Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1889-08-21

Weather, us,est PERSON. Ete.
So far as we can. 60 back In the
worlds history, we find the rage for
making ayers prevalent. The Romans
bad great taste for waeers and bets;
and they had conventional form Of
ratifylng these contracts. which consist
cd IN taking from the finger the ring
which the higher Glasses Invariably
wore. and giving it into the keeping OF
some third party umpire. One of the
widest bets ever made WAS Ivy u physi.
clan OF the ancient world named
Asc'eplades. He wagered against fort
une that he would never be i'll dur
ing his life, under penalty of losing
the reputation he had acquired of be.
ing the most famous physician OF his
time. Absurd and impioas Il, was this
presumption he Won his wager, all
though he could NOT enjoy i, for, at
very advanced pc iol of lie, he died
from the effects OF fall.
The Romans were fohidden to bet
upon the success OF an unlawful game,
or indeed Oh any games whatever, un-
less they were trials OF courage,
bodily strength, or skill.
The Parliament of Dole, in France,
was called upon to decide IA very
curious wager in the year 1904 Ii
was between two citizen, of pasmes,
one OF whom had agreed. on considcra.
ton of his being paid tho sum OF
twenty-four francs, to furnish the
other with quantity OF grains OF
mtllct, in proportion to the number OF
child en th:.: sh 9u.d be b5i'ii within d
certain extent OF country durinr one
year. lie was to hand over one grain
To- the first child, two for the second,
four fer the third. and SO on. always
doubling the number of grains for each
successive birth. The number OF chill
dren born within the specified time
was siXty-siX; and such III enormous
quantity of grains Of iiillet had to be
supplied to meet the conditions of Che
agreement, chat the contracting party
demanded the canoeing of the bet. on
the ground that il was founded upon
an impossible condition The court
agreed ut once that it was Impossible
for the contract to be carried out; and
decided that the person who had re-
ce.ved the twenty-four ancj should
repay them to his opponent. and
shou give him an I'D litional SUM OF
twenty-lour francs. Surely this was
any thing but just Judgment, for
it was impossible that the gamer
could have lost. He made his cllc,,.
latiohi, and WAS betting upon the ig-
norance of the loser. TWAS therefore
wager based upon bad faith, and
should have teen amulet altogether.
A wager was made early in the last
century by u banker named l3ul Int.
lie was II firm believer in the supersti-
ton that if rain fails OH st. Switbin
day DULY lj), ii will also Ia more
or less. for forty days after III
Swithin's day in the year 1725 was
very wet and so Buliot otferet 10 bet
any one who chose to put down his
money that The next forty days ouli
be rainy. SO many persons show ed
desire to take up this wager, that it.,
terms were reduced to writing az fol-
lows; "If, dating from 81 Swithin's
day, it r;tina mo or little during
forty days Sac' eSfsUe2g, Bullet VIII be
considered to have gainedi but if it
cea.es TO rain Tor only one day during
tnat tifir, Gulliot has lost. On these
terms, Duliot bet against ell who pre-
scented themselves, lie was so conf
dent OF SUCCESS that he placed money
agil,a,t ARTICLES OF va'ue of
every description People brought
gold-headcd canes, snuiT4boxes. lew.
els. even Clothes, and liot
wagered Us mo1h money against them
a. he considered they were worth.
When his stock OF cash came To an
end be issucl notes and bills To such
an extent that it was : and he had lnp i
money out 10 the amount Of d hundred
thousand crowns All this naturally
excited a great deal OF pubic curiosity,
and the rash man fuuna himself N te
faShionab Tor the time beng Verses
we're made in his honor, q pay was
produced Witch had him for lis hero,
in a word he attracted AZ much .Gtrn-
ton rs If he lad been monarch or a
famous statesman But. pnfottunatc-
~ for Eullloi, st. Swithln was not tru,
10 his chara1 try For the t1i.stlmrnlu.