Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-09-05
WW / IIH D6uI NIX = State and County Exhibitions his Fall PrngM N
OeM More that Bnmmn Was Right as the "
y WRdf ForumeH eSh she'll Came Doll Rack and Other Devices f the CRATER duck the public i

w. H. Huber, secretary.
The following are counties which
will not hold fairs this year: Broad.
water, Daniels, Dawson, Deer Lodge
Granite, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Still.
water, Sweet Grass, Teton, Treasure anC
Wheatland.
Thousands of persons in Montana
who go to state and county fairs, vii
stroll down 1.-The Midway" and be luree
to try their luck at wheels of fortune
and other games; will throw balls a
stuffed dolls and cats, toss rings anc
hoops at canes, knives and clothespinS
pitch balls at buckets, jars and boxes,
fling darts at targets and numbered
squares; play the corno and beanc
games, drop tin discs on painted spots
roll numbered balls down tilted boards
drop marbles into glass beehives; fish
celluloid ducks from miniature ponds
shoot corks at golden prizes, swing a
ball at a wooden peg; try to pick the
walnut shell the little pea is under
and will be wondering why they ccul0
never win.
When they accepted the takers in
vitation to try it lust for fun they
always won, but when they paid to
try and win a prize they always bst.
Other men and women could lay
with gay blankets, bridge lamps, clo,ks,
watches, canaries in cages, bright
aluminium ware and other rich prizes,
but you always drew blanks, and you
will be asking. Why did l always
lose?"
The Language of Takers
The answer is that the fakcr Oper-
ating the game did not want you to
win. Nearly every gaming device that
you will see on a fair ground this fall
will be dishonest, and nearly every mar
or woman you see operating them will
be a sharper The very language OF
the fair faker is crooked. He is never
a plain and honest salesman, pedCler,
Snowman or auctioneer, but, in general
terms, he is a "faker."
Anyone who plays the games or goes
to the shows of the fair Midway is
known to the faker as a "yap," mark,
fall guy" 'rube," rubber neck" come
on" "simp," monkey" or sucker"
The fair and everything about it mas
a slang name of its WI to the faker.
The Fair is "the racket" The open
front tent or canopy Of yellow canva
in which the faker has his game is
the joint" If it is an ordinary Scent
or 10-cent game like a cane or knife
rack, a ball throwing game or pick
out" where a man pays to pick a num-
Der, it is called a grind store" If it
is a game for bigger stakes, like the
wheel" it is known as a "stealum store
a strong joint" grab joint" or a
"sure-thing layout" and the mar OPP
Grating it is a "grifter."
Any kind OF a device for making a
game or a machine win OF lose at the
will of the operator is called a "gaff'
or a "gimmick."
A fortune teller is a unit reader" a
handler of SerpentS is a geek" a
negro minstrel show is "the Jig top" a
Jane" is a girl faker; "slum" is the
name of any kind of jewelry used on
a fair ground, and the men and women
who mingle with the audience and
occasionally play and win to lure the
"yaps" are "pluggers," "cappers,"
sticks" and "shills."
The Shell Game
The greatest money-making grit
ever operated on any fair ground is
the shell game. The layout Of a shell
worker or nut worker" as they are
usually called, consists of three halves
of the English walnut, all roughness
on the inside smoothed off with a knife,
a fiat surface upon which to shove
the shells around, and q round black
ball about the size of a large pea.
The secret of the shell game is in
this ball, and that secret has been so
carefully guarded through the years,
that l have never seen it described in
print. I have seen alleged exposes OF
the shell game, but none was ever near
the truth. The popular belief is that
the ball is a pea, but the shell game
could never be worked with SO hard
a substance as a pea.
The ball is whitfield out of a piece
of printers roller, the lind that is
used to distribute ink upon type. 1t
is a rubber-like substance made chiefly
of glue and molasses. 1t is SO soft
and elastic that a small ball Of it may
be pinched fiat and thin as a sheet of
paper, and when released it will in
stantly spring to its ball shape again.
The operator places the three half
shells, hollow sides down, on the fiat
surface and shoves them around and
around, Tipping the bali from one to
the other, talking as he works:
Watch closely, gents, as / roll the
little ball; here she goes, and there
she goes, and where she stops nobody
knows Here she lodges, right under
this shell-then under this. l am try
ing to prove that the hand is quicker
than the human eye. Watch me; I
will deceive you if / can. Here she
rolls, the little black pea; keep your
eye on it. Presto, chango-pro bono
bublico-that'S all the French l know.
All! 1t has disappeared. I'll lay any
gent he can't pick the shell the little
pea is under"
And then he touches each shell with
a foreinger, saying:
This Is number one, this is number
two, and this is number three-which
is it under?"
Everyone watching the play saw the
ball plainly as the faker dropped a
shell over it, but if bets it is there
he loses, because, when the operator
touched the shell the last time he gave
1t q forward shove, SO slight as to be
imperceptible to the onlooker, but
enough of a movement of the shell to
cause the resilient ball to be caught
and flattened by the sloping side OF
the shells concavity, and to slip out
beneath its edge, unseen, to a place
between the ball of the thumb and the
second finger of the faker, who holds
it there, flattened and unseen, as he
talks:
you'll bet IS, sir, that you can pick
the shell the ball is under? All right,
here's my IS; put yours down. Pick
up the shell. All; you thought you had
me fooled, didn't yOu, but yOu failed