HOW THEY GET RICH QUICK

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

HOW THEY GET RICH QUICK

Phineas T. Barnum, the prince of ballyhoo, used to say that a "sucker" was born every minute. Cupidity, the desire to get rich quick, the selfish wish to profit at somebody's expense,' and sheer unsophistication—these are traits of the "sucker" exploited by tricksters the world over.

Take roulette: One of the earliest swindles at roulette was to make the partitions of the wheel movable instead of being fixed opposite the numbers. Thus, suppose 21 (red) was heavily backed and the ball fell into it, the croupier, at the touch of a switch, could swing round the whole of the divisions a fraction, so that the ball would rest oppqsite number 33, which was black.

In 1928 Arnold Kothstein, the biggest gambler in the United States, was shot dead. He had sat in a game of stud poker with six men whose reputations as gamblers were only less than his. He. had a. run of ill-luck; he was at the rate of £2000 an hour. When he asked how much lie owed he was told £60,000. ( "Try to get it," he answered. "Some of you guys play cards with more skill than honesty." "Don't you worry about that," came the swift retort, "you'll pay." -A little later Kothstein was picked up dying from shot wounds. No one was ever found guilty of the murder.

Here is a swindle that was worked on a London jeweller. A well-dressed man called at the jeweller's just after the banks had closed. He chose a diamond bracelet worth several thousand pounds. The jeweller was assured by the hotel proprietor that the man's cheque was good, and he handed over the necklace. Half an hour later an agitated pawnbroker rang up the jeweller and said that he had been asked for a loan on the bracelet, the case of which bore the jeweller's name. The man was arrested and remained in the police station cells over the week-end. On the Monday the cheque was taken to the bank. It was promptly cashed. The client was paid a large sum by way of compensation, and it was only afterwards that the jeweller learned that his client was a swindler of international reputation.

These and other good stories of a similar kind appear in Mr. George Diliiot's new; book "G&ttiryj Kich Quick."