The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1895-07-27
SOME QUEER WAGER&


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. Man's LEI.
Betting u . human weehneee by no
mesns confined 70 the wagering o6
money on sporting eventA In all ages,
says the New York World, It has been
common to settle points Of difference
by wager or to accomplish great fests
under the penalty Of the loss Of given
sum. There's Q man down in Kentucky
who vowed never to cut his beard until
Henry Clay was elected president. This
was really : vow, but y was also bst
The man bet against fate and fate won.
A rash young Harvard graduate recent
" went around the world without >
cent Of money in his pockets when he
started, It was given out that he had
laid wager OF i've Thousand dollars
that he could mike the trip without
money. 1t has since turned out that
he was simply the agent OF widely
advertised article. Election bets are
sometimes made which require the
loser to wheel the winner in . barrow
over . certain distance A fam0us
Yale football player once laid wager
that he could eat two dozen eggs at
one sitting. he ate them. Bridge
jumpers have risked their lives Tor .
wager. The old English law forced
bettors to pay their debts. A remarlka-
BILE action was brought in 1912 by Rev.
Mr.. Gilbert against Sir Mark M.
Sykes. The baronet at dinner party
in his own house, in the course OF .
conversation Of the hazard to which
the life of Bonaparte was exposed. .
offered, on receiving one hundred
guineas, to pay one guinea day IS long
as Napoleon should remain alive. Mr..
Gilbert closed with Sir Mark, and sent
the one hundred guineas, and the lat
ter continued to pay the one guinea .
day for nearly three years. At last he
declined to pay any longer and m ac-
ton was brought to enforce the pay
ment. It was contended by the de-
fendant that he had been surprised into
the bet by the clergyman's hasty ac-
ceptance Of it, and that the transaction
was an illegal one, seeing that Mr.. Gil
bert, having beneficial interest in the
life of Bonaparte, might, in the event
of an invasion, use all his means for
the preservation Of the life of an enemy
of his country. The jury Loyalty
brought in . verdict for the defend
ant.
Another queer wager is the one pop
ularly believed to have been won by
Sir Walter Raleigh from Queen Eliza
beth on the debatable question OF how
much smoke is contained in pound of
tobacco. A pound of the article was
weighed, burned and weighed again in
ashes, and the question was held to be
satisfactorily settled by determining the
weight of the smoke as exactly that OF
the tobacco before being burned, minus
the ashes. The fact of the ashes hav-
ing received an additional weight by
combination with the oxygen Of the st-
mosphere was unthought Of by Eliza
beth and the knight. An amusin8 bet
for the small sum of Eve shillings was
laid in 1906 in the castle yard, York,
between Thomas Hodgson and Samuel
Whitehead as to which should succeed
ic assuming tho mos* original chasac-
ter. Hodgson appeared decorated with
ten-guinea. fve-guinea and guinea
notes all over hin coat and w1istcoat
and row Of Ave-Guinea notes arouaa
his hat, while to his back was fastened
the words "John Bull" Whitehead
appeared like . woman on one side,
one-half Of hia faee painted, ons silk
stocking and slipper, while the other
side represented . negro In mans drese,
with boots and spurA "John Bull"
won.the wager.
A eentaenaan Of tie last century laid
q wager to q great amount that he
could stand for , whole day on London
bridge with . tray full Of soverei9ns
fresh from the mint and be unable to
find purchaser for them at penny
apiece. Not one was disposed Of.
Waoefs have sometimes taken . grim
form. It il creditably recorded thst ID
the last century wager was laid 1pr
one OF . party fgay revelers to enter
Westminster Abbey ut the hour OF mid
night. He was to enter one Of the
vaults beneath the abbey; in proof OF
his having been there he was to stick .
fork into coffin which had been re-
Gently deposited there. He accom-
plished his object, and was returning In
triumph, when he felt himself suddenly
caught, and was SO overpowered by
terror that he fell in swoon. His
companions not being able to account
for his absence found him in this condi-