The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-05
THH FARMER AND THE FAIR



~ william Hamilfen Osborne.
copyright, 1904. Daily Story Pub. Coz
ola solomon Shandy, OF New York,
chicaxo. ana the United States In gem
erai, liz his pipe. .Tf's all right" he
said somewhat sadly. 10 the group of
crooks about him, "a superannuated
has been. like me, here. may be out OF
business but he's darn good man to
cems 10 for advice. Its the man that's
HAD the experience and knows the de-
tails that ynn want to come TO in your
great need. know you chaps. he
went on, covering with his hand
pnfch In his trousers. IF wanted to
borrow q few hundred off'n you, you'd
give me the icy glare. But when you
cone TO recognise the fact that all the
crooks in creation will be at the ST
Louis fair, and that You chaps Will
only be drop In the bucket. and that
you'll have 20 put your best foot fore
most TO keep your heads above water
Why, than. you come to me to find out
how to do a." He waved his pipe in
the air. Il don't complain, you know.
I merely state the fact" He drew a
sharp inward breath. "Jehosaphat! he
nxclafmed, there's Only one man In
this country that knows how to work
the crowd at that pt. Louis fair to
! beat the band. Just one man
That's rae" suggested Mickey Wal
ters. OF the strong arm. with modest
smile
shanay snerted You nothin',. he
answered. TITS rns--shandy, as has
made fortune at every fair. and spent
III free. n I only had the coin. like
nerns Of ven chaps I'd DO that fair"
- sighed 'sBut I'm cut OF 1t. I'm
noshins but superannuated has-been.
ana thst.s AL"
ahifty shift, q man whose name indi-
Gated his nature, slowly changed his
z*nstticn. '.shandy," he said. "if you'll
give us a few pointers, we might be
nivln' you q per centage on the fair
rneA5pts, after it's all over. That's
what" He winked at the rest OF the
ernwd, who gently smiled. Tn man
al my word, you know"
Eoionon shandy, sharper par excel
lsnes, sheok his head. I'm a-gcin TO
tell you anyways, ne went on, Jus.
what the secret OF success VIII De out
there. Never before" he continued,
seanfnw forward. his eyes lighting up
skfth the old CLEAN, never before has
the American public been so anxious
fo ret something for nothing, Wheth-
81 It's the wall street craze or not
dent know. But when you get ou'
there with your faro OUTFITS or what
Avar game you chaps will work, there
s,.A sh9mm that you want to do--let the
m,lhiic win. and win well at the start
80 one man win and get away, ano
hMssl tell a hundred. Let the second
,ssan win and get away. and he'll tell
fhaaseand. That's the whole business
nowadays. Let 'em swallow the nook
instead Of just nibbie. as We used &c
40. It's the same system. onIy Oh
birwer scale Take lots of money with
vosa' and let plenty Of It get away
grorn YOU at the start--cast your bread
ssnan the waters. It'll come back &c
wnu ali right. That's all. Remember
ri saw IL. I've read the signs OF
the times, and can see that II you g
lnae the business wholesale ana I'D
erai you'll have all the other crooks
skinned to death. You keep anola o,
what I've told you, and tell your
friends, and this here New York crowd
Of crooks will wipe up the fair grounds
with them western fellows. Now dom
eorxet. This Is the twentieth century
.--the business century; the century Of
method Of graft that's big. And be
.Hiaa. It's the 81. Louis fair And dom
forget"
"a iris advice clear back in its era.
ufnm; Il was good advice, and they
knew IL. Slowly and by devious routes
they Departed for St. Louis. There was
frank, the fickie faro man; Schley, the
shell gamer; Mackerley, OF the three
card monte game; shifty Shift, Barna'
has Ellington, the crook par excel
ience: Mickey Walters, and host OF
lined with goodly sums of money, fol
they knew that for every dollar lasd
ont, q hundred would come back tc
tfArn. Ana they took all the more be-
cause OF shandy's good advice.
sf3onA-hy, Ehandy,'' they said, or
parting: when we get back, we'll blow
yeu OF. We will, indeed"
The New Workers worked In one cor
ner Of the fair grounds. for they want
"a that corner to be an attraction. Fol
. few days nothing happened. Then Il
wac whispered about that q sleek-look'
fur countryman from Green Village
whose Aame was vredenburEh. wa:
ahout, ana that he was worth about {
million, and that he was as green al
the village from whence he came. and
that he was 10 st. Louis without hi
wife; which probably meant that h
geould be we'll stimulated most of thu
time, and an easy gentleman to work
He was q farmer. all right; for he hat
Aone his best to hide that fact. HI
had placed upon his person all the out
ward evidences Of the urbantte; but
silk puree never yet was MANUFACTURED
81 4 sow's ear, and this man, withou
a h2ye@ed IN MS hair, was haysee'
beyond all question.
{Vhen the New Workers looked upol
this man they knew they had some
fhfnR superfne. and they remembered
ths ADVICE OF shandy. They determine,
to give him plenty OF rope until h
hung himself.
whats this?,. exclaimed Farme
vredenburgh. siding up to Frank
faro OUTFIT. I've lived in St. Louis al
n AsNa lrAA 4
thing frank soiemnly cracked u
the game.
@Do-de I have to put up an