Twenty Years a Detective 15

	Twenty Years a Detective 15

The gambler's life is simply the life of a criminal. And, like every other successful criminal, the successful gambler has got to work very hard. What the burglar gets, what the pickpocket gets, what the gambler gets, is money painfully accumulated. The successful burglar, or pickpocket, or gambler must work hard and be forever on the alert. He must be remorselessly cruel in taking money from those that cannot stand the loss. He must be indifferent to all sense of decency, for he knows that he is robbing women and children. The criminal in ANY line, gambler or other, cannot be a self-indulgent man if he is to be successful. The young man who imagines that the gambler's life is a gay and easy one is badly mistaken. If he tries it he will live to envy ANY honest man who has a right to look other men in the face. WHY GAMBLING MAKES MEN COMMIT CRIMES. The statistics of crime prove beyond all cavil that gambling is the king's highway to fraud and theft. This is not merely because it loosens general morality and in particular saps the rationale of property, but because cheating is inseparably associated with most actual modes of gambling. This does not imply that most persons who bet are actually cheats or thieves; but persons who continue to be cheated or robbed, half conscious of the nature of the operations, are fitting themselves for the other and more profitable part if they are thrown in the way of acquiring a sufficient quantity of evil skill or opportunity. The "honor" of a confirmed gambler, even in high life, is known to be hollow commodity, and where there is less to lose in social esteem even this slender substitute for virtue is absent. What percentage of "men who bet" would refuse to utilize a secret tip of a "scratched" favorite or the contents of an illegally disclosed sporting telegram? The barrier between fraud and smartness does not exist for most of them. [Illustration: (Gamblers cheating at cards)] NO BASIS FOR LIVELIHOOD. Serious investigation of the gambling process discloses the fact that pure gambling does not afford any economic basis of livelihood, save in a few cases where, as at the roulette table or in a lottery, those who gamble know and willingly accept the chances against them. And even in the case of the roulette table the profits to the bank come largely from the advantage which a large fund possesses in play against a smaller fund; in the fluctuations of the game the smaller fund which plays against the bank is more than likely at some point in the game to be absorbed so as to disable the player from continuing his play. If a man with $5,000 were to play "pitch and toss" for $5 gold pieces with a number of men, each of whom carried only $50, he must, if they played long enough, win all their money. So, even where skill and fraud are absent, economic force is a large factor in success. TEMPTATION TO EMBEZZLE. Since professional gambling in a stock broker, a croupier, a bookmaker, or any other species involves some use of superior knowledge, trickery, or force, which in its effect on the "chance" amounts to "loading" the dice, the non-professional gambler necessarily finds himself a loser on any long series of events. These losses are found, in fact, to be a fruitful cause of crime, especially among the men employed in business where sums of money belonging to the firm are passing through their hands. It is not difficult for a man who constantly has in his possession considerable funds which he has collected for the employer to persuade himself that a temporary use of these funds, which otherwise lie idle, to help him over a brief emergency, is not an act of real dishonesty. He is commonly right in his plea that he had no direct intention to defraud his employer. He expected to be able to replace the sum before its withdrawal was discovered. But since legally a person must be presumed to "intend" that which is a natural or reasonable result of his action, an indirect intention to defraud must be ascribed to him. He is aware that his act is criminal as well as illegal in using the firm's money for any private purpose of his own. But in understanding and assessing the quality of guilt involved in such action, two circumstances which extenuate his act, though not the gambling habit which has induced it, must be taken into account. A poor man who frequently bets must sooner or later be cleared out and unable, out of his own resources, to meet his obligations. He is induced to yield to the temptation the more readily for two reasons. First, there is a genuine probability (not so large, however, as he thinks) that he can replace the money before any "harm is done." So long as he does replace it no harm appears to him to have been done; the firm has lost nothing by his action. HOW COMMERCE CONDONES CRIME. This narrower circumstance of extenuation is supported by a broader one. The whole theory of modern commercial enterprise involves using other people's money, getting the advantage of this use for one's self and paying to the owner as little as one can. A bank or a finance company is intrusted with sums of money belonging to outsiders on condition that when required, or upon agreed notice, they shall be repaid. Any intelligent clerk in such a firm may be well aware that the profits of the firm are earned by a doubly speculative use of this money which belongs to other people; it is employed by the firm in speculative investments which do not essentially differ from betting on the turf, and the cash in hand or other available assets are kept at a minimum on the speculative chance that depositors will not seek to withdraw their money, as they are legally entitled to do. In a firm which thus lives by speculating with other people's money, is it surprising that a clerk should pursue what seems to him substantially the same policy on a smaller scale? It may doubtless be objected that a vital difference exists in the two cases: the investor who puts his money into the hands of a speculative company does so knowingly, and for some expected profit; the clerk who speculates with the firm's money does so secretly, and no possible gain to the firm balances the chance of loss. But even to this objection it is possible to reply that recent revelations of modern finance show that real knowledge of the use to which money will be put cannot be imputed to the investor in such companies, and that, though some gain may possibly accrue to him, such gain is essentially subsidiary to the prospects of the promoters and managers of these companies. [Illustration: (Group of gamblers commuting)] WHEREIN SPECULATION DIFFERS. It is true that these are not normal types of modern business; they are commonly designated gambling companies, some of them actually criminal in their methods. But they only differ in degree, not in kind, from a large body of modern businesses, whose operations are so highly speculative, their risks so little understood by the investing public, and their profits apportioned with so little regard to the body of shareholders, as fairly to bring them under the same category. In a word, secret gambling with other people's money, on the general line of "heads I win, tails you lose," is so largely prevalent in modern commerce as perceptibly to taint the whole commercial atmosphere. Most of these larger gambling operations are either not illegal or cannot easily be reached by law, whereas the minor delinquencies of fraudulent clerks and other employes are more easily detected and punished. But living in an atmosphere where secret speculation with other people's money is so rife, where deceit or force plays so large a part in determining profitable coups, it is easy to understand how an employe, whose conduct in most matters is determined by imitation, falls into lax ways of regarding other people's money and comes in an hour of emergency to "borrow" the firm's money. This does not excuse his crime, but it does throw light upon its natural history. WHEN IT WILL CEASE. Publicity and education are, of course, the chief instruments for converting illegitimate into legitimate speculation, for changing commercial gambling into commercial foresight. This intelligent movement toward a restoration of discernible order and rationality in business processes, by eliminating "chances" and placing the transfer of property and the earning of industrial gains on a more rational foundation, must, of course, go with other movements of social and industrial reforms which aim simultaneously at the basis of reformation of the economic environment. Every step which places the attainment of property upon a sane rational basis, associating it with proportionate personal productive effort, every step which enables men and women to find orderly interests in work and leisure by gaining opportunities to express themselves in art or play under conditions which stimulate new human wants and supply means of satisfying them, will make for the destruction of gambling. GAMBLING DON'T PAY. Two-fifths of all the crimes committed every year are estimated to be attributable to race tracks. Five men have been convicted this year of stealing money from the United States postoffice, and every one of them confessed he lost the money at race tracks. The mania for gambling is growing stronger, and as it grows the defenses of honesty crumble away. What may be called gambling thieves are not so numerous in Chicago as in some other cities, for the reason that no race tracks are permitted to exist in Cook county. But there are many gambling swindlers in this city. A large proportion of the men in the county jail are there because gambling wrecked morals in them, and hardly a week passes that does not find at least one person before the courts charged with robbery because money was wanted to bet. This is not all of the injury that gambling does to the community. Because the state's attorney's office and the police have not suppressed gambling the city is full of sharpers who make their living out of men foolish enough to think that they can get rich by betting on horse races, faro or roulette. These sharpers are an organized band of law breakers, preying on society, disorganizing it as far as is possible, their whole existence a menace to decency and order. The passion for gambling can probably never be eradicated from human nature. But civilization should be able to prevent rogues and rascals from profiting by it in the way usual in Chicago. Professional gamblers--professional swindlers, should be sent to the penitentiary and kept there. There should be some means under the law to send all such to the penitentiary and keep them there. HOW TO END RACE-TRACK GAMBLING. Race-track gambling has unexpectedly become an issue of importance in New York, and widespread discussion of means to rid the city of its race tracks is taking place. Discussion, however, is unnecessary. The way to end the plague of betting on races is plain. Let the grand jury indict officials of the Western Union Telegraph Company for complicity in bookmaking and send them to jail. Without gambling race tracks would be deserted. Without the aid of the Western Union there would be no gambling worth mentioning. Strike at the Western Union and the race tracks would go out of existence. The Western Union Company is the one great encourager of gambling in this country. But for its reports of races, hundreds of thousands of young men would be saved from ruin every year. It is in partnership with sharpers who fleece the foolish. It shares their gains in payment for the use of its wires. The money that flows into its coffers from that source is taken by trickery from the public. The race track swindlers rob a man and hand over a part of their loot to the Western Union, because without the Western Union's assistance they could not have robbed him. [Illustration: Do they think about us at home? We air having such a good time hear a lone.] But for the Western Union Telegraph Company not a single race track would be in operation in the United States, for without the Western Union's aid race tracks would not be profitable. The way to stop race tracks gambling and drive race courses out of existence is to compel the Western Union to observe the law which forbids just such practices as those of which it is guilty every day. That can be done only by sending a few Western Union officials to jail and keeping them there until their company concludes to dissolve partnership with crooks. LEARN EARLY NOT TO GAMBLE; TEACH PUPILS LAW OF CHANCE.     Mere driftwood on a restless wave;       A shuttlecock that's tossed by Fate;     Year follows year into the grave,       Whilst thou dost cry, "Too late! Too late!"     A life that's but a wintry day,       Whilst chilling storms blow thee about;     A tempter thou durst not say nay;       A conscience long since put to rout.     Who gets by play a loser is;       The gambler stakes his very heart;     What's prodigally won's not his;       Who wagers takes the knave's foul part.     Thou shouldst not steal nor covet what       Another hath by labor earned;     No man who hath with wisdom wrought       But this base sport hath ever spurned.     Why haggard thus thy fair, young face       With vigils, passions, aimed at gain?     Is this thy mission in this place--       This idleness which brings disdain?     Be not a weakling, nor of wax;       Let mind be master over thee;     See that its shaping of thy acts       Prepares thee for eternity! Art thou thy brother's keeper? Most emphatically, yes, if he be not sufficiently strong to refrain from doing that which is injurious to himself and those dependent upon him. PUBLIC LAX; GAMBLERS ACTIVE. When the law declares against gambling, and advertisement and sale of even "fair" gambling paraphernalia, why is it that the righteous majority, which would not stoop to this form of speculation, sits inertly by, allows crooked devices to be advertised and sold, permits hundreds of men to waste their time and substance, and dozens to blow out their brains as a consequence? Why do "good" men prate on "personal liberty," which is merely their way of washing their hands of the responsibility for good government. Does it eradicate the evil to say a man is a free moral agent and need not lose his money gambling unless he wants to; that "virtue is its own reward;" that "honesty is the best policy," or that taking without giving return is a sin? Would it not be better for this inactive majority of talkers to elect incorruptible men who can do something besides talk--men who would enforce the laws and provide heavy punishments for concerns which make gambling machines in which the unsuspecting have absolutely no chance to win? ARE WE FOLLOWING ROME TO THE PIT? Are we going the way of Greece and Rome? Is there a menace in the rapid increase of wealth in the United States? Are we allowing the moral tone of society to sink? The present tendency is toward speculation, even from childhood. In most cities the child barely able to walk can find slot machines in candy stores and drug stores from which he is made to believe he can get something for nothing. Is this the proper training to give children? Is it right to get something for which no return of money or labor is given? And is it right to thus lure children when adults know that their pennies more than pay for what they get--premiums and all? Children in school should be taught to calculate probabilities as a part of their course in elementary arithmetic. Then they would know better than to play slot machines or buy prize packages. And when they grew up they would shun the bookmaker, the lottery, and the roulette wheel. The ordinary gambler speculates partly because he loves the excitement and thrill of the game, but mainly, he will assure you, as he assures himself, he is buoyed up by the hope of winning. He does not stop to figure out his chances. If he sees a hundred to one shot he will play it, seeing only that by risking a dollar he has a chance to win a hundred. If he had been taught in school to see that really the chances were 200 to 1 against him, and that he was betting a dollar against fifty cents, he would keep his money in his pockets. Of course the man who plays the races knows the odds of the book are against him. He prides himself, however, that he is a wise reader of the "dope sheet," and that can overcome the odds by a superior cunning. He knows that he can't win on his luck, for this "breaks even" in the long run. FATE'S CARDS ALWAYS STACKED. But the man who plays against a machine, if he has taken the elementary course in the law of probabilities, can suffer under no delusions and cannot give himself any reasonable excuse. He is bound to lose. The odds on the machine are against him. And even if they were not, it is entirely likely that the machine would win. An old gambler contends that if a man matched pennies all day every day for a month against a purely mechanical device he would quit a heavy loser. The only way he could keep even would be to start out with "heads" or "tails," and then go away and leave the machine at work, never changing his bet. If he remained to watch the operation he would, be sure to lose his head and begin to "guess" against the relentless mechanism, and then he would lose. In the ordinary coin-paying slot machine, the dial shows alternate reds and blacks, interspersed here and there with quarters, halves and, perhaps, $1. The player wins 5 cents on the black, 20 cents on the quarter, 45 cents on the half, and 95 cents on the dollar. The dials differ, but suppose there are thirty reds, thirty blacks, ten quarters, five halves, and one dollar. The chances are against you, then, on the red or black, 46 to 30; on the quarter, 66 to 24; on the half, 71 to 24, and on the dollar, 75 to 19. Most players, it is said, prefer the larger sums as a hazard in the coin machines, although the probabilities against them are much greater. Again, they are dazzled by the chance of winning a large sum at a small risk. Really, they are betting their nickel against 3 cents on the red or black, and against 2 cents or less on the larger sums. CHILDREN THROW AWAY MONEY. If the children knew this they would not fool away their money in the machines when they go for a boat ride on the lake, and it is reasonable to suppose that grown men and women would beware of them if they had learned to figure chances when they were in school. In the penny machines in the cigar stores the probabilities are harder to figure. You play a cent in the machine, and if you get two pairs from a revolving pack of cards, always exposing the faces of five, you win a 5-cent cigar. In most of the machines you must get "jacks up or better" in order to win. Any poker player will bet you a chip on any deal that you will not have as good as a pair of trays, and the chances that you will have two pairs as good as jacks up must be at least twenty to one. Some of the machines consist of wheels of fortune which revolve from the weight of the penny dropped in the slot. In any event the child gets a penny's worth of goods, and there are chances to get two or five cents' worth. Gum machines give an alleged cent's worth of gum, with a chance for a coupon, which is good for a nickel's worth without extra charge. [Illustration: (Men playing slot machine)] How many steps is this apparently harmless form of amusement removed from the deceptive slot machines in cigar stores? And, in turn, how many steps are these cigar machines removed from those in the saloons? The boy who wins five cents worth in the candy store will take cigarette tobacco or a cigar, if the dealer be unprincipled. Next he tries for a cigar in a cigar store, and then for a cigar in a saloon. If he is lucky in the last named, he is asked to a friendly game of poker. Beyond asking if it is a pleasure to either lose to or win from a friend, and to express the opinion that even though the game be perfectly square, and there be no rake-off, it still remains true that the time lost, and money spent for drinks and cigars, far outweigh in value any pleasure that may be experienced. CONFEDERATES USED. Men who make a business of conducting and playing poker games stop at nothing to get the money. The expenses of running the place, and the free lunches, drinks and cigars dispensed must be paid for by some one, and the proprietor is not in business to lose money. The game in which there is no rake-off cannot possibly be square, and where there is a rake-off the odds against you are prohibitive, if you play fair. With seven men in a game of "draw," three of whom are "house" men, the amount which goes into the "kitty" nightly is usually about equal to the losses of the other cheat who dares not be found out. CHEATING DEVICE IN A SLOT MACHINE. Ordinarily the owners and saloonkeepers divide the winnings of all slot machines. In a fair machine the winnings fall into the receptacle A. Most of the money gambled by players found its way into this depository. It did not please the owner of this machine to share his profits equally with the saloonkeeper. The winning player was paid from the nickels which lined a zig-zag chute ending at C. The owner changed this scheme by inserting the secret bag B. Then he cut a hole in the chute at D. and arranged a spring which diverted one out of three nickels into B. As long as the chute was empty below the point of entrance of A the nickels kept on filling the zig-zag runway. [Illustration: Slot Machine Proves a Fraud.] When the machine was seized, in the box where all the gains were supposed to be, $60.20 was found. These two sums represented the total proceeds of a day. Confederates, mirrors, words, signs and hold-outs are used. A player dealing from a stacked deck will inform his confederate how many cards to draw by uttering a sentence containing that number of words. Men lounging behind a player will "tip off" his hand. Cards are marked in a manner imperceptible to the eye of the novice, and sometimes liquid refreshment is spilled on the table in front of the dealer, so that his opposite can read the reflections of the cards as they are dealt face downward across the board. The last-named scheme is used where the table has no covering. There are many who believe that talks of crookedness at card tables are only sermons by "goody-goodies," who know not whereof they speak. Let the following advertisement, recently sent broadcast over the country by a large concern located in the business center of one of America's largest cities, refute such claims:      HOLD OUTS.      "CORRESPOND WITH US BEFORE BUYING OF OTHERS."      We have the finest line in the country, and every machine      is made to get the money--not for ornament, and accuracy.      Is as perfect as a watch. Works with a knee movement, and      by a slight movement everything disappears. If they have      played cards all their lives they will stand it.      Our price only $125.00. The circular also mentioned dozens of other crooked devices at lesser prices, and contained illustrations showing how the machines work. Can there be any doubt these are used when concerns devote their entire time to manufacturing them and can get such high prices? [Illustration: FIG. 27.--Showing card held under the arm.] [Illustration: FIG. 28.--Ring Hold-out.] [Illustration: FIG. 20. '_Table-reflector._--Fastens by pressing steel spurs into under side of table. A fine glass comes to the edge of table to read the cards as you deal them off. You can set the glass at any angle or turn it back out of sight in an instant.'] [Illustration: (Reflector reflecting card)] The sleeve hold-out above mentioned, is made of a hair cloth sideway, about the same size as a deck of cards, with its narrow sides laid in fine, plaited folds, so that it will either lie flat or expand. This is sewed in the sleeve of the coat or shirt and reaches from the cuff to the elbow joint. One of the wide sides is sewn or pasted to the cuff, both ends being open. At the elbow a strap fits around the arm, to which is attached a metal tube that reaches down to the near end of the sleeve, with a pulley attached to the end. A short wide elastic is also attached to the strap, and to the elastic is fastened a metal clamp that holds the cards. A cord is attached to this clamp, which runs down and over the pulley, then back to the elbow through the metal tube, thence to the shoulder, through the clothing to the body, thence down through the loop at the heel, with a hook attached to the end. The cord passes through a flexible tube from the elbow to the ankle. This tube will bend easily, but will not flatten, and is attached to the clothing with string ties to keep it in line with the body. Its use is to prevent the cord from ticking or binding. To work this hold out the hook at the end of the cord is fastened to the loop of the shoe on the opposite foot. When the feet are spread apart the act causes the cord to draw the clamp referred to down through the sideway and to the near end of the sleeve. Any cards that are in it will reach into the palm of the hand, where they can be taken out or placed back into the clamp. By drawing the feet together again the cord relaxes, and the elastic will draw the clamp and the cards it contains back up the slideway to its place near the elbow. There are other similar hold-outs. Don't let them hold you up. MARKED CARDS. Marked cards are known among gamblers as "Paper," and are considered an article of utility in draw poker. The dealer, should he be a second dealer, will deal second to himself instead of reading the hand of his opponent's, thus giving himself a pair, two pair, threes or whatever he wishes. Marked cards are used by those who are not second dealers, as they are often able to fill a hand by holding a card in the hand to correspond to the card on the top of the pack, and in any case enabled to read opponent's hands and play accordingly. They are perhaps the greatest advantage to a professional second dealer, as by drawing a bob-tail card of any kind he can spoil the chances of an honest player, however, skillful. People at large are becoming aware of many of the schemes used in swindling, but so fast as the public becomes acquainted with a scheme, the shark invents something to take its place or practices the old one until he has it so fine under his manipulation it is hardly recognizable. A professional gambler is soon known. Even if he is never detected cheating, he is given credit for it. [Illustration: Caught Working the Sleeve Hold-out.] [Illustration: FIG. 31. Hold-outs.] CARDS MARKED WITH FINGER NAILS. This is a mark put on the cards during the progress of the game, with finger nail or thumb nail. It is put on so that the gambler may know just what his opponent holds. The ace is marked with a straight line or mark in upper right hand corner. The king, is a straight line about one-half inch long in the center of the card. The queen is a straight line a half inch longer than the king. The jack is a straight line about the center of the card. The ten spot is designated by a straight line or mark in the same position as the ace. The nine spot is a slanting line in position of king. The eight is a slanting line in position of queen. Seven is a slanting line in position of jack. The six is denoted by a straight line in position of ace, running across the card at right angles to the ace mark. The five is same as six in position of king. The four is the same as five and six in position of queen. The tray is same mark in position of jack. Deuce is a cross below the jack sign. The mark denoting the suit of the card is placed in the center of the top of the card. Hearts are designated by a perpendicular line at the center end of the card. Clubs are shown by a horizontal line in the same position. Diamonds are shown by a slanting line in the same position. And of course, as hearts, clubs and diamonds are marked, a card without a mark would be a spade. This is one of the most dangerous tricks, as it is done during the progress of the game, and unless some one knows something about it, it would never be detected. THE DOUBLE DISCARD. This is used by many of the gamblers, and is done through the neglect of the players. The man doing this will always draw three cards, no matter what he may hold in his hand. It is done by placing the cards he wishes to keep on top of the ones he wishes to discard, and laying them down beside him, ostensibly discarding them. As he is given his three cards he looks them over and has eight cards out of which to pick his hand. Suppose in his original hand he held three diamonds and a club; he places the three diamonds beside him and calls for three cards, holding one diamond and the club in his hand. When his cards are dealt him he has five cards out of which to pick two diamonds. He selects two cards and discards three cards; at the same time he picks up the three cards that he discarded first. Very few are expert enough to this trick without detection. CHECK SIGNS. This is a set of signs made with the use of checks. In making these signs a white check counts one, a piece of silver or a colored check counts five; often when colored checks or silver are not handy, matches are used instead. The count of checks corresponds to the size of the cards. One colored check would denote a pair of fives, or three fives, when used in a certain way, which I will endeavor to explain fully. Of course, all these different signs are used between two men, who are in league with each other in order to cheat a game. The first sign in this set is the sorting of cards, which means that the hand is no good. Should this sign not be given, the partner will look for the sign denoting what is held. When one man wishes to show that he has a pair, he holds the check or cards in the right hand, slightly to the left of his body. For instance, a white cheek held in the right hand, nearly in front of the heart, would denote that a pair of aces were held. Two checks, a pair of deuces, and so on to eleven, which signifies jacks; twelve, queens, and thirteen, kings. For two pair, the head pair is shown, the checks being held squarely in front. For instance, aces up would be shown by holding one white check up in front of the body. For three of a kind, the same sign is used, merely the check is held a little to the right of the body. Three colored and one white would signify that a straight was held; four colored and one white would signify that a flush was held; five colored and one white check would signify that a full house was held; six colored and one white would mean four of a kind; two colored checks, together in the palm of the hand, means a straight flush. USES TO WHICH A PACK OF CARDS MAY BE PUT. A pack of cards may be used as a Bible, a prayer book, and an almanac. As a Bible and prayer book, the ace should remind you that there is one God; the deuce, of the Father and Son; the tray, of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the four, of the four evangelists--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the five of the five virgins, who had filled and trimmed their lamps; the six, of the command to labor six days a week; the seven, of the seventh day, which God blessed and hallowed; the eight, of the eight righteous persons who were saved in the ark, Noah, his wife and three sons and their wives; the nine, of the nine lepers who were cleansed by our Savior and never thanked Him for it; the ten, of the ten commandments; the king, of the Great King Almighty: the queen, of Sheba, who visited Solomon; Solomon was the wisest man living, and she was as wise a woman as he was a man; the knave, of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed our Savior. As an almanac, count the spots, and you have three hundred and sixty-five, the number of days in a year. Count the cards, and you have fifty-two, the number of weeks in a year. Count the suits, and you have four, the number of weeks in a month. Count the face cards, and you have twelve, the number of months in a year. Count the tricks, and you have thirteen, and you have the number of weeks in a quarter. THE BILL HAND. You have often seen a lot of poker players playing with a lot of checks stacked up in front of them and a few bills or greenbacks spread out in front of them, between checks and themselves. A player having his checks in this manner needs watching, for it is easy to slide a full hand or four of a kind under those bills whenever an opportunity occurs. Whenever a good fat pot appears he can use this hand which he has under the bills by simply putting his hand on top of the bills and turning them over, which brings the good hand on top and poor ones under the bills. He always makes a practice of laying his cards down on the bills, and other players see it at different times and will think nothing of it. The only way to detect this is by missing the five cards out of the pack, and one has to be a expert to miss five cards out of fifty-two without counting them, and after playing a good hand in this way he must get rid of the deal hand, which is under the bills, in order to get ready to collect another hand for the next play. The principal thing about this work is to do it at the right time and with the right people. TOOTHPICK OR CIGAR SIGNS. A gambler will use a set of signs made with a cigar, pipe or toothpick to show his partner what he holds in his hand. The signs are as follows: The cigar, pipe or toothpick placed in the left side of the mouth signifies a pair. On the right side two pair; in the center of the month means threes. To signify that a straight is held the cigar is moved up and down with the fore finger. Working in the same manner with the first and second finger denotes a flush. With the third finger denotes a full house. With fourth finger means four of a kind. To show the size of the hand the fingers are placed on the cigar, pipe or toothpick in the following manner: Suppose a pair of aces are held, the cigar is placed in the left hand corner of the mouth and touched with the first finger of the right hand. Aces up or three aces can be shown in the same way. The first finger denoting aces, the second kings, the third queens and the fourth jacks. GAMBLING DEVICE SWINDLE IN ARMY AND NAVY. Scope of Fraud World-Wide--Soldiers and Sailors Victims of Contrivances. On May 19, 1906, Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge, with ten men, swooped down on: H. C. Evans, 125 South Clark street; George De Shone, 462 North Clark street; Barr & Co., E. Manning Stockton, 56 Fifth avenue. The offices were raided and sure-thing gambling devices valued at $5,000 seized and destroyed. H. C. Evans was arrested and fined $200; George De Shone was arrested and fined $100, and E. Manning Stockton arrested and fined $25. Afterwards E. Manning Stockton was indicted, arrested and gave bonds, which he forfeited and then fled. Disclosure of conditions which so seriously threatened the discipline of the United States army and navy that the secretaries of the two departments, and even President Roosevelt himself, were called upon to aid in their suppression, were made in the Harrison Street police court following this arrest. It was charged that a coterie of Chicago men engaged in making and selling these devices had formed a "trust," and had for years robbed, swindled, and corrupted the enlisted men of the army and navy through loaded dice, "hold-outs," magnetized roulette wheels, and other crooked gambling apparatus. [Illustration: Electric Dice] [Illustration: The Way Some Cards Are Marked.] The "crooked" gambling "trust" in Chicago spread over the civilized world, had its clutches on nearly every United States battleship, army post, and military prison; caused wholesale desertions, and in general corrupted the entire defense of the nation. [Illustration: REWARD TO THE PARTY BRINGING BACK CHICAGO'S GAMBLING KINGS.--GRAND JURY.] TRY TO CORRUPT SCHOOL BOYS. Besides the corruption of the army, these companies are said to have aimed a blow at the foundation of the nation, by offering, through a mail order plan, for six cents, loaded dice to school boys, provided they sent the names of likely gamblers among their playmates. This plan had not reached its full growth when nipped. But the disruption of the army and navy had been under way for several years, and had reached such gigantic proportions that the military service was in danger of complete disorganization. Thousands of men were mulcted of their pay monthly. Desertions followed these wholesale robberies. The War Department could not find the specific trouble. Post commanders and battleship commanders were instructed to investigate. The army investigation, confirmed after the raid and arrests, showed that the whole army had been honey-combed with corruption by these companies. Express books and registered mail return cards showed that most of the goods were sold to soldiers and sailors. FORTS INFECTED BY EVIL. Fort Riley, Cavite, P. I., Manila, P. I., Honolulu, the Alaskan army posts, Fort Leavenworth, Fort Reno, Fort Logan, Columbus Barracks, Fort McPherson, were among the posts where hundreds of dollars worth of equipment was sent, and where thousands upon thousands of dollars a month was the booty obtained by the Chicago trust on a commission basis. Battleships in every squadron, the naval stations of this nation all through the world, navy yards, and other points where marines are stationed, have been loaded with the devices. It was found, upon investigation, that "cappers" were selected from the enlisted men. Agents, who ran the games on commission, were also found. These men, dazzled by financial prospects, deserted in droves. MANY VICTIMS SUICIDES. The men who were fleeced and had their small pay taken from them month after month, became reckless. Some ended as suicides. Hundreds became unruly and were subjected to guard-house sentences. They deserted in their despair. The conditions in the navy were even worse. Scores of the battleship crews would be in irons at a time. To the honor of the service, it was found that no officers had ever participated in the corrupting vocation. It was the rank and file who "fell for it," as the gamblers said. They became either tools or victims, to the extent, it was estimated, of 60 per cent. KING DEATH. AN AVERAGE OF 200 SUICIDES A YEAR AT MONTE CARLO--MANY BODIES ARE SECRETLY THROWN INTO SEA BY AUTHORITIES OF THIS, THE WORLD'S GREATEST GAMBLING HOUSE. PARIS, Nov. 20.--Three thousand known suicides and murders have been committed in Monte Carlo in the space of fifteen years. The known suicides average fully 200 a year, and some weeks there have been as many as three a day. The Casino authorities do everything to hush up scandals and news of tragedies. A large force of plain-clothes men are engaged to either prevent suicides or to hurry the body of the dead unfortunate out of the way. It is estimated that more than one-half of the tragedies of Monte Carlo are never heard of except by the Casino staff. The corpse is rushed quietly to the morgue--a secret morgue. Here it is kept some time to see whether relatives or friends are going to interfere or kick up a row. [Illustration: THE END OF THE ROAD] BODIES THROWN IN OCEAN. Every once in a while a small steamer slips out of the harbor at dead of night. Its cargo is secured at the secret morgue. At sea the bodies are thrown overboard, duly weighted, without toll of bell or muttered prayer. There are countless graves of unknown dead in the Monte Carlo cemetery. But these are only those whose death has become known to the public. The Casino authorities have a special bureau, whose duties are to relieve persons ruined at the tables. The ruined gambler can get from this bureau enough money to take him to his home, or to some spot far from Monaco. Few know of this, perhaps, or there would not be so many deaths. The "dead-broke" gambler is taken through many inner chambers and before stern-faced men, to whom he has to tell his history in detail. He is also confronted with the different croupiers, who testify as to whether he really lost as much as he may claim. BANISH THE DEAD BROKE. Then the wretched man has to sign a document banishing himself forever from Monaco. His name and particulars are written in the "black book," his photograph is taken and given to the doorkeepers and other officials to study, and then the man is taken to the railway station, a ticket bought, a few dollars given him, and an official escorts him as far as the frontier. Should he return it would not avail him. The police would turn him back again into France or Italy. It is related that an American who was "broke" and anxious to get back to the United States heard of this feature of Monte Carlo. He had not gambled there because he had no money, but he managed to make his way to Monte Carlo and demanded to see the authorities. He coolly asked for a steamer ticket to New York. Inquiries revealed that he had only just arrived in Monaco, and had never put a foot inside the Casino, but despite this the authorities gave him a steerage ticket to New York and saw him on his way.