Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-02-23
EXAMPLES OF FOOLS ARGUMENTS"
 OUT OF THE MuSTY PAST.

Men "nO N1lue SHOWS OI AuckusStNco eo
 Win Bets-Layins Large Sums on tho
 Result of Trifin. Afairs-A Race Be-
 tween Drops of Water.
 It has been remarked that "a collec- tion of foolish wagers would make voluminous work" and so odd are some of these fools arguments" as Butler pith- fly terms them in his ''Hudibras," that a selection of some of the most curious may prove not uninteresting.
 During the last century. when, par ticularly in club life, the least difference of opinion frequently ended in a bet, many remarkable and eccentric wagers | were made.
 In 1729 poulterer of Leadenhall market betted $50 he would walk 202 times round the area of Upper Moor fields in twenty seven hours; and accord | ingly proceeded at the rate of five miles an hour on the amusing pursuit, ito the infinite improvement of his business and i great edification of hundreds of specta- 1 tors"
 To characterize the follies of the day | it will be necessary to add to the account of the walking man another of a hopping man, who engaged, in December, 1731, to hop 800 yards in fifty hops in St. James park He performed the feat in forty-six.
 TRIALS OF SPEED.
 In February, T70, bet was laid by noble earl that he should find man who would ride to Edinburgh and back again to London i'll less time than another noble earl should make a million dots in the most expeditions manner he could contrive.
 In September, 11S9, a Col Ross set out from London for York, on a wager with a Mir. Pigot of 500 guineas that he reached his destination in forty-eight
 hours on the same horse. He performed
 the journey three hours within the time. On the 17th of May, 1877, a respect
 able farmer of KirtonLindsey, for a
 wager of a few pounds, undertook to
 ride a pony up two pair of stairs into a
 chamber of the George inn and down
 again, which feat he actually performed
 before numerous company, whose as-
 tonishment was heightened by the rider
 being upward of eleven stone weight and
 his horse less than thirty stone They
 were weighed after the feat, to decide
 another wager.
 In The Annual Register for 17SS we
 find the following: "A young Irish gen.
 tleman. for very considerable wager, set out on Monday. Sept. %, to walk to Constantnople and back again in one
 year. It is said that the young gentle , man has e20,0O0 depending on the per formance of the exploit" 7 The Earl of March, on laying a bet that he would cause a message to be dis patched a certain distance quicker than , any horse could convey it, won his wager 1, by inclosing the message in a cricket : ball, which was thrown from hand to hand by relays of professional cricket
 CTS. As Duke of Queensberry, he betted } 1000 guineas that he would produce a = man who would eat more at meal than - any one whom Sir John Lade could find. . The duke was informed of his success
 not being present at the achievement
 by the following bulletin from the field
 of battle: My lord, have not time to state particulars, but merely to acquaint \ your grace that your man beat his antag- 5 onist by an apple pie"
 l BETTING ON DEATH. t At Whites coffee house, where, dur. !. ing the last century, gaming was carried e on to heavy amounts, book was always : laid upon the table for entering wagers : e and in these betting books, some oi o which still exist, may be found bets on a all conceivable subjects: on marriages . births, deaths on the duration of a min
 istry, on the chance of an election, on 6
 rascal's risk of the halter or the shock o1 an earthquake.
 O Walpole, writing to Sir Horace Mann |. Sept. 1, 1150, says: "They have put into t the papers a good story made at Whites n A man dropped down dead at the doo1 l. and was carried in. The club immedi l ately made bets whether ho was dead o1 t not; and when they were going to bleed e him, the wagcrcrs for his death inter 'S posed, and said it would affect the fair O ness of the bet"
 V Certain it is that during this period nt y subject appears to have been too serious r. for bet; and that nothing was consid Il cred too trivial a medium, the following e lines, founded on fact, bear witness: N The Bucks had dined. and deep in council sat- :. Their wine was brilliant but their wit grew flat Il Up starts his Iordshp-to the window flies, l. And To! "A race racel" in rapture cries.
 'Where?" quoth Sir John-''Why see two drop l- of rain
 if Start from the summit of the crystal pane; Is thousand pounds which drop, with nimbles ,f force
 ~, Performs it's current down the slipp'ry course" D The bets were made; in dire suspense they wait Il For victory, pendant on the nod of Fate. Is Now down the sash, unconscious of the prize, D. The bubbles roll ko pearls from Chloe's eyes.
 But, ah! the glittring joys of life are short;
 How oft two jostling steeds have spoiled th
 Sportl
 So. thus attraction, by coercive laws, "a Tn approaching drops into one bubble draws. le Each cursed his fate that thus their projet If croSsed
 How hard their lot, who neither won nor lost! ~ Chambers Journal. s -----
 Treatment of Burns.