Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1904 — TRICKS WITH CARDS [ARTICLE]

TRICKS WITH CARDS

Skillfully done, they will amusk and MYBTI.FY YOUR GUESTS, 3??. to Tell BT*ry Card In the Pack ! With It* Back Turned Toward Yon. I T6 ® Thirty-one Trick —A Clever j Way to Tell Drawn Card*. I This “ —woqbteai* U i>i the best itflOSibhs fce'rformefi MtO cards, as It >£ot only brlif&s tile Whole pack into '«ae t but Is also legitimately founded upon arithmetical principles. By this trick you are able to tell the "whole pack of cards with the backs toward you; also to sort them after being cut any number of times in the mere act of dealing them out in a row. It is performed thus: | A pack of cards being distributed on .the table, with their faces uppermost, ithey are picked up one by one in the [following order: G, 4,1, 7,5, king, 8, 10, (knave, 9,2, queen. Repeat the same series of every thirteen cards. Four times over will of course complete the pack. I That the above order may be remomibered, the following words are used as ja guide to the memory and they are Intended to enumerate the cards: 6 4 1 i The sixty-fourth regiment beats the 7 • 5 king ■eventy-fifth; up Btarts the king, with 8 10 3 knave eight thousand and three men and 9 2 queen *inety-two women. ~ ■

Hence this trick is said to be dons **by words fi The pack being arranged, It may be banded to any of the company “to cut,” JWith the proviso that this operation be done whist fashion—that is, by taking a portion of the cards off in a mass And placing the lower division on what ,was before the upper one. This done fairly and properly, it may be repeated any number of times, as the" audience may think fit. You then take the pack and by a feint catch sight of the bottom card. Having learned this (it may be done at a glance, in a second of time), you have the key to the whole [trick. Then commence it by dealing the cards out in the ordinary way, but in thirteen heaps. Having dealt out thirteen, begin again and cover them; then go on as before. When finished there will be of course four in each heap. Now every heap will contain all four of the same denomination, as the four knaves in one heap, the four sevens In another, and so on. The thirteenth, or last heap, will be of the same denomination as the one at the bottom [which you have contrived to see, and, according to whatever that card is, all the suits will follow, but in the reverse order, as the words above indicate. Thus suppose the eight was the bottom card. Then on dealing them out they Would be in the following order: King, 6,7, 1,4, 6, queen, 2,9, knave, 3, 10, 8, and you begin reciting In the min<J, the words you use from in the sentence, working from right to left, which the card indicates in the above. You would say l 8 10 3 knave Eight thousand and three men and 9 2 queen 6 4 ninety-two women; sixty-fourth 1 7 5 regiment beats the seventy-fifth; up king starts the king with, etc. Here, of course, Is your starting point The same principle holds good whatever the card may be. Any person asking for a card, all four of every suit may be found in the same-heap and can be quickly turned up as l as required with a little practice, to the utter astonishment and wonder of the company. By taking up the the same order as before, but all of one suit, you may easily discover the position of any one card that Is demanded. '• A fine trick with cards Is called “thir-ty-one.” It la played with the first six of each suit, the aces In one row, the deuces in another, the threes In another, then the fours, fives and sixes, all laid In rows. The objqat.now will be to turn down cards alternately and endeavor to make 31 points by so turning or as near to It ns possible without overrunning It, and the one who turns down a card the spots of which make him 31 or so near It that the other cannot turn down one without overrunning it wins. This trick Is very deceiving, as all other tricks are, and requires much practice to be well understood. The chief point Is to count sq as to end with the following numbers—viz, 3, 10, 17 or 24. For example, we will suppose it your privilege to commence with 3 and your adversary .would add G, which would make It 9. It would then be your policy to add 1 and make 10. Then, no matter what number he adds, be cannot prevent you counting 17, which number gives you the command of the trick. We will j suppose he adds G and makes 10. Then ! you add 1 and make 17; then he adds 0 and makes 23, you add 1 and make 24. Then be cannot possibly add any number to count 31, ns the highest number be can add Is G, which would only fount 30, so that you can easily add the 1 remaining 1, or ace, and make £l. 1 There are, however, many variations to the trick. A clever way Is here given In which I to discern one or more drawn cards. Turn unperceived the bottom card of a pack face upward; then let several of the company draw a card. Reverse tlie pack rapidly, so that the bottom Is now the top card, and thus all the other cards are turned face upward unseen by the spectators. t Hold the pack firmly In your fingers and request those who have drawn to replace their cards In the pack. Thus all the drawn cards will lie with their faces downward, while all the ether cards will He with their faces upward. lon now step aside, select the drawn tards and show them to tb6 company, ! *-Bo«toa Herald,