The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-04-01
REgEALED BY i COEPAS


IN 1866 o. 1865 ] was q elvii engi-
neer on ne Union paeIdc Railroad
lhe1 bnldIng me tenn terminus
Has at Jnleshnfi. q city that. IKE
syonah's gcurd spfang up in q night
md Ike odunIs disappeared as auds
ttoag Julesbarg extinction,
non the establishment 81 8 new.
tesniil1l iarther -. It laramie NJ,
dqdAEters we're in Jnlesburg. and
more thorough exponent, Of ali That
81 vile IN humanity never bloomed on
The face Of the earth. All night could
re heard the sound Of fiddies in the
lance halls, "0ne more lady in this
set Kenot2 and other similar cries.
On the evening Of my arrival, Curl
spns TO get q glimpse Of what was GO
Ing on. visited the different places
OF hilarity. finally bringing up in
heap OF boards that had been nailed
together for a gambling den. There
we're faro, keno. roulette and In one
corner a table at which two men With
heaps Of money before them we're
throwing dice. noticed that this
table was not improvised, like the
other furniture Of the place. II was
Of polished black walnut and orna-
mented. One of the men throwing
dice was a pock-marked, red-headed
man with sinister countenance. the
other a fne type Of the rugged, hon
est, fearless plainsman. 1 looked on
the game for awhile and was aston
tshed at the way the dice rolled for
che plainsman's adversary. l had
heard Of loaded dice and the skill
with which they could be thrown,
but I had never dreamed of anything
like this 1t seemed that the red
headed man could do with them az
ne liked. Finally the plainsmRn in
dmated that all was not fair. The
other, instead of resenting the i'm
putaton, called on me to throw for
him Tor awhile. l did SO and met
with the same astonishing luck as
himself.
Handing the dick back to him, 1
stood wondering how the trick was
done, for ] did not doubt that itiwas
a trick. OF course the pockmarked
man lost occasionally, but it was
7;ein te me that such losses were in
tentlolta!. At times his luck seemed
to be very poor, while that of the
plalnsnian was never very good or
very bad. How the dice could he
manipulated, as I was sure they were,
| could not conceive. but while was
racking my brain to discover the
plainsman had lost several thousand
dollars. and the pile before him had
been reduced to nearly nothing.
While In that country carried no
valuables. In my trousers pocket
had a silver watch worth perhaps So.
Having an appointment at 10 O'Clock,
I pulled out my watch as l thought,
TO note the time. but instead drew
forth pocket compass, an article |
needed constantly. What was my
establishment to see the needle vi
brate feverishIy, and when it settled
instead of pointing TO what had
supposed was north, 1t pointed due
east. The men at the table were SO
Immersed in their game that did not
ask them where the north pole lay,
but turned to a man behind me. He
told me 1t was where supposed 1t
was.
Here was new food for thought. I
looked at the table and saw that I'M,
der its top there was an lnclosed
space about foot square. l WON
dered why place like that should be
in dice table. Then it occurred to
me that there was something in 1t to
influence the dice.
Stranger" 1 said to the pock-
marked man. what's in the box I'M
der the table?"
He glanced at me without reply.
The plainsman bent down, then, put
ting his hands to the table Top, gave
u lift. The top came OF and exposed
the interior of the box. There In
plain view was horseshoe magnet,
or, rather, teIegraphic machine.
The plainsmAn whipped out revolv-
er and covered his antagonist.
THANK We. stranger" he said 10
me. please look into 1t while | see
that you have fair play. Hands up,
pleased" to the pockmarked man.
The order was obeyed, and 1 made
the examination. Inside the table,