While Otherwise Engaged

I was having a comment-argument over at Philipa's Fortean Times, which gave me reason to quote Canada Bill Jones. It then occured to me that while I knew the name, and his most famous quotes ("It's the only game in town" and "Suckers got no business with money nohow") I knew nothing of him.

This, O Avid Fan, is what Al Gore invented the internet for. Forget all that highfalutin' communications guff. Enter the School for Scoundrels.

Canada Bill Jones died in 1880 in Reading, Pennsylvania. He was destitute, and buried at public expense. One of the gamblers who stood by as they lowered Canada Bill into the ground offered to bet $1000 at two to one odds that Bill wasn't in the casket. There were no takers. One gambler within earshot said, "I've seen Bill get out of tighter holes than that before."