The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-07-25
Curious Chances.


A Versailles wine-shop keeper was at
work in his cellar, when suddenly the
ground gave way, and he fell into what
was at first thought to be well but on
lights being brought, the whole was
found to be the entrance to another wine
cellar, containing some of the best vint
ages Of France and Spain. The arch@olo-
gists of Versailles were aroused; and
their examination proves that this mys-
terious subterranean wine-cellar formed
part of the Pavilion du Rendezvous,
which Louis XIV annexed to the Pare
aux-Cerfs, about which SO many queer
things are related by the court chron-
iclers of the period. The wine is said to
have attracted connoisseurs from all
parts A farmer in the neigEborhood of
Tavistock was as lucky in another way.
In repairing an old mahogany secretaire,
knocked down to him at an auction, he
discovered a secret drawer containing
forty sovereigns, a gold enameled ring,
and a lot of securities for money, one
being a certificate for over five hundred
pounds three per cent. consols. An old
scrap of paper dated 1900 led to the be-
lief that forty guineas had originally
been placed there, but had been taken
out in modern times and replaced by the
| sovereigns.
A French lady not long since fire.
~auently missed some of her valuables in
| a most unaccountable manner. One day
| her servant fell down stairs and was Sc
| verely hurt. On acting the good Samar-
itan and pouring oil into her wounds,
the mistress was astonished to find her
lost Jewels in the pocket of her maid,
who, it seems, had all the time been the
culprit. How much eftener accidents
contribute to the loss of money scarcely
needs comment; but the manner in
which a gentleman lost all his winnings
at play is worth repetition, as an instance
of the fckleness of fate. He had won
nine hundred pounds at the Hgreen
table" at Monaco, and was only waiting
for his laundress to bring his dozen
shirts home before he should quit the
place. The laundress, however, did not
turn up at the appointed time, and to
while away the hours he went into the
Casino. Of purse he ~played-and not
only lost all he had already won, but
twelve hundred grounds besides, which
made him heartily wish he had left the
shirts behind, that cost him one hundred
pounds apiece for the washing.
Among those who have been most re-
markably affected by accidental sur
prizes are the deaf and dumb, and tales
of unknown antiquity relate how speech
or hearing has been recovered or i'm
proved in this way. AS a casein point
About 1850 a merchant of Cleves named
/ Jorissen, who had become almost totally
deaf, sitting one. day near a harpsichord
: while some one was playing, and having
} a tobacco-pipe in his mouth, the bowl Of
which rested accidentally against the
t body of the instrument, was agreeably
surprised to heara the notes in the mos
j. distinct manner. This accident was {
S happy one, for Jorissen soon learned, by
] means of a piece of hard wood placed
j against his teeth, the other end of which
was placed against the speakers teeth
d not only to keep up a conversation, bu
e to understand the least whisper. Othe,
D cures have been brought about less b.
skill than accidental circumstances
d There is a story of a Frenchman who
t through a sword-wound received in
duel, suffered from internal assesses
a which forced him to walk in a stoopin,
posture. Some time after, becoming en-
gagged in another affair of honor, thi
time with pistols, the bullet of his ad
versary CHANGED to pass exactly througl
the assesses caused by the forme
wound, which, making them discharge
not only relieved him from the stoop, bu
D caused him to walk with rather a sti
,e carriage ever afterward.
K Not onlyhave some of the ills to whic
ID human flesh is heir been cured by acc
st dent, but life itself has been preserve
Or from destruction by the same mean
TO Lives are often lost by accident, it
true; but how they have also been save
n by the chance detention of passenger
lie from travelling in ships or trains tn,
e. have afterward become wrecked is we
lie known. The writer can testify to ii
K escape of a sailor from what is called
re watery grave, owing to Jack happeniI
be to be tipsy, and incapable of taking b
y place in a boat putting off to a wreck Q
the Isle of Man coast, when invited
TX his companions to take an oar. II
G, boat put off without him, and its ere
IS, were all drowned. When a crowd &C
re lected on the banks of the St. Mart
I'D Canal. in France, not long since, it W,
a lucky thing that a man who lived ne
at was urged by his wife to go and see VIII
en- was the matter. Upon arriving on Il
,r- scene of action he learned that a chi
in had fallen into the water and disa
ne peared. Being an expert swimmer,
nd plunged into the spot, marked by a fe
'P- bubbles, and rescued alive his only so
a lad aged eight, who in playing b;
I'd slipped over the bank.