The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-06-07
feOERN GAMBLERS
WORK PULLMAN CARS
.roRY POKER GAMES AS
|REDn nn IN RAILWAY TRAIN
PA nArE ROOMS TO-DAY.
Lcu,y SKILLED AND sTAKED

corbisticated Men of Money Are
Invited asisr ' Has the Slightest Chance
| To 1'o'I Escape UntFimrnsd. .,,,. =
=. ,gainst the law to gamble In
. 20 this offense is even tel
Pnlf' .. ., on equal terms with
or forgery-and perhaps
r &C.. 60 But Americans are gamb-
gn'9 ors furiously now than ever
g.. ,. probably because there is an
p's n+ Of sport in violating lilac
Fnl '1 s+stutes. Some can go to Monte
~, ~ and do. Far greater numbers
H. .noge to get to Cuba, and still more
' rlor;da. where there are opportuni-
~ bucking the tiger in any way
Pr la 4'c great American public is
Da ti;n Wv on the railway trains, and
u n no HE'D without mercy.
e ing, V sroker and pullman car games
ne 6e ir played all over the country
NV psire he compared to the things
D. o Sla9t on aboard the old Mississip,,
sal . "Tm, fifty, sixty, seventy and
slS8r wears ago. The Pullman Com
sgn,S bss lately declared war on the
l!yhl s~ professionals who are
l a.L;ng the trains in all parts of the
o a1trT and victimizing all classes OF
a an"I men. An order was recent
a "; ;spsned barring known gamblers
,n ,'' the big town stations, and the
s .ansn have been instructed not to
i these men aboard trains.
pranklv this order sounds like
lmetbing OF wry joke. How. are
I'M going to know a professional
&mbipr in these days, when the whole
a D,' NJ them are careful to dress like
ssnkers and pass themselves OFT as
EIasmen and manufacturers? And ii
IN feel fairly certain that a man is
SsmbIer how are you going to keep
I'M off a, train once he has bought his
ErL,t and made his pullman reserva-
mi How can you keep a murderer
"A train, for that matter?
\ The railroad gambler of today is a
sr different man from his predeces-
h Of the last generation. He plays
n bigger money, lays his snares for
h sophisticated and eSchews the rubes
IN countrymen altogether, conducts
kimself decorously and tries in every
In to conceal his profession. The
Zines he works are mostly a mixture
4 crooked gambling and confidence
'ames. The technique of the present
|ay railroad sharpers is far finer than
Ecr before. Such feats of car manipu-
kton as seemed mastery to the men
\ twenty and thirty years ago are
low looked upon as downright stupid
bid clumsy.
Every one with any knowledge OF
be game will remember how it used
Il be done. A gambler or pair OF
hem got into the smoking car OF a
lain and made dicker with the news
hid candy boy. He was to handle
rocked cards for them and when they
3tarted game he was supposed to
kll these crooked cards into the game,
% that his gambler associates could
sluck their victims. These cards were
ever anything more clever than ready
hade marked cards or readers. Often
hey were mere shippers, cards slight
\ wider at one end than the other, so
hat the gambler could reverse the aces
1nd so deal them where he liked.
These old smoker games were new
4 large. Fifty-cent or dollar limit po-
FER was about all that could be got
lut OF the travelling public to be found
i smokers.
But all this has been changed. The
Fam gamblers today operate mainly
the pullman and club cars, where
Pc public with more money travels
|nd where the shark has every oppor-
llnlty to select his dupes. The play
fg is now usually done in a state
Uon' hired by the gamblers. There
leed be no audience or gallery unless
n players invite spectators. The
\ may be as high as the purses
4 the victims will allow. There have
Zen games in which twenty, thirty
m nifty thousand dollars have been
|sked and lost.
Inc expenses of the modern train
gambler are much higher than of old.
ne fare is double what it used to be
La the pullman state room charges
u heavy. A pair of gamblers travel
Eg together must count on a daily
Ependlture of about $500 for fares,
Luz room, meals and tips. They are
||VEy II the cost does not reach $500
E E per day. This nut money" can
n De got back out of small games.
Isah the gamblers may be out day
TWO or they may make an entire