The "sawdust game," was a confidence scam that only swindled those who deserved to be swindled.
The term “bunco” has come to mean to any type of swindle, but in the 19th century it usually referred to a confidence game involving crooked gambling.
The Audacity of a Professional Thief.

The scientific way in which new comers are measured for “bumps” and other marks of identifications at the Joliet, Ill., State Prison.
Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, October 1, 1887.


