The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-03-01

The great Sherman Eddie. the only.
lie mas a bolt OF dark clotn under his
arm, kind q limps in. begs pardon, and
the rest opens up jest as natural. The
bolt Of cioth-thats the opener. After
a few pieliminaries the circuit judge,
or myself, gets curious and fingers the
cloth. Good stuff, that Mighty good,
says Eddie. with a smile like he owned
the Garth and knew everything that
was In il. AN wool and a yard wide
says the judge, by way of 4 joke. Here
ltddie's smile gets as kindly and ndu
gent as an a~rchbishoI's. Not a thread
of wool in it, gentlemen says eddie.
Ihen everybody looks at 1t, feels the
cloth and Eddie ever %unravels a thread
of 1T, and lets EN- set a match to it and
smell 1t burning. If hat isn't wool.
says | then I'm nightly fooled
Eddie lets EN- guess and argue n
look at the cloth and feel of it again
and again, all the time with that mys-
terlous smile. No, gentlemen finally
says Eddie, I've told you the truth.
there isn't a particle Of wool in it.
That cloth is made from the bark Of
the yucca tree of -Patagonia-it's called
yucca fiber cloth and has all the prop
critics of wool, but can be manufactured
for one-third the price of wool cloth,
and so on.
Are you gentlemen In business
hereY says Eddie Then comes intro
auctions all around, the circuit judge,
the banker and the spieler who an
nounces himself as the agent of the
P~atagonian Fiber Cloth who
is trying to introduce his wonderful
cloth throughout the United States and
Following the circus because he liked
the life, or could meet more people, or
had other side lines, or whatever the
spiel happened to belt didn't make
any difference what 1T was, it always
sounded all right from Eddie. And
then Eddie finds out, you know. the
nigh standing of his new friends, the
circuit judge, the bank president and
the merchant fish. he is delighted-he
fairly beams on us-takes us right in
hand and won't be denied.
Just the kind of men l want to
meet, he says. and oh, he was great,
my cherub. simply great. L want to
make every one of you a suit of clothes
out of this cloth-it will be a better ad
Tor me h IA columns of printers ink.
Just come along with me- have a lit
tie office outside And off we go, and
then the game really begins.
We follow him to a little side tent
outside. sherman talking, laughing,
telling yarns and showing himself a
prince generally. The victims got a
sult or clothes on his mind-a free suit,
You know. lad and made out of the
great yucca cloth, the only one, it Will
be, in the whole town.
Inside the promoters tent, he brings
forth a demijohn end we all have a
pull. Human nature again. Funny how
IL VIII go up against a strange bottle
or demijohn and a k all the chances
OF Its being doped. Blu it never was
doped. There wouldn't a been any
psychology in that, little one. Well.
We all get measured for our clothes,
as solemn as sin. | can see Eddie now
a-puttln' down the figures. You'll
want a dress coat he saws to the VIC
| finn 'Son1athipp ro,,l1 ba ,,,,,,l =. 90
As, l6-25,' and then we all get a sam
pie off the bolt to take home to our
wives.
And that's all there is to the cloth
business. Another pull out of the jug
ana Eddie opens up the real game.
IA" produces the three cards and be-
gins to throw EN- about and we begin
TO get interested. Chance rules the
world avs he. and this lottery is
under the auspices of the great manu-
featuring establishment l represent.
In an hour (taking out his Natch)
throw throw for the great prize of
four hundred dollars Cor a thousand,
Whatever we figure the victim good
or If 1T wasn't for this DIVERSION
says Eddie beaming like a preacher,
time would hang heavy on my hands.
Before the big turn comes on I'll show
You how It's done. l throw EN-. YOU
pick the winning card and that's all
there is to it. The richest concern in
the world is back of me-whatever
you WIN you're sure to get. l throw
you any amount up to u thousand dol
lars
But that's gambling says the cir
cunt Judge, a putin out his chest, and
| cannot sanction gambling. It's
against the law
"'Oh now, l hadn't tho't of your
bein a Judge says the great Eddie,
of course not but this bein' among
! gentlemen Srp, in,nu+ al, $50. -,
and Eddie look like a great thought
had come down from above and hit
I'M on the center of his beausiful soul
i nave it-judge. o nave the same
power and authority, | take it, off the
bench that YOU do on the bench do
YOU not" Never catch Eddie a-sayln'
don't yonL'do You not and the way
he turned it out was the most conyin-
chit sounded so genuine.
Most certainly says the judge,
still u swellin. I hay the same au-
thority on as off the bench. But what
of that
Eddie. ."
"'certainly. sir says the judge. WITH
a big front. I can administer the OATH
either on or off the bench
Then says Eddie, this being
among and under the rose Whatever
that meanO, YOU just administer the
oath TO all of us never to reveal the
secrets of this tent or what transpires
here, and each of us is safe, 'bein'
honorably protected
Sounds foolish. don't it, lad pom
my soul. If | hadn't helped to do it
time and ume again. / wouldn't be-
lieve myself that it could be done so
easy. Blu human nature ah. it's an
easy mark, my eoslin'.
We'll. to cut ii short. the Judge
finally agrees to administer the oath.
1t was just like a play. Hold up your
hands. gentlemen, all. Repeat after
me. | do solemnly swear'-he says,
/ do solemnly swear, we repeat after
him.
Never to reveal
Never to reveal
ITO any living human bein'. chick nor
ld-Ed always had the udg frame
1t up that way, for some reason-'chick
nor child 1T gave a sort o. finish to the
thing. To any living human being, chick
nor child, what transpires beneath this
tent and so ON, a big, fine rigma~le that
Eddie had made up and which somehow
or another always made the victim feel
as II he was obligated in some way TO go
ahead with the business.
Maybe the vic wouldn't come in at
first, but generally after he saw the bank
or and the judge pick the card and win a
five or a ten-we always started small-he
~ 49, 49,.