A SHORT AND EASY WAY WITH CARDSHARPERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5370, 1 February 1879, Page 7

A SHORT AND EASY WAY WITH CARDSHARPERS.

s* America cardsbarpim; used to be almost , recognised profession, Hill gambler and. ( tarper were synonymous terms. I'he head- ; uarters of the Mississippi gamalers used to e Natchcz. When I was in the United tutes, twenty-five years ago, (say- "T.T.," 1 Truth), the citizens of that town came to . le conclusion that thty were a bad ame, and notified the gamblers thit they 1 lust find some other quarters. As the uamlers did not accept the notification iu good art, a vigilance committee wai formed, and ne morning 20 gamblers wer« found hanginu y the necks to the lamp posts before their omes, on which the remainder accepted he hint, and betook themselves elsewhere. once found myself on a st-amer going own the Alabama River. Ti.e j e steamers ave on the saloon deck a very long cabin, nd at one end of the cabin is a har where iqun'r and cards are sold. One evening, f. r he voyage occupied several days, a pasenger asked me whether 1 would play at rhist. I assented, and a whist piny was oade up. I soon perceived that I and a lecent-loDking old man, who was one of the were being victimised by the two there, but I played quietly on until every ne except the captain, who was seated ,t the other end of the cabin, hid gone o btd ; then my brother victim, after laying his losses, which amounted to everal hundred dollars, went to his cabin. took the cards in my haud, aud asked 7hat I owed. It was two or threo huudred lollars. " Captain," I said, "be good mough to come hero ; I've been cheate.l." Jp jumped the gamblers, and asked me vliether I wished to in-ult thtrn? The aptain, a sturdy-looking man, was now by ny side, 30 1 handed him the cards aud remeste 1 him to examine them. They vere marked in the manufactory, the itars on the backs of each particular wlour being made either higher or owcr at the corners. The gamblers iwore that they knew nothing of it, ind had bought them of the bar keeper, tlalf-a-dozen citizens were at once called ip to act as a jury, and the bar-keeper uterrogated. After some shilly-shallying, le owned that one of the gamblers had {iven him some pa;ks to sell. Tnis was ;nough ; the engines were stopped, and the gamblers landed on a where probably they died, for it. was a very Jang way from any habitation, and, as the captain Baid, a place where only snakes could live. It is almost a pity that there is not this sort of prompt justice now-a-days in Europe.