Upset the Dinner Table.

New York, 1895

James Hall, of Flushing, invited Michael Edwards, a neighbor, to his house Sunday morning to play cards. Several pints of ale were disposed of. Edwards accused Hall of cheating. Hall put Edwards out and then sat down to read. In a few minutes Edwards returned and commenced throwing stones through Hall's windows. Hall escaped, and Edwards entered the house, found the table set for dinner, took hold of the end of the cloth and pulled all the dishes and dinner off on the floor.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, July 5, 1895, p. 1.

He Was Well Posted

1895

The Stranger Had Quite an Acquaintance With the Smooth Box.

A young man walking along Dearborn street with his coat collar turned up was slapped on the back and heard a voice: "Say, that tip you gave me on Bessie Bisland was a good thing, I don't think. Where've you been?"

The young man turned around and said: "You must be mistaken. I don't believe I ever saw you before."

"Get out! Ain't you a race horse man that was out at Harlem?"

"No."

"Well, you're a dead ringer for him. Come and have a drink. Come on and be a good fellow."

The young man was led around into a place fronting on an alley, and as soon as they went in the bartender recognized the sport, and it leaked out in the conversation that a few evenings before they had been shaking dice and that the bartender had lost.

He demanded satisfaction, but the man who had lost on Bessie Bisland was cautious. He said he would go in for a quarter a corner. The victim who had been hauled in from the street was invited into the game.

He put in his quarter, and when the box came to him he said: "Gentlemen, I want to show you a little trick with this box. You see that on my first shake I have two sixes. The ace is always on the other end from the six, so I put in the three remaining dice, with the ace spot on each against the side of the box, and they slide down without changing position. This is a smooth bore box, lined with patent leather. The dice do not tumble around. They slide over the smooth surface, and so I know that when I let these dice slip out they" —

"Look here," demanded the bartender, "do you think there's any cheating going on?"

"Oh, I'm next to you," replied the visitor.

"That's right, Bill," said the roper in. "We're wasting time and talent on him. He's all right too. If a man's on, he ought to say so."

Thereupon the visitor departed with the best of feeling all around. — Chicago Record.

Loading Up Chickens

1920

Some twenty-five tons of real estate in the form of sand and gravel and masquerading as 30 cents a pound chicken almost got into the New York market this week to be sold to the ultimate consumer — or goat, notes the Hamilton (Ont.) Times. The 60,000 pounds of sand and gravel reposed in the crops of 50,000 live chickens which reached the Jersey City yards in eight carloads. They were detected in time. Is this a new or an old wrinkle?

Film Star Called as Poker Witness

1920

Norma Talmadge to Testify in Peculiar Case

New Yorker Arrested, Accused of Cheating Celebrities Out of $350,000 at Cards

NEW YORK, N, Y., March 18. — The last card in Broadway's sensational stud poker season was turned down by Justice Kernochan in the Court of Special Sessions.

It was a warrant for the arrest of Louis Krohnberg, wealthy manufacturer of women's wear, at whose home Norma Talmadge and other New York celebrities are said to have lost approximately $350,000 by the use of marked cards.

Discovery of cheating, it is said, was made during the final game of the series played at the home of Joseph Schenck, husband of Norma Talmadge.

Exposed by Actress

Guests at the party, which was held on New Year's Eve, ascribe most of the credit for the detection to Miss Talmadge, whose husband brought about a dramatic denoument by betting wildly into Krohnberg's pair of aces with a pair of kings, and then kicking Krohnberg into the street on the show down.

At the hearing Jacob Silverman, who appeared as complainant, testified that he had lost $7,300 at Krohnberg's home, and, suspecting dishonesty, had taken away one of the decks used in the game. The cards, he said, were later found to be "readers," the fleur-de-lis on their backs being marked in such a way that the player in the secret could recognise them.

Huge Penalty Possible

All the participants in the games, including Miss Talmadge, will be required to testify when Krohnberg is brought to trial. In the event that Krohnberg is found guilty, five times the amount of the players' losses may be collected and distributed among charities designated by the State.

There is some dispute concerning the amount lost by the players. Mr. Silverman says $530,000 is an approximate estimate. Krohnberg's attorneys deny all the charges and display checks aggregating $68,000 indorsed by Mr. Schneck and others as payees, which, they say, represent losses suffered by their client.

She Swallowed 1,446 Pieces of Hardware

1911

Editorial Quips on the News

A post-mortem examination of a Missouri lady who had a mania for heavy diet resulted in the discovery of 1,446 separate articles of hardware in her little inside. If there is any truth in theosophy the lady was either a goat or an ostrich in her previous existence. (See note below and photo here. Click the photo for bigger version.)

A New York woman says she lost her respect for her husband when she caught him with five aces in his hand. She is perfectly right. A man who allows himself to be caught that way deserves no respect.

If that Buffalo man who would not give up a counterfeit bill to an agent of the government were to get the full penalty of $100 and a year's imprisonment he might think he had committed some real crime.

We have it from a Germany economist that American women will soon be forced to labor on farms like men. Here we have an outlet for the surplus energy of those fair damsels who seek "careers" in preference to husbands.

Most of those who tell about rearing a family and saving money on $1,000 a year do not have to and hence are better able to theorize in the abstract.

A florist in New Jersey turns his hennery into a summer garden with all sorts of flowers and is getting eggs of delicate flavor and various tints, violet, rose and carnation flavors being in the lead. A hen garden of this kind might be a handsome and useful addition to the combination clubhouse for the Ananias members and the nature fakers.

Note: The item about the Missouri lady with a mania for a heavy diet recalls someone who must have been another Missouri lady with the same problem, who I heard about while touring the psychiatric museum at St. Joseph, Missouri. At this site there's a small photo of the items, said to be more than 1,400, which were taken from the patient in 1929. Since I'm pretty sure my article is from 1911, and it specifically says "post-mortem," obviously this would have to be a different Missouri lady. The photo at the top is a photo I took of all the screws and things they said she had ingested. If you're ever in the area of St. Joseph, the museum is worth going to! Just don't let them keep you, which was what I was legitimately most afraid of.

Had Sure Thing at Stud Poker

Feb. 1920

Playing with Marked Cards, New Yorker Cleaned Up an Immense Sum

New York.—-A group of screen magnates and music publishers along Broadway has been fleeced out of $350,000 by a wealthy manufacturer with a deck of marked cards, whom they admitted to their private games. He was finally detected and thrown out of the house of the man who caught him. The World prints the story, calling the fleecer Mr. Trimmer and the other man Mr. Screen. It asserts it has their real names.

For a considerable time a group of twelve or fourteen men, all of ample means, have been playing stud poker. There were Mr. Screen, a big picture promoter and the husband of one of the prettiest and most talented stars; Mr. Flickers, of equal rank in celluloid productions; Mr. Circuit, who owns a flock of theaters; Mr. Ragg, who receives immense royalties from his song compositions, and others quite as well known in their respective fields.

Last summer, at Far Rockaway and Arverne, their ranks were augmented by Mr. Trimmer. He is a manufacturer on an immense scale of a certain article of women's wear, and is generally known as a millionaire.

They Thought It Was Luck

Mr. Trimmer's "uncanny luck," as the other players called it, was noticeable from the very start. In one session, for instance, which began on a Saturday night and continued into Sunday, he cleaned up more than $40,000.

The daring of Mr. Trimmer's play was what interested the others more than anything else. He would make bets against seemingly impossible odds — and win them.

Mr. Trimmer always knew what the other fellow's secret card was, when he was the dealer, and he always won. Also he always knew, when he held the deck, what card his opponent would get next, and what card he (Trimmer) was going to get next, for his cards were what is known to gamblers as "readers."

The design on the back of them — which meant nothing to others — told him exactly what denomination each pasteboard was.

At last, suspicion intruded, and one of the other men at a party which Trimmer had arranged pocketed a deck of Trimmer's cards and took them to a professional gambler for examination.

"They're readers," said the professional. At the corner of each card, on the back, was a design composed of four fleur-de-lis — the three leafed flower of France.

If the right hand petal of the flower at the upper right hand of the group was heavily shaded the card was an ace; if the center petal of that particular flower was accentuated, it was a king; if the shading was on the left hand petal it was a queen.

There were four flowers, each with three petals. The shadings, therefore, stood for 12 different cards, according to where they were placed, these cards ranging down from the ace to the deuce. If no petal was shaded the card was the deuce.

An exposure was planned at Screen's house. There were eight players. Trimmer, on a few hands off square cards, lost $650. Then he produced a deck of his sort. As soon as Screen saw the marked cards he exposed the cheat to his guests and proceeded to beat Trimmer up, winding up by throwing him out of the house.

Dice Turn Up "Seven" Five Times for Judge

1920

Negro Caught With "Loaded Bones" is Fined $200

KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 18. — The magic number seven failed to bring luck to Al Fields, negro dealer in supplies for crap shooters, in South Municipal Court, when Judge Edward J. Fleming took a turn at the dice. Fields, who was arrested on the street by "Tug" Carter, "ace" of the negro policemen, had in his possession a complete outfit for loading dice as well as a jar containing forty dice which Patrolman Carter declared were loaded.

"Them dice ain't loaded, judge," protested Fields.

"We'll see," said Judge Fleming.

The judge rattled the "bones" three times. Every time they turned up "seven."

"That's just luck, judge," insisted Fields.

Judge Fleming shook twice again. Each time "seven" faced him.

"Two hundred dollars," said the judge.

Fields was sent to the municipal farm to work out his fine.

Poker: Four Deaths Because of Five Aces

1911

FOUR DEATH DUE TO POKER

"Bad" Ace in Pack Starts Bullets Flying at Kayler, Pa.

Kittanning, Pa., May 23. — A poker deck which, it is said, held five aces is responsible for shooting which took the lives of three miners at Kayler near here. Charles Sendric, Andy Braltis and Rocco Braltis were killed instantly and Walter Spilesh was fatally injured.

The "bad" ace was seen in the hand of Dick Sendric and he was given a severe beating by the other players and thrown out of the house. Sendric later returned with an automatic gun and, it is alleged, fired its contents into the home.

Uniontown, Pa., May 23. — Frank Pecan, aged twenty-nine, was shot through the breast and killed instantly as a result of a shooting affray in connection with a poker game at the Sunshine Coke works, twelve miles south of this place. Frank Renite, aged twenty-five, was shot and seriously injured. The police are searching for three brothers named Logwabaca, one of whom, it is alleged, did the shooting.

—Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1911, page 3.