Omaha daily bee., 1911-10-08
FAKER FOOLS THE CROWD
In scene that Pulls
Money.

The street faker had his little stand
all fixed up In a little-used alleyway In
Chicago. He stood back and surveyed
his place OF business" with an admir-
ing eye. Next he unwrapped a number
OF bundles. placed little box on one
side OF the stand for the shekels he knew
were coming in. and then he started
Il have what is known as the combina-
ton knife sharpner and can opener. You
can see how easily open that can top"
and here the faker took the ~ from
can that he had on the stand The little
article he was showing was made OF
cheap metal, but he opened the Gu with
ease. Next he took butcher knife
hacked the edge of II on a old piece Of
iron several times, Keeping up running
fire OF conversation all the time. After he
had nicked and dulled the edge Of the
knife he ran It through tho sharpener
several times, explaining as he did so the
marvellous power OF the steel he used in
the device.
Next he fingered the edge OF the blade
ginEerly, and rolling back his sleeves,
shaved the hair from his arm. so sharp
was the knife. He sold the device for 10
cents.
Business Jagged; he was selling only
one or two after each experiment, al
though the crowd was fairly large. A
large, sullen- looking German was seen
pushing his way through the crowd close
to the stand. He watched the faker as
the latter explained the little article
again. Then the man, who looked like
mechanic, said young fellow, could
you sharpen a knife made OF tool steel
on that sharpener?"
The faker replied that he could sharpen
anything made Of cold steel, even though
II was highly tempered The German
said It was impossible and laughed In
scorn at the faker Naturally, the SYM
pathy of the crowd was with the Ger
man. who by this time was heaping a
TRADE OF abuse on the poor faker, calling
him a cheat, burglar and everything
else that sounded bad in public
The faker picked up box full of dimes
containing easily s. and bet them against
81 that he could sharpen any knife.
The crowd looked at the German for q
comeback" He came back all right-ln
fact that was why he was there. He
placed dollar bill on the stand, and,
reaching in his pocket, produced a large
knife, such as is carried by mechanics.
There" he said. That is made of
cold steel. You sharpen 1t and take the
money"
IAN right" replied the fakir. "only I'll
bet you s. more TO another dollar that l
can put an edge on II within thirty Sec
onds that you can shave your arm with,
and / will hack It on this iron before /
start to sharpen II, too
You're on" said the German, and he
laid down another dollar. The faker
picked up the little wonder" drew the
blade across the steel several times,
rolled back his cuff and shaved the hair
from his arm. just as he said he would
Dismayed and crestfallen, the German
picked up his knife after examining the
edge, hung hisI head and skunk away
from the crowd. As he left the faker
said
Now ladies and gentlemen. l have
convinced one skeptic that my little arr
tcle is all that I claim for It. II there
any one else that has any money? We
have been getting away from the main
subject, however, and I will explain the
shsrpener again. Chicago News.