Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-09-07

He gave the spindle vicious Zlp-p
and I could tell by his looks that his
heart was in his neck. He made all
. kinds of facial contortions and his
eyes stuck out foot. The spindle
crept forward slowly and it looked as
though it would stop on five boxes,
lust missed five, slipped over two, un-
der one-and stopped on DU.
For thirty seconds Shorty could
not speak. Then he blurted out,
Well, how much does it cost me this
timer
"Do you mean,' said, to double
up? It costs you, Of course, just s64
this time, but remember you shall re-
tain your interest in the bet. 1t forces
me, neighbor, to put down $12S. OF
course should she stop on the 1, 2, 3,
4, you win the amount proportion
ately.'
by CAD, I've not got that much
with me- he replied.
In the meantime I had the booster
playing along with him and a lot Of
. outsiders were also playing small bets
and edging him on. He reluctantly
decided to drop out, and, Of course my
booster covered his interest-and
promptly won the big pot. When
with a great clatter Of silver I hand
ed the booster over the money
thought Shorty would drop dead in
his tracks.
He decided to start all over again
and asked, We'll, what will it cost me
now? And he began again at two
bits and little by little raised it to s12
and then dropped out, skinned as clean
as a whistle.
After 1 got that Shorty went
around and made it so hot with my
boosters that decided to close the
house for the day. We got rig and
started for Springville, town on the
main line Of the Denver and Rio
Grande.
1--WE were just in time to get a
train for a point down the line, and as
the train pulled out stood on the
back platform and saw Shorty COM
ing down the road in rig, with three
or four tough looking friends and a
deputy sheriff, I waved my hand and
smiled"
And now the talk drifted to various
forms of flat joints and the man
with the lilac gloves and the nobby
San Francisco clothes going home to
friends in Chicago who may or may
not know his trade-grew deeply in
terested in his craft and discussed
with expert information many of its
subtleties.
1.-The umbrella game is bit mild
err" he said reminiscently. Its a
wheel with coloT5. but there is a
squeeze Of course as in the other
form of camel back. We couldn't do
business without the plan Of stopping
it when and where we please, could
we?"
"Of course not, pal, certainly not
the tourist cut in, and he looked re-
lieved.
Every man to his own trade" he
returned with sigh; you have your
way of skinning the public, I have
mine. We all live off the public, I
say. How is that, Ell? Candidly, now,
how is it?"
The train thundered on through
the night and in the lull In the talk
the man with the lilac gloves seemed
to be thinking deeply. He resumed
after he had apparently calmed the
remnants Of his conscience with some
sort Of invisible knockout drops:
Say there are six colors. They put
money down on a color, but there is
booster who goes with them, see,
and puts down on the colors not COW
cred. Five or six people can play this
game.
Now, If a dime calls color, he is
supposed to get a dollar umbrella,
and he has the privilege Of selling it
back to me for 81. A two.bit color
called brings a $3.50 umbrella, which
I buy back at that figure.
THE umbrellas are just a stall to
evade the law. They cost wholesale 81
dozen. If man wins $3.50 UNI
as he does for 81; for, with slight va
riations in the handles, the umbrellas
are all alike. The limit of wins is
ten umbrellas, or $25 for the best, or
$40 for the supposedly poorer UNI
brellas. We take them all back Of
course.
1.-The man that works the squeeze
always stops it on the color that has
blue, IS on the red, 81 on the black,
| 10 cents on the green and $40 on the
yellow, he stops it on the green. The
percentage Is six to one, so strong
that the player has no chance to win.
1.-The cloth is variation of the
spindle. A green cloth, with twelve
miniature pins like bowling alley pins
comprises the outfit. The pins are
cut square with four numbers, one on
each side. There is board on the
order Of a blackboard, with numbers
on it, for prizes. Then, there are sew
eral numbers that mean JP and DU,
or double up if you wish to retain
your interest.
THE idea is for the bube to knock
down pins, and with lightning rapid
ity the CRATER counts the numbers in
view, or miscounts them. He has
peculiar combinations, uses rather
mysterious language.
Here is the way of it: 'Ah, ha, ah, ha!
2 and is %, and is "a And then
the player says, What's that!' and
the CRATER takes a stick and goes
over 1t again, with a show of fairness,
but keeps miscounting. Why, my
neighbor, look, 2, 4, 6, s, 10 and IL is
IA, and Is 2S,' and to distract atten-
ton, adds in loud triumphant voice,
'Ha ha! Look on the board, neigh
Dor, and see where % isl 1t means
DU again, and he must double to stay,
Holy Moses!"
And the CRATER chuckled in spite
of himself; it was very real to him.