Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-05-26
SOME CURIOUS WAGERS.
MEN RISK MONEY ON ALL
SORTS OF PROPOSITIONS.
The Millet Seed Bet and the Chevalier
Dion The Dramatic Exploit OF
Manager John SlOman-
Man or Woman.

A practice was for o long time
prevalent in Genoa, and from it, in
all probability. the old system Of lot
teries originated. The five senators
who, with tho doge, governed the
republic, wero chosen by lot from
those mobiles who were qualified, to
the number of 49, On the result of
the selection u great variety OF bets
was based. The sums risked were
enormous, for the populace wagered
upon the chance of its governors
with the same avidity as the wealthy.
In tho year 1884 the parliament Of
Dole, in France, was called upon to
decide an extraordinary wager be-
tween two inhabitants OF Pasmes.
One of the two had agreed that if the
other would pay HIM twenty-four
francs in hand he would furnish him
with certain number OF grains OF
millet in proportion to the number Of
children who should be born thin
a certain extent of country and be
baptized during one year
For the first child he was TO fur
nish one grain, awo for the second.
four for the third, and 50 on, always
doubling the number OF grains for
each successive birth. The number
of children born was siXty-siX. and
the proportion of grains to be sup
piled was so enormous that the party
bound by the bet demanded the can
ceiling Of the contract as being
founded upon an impracticable conli
tion. The court dec ded, after hav-
ing made the neces sary calcu alton,
that the wager was naturally impossi-
BILE to be fulfilled, and it consequently
decreed that the party who had re-
ccived the 24E on condition Of an
event which he declared himself
unable TO meet, shou d return that
sum TO his opponent AMI should pay
an additional sum of 2lf., which was
the only chance of loss incurred by
the winner If the millot had been
furnished.
Previous to the passing of the bet
ting acts, actions used TO be allowed
in this country, says tho London
Standard, and Lord Mansfield tried
several. One was where two spend
thrift, young noblemen wagered
VIII Oh of their two fathers
would die first. and the verdict
was given for Lord March.
Another famous case was that Of tho
Chevalier DION, the point at issue
being whether the chevaier, who,
though military officer, was of eff
Terminate appearance, was man or o
woman. The case was heard before
Lord Mansfield, and the verdict given
that he was a woman Although the
verdict was afterward set aside on
legal grounds, it was a lowed TO set
tie many other bets laid on the same
question. According TO a contem-
porary authority. this decision was
instrumental in retaining in this
county no less a sam than E75,0)0,
which would otherwise have been
transmitted to Paris. The chevalier,
after declaring that she Cor he) had
no interest whatever in these lets
upon the question of sex. LETT Eng
land for France, and suming female
attire, enjoyed pension from the
French government for having been
long q spy of Louis XIV, till the
breaking out of the revolution in
1879. He then came 10 England,
and being in great distress lived with
lady of reputation as her compan-
ion. but on his death in 1919 he was
found, on post-mortem examination.
to be man.
Some fifty years ago John Sloman,
the actor, who was chen manager Of
the five theatres comprised in what
was called the Kent circuit, made a
bet of $el00 that he would act the
p:rt Of Tom in the interlude of ''In-
trigue' and sing a comic song at
three of his theaters on the same
night between the hours of Z and IL.
The theaters selected were those of
Canterbury, Rochester and Maidstone,
between which places there was at
that time no railway communication.
On the appointed evening the cur
tain rose at the Canterbury house ex-
actly at z; Sloman went through his
part and sang comic song, then
jumped into postchaise, AMI made
for Rochester as fast as four good
horses could take him, covering the
distance - twenty-six miles in an
hour and forty minutes, changing
horses at Sittingbourne. Part CT the
company had been sent on In advance,
and they were ready TO commence di-
rectly the manager arrived. The in
terlude was played, the song sung,
and Sloman postel to Maidstone a
distance of eight miles, in forty-four
minutes Here he was welcomed by
q house crammed from pit to gallery,
and accomplished his task with if
teen minutes TO spare.