Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 January 1883 — A Base Conspiracy Defeated. [ARTICLE]

A Base Conspiracy Defeated.

A close guess was made in a Hartford saloon. In one partition of a moneydrawer was a large number of pennies. Among the frequenters of the place was a man who was always ready to make a bet It occurred to the proprietor of the place, who had been taken in a good, many times by the betting man, to lay for him. He took a friend into his confidence, and the pair made np their minds to beat the fellow with the contents of the money-drawer. So they counted the pennies and found there were just 625 of them. Then they laid low for their opportunity. That evening the betting man was on hand, and iu a manner not to excite suspicion the saloon-keeper said to his friend: “I wonder how many pennies there are in this drawer?” The be Wing chap pricked np his ears and remirked: “Let each of us put np $5, aqd the one who comes nearest to the number shall take the pot. ” This was agreed to, and the saloonkeeper marked 624, his friend 625, and the fellow who was really ignorant of the number, and whom they expected to trap, by the merest ohance put his figures at 625. The astonishment of the two sharpers was no greater than the wonder of the other at such remark-* ably sharp guessing. After this the betting man was boss of the saloon.— Hartfoi'dr(Conn.) Times.