The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-02
CURIOUSBETS.
MANY wAGERs ABOUT TIE SEX
OF A NOTED sOLDIER.

The Romans had a great taste for wagers
and bets, and there was a conventional
form among them Of rarifying this species
OF contract by taking from the finger the
ring which the higher classes wore, and
consigning it to the custody OF third party
or umpire.
a contract thus ratified was obligatory,
and gave right OF action at law to enforce
payment.
One of the widest and most sudOcious
bets ever offered was that of a physician
named Asotopiades. who wagered that he
would never be i'll in his whole life. Alb
surd as it may seem, he gained his bet,
though, OF course, he was unable to enjoy
1t. He lived to an advanced age, and met
his death suddenly in consequence of fall
downstairs.
A practice was for a long time prevs-
lent in Genoa, and from il, in all probability,
the old system OF lotteries originated. The
five senator's who, with the doge, governed
the republic, were chosen by lot from those
mobiles who were qualified TO the number
Of ITO.
On the result Of the selection great va
riety of bets was based The sums risked
were enormous, for the populace wagered
upon the chance Of its governors with the
hhAh6 hNl uiky hH bub "OoANbJs
In the year 1854 the parliament of Dole
in France was called upon to decide an ex-
traordinary wager between two inhabitants
OF Pasmes. One of the two bad agreed
that If the other would pay him "a francs
in hand he would furnish him with a cer-
tain number Of grains Of millet in proper
ton to the number of children who should
be born within q certain extent OF country,
aud be baptized during one year.
For the first child he was TO furnish one
grain, two for tho second, four for the
third, and so on, always doubling the num-
Der OF grains for each successive birth.
The number OF children born was sixty
six, and the proportion of grains to be sup
piled as SO enormous that the party bound
by the bet demanded the cancelinR OF the
contract as being founded upon an imprac-
ticAble condition.
The court decided, after having made the
necessary calculation, that the was nat
urally impossible to be fulfilled. wager and IL
consequently decreed that the party who had
received the "a francs on condition OF an
event which he declared himself unable TO
meet should return that sum TO his opponent
and should pay an additional sum OF "a
francs, which was the only chance Of loss
incurred by the winner II the mtllet had
been furnished.
The Count de Saillant made bet with the
Prince de Condo that he would ride twice
from the gate OF st. Denis to Chantilly at
full gallop and return to his starting place
in the space Of six hours, the distance be-
tween the two points being thirty miles.
The stake was 10, 900 crowns, and the bets
on both sides exceeded million of francs.
The count equipped himself with a tight
belt round the waist and his body was
swathed with strips OF flannel, while he
carried leaden bullet in his mouth. Re-
laws of horses were stationed on the road;
hof rnrld N fha altghtapf
ner obstruct the course was carefully re-
moved and a clock was fixed to the gate OF
st. Denis to mark the precise instant OF
starting and return.
The count accomplished his task with
eighteen minutes to spare, ia which tine he
offered to ride to Versailles, a farther dis
tance OF eleven miles.
The year l725 was extremely wet, and a
banker named Bulliot. noticing that it
rRined on St GervAis' the French st.
Switbin) day. offered to support the pop
ular superstition by bet that 10 would be
wet for forty consecutive days Several
persons took him, up and the wager was re-
duoed to writing in these terms:
III, dating from st. GerVais' day, IL rains
more or less during forty days successfully,
Bulliot will be considered to have gained;
If 1t cease to rain for only one day during
that time Bulliot has lost"
On these terms Bulliot bet against all
Corners, and on that day he deposited a
very large sum Of money, for, besides what
he had lodged in the hands of the umpires,
he took gold-headed canes, sauh boxes and
| iewelry Of every kind whose value was APP
praised, and against which be stsked money.
The affair caused great excitement at the
| time, and as the chances wore decidedly
against Bulliot, many people were eager to
get on the good thing. At last the banker,
having deposited oil his cash, was forced to
a "A o
change, and, as his credit was we'll estab-
lished, he was enabled to issue paper to the
amount OF
FIFTY THOUSAND CROWNS.
II will readily be conceived that the hero
Of this wager became quite fashiohable.
Wherever he appeared he attracted atten-
ton. But, unfortunately. st Gerva is
was not true to his reputation, and it ceased
raining before the expiration Of the allotted
time.
Bulliot was ruined, and so completely
that he could not honor the notes and bills
of exchange which he had given,
The holders trie1 to enforce payment, and
as the existing law did not recognize debts
of this character, they endeavored to pass
themselves Off as bona fide creditors who
had taken Bulliot's notes for other consid-
eratious than the wager, aud that they
ought to be paid or compounded for, but the
assiQnees made IL appear by the dates and
other evidence that al! the notes formed
part of the wager. They we're, therefore,
non-suited, and the debts declared irrecov-
cradle.
Previous to the passing Of the betting
acts. actions used 10 be allowed in England,
and Lord Mansfield tried several One was
where two spendthrift young noblemen
wagered which OF their two fathers would
die arst, and the verdict was given for
Lord March.
Another famous case was that OF the Che
Waller EoD, the point at issue being whether
the Chevalier, who though a military officer,
was Of effeminAte appearance, was a man
or a 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 allowed 10
settle many other bets laid on the same
question. According to a contemporary
authority, this decision was instrumental
in retaining 10 this country no less a sum
than 975, 900, which would otherwise have
been transmitted to Paris.
The chevaliar, after declaring that she
Tor be } had no interest whatever in there
bets
UPON THE QUESTION OF Sex,
left England for France, and assuming
female attire enjoyed a pension from tho
French COVE nmeut for having been long q
spy OF Louis XIV. till the breaking out OF
the revolution in 1872.