Originally published 1905-08-05
(I don’t 100% get this one tbh)
The owners of the tracks probably sent out these hustlers to talk people into making bad bets.
Everett throwing some shade at the Midwest corn belt
Had to look up these ones
come-on /kŭm′ŏn″, -ôn″/ noun
Something offered to allure or attract; an inducement, especially to buy. A sexual or romantic approach or proposal. Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement.
rube /roo͞b/ noun
An unsophisticated country person. A person of rural heritage; a yokel. An uninformed, unsophisticated, or unintelligent person.
Problem is Everett never figured out he should be angry at the gambling industry, for using probability to fleece the majority - or the horse racing industry for their cruelty, whipping horses, too much tavel time, and killing horses so regularly.
They’re contemptible industries - even today.
What is tavel time? it’s really hard to Google it and “tavel” alone seems to be a wine. It’s either something specific to horse racing or a typo, but I’m really curious. either way.
Interesting use of the word ‘tout’, I see it used as a verb but not how Ev used it
Looks like there’s a generic sense of “Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.”, but even more relevant here it can mean “A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.”
Looks like that horse racing use was also interestingly closer to the original use of the word. Fun that it was a thieves’ cant as well.
