Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-10-19

in their pockets and five others had one
hand 80 situated, the proposer of the wa
ger thus winning it easily.
In st. Louis something over year ago,
there was, on n wager, n pipe smoking
contest two men were to smoke twelve
hours, the one scoring the greatest num-
Der of reiills when "time" was called to
be declared the winner. One of the
smokers selected light-colored cut-plug
tobacco and French clay pipe I; the 9th
er chose n medium dark, long-cut leaf to-
bacco and common clay pipe. The for
mer won the bet, having smoked thirty
pipes full.
Bets in regard to eating are very COM
mon. An italian, on wager, once ate
2,160 yards of maccaroni at one sitting I;
negro ate loaf of bread in one minute
and forty-fve seconds, and two lengths of
sausages, weighing pound each, in nine
minutes. In 1924 n man bet that he could
cook pudding under the Thames river.
He put the pudding in a large tin vessel,
and enclosed that in sack full of lime,
and sunk the sack at the required depth.
In two hours and half the pudding was
hauled out and eaten with relish.
Some old-time sporting bets are inter-
esting An English earl, on n bet of
| 1000 guineas, provided four-wheeled
carriage, drawn by four horses and driven
by man, which travelled nineteen miles
an hour. In 1745, 500 guineas were won
by riding 2l3 miles in twelve hours and
seventeen minutes. In 1871 q MIR. Wilde
rode 1877 miles in nine hours and twenty
one minutes. In 1773 n lawyers clerk
York, rested one night and walked back
| Inn in Of cty law In
man forty years old ran eight miles in
fifty minutes, and it was in 1909 that Cap
tain Barclay walked thousand miles in
thousand hours. All these matters
were, of course, the subject of wagers
Lord Brougham once bet at dinner
party that no one knew how he would go
to the races the next day. He went in a
sedan chair /; all lost. Then he bet at
the races that no one could tell how he
would come back. They thought of the
most outlandish vehicles, but all lost
again, for he came back in a post-chaise
and pair. A man bet another that n flock
of geese would beat flock of turkeys in
n race on a turnpike, stipulating only that
the race should come off Just before sun
down. The turkeys started off quickly,
but at sunset they all went to roost, re-
fusing to be spurred on to the contest,
while the geese won without any trouble.
Farmers are fond of betting about agri-
cultural affairs About eight years ago,
in England, there was singular wager of
f50-a young farmer agreeing to find out,
from flock OF 200 ewes, the lamb which
belonged to each. The lambs were kept
in separate place from the ewes. The
maj who made the wager succeeded, to
the satisfaction of all present, in finding
the mother of each lamb. Two Virginia
farmers. in our own country, short time
ago, were betting on the height of their
corn. They grew warm in disputation, re-
sorted to blows, and finally fought duel
with axes, intlicting terrible wounds each
on TIE other, the result being that one of
the duelists was killed. Corn, after un-
dergoing the process of distillation, has
been often known to cause fighting, but
this seems to be the only recorded ms
tance where the cereal in its natural state
was the immediate cause of hostilities.
During the last Presidential election
there was a farmer in Norwich, Conn,
who was in dilemma. He could not ac-
cept Garfield, and to vote against his party
was repulsive to him. He finally decided
the matter by setting two hens with
twelve eggs each. One he dedicated to
Hancock and the other to Garfield, and
the Matching the greatest number of chick
ems decided the vote. The Hancock chick
en- won. An English baronet once bet
against hundred guineas put up by an
English clergyman guinea day for
every day that Bonaparte lived. The
dominic received the stipulated sum for
three years, when the baronet refused to
pay any longer. The clergyman sued
but lost his case, the highest court decld-
| ing that it created an undue interest i'll
the preservation of the life of public
enemy, and on the other hand, held out
an inducement to kill him.
Western men will bet on anything.
Two Cheyenne men wagered s. apiece as
to which could hold wasp in his hand
the longer time. The one who rubbed
chloroform on his hand expected to win,
but the other man happened to know that
male wasps don't sting, and got one of
that sex. When the chloroform evapora'
ted, the fellow who used it let go of his
wasp, and the audience began to disperse
with great rapidity. In Montana, resi-
dent, ON bet, ascended to the top of a
mountain when the thermometer was %
degrees below zero He estarted absolute
ly naked above his rubber boots, n whis-
key bottle in his left hand and twig of
long. .leaved pine in the other. A rousing
round Of applause from the crowd Of
spectators greeted the hero when he
reached the top, and after that, while he
came on the jump back. When he re-
turned his face was red hot from the emp
ty whiskey bottle, his back SCARED by
scourging himself with the pine twigs
and the uncovered parts of his legs were
blue with chilliness.
An enterprising reporter was the first to
inform Gladstone of Disraeli's elevation
to the peerage, whereupon the former
said "Well, have won f5 i; a good
friend of mine was foolish enough some
time ago to bet me G5 that would be
made peer before Mr.. Dsraeli." To
which n bystander rejoined: "Yes, but
you know that you lost your opportnni-
ty." And the ex-Premier answered, with
smile that lit up the whole of his ex-
pressive face: ''Ah, but you must re-
member, / have won my E5.
Voiture and Arnauld were one day
amusing themselves in guessing the pro-
fessions of the promenaders by their
dress and bearing, when carriage passed,
the occupant of which was oddly attired.
"That's Councillor of the Court OF
/ Aids" said Voiture. Arnauld wagered
) that the passer was not and to decide the
bet Voiture approached the carriage, and
explaining to the gentleman the circum
, stances, askel if he were not such fuac
| tionary. "Monsieur," said the gentle
r man, coldly, "go round and bet that yot
are an ass you will never lose. Driv'
e on coachman." The bet was decided
g draw.
k MONT SAINT MICHEL