Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-06-26
SOME CURIOUS wAoERs.
Tho Millet Seed Bet ana tho Chsvalier
d'Eon-A Dramatic Exploit.

A practice was for long time
prevalent in Genoa, and from it. in
all probability, the old system Of lot
tcries originated The five senators
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 a great variety Of bets
%as based. The sums risked were
enormous. for the populace wagered
upon the chance OF its governors
with the same avidity as the wealthy.
In the year 1854 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 hun
With a certain number Of grains Of
millet in proportion to the number Of
children WHO should be born within
q certain extent Of country and be
baptized during one year
For the fret child he was to fur
nish one grain. two for the second.
doubling the number of grains for
SoCl SuSSSoSANS O2& Az A&oAh wi
Of children born was sixty-siS, 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 condi
ton The court decided. after hav-
ing made the necessary calculation.
that the wager was naturally impossi-
hlo 70 no fpif1l1nA ana ~ nnncnnnanfIG
decreed that the party who had re-
ceiyed the 24f 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 24f, which was
the only chance of loss incurred by
the winner if the millet had been
furnished.
Previous to the passing of the bet
ting acts, actions used to be allowed
in this country. says the London
Standard, and Lord Mansfield tried
several. One was where two spend
thrift, young noblemen wagered
which of their two fathers
would die first, and the verdict
was given for Lord March.
Another famous case was that of the
Chevalier DION, the point at issus
being whether the chevalier. who.
though a military officer, was of eff
Terminate appearance. was 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 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
country no less q sum than f75. 1000.
which would otherwise have been
transmitted to Paris The ch-valier.
after declaring that she Cor he) had
no interest whatever in these bets
upon the question of sex. left Eng
land for Franco. end assuming female
attire, enjoyed a pension from the
French government for having been
long q spy Of Louis XIV, till tho
breaking out of the revolution in
1890. He then came to England.
and being in great distress lived with
lady of reputation as her compan"
ion, but on his death in 1910 he was
found, on post-mortem examination,
to be q man
Some fifty years ago John Sloman.
the actor, who was then manager Of
the five theatres comprised in what
was called the Kent circuit, made a
bet of $f100 that he would act the
part 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 II.
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. and 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 Sittingbourn Part CT the
company had been sent on in advance,
and they were ready to commence d.
rectly the manager arrived. The in
terlude was played. the song sung,
and Sloman posted to Maidstone, a
distance of eight miles. in forty-four
minutes Here he was welcomed by
a house crammed from pit to gallery.
and accomplished his task with fif-
teen minutes to spare.
"woman's Sufrer-age"