On the towns along the Ohio River around the turn of the century, 1800, Bill Brawley was not adequately known, partly because he went by twenty or thirty other names. Brawley was a con artist with only one real skill— Nobody could get him drunk. His modus operandi was to get a drinking partner and match every drink until his partner’s discernment fell to zero. Whereupon Brawley would bet he could stand on one foot longer than his partner, or he could spit more accurately into a spittoon. Brawley would put on a show, but since nobody could get him drunk, he would invariably win simple contests like these.
Tales