The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-03-24
Betting on a Certainty.

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In the British army in India bet
ling among the officers often runs to
an extreme Of vice that is sometimes
fearful to contemplate. Perhaps it il
no worse than in club life in London,
where the most amusing as well a.
tragical stories are told of the curious
bets that are made. Betting on GER
tainty is held to be unfair. unless the
ayowal is distinctly made. so that no
undue advantage is taken.
An officer in the army had import
ed for his private apartments new
and beautiful mahogany table. A
day or two after it had arrived and
had been duly installed in his quar-
ters,. a brother officer, great swell
and very unpopular. dropped in FAM
iliarly, and greatly admired the
beautiful table. The owner was
shaving himselfat the glass with his
visitor-Colonel Brown-but cOntin-
ued 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, yhom we
must call Major Jones, made up a
little dinner party in the course of a
few days, and Colonel Brown was one
of the number. 1t was natural that
the new table should be the subjct OF
remark, and Brown, who affected
to he a connoisseur in all matters,
said the table was perfect, with one
exception.
Jones. "And pray what is that,
colonel?"
Brown. at is just alIttle too high"
Jones. "Do you think SOP" How
high would you suppose it to be >"
Brown. IT presume it is the usual
height, just thirty-six inches, and ii
ought to be less than that by at least
half aniuch."
Jones. "That is the exact height,
thirty-five and half inches, not thir.
ty-six, as you suppose"
Brown! "Pardon me. | am certain
it is three feet high l will make you
a bet on it,"
Jones. "YOu will lose if you do,
for | give you notice that l know its
exact height to half an inch, and if
bet shall be on dead certainty"
Brown. 81 am just as sure as you
are; | am betting on certainty also
my eye never deceives me. will lay
you a hundred or thousand pounds
that this table is thirty-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 k'ae,0 the height
of the table, and did not want to bet
on a certainty, hut, when the excite
ment grew furious, the wager was
finally laid at an enormous sum-
have heard it stateda high as $50, 900
100000. That seems preposterous
when such trifie was the subject, but
the gambling spirit does not stick at
trifies. When the betting was finally
arranged, Colonel Brown exclaimed,
exultihgly, 81 told you I knew the
table exactly thirty-six inches high ,
I did bnOlO it, because when | called
just after it arrived, / took its meas
ure on my cane as I sat by it, and
after | went out | measured, and
found it to be, as / have said, pre-
cisely thirty-six inches high"
YES" said Major Jones, 81 was
sitting with my hack to you, but
was shaving before the looking-gIass,
and l saw You taking the measu of
the table with your cane. Suspecting
that you were preparing for a bet as
to its height, after you left l had hall
an inch taken off, and it is now pre-
ci5ely thirty-fiye and half inches
nigh"
The applause that followed this re-
suit was tremendous, and completed
the discontinue of the unpopular
colonel. 1t was evident that he had
been layingaplan to cheat, and would
have pocketeG the money If he had
won.' He was sent toCoventry. He
sold his commission and returned to
England, being unable to stand up
against the contempt of the officers,
who thoroughly despised his charac-
ter.