The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-07-13
The MAKING or :
PLAYING CARDS
Care Used to Prevent the Pos.
sibility of Cheat
ing.
ARE TRICKY
Fifty Seven Million Packages Of Play.
ing Cards Are Annually Sold in
the United States
Alone.
rrom the ST. Ioseph News.

VIOUl lle oC. joseph N0WS.
Last year more than $1,000. 900 packs
of playing cards We're printed and sold
at a profit by the manufacturers in
Great Britain, France, Germany and
the United States. 1ndustrially re-
garded. the playing card business is
juncts to the world of workers. AS a
contributor to the revenues Of those
Where cards are produced
in quantity, says the Chicago Tribune,
1t is a gold mine.
AT the same time, however, the eX-
pert player who is making a record at
cards. or who has a desire to win
money at the gaming table, finds lit
tie use for a card costing more han
% or 35 cents a pack. His objection to-
The finer card is that it doesn't feel"
eight and shuff1es too easily. For the
card sharp" too, a card which has
The standard back serves his illicit
purpose of marking" better than the
most elaborate of art" backs that can
De designed in gold and colors. Incl
1entally, too, the necessities which the
players feel for a frequent renewal of
he pack makes the item of expense
..or hand made cards seem useless in
whist games, where some n of the
four players is likely to ask for a new
deck after two or three games at the
most. Cards at retail may be bought
Tor 10 cents, is cents, 25 cents, 35 and
SO cents a pack.
Considering the and made cards
that cost from 75 cents to 81 a pack, it
is interesting to remark that whatever
elaborate departure nay be made in the
artistic effects of the back, the con-
Stunning public will nave no change
made in the conventional card face
which has been in use for more thar
fifty years. This card face, as an ex-
preston of artistic design, is consid-
cred far below the standards of the
designer of the present time. For the
person who will afford a bible in an
edition de luxe up to SIS, or even $40,
The standard card face is quite enough
to satisfy his artistic temperament.
Time and again some e~nterprising card
manufacturer who has made a hit with
q novelty in a card back has tried to
make the face of the a meet in ar
.istic measure-and has failed. Not.
even the variation of the card spots;
will be tolerated, not ever the "squeez-
err mark in the corners nay be altered
The players first wish is that he shall
recognize a card the instant that he'
turns it's face, and to do this he in
sists upon the card face as it a stood
for half a century at least.
That the back Of a card shall not
soil easily is one of the first desid-
sratums of the player. In many of the
ornate backs hat W. been put on the
market there is too much light surface
to carry the imprint Of a finger. Then
in the cardboard base there are two
sheets of paper pasted together, MAX
ing the handmade card too thick. while
the Cub coat of enamel with it's COM
position slip makes it too smooth
for handling by the player, who does
not stick always to this style Of card.
The cheaper cards are printed from a
continuous roll of cardboard, the backs
printed first and the faces last, after
ward covered with a coat of enamel,
which has the slip introduced by Sc
cret process. The handsome article is
made virtually a deck at q time from
u flat sheet of cardboard. On this the.
backs are printed first upon the first.
coat of enamel, then the faces are,
on back and face necessitating it's sep
arate imprint and when these coats
have dried another coat finishing the.
card With enamel and slip" is applied
front and back. Another drying pro
cess prepares he cardboard with it's
tifty-tWo imprints ready for he
| punches.
1t is in punching the card from the.
strip into which sheets are cut that the.
highest degree of precision must be
reached. The card die fits into the die
as closely as polished, tempered, sharp
ened steel can be made to fit, and aft
err the punch has been perfected the.
greatest care must be taken of it in
preserving the edges, SO hat not the
slightest abrasion or ~irregularity shall
exist in a pack of cards after they ara
assembled.
Only one punch can be used in cutting
a pack. There may be 100 punches at
work in the factory, but not one of
these can cut a card effectively for the
completion of a deck cut by another
punch. Somewhere in the edge of such
a card an unevcnness would serve tc
identify 1T in the hands of a man who
might try to use thep pack into which il
was placed. Punching the f1fty-two
Y no r1c Of tho 1oo1y ,,,;+l tIo 49,
punch, however, the result is a smooth,
even surface as unintelligible to the.
touch as the faces or backs of the IN
dividual cards themselves.
When a card pack of good grade has
been as carefully printed and cut as is
possible, there is still the closest inspec.
ton Of each card entering the box. No
spot or misprint on face or back. No
~roughness of edge or any possibility of
unevenness of width is allowed to pass
But when all these precautions have
been taken to the best of expert skill
the man who is past master of cards
may mark a deck inside Of three min
utes' play until every caro- he may need
In the game Is his for the looking at the
pack of it.
This fact, together with the superstt-
tons of card players in general does
more for the playing card business thar
almost anything else. If ever the
characters of the players in any game
hS ilepiOdCildDle, lnlS lemen of
superstitution appeals to some play
Frs. For instance, one has a run Of
bad luck in a pack of cards having .
led back, he is likely to lay the fact to
he color and to ask for a blue back, OF
4 green one, or for one having some
color combination in which he has
thought to have discovered luck" in
Zines past.
In many of the great card tourna-
nents where whist is played no pach
IF cards ever is used a second time. IN
DAYS one game and is thrown aside
however serviceable it may prove to
amateurs. into whose hands there are
possibilities of it's falling.
Found His Weak Point,
I'm your fortieth year." raid the palm
tst, you will encounter a great peril"
Guess not" said the man who was
consulting her. I'm already &c."
"Well," she reioined, not in the leas
dtsconcerted, "all l nave to say to that i.
that the lines in your hand contradict