The Minneapolis journal., 1903-03-21
EASY J; MONEY E then.
Parctic No. IS Tells Of the Halcyon
Days Of the Pool
Sharks.
Why Did They all Get Wise Win,
ming . Tournament and Knock
ing His Own Game.

AAAaily sIii1SS aW!lSIl i nave IOSL nCiQ OF a
good thing through bad luck, or bad
Judgment, which is the same thing when
you come down to case, because its bad
luck in the first place to be born without
judgment. RI When l Joined the Paresis
club, and they gave me No. Is. L didn't
kick, because I knew L. couldn't find
any Improvement on my regular thoodoo
Y esterday met man from Denver
and we got to talking about pool and bill
lard players I remember he said. about
ten or twelve years ago, there was a pool
tournament in Denver, which was won by
a young fellow. whom every one called
Schaefer, though I don't think that was
his real name. This fellow was around
town for two or three months before the
tournament but nobody could get him
into a pool game unless he was drunk.
When he was about three, or maybe four.
sheets in the wind. he could play pool or
billiards like the wizard himself. He dis
appeared after the tournament and never
came back to the town 49,.
Did you ever see the fellow after
ward? I asked him.. Never seen him
since he said. You buy + said, take
another good look at me- II .....z
You see, about ten years ago money
was a lot easier than it is now and the
people were likewise. Beats all how wise
everybody has got i'll few years. When
l was sharking through the west back in
the early nineties. you could go into g.
pool room in any little town, lay down a
v. and say III play anybody in the house
for that and the bunch would lose half
their rags trying to get to the table to
cover your money. Now you go in any
where and offer to play for a quarter, and
you can see them smile and nudge each
other, and almost hear them. say, No
green goods for US .r. -. s......-.. .. .
riS'But as say, money was easy then.
When I struck Denver at the time that
guy spoke about, things had been coming
softer tina ma cosy corner in Turkish
parlor. The first day l. struck town
dropped into one of the best hotels and
played game at straight rail with the
roornkeeper. I had two or three bad in
nings, and then I caught the balls on the
rail and ran out the string before the
mark could catch long breath. He looked
bit groggy, but We started another game
and I ran that out with a break of thirty
something. You're too strong for me at
! this game, he said, and he laid down his
cue 'Aw, come on, I said. I'll play you
| fifty or no count to your fifty for hat
ed to lose his money. I could play a bet
ter game of straight rail billiards then
than I ever could since. Well. the sec
| ond inning I got them together and ran
out on him. Who are you, Schafer?' says
the guy. No I'm his cousin,,' says T.
."Just then the owner of the hotel came
In and the keeper started to tell him all
about my play. They thought that was
| the greatest thing that ever happened,
but before the ma rker was half through
his story, in came one of the local celebri-
! ties. 'Sh!' says the hotel man. Put him
up against this fellow. So the keeper,
not knowing my other name introduced
me as Schaefer, and for two or three
weeks they kept me busy steering me up
| against ffn Sllrkors hoot t},or, ~
billiards. and then they'd say, You're too
| strong for me at this, but I'll play YOU a
game of pool That was just what I was
laying for, for 1 could skin the world at
any kind of pool those days, at least I
| thought could, and at least was plenty
good enough to take money away from
ANYTHING in that part of the country. - j
well, I stayed around there for two
or three weeks. I was making fifteen or
twenty easy money day playing pin
pool. only never would play unless I got
a few drinks in me. Most of them never
seemed to get wise, but thought it was
just my fool luck and I kept jollying them
along until somebody got UP this fool tour
nament. t>s i. - Il.
Il didn't want to go into the thing, but
|some Of the friends I had got on my staff
while was there coaxed me to enter one
might when was drunk. It was the most
|
of course. l. won first money, which was
4 three or four hundred, but queered myself
in that town. There had been rakine
them in SO fast was thinking Of hiring
a: secretary to count my money, and / haC
to go and bust up my own game. cou1c
have made as much es I won on the tour.
nament in two or three weeks on oper
games, but after that, offered to play
for a bucket of sudss they tramped on eacl
other getting to the door, go ~
Il hung around town for two or three
weeks. but there was nothing doing. Ther
X went up to Butte, and dropped bacl
again after couple Of months Moth
ing doing again. I saw I was on a deat
one. SO sloped back east. 5ls5.
when I entered that tournament :
gave my real name, but everyone KEEP
on calling me Schaefer,. just as they hae
been doing ever since the first day strucl
= town. and that's why that guy didn
recognize me yesterday. And that S hoy
I Knocked the best graft L ever struck.