we
know 1t? Well. man who has much to
do with a private poker club Is pretty
likely to know considerable about the
other members of It, If he's wise. And
being wise he doesn't tell how he learned
It.
80 when my friend told me about
Jones. l did some quick thinking Then
said
".How much do you want this BUSH
| nets? and he said:
1--WE want 1t $4,000 worth
"'Do you want it bad enough to put
ND half the money blind and the other
half when you get lt?'
Yes he said, I reckon we'd do that
If we knew who was going to handle the
$50OO'
80 told him that II he was in earnest
I'd tackle the Job myself, but II I didn't
land Jones, he wouldn't get his $1,000 back,
and he said he was satisfied.
There happened to be man In town
lust then whom I had known very well
out West some years ago. He travelled
the Mississippi river for living and
played cards good deal while he was
| en- the boats.
1T wasn't doing much of It at the time
| myself but was on to most of the tricks
of the table, and 1 saw him play two or
three times before l made his acquaint-
ance. He called himself Hyde then-Har-
| ry Hyde
| hour or two made up my mind that he
was the slickest dealer on the river. He
| never fumbled his cards, and, so far as
I could see, he didn't mark them, but
I hadn't the slightest doubt but that he
knew every card around the table every
time he dealt.
HE was cagey about the way he played,
though, and never undertook to press
what looked like his luck. Most general
ly he would study mis- cards carefully
after he'd got one good raise, and then
he'd call and show down the winning
hard.
at was monstrous smooth playing, and
so far as know it never got him in any
trouble. but l saw great possibilities in
him, and as always want to know men
who may be valuable to me, 1 scraped
his acquaintance one day on deck.
1--WE got cumming after he saw that /
was wise, and I suppose that was the
reason he looked me up when he came
to town. He said that card playing on
the river was pretty we'll played out. and
he had come to Chicago to see If there
wasn't an opening. He wasn't in any
hurry and said he'd lie low for time and
II l should put him next to something
| good l should stand in.
81 was always pretty quick at putting
| two and two together, so the next night
| after my friend the contractor had made
| his decker with me there was a new men,
Der of the club spoke or. I hadn't in
| PRODUCED Hyde there before, and l didn't
| propose to have him there long, for I
was well enough satisfied with the kit
| ty and I wasn't going to queer the club
with quick action but this was a special
occasion and I only had a week to work
out my little plan.
1T wasn'tla complicated Schema but
| had two ways In mind. 1 was satisfied
| to let Jonest have the most of the $1,000
and intended fc split the other five with
Hyde If the first Proposition worked.
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