Page 1 Advertisements Column 3

Hokitika Guardian, 31 May 1926, Page 1

Till; confidence trick. Throe customers entered a sweetshop at nine o’clock on the night of Bank Holiday. No 1, a stalwart, middleaged man. asked for Jib of sweets; No 2, also middle-aged and very masculine, wanted do ■/.. of chocolates; and No 3, whose wife was waiting for him outside. requested ices, which the shop could not supply. The young man behind the counter I served No. I with sixpenny-worth of assorted sweets, for which a. 10s note was presented in payment. When 9s (id was given in change No. 1 exclaimed, “How silly of me! I’ve got sufficient silver to pay.” Me. therefore, asked for the return of the 10s note, gave it back to the assistant with the 9s Gd, and observed, “-You give me a £1 note and we are square.” “ That’s l ight.” said No. 2. who had ordered chocolates. The assistant handed over a £1 note, and the three .customers left, all satisfied except No. 3, who was still anxious for ices. Five minutes afterwards the assistant began, at first tentatively and then frantically, to do problems in elementary arithmetic on his fingers, and after solving the sum he discovered 1 ’at lie had lost IDs and the price of the sweets. He rushed out and informed a constable, who at North Rendon Police Court yesterday continued the story. “ I saw the, three prisoners in an oyster shop in Seven Sister-road,” said the officer, “when they denied they knew each other.” _ No. 1, who was concerned only about his glasses, deprived of which he could not see. was remanded in custody, while No. 2, who had 29s in silver hidden in one of his boots, and No 3, who was worried about the ices that never reached his wife, were allowed bail. The offence alleged against the three is known as ringing the changes.’ 5 which was invented about the same time as the three-card trick and the Spanish prisoner hoax. In asking for a remand, a detective stated that “ringing the changes” had been extensively and successfully practised in the district during the holidays.