Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-08-16
SOME QUEER WAGERS.
Extraordinary lets Mado By All
Sorts OF Persons.
Sir Waiter Raleigh Won Novel Wager
from nueen Eliyabeth-A Fortune
Stake OF the shape OF
Mans Leg


By wager or go accomplish great fcats
under the penalty OF tho loss OF given
sum. There "a man down ia Kentucky
who vowed never 20 cut his beard until
Henry Clay was elected president This
was real Y vow, but it was also bet
The man bet against fate and fate Won
\ rash young Harvard graduate recent
Is went around the world without a
cent of money IN his pockets when he
started. 1t was given out that he had
laid wager of FIVE thousand dollars
that he could MAKE the trip without
money. J has since turned out that
he was simply the agent of "A widely
advertised article. Election bets are
sometimes made which require the
loser 10 wheel the winner IN barrow
over certain distance \ famous
Yale football player once laid wager
that he could eat two dozen eggs a.
one sitting lie ate them. Bridge
jumpers have ri>kId their lives for "A
wager. The Old English law forced
bettors 20 pay their debts a rcmarka-
BILE action was brought in lsl2 10y Rev.
Mr.. Gilbert against Sir Mark NJ
Sykes. he 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 "A day as 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 Il
day for nearly three years. at last he
declined To pay any longer and an ac-
ton was brought to enforce the pay
ment. II was contended by the de-
PENDANT that he had been surprised into
the bet by the clergymans hasty ac-
ceptance Of il, and that the transaction
was an Illegal one, seeing that Mr.. Gill
bert, having a beneficial interest in the
liie 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 a verdict for the defends
ant.
Another queer wager is the one pop
ularly believed 10 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 20 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 at
mosphere was unthought of by Eliza
beth and the knight. An amusing bet
for the small sum of five shillings was
laid in 1906 in the castle yard, York.
between Thomas Hodgson and Samuel
Whitehead as 70 which should succeed
in assuming the most original charac-
ter. Hodgson appeared decorated with
ten-guinea, fve-guinea and guinea
notes all over his coat and waistcoat
and row Of five-guinea notes around
his hat. while 10 his back was fastened
the words "John Bull" Whitehead
appeared like woman on one side,
one-half of his face painted, one silk
stocking and slipper, while the other
with boots and spurs. John Bull
won the wager.
A gentleman Of the last century laid
a wager 70 great amount that he
could stand for whole day on London
bridge with a tray full of sovereigns
fresh from the mint and be unable 70
find a purchaser for them at penny
apiece. Not one was disposed of.
Wagers have sometimes taken a grim
form. II is creditably recorded that in
the last century wager was laid for
one of party of gay jewellers % enter
Westminster Abbey al the hour Of mid
night. He was 20 enter one Of the
vaults beneath the abbey. in proof Of
his having been there he was % stick
fork into a 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 50 overpowered by
terror that he fell in swoon. His
companions not being able TO account
for his absence found him in this condi-
ton. The fork which he had fastened
into the coffin had caught and pinned
his cloak and so occasiOncd tit of ter
ror which nearly proved fatal.
Sir John Pallington, called Lusty
Palington, and by Queen Elizabeth
My Temperance, laid q wager of
thirty thousand pounds sterling 70
swim against three noble courtiers
from Westminster bridge TO Green
witch, but her ma iesty interposed TO
prevent any further procedure on the
bet. A gentleman named Corbet, OF
distinguished family near Shrewsbury,
bet his leg was the handsomest in the
country or kingdom, and stalIed estates
worth eighty thousand pounds sterling
on the subject. He won the wager, and
a picture is still preserved in the family
mansion representing the process of
measuring the legs of the different con-
testants.
OF the queer recent wagers, one has
just come 20 light Of a New York busi-
ness man who made a bet sixteen years
ago that he would not look at himself
in a mirror for twenty years. He has
kept up his end Of the bet, which has