The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-02-21
Quartet Of Western Gamblers
Cheated New York Houses
by Simple Device.
AN INVISIBLE STEEL WIRE
with Long Practice by Aid Of This
Continuance the Little Ball Could
he OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Fol-
lows TaIley Out.

cincinnati Enquirer: The advent of
the Low administration in New York
ne caused a hegira of the sporting
fraternity to the west. 1t seems that
word mas gone forth that all forms of
gambling will be suppressed and that
the big town will be closed tighter
than a drum. Hence those who en-
1oyed the favors Of the Tammany
regime are now looking for other
nelds where they can opelilte.
A remarkable story of crooked gam
ping has been brought west by these
ENGRAVING sports. 1t is the tale of a
swindle worked upon the shrewdest
gamblers of the country by %chevaliers
OF the profession. Banking games in
the metropolis were cheated out Of
over $100, 900. All efforts to detect the
swindle were futile, and exposure
came only through a quarrel among
the operators owe the division of the
plumber. 1t was their intention to
make half a million dollars from the
New York ame before seeking vic
tins In other cities. This was to be
done by working only a few hours at a
time. Probably the most remarkable
feature of the affair is that the
sW1ndle was perpetrated upon the rou-
lette game, which affords the largest
percentage to the house, and is under
the closest surveillance to prevent
crookedness upon the part of players.
For about two years past roulette
has been the favorite gambling game
In the east. 1t was suddenly taken up
by what is known as the business
play"-bankers,' brokers', merchants
and rich men about town, who gamble
quietly and for high takes. The ex-
PLANTATION is that many of them were
frequent visitors to Europe and patrons
of the gambling resorts on the Cont
mont whore rnJJlotta. rcoIroi1C n1r,,ct
entirely. On their return to New York
they naturally showed a preference
for the wheel and the proprietors
catered to the demand.
Luck That Was Puzzlins.
About a year ago it was noticed in
the big gambling houses that quite a
rush always came right after the close
of the theaters in the evening. Men in
dress suits and opera hats came in and
Wagered large sums on the roulette
board. Their success was astonishing
and soon became puzzling to the pro-
prtetors. Extra close watch was kept
on the play, and the paraphernalia was
regularly examined, in tne expectation
of finding some electrical or other de-
vice which would account for the re-
markable run Of luck against the
house. The wheel, however, was always
found intact, and there was, no indi-
callOn Whatever that 1t a been tam
pered with. Any large or constant
winning at roulette always arouses the
suspicious of the proprietors. Only a
short time before they had been victim
lied by 4 device with which a needle
was used to throw the whirling ball
into the desired compartment, This
swindle had been detected otter the
house had sustained loss running into
the thousands.
One day the proprietor of a large
gambling house in New York was called
upon by a ~well-known sport, who told
him that he was being robbed through
roulette, and offered to explain the
system for a consideration. The pro-
sprietor declined to pay for the infor-
nation. The sport then confessed that
he was seeking revenge and would
tell all he knew for nothing.
His story was that himself and three
other professional sports had deliber-
ately set about to discover means by
which they could bea roulette. They
purchased a layout and put it up in a
private room. One of them acted as
cropier, and for weeks the other three
played the game, just is of they were
really gambling. They discarded all
devices that necessitated tampering