Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-09-05

circular disc three feet across, edged
by a leather belt, with numbered CARDS
in Sits set close together all around
it, and these cards can be moved up
and down. by the thumb of the oper-
ator. Beneath each card is another
card, which is either blank or printed
with the amount of prizes, in dollars
The operator slips up one card after
another, shows prizes beneath ranging
for 81 to 500, gives the belt a whlrl
and asks his audience to take a chance
A player pays a dollar and calls a num-
Der that is on n of the outside cards
The faker slips that card up and dis
closes the under card, which is always
blank then. Even if the player saw q
$50 prize there when the faker first
disclosed 1t, it is always blank after
the player has paid to make a selec-
ton.
The "gImmick" in this game is a
rod within the upright post, and a de-
operator moves with his foot, and sc
shifts the prize cards to blanks or back
again at will
Nearly all flat wheels" or spin
dies" consisting Of a metal arrow that
lDPAAAD dlAu DtOPo Will " ROAAAN VA tAA~
prize, have a 'gimmick" known as "the
squeeze" or 1.-THE pinch" which is
carefully hidden. Generally it is q
small steel rod through a hole bored
in the table top from edge to center
its inner end resting against the axle
Of the spindle and its outer end at the
edge of the table, but covered with
oilcloth. The operator may sit with
his left hand resting in seeming care
lessness on the edge of the table, but
as the arrow revolves, he presses the
rod inward with the heel of his palm
and, acting as a brake, the rod stops
the point of the arrow whenever he
wants it.
Often the squeeze" runs to the q
of the table farthest from the Ope tot
and the the pressure is applied q
confederate standing there and pl
the game.
"Squeezes" of various kinds al a
tached to wheels that revolve in a aqt
right position. Men of keen, inv e
minds are studying always to CO ye
wheels of fortune" with new kir
gimmicks SO carefully concealed
no fair official or "rube" can dis
them. One of these that 1 saw
fair in Iowa was seemingly a
wheel revolving on an ordinary
nail driven into an unplaned Tx
upright into the ground. But it
a gimmick and could be slowed
stopped at any number. The board
was not a nail at all but an init
device with thin metal strips for
it's surface and the faker, by pressing
a lever with his knee, pushed a steel
rod in a secret auger hole through
the length of the scantling, and this,
connecting with the hollow axle of
the wheel, which seemed TO be a nail,
caused it's flexible metal sides to bulge
out and act like a brake on the hub
of the wheel.
Crooked Card Games
"Corno" or "beano" is simply the
old-fashioned gambling house game Of
keno, played with beans or corn. The
players sit at a long table, each pays
and is given q card with a column of
five figures in rows. The operator calls
out the nubmers IN marbles as he
draws them from a revolving holder,
or goose" and if those numbers are
on a players card he covers them with
beans or grains Of corn, and the first
player who covers five numbers IN a
row wins the prize. The "gimmick"
in this game consists of special cards
held by confederates and the operator
calls numbers that aust these pluggers
to win.
A roll down" or beehive in which
a marble rolls down between pins set
into a board behind glass and then
rolls out into a numbered pocket, is
made to win or lose by simply touch
ing a button, disguised as a screw
head, which guides the marble as it
rolls for a moment out Of sight be-
hind a slat, and diverts it at will into
a winning or losing pocket.
Another roll down" is any kind OF
a game in which balls are rolled to
draw prizes or blanks. There are many
variations of this skin game. Usually
each wooden ball has a slit cut into
it and a thin disc of metal opens and
shuts into this slit like a blade into
a knife handle, and a number is
stamped on this disc.
A "yap" pays Is cents, picks out a
ball as it rolls on an endless belt be-
fore him, hands it to the faker; he
pulls out the disc and shows the player
the number on it, which corresponds
with a number on a chart hanging
on numbers of two figures as SO or 90,
and the blanks are on three figured
numbers, as sos or 657, but all the fig
ures on all the discs have three figures.
So, when a capper plays the game,
the faker pulls out the disc only far
enough to show two figures, or ne covers
the third figure with his thumb, but
when the sucker plays, the disc is
pulled clear out, to show three figures,
which always draw blanks.
Sometimes the ball has a metal rod
through it, stamped with a number
and when the player picks out a ball
the faker shoves this rod out to two
figures if he wants the player to win
and three figures If he is to lose.
Often several balls are rolled by the
player down an incline and fall into
numbered pockets and these numbers
are added up by the operator and the
total is found on a hanging chart.
All games of this character, in which
the faker adds up a set of numbers, are
called "add-'em-up" games, and are
manipulated to win or lose by the
cleverness of the operator, who, as he
picks up the balls or dice, adds so
rapidly that the sucker cannot follow
him and does not know whether his
total is right or wrong.
Doll Games Look Honest, But
A seemingly honest plaything of the
fairs is the doll rack" or "cat rack" a
series Of shelves, above the other,
on which are rows of stuffed, cotton
covered, painted dolls or cats.
Throw three balls for a nickel and
win three Decent cigars for every doll
Won knock down cries the faker.