The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-02-21
Simple Rut Successful.

oio I oul IL III
trace of it's use.
Simple 6ut Successful.
Finally one of the quartet hit upon
g simple device. He had made the
thinnest possible steel wire, tempered
in the highest degree. The wire was
SO finely drawn as TO be invisible ex-
cept on the closest inspection. One end
was fixed so that it could be attached
to the operators cuff, while the rest
OF the wire, some six inches long. ex-
Tended outside and almost parallel to
the coat sleeve. In working the device
1t was arranged that the operator
should sit close to the wheel and care
lessly lay his left arm in the run. A
Slight turn of the wrist would throw
the wire into the path of the circling
ball, hating its journey and turning
1t toward the little numbered compart-
ments in the center which correspond
with the numbered squares on the
oard. This mechanical contrivancc
worked perfectly but it remained for
the operator to develop sufficient skill
to direct sthe ball to any selected num-
bers. 1t took some four weeks of play
for six hours 4 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 We're divided into
SSSlloIS VI SlA, dilu as lHe operator
gained skill. into sections of four.
Daily practice finally enabled the man
with the Wire to direct the ball, with
in reasonable certainty into any de-
sired section. To make the system
effective it was necessary, of course,
for his associate to bet on the four
numbers comprising the particular sec
ton. In order to divert suspicion they
would vary the sections on which bets
Uaro rnaHa Tn roulette aarhr MI her
pays 35 for l. The conspirators betting
on the four numbers in a section would
lose three WagerS and get 80 for l on
the fourth or winning number. They
| planned TO work the scheme carefully
by losing bets at intervals. finally set
Ting down to a 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.
How They Marked 1t.
When ready to begin operations the
quartet aid out a regular plan of cam
paign. The man with the wire would
drop into a gambling house every day
for a week and play the wheel He
wore an ordinary business suit and
played small wagers, being c%ontented
with winning or losing SIS or $40. He
! seemed of a modest, retiring nature,
II invariably sat the end nearest the
! wheel.
On the night it was decided to make
the play this man was "pinkirg' away
as usual in his accustomed place. Along
about the close of the theaterS his
three Observation-Disclosures began to
drop in singly. They were In evening
dress, wore crush hats and had the APP
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 a sign of recognition passed be-
tween them. In their excitement they
pushed the modest man still closer to
the whee to find room until he a 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 M the mod
est man at the end arose, cashed in his
few chips and departed.
This program was continued for
some time, each play netting the con-
spirators from $4,000 to $4,000. Only
the fear of detection held them back
from Il Sranu coup, anu IL Was Thought
the better plan to play along n avert
suspicion.
The proprietors were rather startled
at their losses, every investigation
developed no evidence whatever of
crookedness or tampering with the
wheel.
The quartet continued to play thei1
system until their winnings aggregated
about 500, 900. hen came the falling
out n the betrayal of the conspiracy
by the one who claimed he had not re-
ceived his share. The various gambling
houses were notified to be on the look
out for the man with the wire. and ii
became impossible to further operate
| with the device.
! But for the quarrel the system could
have been played Indefinitely and with
he certainty of beating the game.