GAVARO - Cindy

What I said was: “Good morning, how’s tricks ?” meaning a sort of code word.
Nowadays salesmen and theatrical people use slang that only thieves used to
use, but this phrase was a sure feeler then. So this guy he could tell we were
no chumps, and greeted us as such. Sitting in the lobby we sized up the
tenants of the joint, and decided that we were in a fair spot to live. That
means they weren’t too particular what you done so long as you paid your
rent.
The first place we went to was Hein Cadoodle’ s saloon. If a man or a woman
made a flash of any kind there, they was either torpedoed or robbed, but
they never got away with their money unless they were one of the boys. So
the boys looked us over trying to figure us out, whether we were mugs or
grifters. But we passed a few remarks, felt our way through, and they found
out that we were OK.
We began to think of making some money, so we dropped into a pool room. It’
s on State Street — I can’ t just remember where — which at that time was
a notorious hang-out; all the boys from brass peddlers to stick-up men used
to go there.
A brass peddler is a fellow that buys fake jewelry, and stamps it 14 carat.
For instance he will buy a little ring with a glass diamond in it, then he makes
up for his part by wearing horn rimmed glasses and things of that sort. Then
he picks on people like tourists, workmen, and especially taxi-drivers, young
fellows who think they are wise guys, know all the questions and answers, but
don’ t even know the time of day.
He goes up to a mark, or likely looking guy, and through his line of talk, gets
the mark to buy the ring under the pretence that he just found it. Or
another way, that is worked by the old-timers and the more élite and
experienced workers, is that they take a woman with them, she has a baby in
her arms, they approach a kindly old gentleman, who is generally a farmer in
town for a few days’ holiday. Then they pull a sob-stuff story on him, and
say: “That’s my wife and baby over there, but I wouldn’ t want her to know
that I’ve got to sell her ring for food.”
These stones are what are known as “Pittsburgh settings” and you can buy
them for three dollars a dozen, already stamped. They are gold shell, 14
carat. They also sell watches, raise 7 carat jewels to 17 carat, and such
rackets.
Well, we proceeded to play some pool, and got acquainted with the boys. It
didn’t take a man with much intelligence to see that we were in a notorious
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