Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-09
CASE OF "DOG-EAT-DOG"

THAT recent story OF the exposure OF a
1 card swindler in the progress OF . big poker
/ game on the Cedric reminds me of some
thing observed Washington cluhman
/ who goes abroad every year. when 1
| was making the voyage across in the sum-.
/ mer Of 1902. Liverpool-bound, one of the
/ victims of poker swindler worked pretty
adrolt scheme to make the cheat disgorge.
but In working his scheme the victim of
| the cheat showed himself to be not much
| better than the swindler when 1t came to
observation-disclosures. and his get-even stunt
was viewed with anything but admiration
1 by the men In the cardroom who witnessed
1 II.
THE heaviest loser In the four handed
game OF draw, which the professional card
| shark got going after the ship left this
| side. was a Pittsburg chap who wore the
! INDIAN sign of the hard loser all over him.
There was really no excuse for that
| particular game. nor for any other game
/ of draw on that steamer between men I'M
| known to each other, for as soon as the
/ professional card worker Of the ship had
/ come on board he had been spotted by the
/ purser. The purser Immediately put up
placards of warming, notifying all hands
that a professional gambler was on board,
| and advising them to play cards with no
| body not personally known to them.
in spite Of this, as usual, the profess
| SlOndl Sharper ndQ Httio or no dlmCUIty
| In getting the fourAhanded game started,
and the three suckers that he assembled
around him looked like pretty meaty pick
! Ing.
THE professional sharks unerrng eye
| informed him that the young Pittsburger
| would probably stand to drop the largest
| wad in the progress OF the game. and so
| he directed his phony work particularly
| at that player, setting him back more than
| two thousand dollars before the game was
| forty-eight hours old.
| 1.-THE gamblers unerr!ng eye wasn't
clever enough, however, to tell him what
| the Pittsburg young man was going to do
| about 1t. And, when it comes to that,
l@suppose that no man on earth could have
| figured out In advance just what the Pitts
| burg man did do near the close of the
| third day of the game, when he found
| himself nearly three thousand to the bad.
/ 1T took the Pittsburger these three days
to reach the conclusion that the man who
/ had organized the game was the swindler
/ against whom the placarded warning of
| the purser had been directed. Then the
| PittSburg man watched the sharper's work
| closely. He finally snagged him in the act
| of dishng EN- out from the bottom of the
i deck.
But the Pittsburger didn't say anything
| about his discovery. When the game was
| adjourned for luncheon, however be got
| hold of one of the discarded decks with
which they had been playing. The cards
| all came from the ships stock, and all had
the same kind of backs.
|
| room and. with his flngernail, he carefully
| marked all of the aces and picture-cards OF
the discarded deck. Then he slipped the
deck of cards into his pocket and went
| to luncheon.
! when the game was resumed after the
| meal, the PittSburg waited till 1t be-
| came his turn to deal He engaged the
other players in conversation with regard
to the betting pools on the steamers daily
| runs, and while this talk was on he deftly
substituted the deck which he had marked
| for the deck with which they had been
| playing, shuffling and dealing the marked
| deck.
Then, when he picked up the deck to
| deal cards after the discard, he began to
scrutinlze the backs of the cards carefully,
and, as he did so, he worked himself up
| into pretty good lather. The swindler
and the other two players watched him
| narrowly.
! burg man, pushing back his chair and
| jumping to his feet. These cards are
marked and he tossed the cards into the
middle of the table, backs up and pointed
| out the fingernail markings which he him
| self had made. We've been played for
suckers he went on, stormtly, addressing
the other two players, and there's the
/ swindlerp
a finger with which he pointed 1t was a
short-barreled bulldog gun that he flashed
as he accused the professional shark.
| You shell out the three thousand that
=
or I'll drill you the Pittsburg man
| howled at the shark, sticking the gun right
| into the mans face.
The gun wins all right said the shark,
| pretty pale. and he pulled out his big roll
| and skinned three thousand from it, push
| ing the money across the table to the Pitts
| burg man. who still held him under the
| gun But all the same went on the
| sharper, you're a dirty scut, and you're
| worse than l ever or ever will be-
| You know that didn't mark those cards
And II was right at this point that the
| P1ttsburger made his mistake He could
| have stood pat on his statement that the
| sharper had marked the cards and got
| away with 1t, but he was a shifty shufier
! without much nerve or pride, and he did
| the other thing.
Yes, he said, lowering his gun and
| sticking the money that had been passed
| to him by the shark into his pocket 4
| DO know that you didn't mark those cards
| Il marked them myself. But 1 do know
| that you're professional short-card play
| er, and when l stack up against that kind
| It's case of dog-eat-dog with me. l ad-
| wise you two fellows he wound up, adj
| dressing the other two players as he start
| ed to leave the card room to make this
! sWlndler dig up what he has cheated you
| out of, too
Well, he's welcome to what he got ont
of me- one Of the players replied, pretty
! gruffly, and, In my opinion. IT'S stand
on between the pair of YOU
! And that's how 1t came about that the
| Pittsburger was coupled In the betting.
| so to speak, with the card shark for the
remainder of the voyage, and ostracized
| by all hands just as plainly as the genuine
| short-card swindler was"
| -------e-
| Illegible Prescriptions.
| From the Lancet
| fllppih1iitv Of