The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-01-26

- ~ al field, nOtwitlI-
standing the wonderful strides ALREADY
made in that direction, offers the most
shining prizes At this point of agres-
ment they were joined by friend of 81!
three, upon whose face had settled tie
look of one who Is extremely bor",j-
They explained the discussion TO hin
and asked his opinion.
''There is one field of human inyeii-
ton" he said with weary sigh, (which
you have not yet canvassed. L believe
that the man who should invent a new
form of betting on the elections would
be entitled to, and would receive, the
profoundest thanks of his fellow citizens.
although he might not make any money
out of IT, have hardly picked upa pa
Der since Nov. that did not contain an
account of the payment of some form of
wager that was invented so many years
ago, and has been repeated so invariably
every year since then, as to make the
stories of its repetition which find their
way into print a WEAKNESS of spirit to
every man who picks up his favorite
journal in order TO read something really
new.
s.Just before the election / read in one
of the newspapers about man who had
agreed in case his favorite candidate was
not successful to make pound of cam
dies by the old fashioned process of dip
ping and eat them afterward. By the
terms of another bet, recorded in the
same paper, the loser was to promenade
the streets OF his native town with one
side Of his face painted red and the other
painted green. In yet another case the
losing bettor was to sling bootblack's
kit over his shoulder and go up and
down the streets, Offering to shine the
shoes of every negro he met for cents
shine.
1.-TWO otl:er foolish citizens" the bored
man went on, made a wager, the pro
visions of which were that the loser
should ride 100 miles as tramps often do
on the trucks OF freight car. There was
another bet recorded in the newspapers
providing that the winning man should
be seated upon a bicycle sulky, and the
loser should run around a race track
with him couple of times. In another
case it was agreed that the losing bettor
should get file of The Congressional
Record, read all the senate debates on
the silver question and write a synopsis
thereof. which he should deliver before
the local literary club, and this morning
/ saw an account of q wager, the loser
of which has to collect and count a mill
ion apple seeds before the list Of January.
Now. none of these" the wearied
sneaker continued, ''though they are not
quite so tiresome to read about as the
wheelbarrow, the Notwithstanding
my-side-wins, the wearing OF old clothes
and old hats, the long tramp, and such
like bets, is really new, and the man, as
have said, who should evolve from his
inner consciousness some actually novel
form of betting upon elections would be
a genuine benefactor of the race. am
convinced" he went on, "that these
stories of threadbare wagers have caused
more depression of spirits since the cleo
tions than the monetary stringency with
which congress wrestled in such peculiar
fashion during the special session. If
had my way, would make it n criminal
offense to make known the terms of any
such wager, and the newspaper publish
ing it should be instantly and relentless
ly suppressed
ssThat reminds me-" said the most Sc
rious of the bored mans three auditors
ssthat owe hat ON the result IN Ohio
to "A friend of mine who does not agree
with me in politics, and that have got
to buy a box of gloves for my wife on
the result of the election in New York
Ipromised TO take the gloves home Will
me when / go to dinner today, and
shall have to leave you now to go anC
select them. By the way" turning Il
the man who had expressed his opinio'