The National Register.
London, England, 1823-03-31 00:00:00

10

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.

A very awkward explanation has taken place at a
SUBSCRIPTION llousc at the west end of the town.
A young gentleman, who was plundered by the
Greeks, in Paris, la:1 autumn, of at least 40,0001.

was, the other evening., the loser, in one hone. of
5,0001. " I will send you a check to-morrow morn-
ing," said he ; but in the interim, you must
allow me to put these dice in my pocket." The
tone and manner intimidated his adversary. The
unsuccessful gamester went immediately to the re-
sidence of u noble lord The dice were broken, but
found not loaded ; but, on a nicer inspection, they
wave discovered to be not square, that is, lon;,ver one
.way than another, and so contrived as altiays to
throw sixes—" Don't pay," exchlitti4d the noble
lord. " Don't pay" re-echoed another noblehtan.
—This advice has been followed. But the Collhe..

quences resulting are fatal to all other money trans-
actions in this house. A emintry baaker, and a
young merchant of great eminence, also refuse to
pay the sums they have lately at this Stiascittr-
TioN It ass. The above transaction ha► thrown
the %vest end of the town into a state of confusion,

of which our more sober readers can have no idea.
The determined conduct of the loser, in taking away
and examining the dice, has led to the discovery of
a system by which many individuals of respectabilitey
have been ruined. The dice, we understand, arc
exposed to the public ut a Y.hop in Bond-street. The
house where this occurrence took place is not far
removed (ruin Pietalilly, and may be recognise] from
its commanding v;ew of the Green-park. It was
formerly known as subscription-house, and
it came into the hands of its present possessor in
11NO. It was taken by a trio of dvktoas cloarac-
ters, who agreed to retain the original subscribers,
and received the privilege of introducing their own
friends. Rouge ct Noir was excluded, but a French
hasurd-table was set up, around which was nightly
collected the greater part of the young men of fa-
shion about town. anti immense sums of money lost
to the table. The regular advantage to the bank
at this game, is equal to a small per centage, but
the winnings of the house regularly amounted to a
considerable dividend of the stakes. Astonishment

was frequently expressed tit the runs of luck, as
they were called, of the bank ; but such is the in-
fatuation of play, that the frequenters still continued
•to lose night after night, deluded by the elegance of
the accommodation—the apparent respectubrilty of
the concern, and the iusinuating ,nante of " Sub-
scription House." A few nobles of the land, some
.characters of the turf, who are suppoqed tube sharp
on all points, us well as the host of idle young men,
have in turn been entferers. To an instance—
one night lust season a certain noble lord lost 8,0001.
a gentleman well known at Tattersalls, 15,0001. and
a commoner, who has lately created a sensation by
an excursion with a lovely brunette, I 1,0001.—
This was one nights ;wilt. The concern went on
• with equal praperity fur two seasons, realizing it
is Fait!, over 250,0001. which the three partners
divided. One of the partners retired at the com-
mencement of tae season ; and we understand, that

'law proceedings are commenced against the others
for the recovery of large rums since the discovery of
the dice with unequal sides. The principal it is
said, has left town fur the Continent, to avoid the
consequence of un investigation. One of them Mr.
A. was a few years since a waiter and marker of a
billiard table at tin, Smyrna Coffee-house, in St.
James-street; another, Mr. C. was formerly a fish-
monger in a small way, and acquired money by
successful betting on the turf. The principal
and master hund of the concern, Mr. Josiah
T.

was ut one time u partner in a mer-
cantile' house in the c ity which became bank-
rupt. Ile was arrested, and lived in the, rules of
the King's Bench for some time in great distress.—
He contrived to open, five years since, with the
assistance of a tiientl, a Rouge el Noir house, on a
Small scale, in Pull-mall, whruce he removed to

st larger concern, in the same street, nearer to St.
James's. Here his success we.; beyond precedent,
and in very u short time his profits amounted to
70,0001. With that sum he undertook the manage-
ment of the subscription house in Piccadilly, where
profits were realised to a very large extent, and
which might have gone on but itl)r the discovery of
the unequal dice, which has broken up his trade.

The long disputed question relative to the packet
service, ou whidi the livid interests of Falmouth
and Plymouth hove b.cn so actively employed, is
new finally settled in fiivour of the Winer. Thirty
sail of lt•.gun brigs, to be commanded by Lieute-
nants of the royal navy, are to be placed under the
orders of Capt. King, late inspector of the preventive
service for the coasts of Kent, who hoists his pen-
dant on board the Asher? frigate.—Sir I'. B. Martin,
Sir George Clerk, and this officer, arc at nresent at
Falmouth, making the necessary arrangements for
this new service, which promises to be a most valu-
able one fur the country at large.

THE NATIONAL REGISTER

POLICE.

GUILDHALL.
A FRENCHMAN'S JOURNEY TO CHELTENHAM.—A
gentleman applied to the Lord Mayor to inflict
punishment tqxnt the proprietor of the Swan-with•two-
neck, coach 'Mice, for causing him to be conveyed to
Chatham instead of Cheltenham, and refusing to cor-
rect the Ittist3ke.hy sending I • coach free to his place
•f destination.

It appeared from the statement of the Frenchtnin,
who spoke the -English language very imperfectly, that
he bad gone to the Swag-with-two-necks, Lad-lane, for
the purpose of engaging a seat on the outside of the
coach to " Choltynham, and paid five shillings;
although he believed was erroneously charged, and to
the proprietor's disadvantage, he said nothing about, on
the ground of retaliation, having been (Men taken in lay
the =mule of England himself. lie entered two con-
versation tarots the coach with some letnale passengers,
mad was lt amused for some time. lie con a! not,
however, help observing, that there was a great dissimi-
larity between the road to Chat/yawns viid the road from
Chuitynhant-4 eitcuttistalice wincit lie aCeounted or uy
ingeMOUSly ascribing it 10 the change to his own past-
, ti 1111 l having his face towards L mdnn on the tow oCC:1-
Sion, and his back tan the other. Tun. 'city produced
by this way of travelliog added to his satislactioli.; tint
on arriving at Rochester-bridge, his astimislimein ex-
ceeded all bounds—liar in Li-aye:hag to London, he hail
seen nothing at all of the kind ; and upon shifting his
position, the bridge, and the great sheet of water, still
remained, and, whatever way lie looked at them, were
not convertible into any other description of scenery.—
He then requested that his fellow.passeitgeis would ca-
-1 explain the cause.of so extratirilitiary au event as the
sudden appearance of a bridge and a river of such di•
1 mensions. They replied that Rochester-bridge stood
there as long as they could remember. " iimtherikere•
bridge! " cried the Frenchman " God bless my $O.ll,
what bring use to lioshestAcre bridge? Smp, coachman,
and drive the to Callyldans!" " IVhy su I an:," said
the coachman,—" stun be there." To describe
the rage i:f the complainant upon being set (lowa at the
inn at Chatham, amid told that lie was at his journey's
end, would be iniimssible. lie neither ate 1101' drank,
our left the company of the coachman. 'l the coach
returned to Lad-lair, and dropped him, fatigued in laxly
and annul, on the Spit from whence lie had taken his
departure. The clerk who booked hint first came under
his rebuke ; but the language iii which it was conveyed
was of sus heterogeneous a description as to fail .even in
correcting the mistake. At length the Frenchman said
that he had paid the sum of 11. 121. for travelling from
the place he wished to reach to London; and then the
clerk found that it was to Clithesiliain, and nid to
C11411:1111 the unlucky traveller wished to gm 'fliere
was, however,
mantled, as retribution for the inconvenience he had 11
suffered, that he should he inutleiliately supplied wnh
an inside place, and driven to Cheltenham gratuitously;
but Mr. W.iterhouse, the proprietor, although disposed
to abate Ss. in the demand, in consideration of the
error of his servant, refused to mend the matter upon
such unreasonable terms. The kreitchtitati, therefore,
reburied to the Chief Nlagistrate, in the hope that his
lordship would order that a seat should lie finthwitli fur-
nished liar Idol to Cliataykata, which he declared that he
pronounced as perfectly at the time as at the present
moment, and that the coachman should be punished
fig not stopping at liorhesdatre-bridge, when called upon
to do so.

The Lord Mayor regretted that the clerk, coachman,
and passengers should he so stupid as not to know that
the complainant wished to go to Cheltenham; but re-
fused to punish the proprietor of the ton for the want of
a ci.rrestear in his servants. The proposal to deduct the
Chatham fare appeared to him a very consciemicaus way
of settling the dispute, and there c,rtaiisly apl.thired to,
be not the most sertipulons re: and to what was right in
the wish of the gentleman to take advantage of what he
considered an errui in the office. Indeed, to the endea-
vour to overreach the owners of the coach might he at-
tributed all the misfortunes of the journey ; for had the
complainant mentioned what he had paid before, lie
never would hale trembled at the sight oh ;,tueluester
Drudge.
/file Frenchman then consented to accept the offer,
and withdrew.