The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-12
A SURE WINNER
Old Gamblefs Story Of Gst-Rkh-
Quick Scheme That Woeked
a. II Was Expected to Do.

as II Was Expected to Do.
You hear . lot OF talk about these get
rich-quick schemes. nowadays,' said ths
old-time- gambler. and I reckon. from what
hear. that likely there's good many moro
Of EN- In operation than ever there was
before. but can't zee that there's anything
nav In any Of EN-.
Il reckon people have always put UP
jobs OF ono sort or another to get other
folks's money, ever since thcre was any
such thing - money In use. In the old
Bible stories that I used 10 hear when
was . hid there were things that led ms TO
think they weren't % slow - thcy might
have been even before the mail order bslsi-
ness was started and before the Wall Street
syndioates wero thought Of. II rsmember
right. Joseph engineered the first corner
in wheat. and he came BY hs tslsnts hon.
estly enough, for his father came TO Be
cattle baron In q way that would shame
the Meat Trust to-day.
I'm not throwing these things up against
the old patriarchs. They only 70 to show
that the main thing always has been to get
tho other fellows money. and there always
nave Uccu Btt-I1Cu-QuCh bCncIucOs JUDI 40
there always viii be-
And they're good things. too. Tho only
thing about EN- that you have to Be careful
about 10 to get on the right end. Nyou're
the man that handles the money. you're
all right. but II you're the man that puts
It In, you're left.
'rve seen q good many games Of one Kind
and another played in my day. and won't
say but what I've had a good dealto do with
some Of EN-. Being gambler all my life,
I've always been out for the money, and
whenever I've found man that was after
mine, I've always felt that had right to
his II could get it.
II he was smarter than me and could
got away with thu stuff never squsaled,
and II got away With It never felt any
computations. ! never stole q dollar. and
Inever broke my word II ! made q promise,
but II could get tho best Of the man that
was trying to get the best OF mo always
looked on Il as part OF the game.
As said I've seen . good many tricks
turned. one way or another. but think the
one that was altogether the slickest Of
any was . combination made once with
fellow In Denver that las; ed about . month.
Say, I made more easy money that month
than I ever made before or since, and u the
combination hadn't busted as II did. he and
wou have been multi-millionaires in
side Of FIVE years. It was simply great,
and a. near as could figure II there wasn't
body was likely TO tumble TO.
This man-I'm not going to tell you his
real name. 80 Ill call him Smith--came to
Denver along In the sos. when Colorado was
on the boom, and gave little bum show Of
his own in small hall there. that went to
6 out Of curiosity. He was queer. long.
haired. wild-eyed man about 70. that had
a great gift Of CAB, and . much greater
gift OF what was called mesnerism In those
days. The word hypnotism wasn't so
well known then - II u now, and they
hadn't started In to give new nance to the
old game. % Smith simply called himseH .
me smerist.
well. the show was about As poor . one
a. you'd want to see and yet II fascinated
mo right from the Jump. The trouble
was that Smith hadn't the first notion Of
how to put up his game 80 as to interest the
people that came In.
T., IN the ar.t PIsGs he vas "a. IKE o the pHSrOt
t dsn ;,o en- ino% wSch of Ii. queen
were rally interee, ing and
valuable, and which were simply queer
without being valuable.
And he put the whole business out In .
hodge podse fashion that was tiresome
in a way that couldn't possibly interest
anybody that had ordinary intelligence.
He was mesmerist ali right. but as q show
man, he wasn't one, two, six.
He had a couple Of dope hends with
ments. 'Horsee,' they call EN- in the show
business. and he put them through the
usual performances, sticking pins In them
and making them eat raw potatoes and
smoke. or try TO smoke. sticks, and all that
foolishnese. which was oil well enough,
perhaps. for 1t wasn't such an old story
then as 1t Is now, but II seemed poor stun
to me, for l had seen 1t done much better
by other men.
But there were some other experiments,
or performances, which he went through,
him carefully to make sure thay were not
frauds. He would get somebody 10 the
audience TO think Of something he had In
his pocket and then he would tell what the
man was thinking about.
That Is. he would do II sometimes and
CONSUMES he wouldn't. He explained
that 1t was . thing he didn't altogether
understand himself, although he tried to
give sort Of an explanation Of it. As no.
body else could understand tho explanation.
and be didn't appear TO understand 1t him
self. II didn't help matters. much. But
the trick itself gave me IN idea.
looked around the room carefully to
see II there was anybody there who knew
me. and when I found there was not took
q sneak. knew that Smith stopped at
the same hotel that ! did, and made 1t
my business to find out what room no had,
without asking anybody. Ny first business
was to get little private talk with him,
without any one else knowing about It.
THAT proved easy enough. II was
late when he went 70 his room, and I fol-
lowed him without attracting notice, He
was Q little uneaAy ct drst, but told him
I wanted 10 talk business that would mean
q lot OF money for him and he listened.
First Questioned him about this power
that he had. or seemed to have. Of reading
what some other man had in his mind.
Thought trsnsferenos they call It now,
aHs said be hadit In some osses. That Is.
he could tell what some people were think
ing II he dxed his own mind on Il carefully.
but he couldn't do u It Al With other
people.
Then I asked him to test mo, and ind
out II he could read my thoughts, and TO
my great delight ! found he could to some