The Washington times., 1933-06-15


the winter at the Florida horse
parlorS, you can generally meet
the hero of this particular tale;
a thin, dapper little man in his
early fortieS. If you're one of
the regulars, you'll know him.
And if you're not, then step
right up and shake hands with
"Five Per Cent" Casey.
Mr.. Casey, my dear children,
is a mathematical genius. He
would have undoubtedly become
an accounting wizard had he
been inclined in that direction.
But he wasn't. His passion was,
is and will always be just one
thing, gambling.
Five Per Cent
Our little friend will bet you
on the turn of a card, or the
turn in your eye. He'll bet you
high, wide and handsome on
anything you mention " with
but one slight arrangement. All
bets must be at Casey's odds,
and those odds always give him
5 per cent the best of it. Hence,
his nickname.
Down at the tracks, he will
take all bets, do some rapid
calculating-and lay off most of
the money. The balance is al
ways set to give him the neceS-
sary S per cent.
His idea is simple in the ex-
treme.
"I don't care how much I
lose" he points out. "The law
of averages always balances
things-and my S per cent must
be a certain profit. You get
it?"
get it, Mr.. Casey.
There hadn't been many wom-
en- in Casey's life until he met
Clara-and when she popped
into his life, he was doggone
glad there hadn't been. Clara
felt that Casey was her little
honey lamb, and that settled
the issue. They were married.
And Casey was so sure they
would be happy forever that he
didn't even look for a bet on
the outcome.
Clara was the sweet, sympa-
thetic type. She was going to
do big things with Casey. She
knew he needed her badly; she
admitted it herself. What she
wasn't going to do for her man
would be very hard to find. Ac-
cording to the way she figured,
the presidency Of the United
States for Casey would only be
a hopping-off place to some
thing really big.
Not Reformed
It didn't take Clara more
than a year to realize her mis-
take, which is not a bad record.
Her man hadn't reformed so
that anyone could notice it. He
was still around the track all
day, and he was still shooting
craps half the night.
Time and again-and that's
still a good song title, Mr.. Cor
don and Mr.. Revel-Clara made
up her mind to leave Casey
flat. But she could never quite
go through with it.
"He loves me so," she told
her girl friend, land he needs
me so badly. I haven't the
heart to let him go on alone.
Every time I talk to him about
his hours, he gives me the
same answer. And he's right.
so what is there for a girl
in my position to do? I just
can't bring myself to leave"
Clara remained where she
was for another year, and then
she dug up a real reason to
call it a day. She fell in love
with another man; a man who
didn't know a dice box from
an ice box, and who thought
that a horse was a pain in the
throat.
So she did the right thing.
She went to Casey and told
him all about it.
The S per cent man listened
very carefully, and then shook
his head.
One and Only
1T all sounds very beautiful
honey" was his reaction, "but
I think you're just a little bit
nuts. I don't know who this
bozo is that you're stuck on,
but I'll guarantee that he isn't
straight, place or show with