Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1897-02-26
SOME QUEER WAGERs.


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Bettinf & : human weakness by a,
means conaned' 70 the wagering 3
money! h sporting events. In al Saes
ssys the New York World, Il hss bees
common ~ settle points Of difference
BY wager - 20 accomplish great feat
under thepenAlty Of the loss Of 1 River
sum. Th6fee man down in KehtucEy
who vowed never TO cut his beard until
Henry Clay w11 elected president. Thi,
was rea1fy : VOW, but IL was also bet
The man bStagSinSt fate and fate Won
A rash young Harvard graduate recent.
~ went around the world without q
cent Of money In his pockets when he
started. II was given out that he had
laid wager Of hve thousand dollara
that he could make the trip without
money. Il 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 famous
Yale football player once laid . wager
that he could eat two dozen errs q
one sitting. He ate them. Bridge.
jumpers have risked their lives for =
wager. The old English law forced
bettors to pay their debts A rcmarka-
BILE action was brought in 1919 by Rev.
Mr.. Gilbert against Sir Mark M.
Sykes. The bar0net at dinner party
In his own house, in the course of a
conversation of the hazard to which
the life OF Bonaparte was exposed,
offered, on receiving one hundred
guineas, to pay one guinea day Ms long
ss 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 q
day for nearly three years. At last he
declined to pay any longer and an &C.
ton was brought to ENFORCE the pay
ment. II was contended by the de-
PENDANT that he had been surprised into
the bet by tho clcrgyman's hasty &C
'ceptance of It. and that the transaction
was an Illegal one, seeing that Mr.. Gil.
bert, having beneficial interest in the
life OF Donnparte, 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 debata bio 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 MS 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
Tor the small sum Of Eve shillings was
laid in 1905 in the castle yard, York,
between Thomas Hodgson and Samuel
Whitehead as to which should succeed
In assuming the most original charac-
ter. uodgson appeared decorated with
ten-guinea, fve-guinea and guinea
notes all over his coat and waistcoat
and row of hve-guinea notes around
his hat, while to his back was fastened
the words "John Bull" Whitehead
appeared like q woman ON one side,
one-half of his face painted, one silk
atockinG and slipper, while the other
side represented q negro in mans dress,
with boots and spurs. "John Bull"
won the wager.
A gentleman Of the last century laid
. wager to q great amount that he
could stand for . whole day on London
bridge with . tray full of sovereigns
fresh from the mint and be unable to
lind purchaser for them at penny
apiece. Not one was disposed Of.
Wsgers have sometimes taken grim
form. 1t is creditably recorded that in
the last century wnger was laid for
one OF party of gay jewellers to enter
Westminster Abbey at 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 q swoon. His
companions not being able to account
Tor 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 TT Of ter
ror which nearly proved fatal
Sir John Pslxington, called Lusty
Pakington, and by Queen Elizabeth
my Temperance" laid wager Of
thirty thousand pounds sterling to
swim against three noble courtiers
from Westminster bridge to Green
wich, but her majesty interposed to
prevent any further procedure on the
bot. A gentleman named Corbet, Of
family near Shrewsbury,
BET bis leg was tho handsomest in the
country or kingdom. and stal<ed estates
worth eighty thousand pounds sterling
On the subject. He won the wager, and
} picture Is stin preserved in the family