Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-04-14
Betting On a Certainty.

In the British army in India betting
among the officers often runs to an ex-
IRENE of vice that is sometimes fearful to
contemplate. Perhaps it is no worse than
in club life in London, where the most
amusing as we'll as tragical stories are
told of the curious bets that are made.
Betting on a certainty is held to be I'M
fair, unless the avowal is distinctly made,
80 that no undue advantage is taken.
An officer in the army had imported
for his private apartments a new and
beautiful mahogany table. A day or
two after it had arrived and had been
duly installed in his quarters, a brother
officer, a great swell and very unpopular,
dropped in Familiarity, and greatly adj
mired the beautiful table. The owner
was shaving himself at the glass with his
back to his visitor-Colonel Brown--but
continued the conversation until the
Colonel withdrew, the latter remarking
that he hoped soon to have his legs under
that elegant mahogany.
The owner of the table, whom we must
call Major Jones, made up a little dinner
party in the ourse of q few days, and
Colonel Brown was one of the number.
1t was natural that the new table should
be the subject of remark, and Brown,
who affected to be a connoissieur in all
matters, said the table was perfect, with
one exception.
Jones. "And pray what is that, Col
onel?"
Brown. cit is Just a little too high"
Jones. "Do you think so? How high
would you suppose it to be?"
Brown. "f presume it is the usual
height, just thirty-six inches, and it
ought to be less than that by at least half
an inch"
Jones. "That is the exact height,
thirty-tive and a half inches, not thirty
six, as you suppose"
Brown. "Pardon me. I am certain it
is three feet high: I will make you a bet
on it,"
Jones. "You will lose if you do, for I
give you notice that 1 know its exact
height to half an inch, and if 1 bet l
shall bet on a dead certainty"
Brown. 81 am Just as sure as you are;
l am betting on a certainty, also: my
eye never d~eceives me-. I will lay you q
hundred or a thousand pounds that this
table is t~hirty-six inches high; no more,
no less.'
The Major sought to dissuade his guest
from his purpose to make a bet, assuring
him that he knew the height of the table,
and did not want to bet on a certainty,
but, when the excitement grew furious,
the wager was finally laid at an enor-
nous sum- have heard it stated as high
$50,000-G1O,O00. That seems prepos-
ferrous, when such a trife was the sub
ject, but the gambling spirit does not
stick at trif1es. When the betting
was finally arranged, Colonel Brown ex-
claimed fexultingly, 81 told you 1 knev
the table was exactly t~hirty-six inches
high: 1 did know it, because when l
called, just after it arrived, l took its
measure on my cane as [ sat by it, and
after 1 went out I measured, and found
it to be, as | have said, precisely thirty
six inches high"
eyes" said Major Jones, II was sit
ting with my back to you, but / was
shaving before the looking glass, and 1
saw you taking the measure of the table
with your cane. s%uspecting that you
were preparing for a bet as to its height,
after you left I had half an inch taken
of, and it is now precisely thirty-ive and
a half inches high"
The applause that followed this result
was tremendous, and completed the dis
comfture of the unpopular Colonel. It
was evident chat he had been laying a
plan to cheat, and would have pocketed
the money if he had won. He was sent
to Coventry. He sold his commission
and returned to England, being unable
to stand up against the contempt of the
officers, who thoroughly dispised his char
acter.-Harper's Magazine.