Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-12
A. CAMEO RING-WATCH

Detective Charles Heidelberg, the New
York giobe-trotting. thief taking sieuth,
was in Washington the other day. and the
man who tells this story was taking ride
in cab with Heidelberg.
What time Is itr' the detectives COM
| panion asked after they had been riding
about for while.
The detective pushed an almost invisible
lever on the side OF the setting OF a large
cameo ring that he wore on the third
finger OF his left hand. Then he placed
his left hand at his left ear and listened
for a moment.
Nine minutes past A. said the detec-
tive.
"AH right-now yeu can go ahead and
tell me about that said the man who was
riding with Heidelberg. II can see that
that big ring of yours Is q repeating
OF how you got IT.
This combination ring and watch" said
Heidelberg. belonged to one Of the most
notorious OF the swagger gang of short
| card players who first took to the working
or the Atlantic liners. He's been dead
| for ten years now, and as his family are
pretty good people, and one OF hts sons In
an officer In the army out in the Philip
pines. needn't mention his name. But he
was star in his class.
The card shark had this ring-watch I'm
| wearing made in Switzerland for a pur-
pose. He made a good many thousands
Of dollars with it. He worked bis game
this way:
When party OF men on ono of the
steamers on which he was a passenger
would get together in the smoking room or
| card room and fall to betting on the days
| run or the number of revolutions of the
snip 8 screw, on the coming weather. or on
any other old thing, he would gently nudge
| In with crack to the effect that there
| wasn't one man In a thousand who could
| properly count off minute-that Is, who
could approximately apprehend the passage
OF sixty seconds. This, of course. would
lead to discussion, and the shark would
attempt to prove his statement by referring
| to the fact that few referees OF prize fights
are able to count ten seconds over the
PROSTATE fighter with anything like ac-
curacy. Then there'd be more chaw on
| this point, and finally the sharper would
| suggest that all hands present chip into
pool, say Of 800 each, the whole bundle
| to be walked away with by the man In the
| pool who could come the nearest to count
| ing minute In his mind. The crowd in q
| smoking or card room never failed to bite
| on this.
| this. you let your wife or some one hold q
| watch for you. and you try to count q
minute. II you come as near as five Sec
onds to the minute without whole lot OF
! pretty good idea of time. There are few
| things harder to do than to agree with the
| second hand Of a watch in counting sixty
seconds mentally
well, they'd all go into the pool. and
some disinterested chap would be brought
| In to hold the ticker, and each mans
| count would be set down on a slip Of
paper. AS the man who suggested the
| until they'd all had their trials before he
essayed to count his minute. He'd rest
| his head in his left hand and watch them
| amusedly while they tried to make an
even-up minute with the watch-and It
never happened that the most skillful Of
| them got any nearer than three seconds of
| It, one way or the other. They were al
| ways that much shy at least or that much
| overdue.
| Still leaning his head In his left hand.
then, this cheerful worker OF. the steamers
would wait for his turn. and then, with
| this almost inaudible but audible enough
| bit OF ticker right close to his ear. he'd
| wade in and count sixty seconds to the
dot-almost He never did 1t exactly to
| the dot. because he didn't want to excite
suspicion naturally, but he always got
| under the wire q winner by a second or so
| from the rest of the bunch In the pool. As
| l say. he won thousands at this scheme
! and only one Of his victims ever suspected
that he had an inside way of keeping tab
| on his minutes. -.
| He worked this trick once too often, as
| most sharks do their little games Oddly
| enough, Scotland Yard man got next to
| the gag. Now, Scotland Yard men YOU
| know. are pretty often obtuse and OPAQUE
and some other things like that, but this
| Scotland Yard man was exception to the
| rule and he tumbled to the card sharks
| little stall. The Scotland Yard man got In
| a minute-guessing pool for a five-pound
| note himself. and the attitude of the short
| card man In counting Off the sixty seconds
struck him as being mite peculiar He
| didn't say anything right then but after
| the card shark had left the smoking room
| after gathering up the pool, he mentioned
ms suspicious to couple of the other
passengers. When the card shark re-
| turned to the smoking room the Scotland
Yard man. sure that he was right, walked
| up behind the sharper. who was sitting
| down, grabbed his wrist In a yise-like
| clutch and said to him:
| Let's have. a look at that ring,
| The shark promptly jumped to his feet
and knocked the Scotland Yard man fiat.
| But the cat was out of the bag, and all Of
| the men In the smoking room who'd been
| IN the minute guessing pool called upon the
| shark to show up his cameo ring With A.
very much aggrieved air the shark pulled
| off the ring on his third finger and threw 1t
| On the table, protesting in dgnifed man.
| ner that they had no right to doubt his In
| tegrity. When they'd got through exam
| lining the ring without finding anything
| unusual about it he took 1t back, laid 1t on
the table again, got hammer and broke
| II open. 1t was just plain cameo ring
that's all, with no works of any kind in
side of it, The shark a wise one in
| his generation. you see, and he had
uupllCdlt-dS lar as the Went-Of
| his watch-ring along with him for Just
| such an emergency. The Scotland Yard
| man got the laugh, of course, and the
shark was restored to the favor of all the
men who'd been led to suspect him on the
Scotland Yard mans say-so, and he was
able to pose before them as an outrag ed
man for the remainder of the voyage. But
he never tried the game again.
This short-card man quit the steamers
with competency and led square life
for some years previous to his cashlng in.
But when he was In his last Illness he sent
for me-rd known him for a good many
years-and handed me this ring. He said
that he didn't want to leave his children
any old thing that had served him In his
former line of grating. It's a fine bit of
work, and Is worth. intrinsically. / should
Judge pretty close to 81 600. I've worn 1t
off and on for a good many years now.
mo" concluded Detective Heidelberg. II
haven't done any business with it,.
The Ways Of the West.
From the Outing Magazine.