The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-02-15

| oTaWn as to be 1nV1SlDle except on. the closest inspection. One end was fixed so that it could be attached to the ope- | rator's cuff, while the rest of the wire. some six inches long, extended outside and almost parallel to the coat sleeve. l In working the device 1t was arranged | that the operator should sit close to the l wheel and careleSSly lay his left arm in 1 the run. A slight turn of the wrist would throw the wire into the path of l the circling ball. halting it's journey and l turning it toward the little numbered
 compartments in the center which cor- I respond with the numbered squares on | the board. This mechanical contri- vance worked perfectly, but it remained | for the operator to develop sufficient l skill to direct the ball to any selected numbers. It took some four weeks of | play for six hours day for him to ac-
 quire the ability to control the ball to sufficient degree to give the players an immense advantage over the house. The compartments were divided into
 sections of six, and as the operator
 gained skill, into ections of four. Daily practice finally enabled the man with the wire to direct the ball within rea- oonable certainty into any desired sec tion, To make the system effective it was necessary, of course, for his assoc 8 clates to bet on the four numbers corn-
 prising the particular section. In order to divert suspicion they would vary the sections on which the bets were made.
 In roulette each number pays thirty five for one. The conspirators betting on the four numbers in section would lose three wagers and get thirty five for one on the fourth or winning number. They planned to work the scheme care- fully by losing bets at intervals, finally settling down to system by which they won three times out of five. With the great odds of the game and playing the limit, it would take only a few hours to win several thousand dollars.
 When ready to begin operations tha quartette laid out a regular plan of campaign. The man with the wire would drop into a gambling house every day for week and play the wheel. He wore an ordinary business suit and played small wagers, being content with winning or losing five or ten dollars. He seemed of a modest, retiring nature, and invariably sat at the end nearest the wheel.
 On the night it was decided to make the play this man was "piking" away as usual in his accustomed place. Along about the close of the theaters his three fellow -conspirators began to drop in singly. They were in evening" dress, wore crush hats and had the ap- pearance of swells who had been to the theater. They seemed to be under the influence of wine, and in an excited manner showed the players about the table.
 Not sign of recognition passed be- tween them. In their excitement they pushed the modest man still closer to the wheel to find room until he had to place his left arm on the rim. The three swells pulled out big rolls and played the limit The play went on for a few hours with apparently varying luck, but with the stack of chips in front of each conspirator growing larger. Finally one cashed in, then ,an- other, and finally the third, each taking away a large amount of the banks money. When they had gone the mod- est man at the end arose, cashed in his few chips and departed.
 This programme was continued for some time, each play netting the con- sprators from five to ten thousand dol- lars. Only the fear of detection held them back from a grand coup, and 1t was thought the better plan to play along and avert suspicion.
 The proprietors were rather startled 1t their losses, but every Investigation developed no evidence whatever of ,rookedness or tampering with the wheel.
 The quartette continued to play their system until their winnings aggregated about one hundred thousand dollars. Then came the falling out and the be- rayal of the conspiracy by the one who 'laimed he had not received his share. The various gambling houses were no- s flied to be on the lookout for the man Ss with the wire, and it became impossible M o further operate with the device M But for the quarrel the system could M lave been played indefinitely and with M he certainty of beating the game.-Cin- E; innati Enquirer.