The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-01-01
Wagers Won and Lost.


money on sporting events. In all
ages, says the Chicago Record, it has
been common to settle points Of diff
ference by 8 wager, or to acco nplish
great feats under the penalty Of the
loss Of given sum.
There's man down in Kentucky
who vowed never to cut his beard un-
til Henry Clay was elected president.
This was really a VOW, but it was also
a bet. The man bet against fate, and
fate won. A rash young Harvard
graduate recently went around the
world without cent of money in his
pockets when he started. 1t was
given out that he had laid wager of
$4,000 that he could make the trip
without money. Tt has since turned
out that he was simply the agent Of a
widely advertised article.
The old English law forced bettors
to pay their debts. a remarkable ac-
tion was brought in 1912 by Rev. Mr..
Gilbert against Sir Mark NJ. Sykes.
The baronet, at dinner party at his
own house, in the course Of CONVEX
sation of the hazard to which the life
re-Bonapart was exposed, offered, on
receiving 100 guineas, to pay one
guinea day as long as Napoleon
should remain alive. Mr.. Gilbert
closed with Sir Mark and sent the 100
guineas, and the latter continued to
pay the one guinea day for nearly
three years. At last he declined to
pay any longer, and an action was
brought to enforce ths payment. It
was contended by the defendant that
he had been surprised into the bet by
the clergyman's hasty acceptancesof
it, and that the transaction was an
illegal one, seeing that Mr.. Gilbert,
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 defendant.
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 was 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 de-
termining the weight Of the smoke as
exactly that Of the tobacco before be-
ing burned, minus the ashes. The
fact Of the ashes having received an
additional weight by combination with
the oxygen Of the atmosphere was un-
thought Of by Elizabeth and the
knight.
An amusing bet for the small sum
of IS was laid in 1906 in the castle
ward, York, between Thomas Hodgson
and Samuel Whitehead as to which
should succeed in assuming the most
original character. Hodgson appeared
decorated with 1O-guinea, s guinea
and guinea notes all over his coat and
waistcoat, and a row Of 5 guinea notes
around his hat, while to his back was
fastened the words "John Bull. :"
Whitehead appeared like woman OIL
one side, one-half Of his face painted,
one silk stocking and slipper, while
the other side represented Negro in
mans dress, with boots and spurs.
"John Bull" won the wager.
A gentleman Of the last century
laid wager to a great amount that he
could stand for a whole day on Lon
don bridge with a tray full of sover-
eigns fresh from the mint and be un-
able to find a purchaser for them, at a
penny piece. Not one was disposed
Of. Wagers have sometime taken a
grim form. It is credibly recorded
that in the last century a wager was
laid for one of a party Of gay jewellers
to enter Westminster Abbey at the
hour Of midnight. 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 recently deposited there.