Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-23
EA-GoING sW1NDLERs

IT was surprised at the statement Of an
old-time faro bank dealer in last Satur-
days Star to the effect that so many OF the
tiger-buckers do the baby act and whimper
for the return Of their lost money" OBJ
served q travelled Washington man. II
never could understand those fellows who
| set up a long, mournful moan when they
have lost their money at any kind of q
game into which they willingly and even
eagerly enter. My experience-but 1t does not
comprehend or include faro banks-is that the
| squealer, in ninety-nine cases out of a hun
dred. gets the laugh and nothing else. Even
| when a man has been done by sharpers. !
| think 1t q fair statement that nobody has
| the slightest sympathy for him when he
| squeals. The squealer Is spineless. and
that let's him out of 1t in so far as getting
! sympathy goes.
"A few years ago a young man attach
| ed to one of the government scientific bu-
| reaus here permitted himself to be done out
| Of the -inconseQuential sum of SEQ by a
couple of cutters of the rough-edge cards
! on one Of the English steamers-the young
| man was returning from brief European
tour. The protests he made about the shred
| ding to his fellow-passengers were dis
| tressing. When the ship reached New York
| he had the pair of sharpers pinched, but he
didn't have the nerve to appear against
them, and they were turned loose-which
| is the way 1t generally happens.
THE Britishers haven't any more use
| for the squealers than we have on this
| side. Not so many years ago a well-known
| member Of the British parliament took a
| cruise to Australia for the sea air. When
he left the steamer at Melbourne he COM
planned to the police that couple of fe-
male fellow-voyagers had done him out Of
500 pounds at the game Of whist. He had
the two women arrested. The women were
| crooks, all right. but nothing could be
proven against them, and the Melbourne
magistrate acquitted them. All Australia
| united in giving the member of parliament
| the laugh. Sardonic accounts Of the af-
fair were cabled to England. The mem
Der of parliament sulked and took the next
steamer for home. When he stood for re-
election to parliament he was showed I'M
der. His constituency was a sporting one.
1t was bad enough, in their view, that their
representative in parliament should have
squealed over gambling loss, but that he
should have squealed over being done by
women was intolerable.
1T may be quite different as to the faro
banks, but the fellows who squeal after be-
ing done on the steamers are very few. The
public hears of about only one case in 500
| in which transatlantic travellers are shred
| ded by sharks. The other 400 victims take
| their medicine and say nothing. like SEN
| sible people. They know that it's their
| own fault in dsregarding the Beware. the
gamblers placardS and even the verbal
| warnings of the ships officers in many
cases There are some fellows who would
| play cards at sea with strangers If the let
| ters of the warning placards were nine feet
| high. so what's the use?
'All the same, most Of the sea-going
swindlers will fall for an ingeniously
| framed-up scare scientifically thrown into
them. I've seen them hastily dig up their
winnings on several occasions under the
| impulse of extreme fright. Mere threats
of handing them over to the police upon
the arrival of the steamer in port do not
| bother them-they only laugh at such
| threats But there are other methods.
About eight years ago young Kansas
City chap who had inherited a few thou
sand dollars was on his way to the other
side to blow in the money. Despite all sorts
of warnings, he sat into two-handed
poker game with notorious worker of the
| steamers The young fellow was one of
those would-be foxy lads, and he was so
enamored of his skill with the pasteboards
that he'd just like to see the shark who
could shred him when he had his eyes wide
open, that's all-and let me add, by the
way, that if l possessed one One-hundredth
of the money I've seen lost to swindlers
by these perky chaps who are dead In
love with their own card craftiness in any
| and all circumstances. I'd have enough to
buy the best cigars with for the remainder
of my life. and good deal more.
LAS a matter Of course, the sharper got
the Kansas City boy for his bundle-a mat
| ter of three or four thousand dollars. But
| the way the thing fell out proved that the
Kansas City lad had plenty Of foxiness at
! that. even if he hadn't had enough sense to
duck a poker game with man he'd never
seen before. The steamer was only half a
| day out from Liverpool when the young
| chap lost out in the final jackpot and found
| his legacy all in. The excitement Of the
! last lose-out had given his countenance a
| hne working pallor., He pushed his chair
ahead of him out of bullying eyes In a crazy
| sort of way.
"'Well, it's all off with me- he gasped
hoarsely I've got no kick coming min 81 81
| square game. But the dough didn't belong
| to me. 1t was my boss money. He runs
| a big millinery plant in Kansas City, and
he sent me on this trip to buy millinery
| stock with it. I don't dare go back to
Kansas City, Of course It's all off with
me. The only thing for me to do is to pipe
| out. that's all
''Whereupon he yanked out gun and
started to point 1t at his head The shark
quickly leaped over the table and grabbed
| the hand that held the gun. The Kansas
| City boy didn't know it, but this swindler
| for crooked work. He knew, therefore.
not only the severity of English prisons,
but of English law The steamer was
| close to Liverpool, and he knew that If
| his victim shot himself he, the swindler.
| had a swell chance to be held responsible
| for it under the English law. He had put
| in his nine-year stretch at breakwater
building. in water UP to his waist. He
dldn want any more EHSiiSH prison ile
in his.
STOW all that" the swindler growled,
wrenching the gun out of the Withholding
youths hand and laying it on the table.
I'll give you back your losings, you miser-
able cub. he added in a sort of panic.
What the devil do you mean by playing
| cards with money that doesn't belong to
your
"'Oh, it doesn't matter-I'm tired of it
all, anyhow gurgled the desperate-looking
youngster, trying to reach for the gun.
His acting was immense. 1t got the
shark going, at any rate. He pulled the
| gun out of reach. hastily hauled out his
| wallet, and, with trembling hands, counted
| out on the table the amount out of which
| he had cheated his youthful victim. Then
| he pushed the stack of money across the
| table. saying:
There you go, you mush-head, and you
may be glad that you were playing with
an honest and conscientious man, or you'd
| have a lead pill inside your imbecile head
| by this time,
1.-The Kansas City man snatched the
money, stuffed it into his inside pocket
| grnned. grabbed the gun from the table
and snapped 1t in the air six times. The
gun empty!
You honest and Conscientious? he
bawled at the shark, with more nerve than
anybody watching the affair had ever eX-
pected of him. You're just as much of a
sucker and a come-on and a mark and a