The Philipsburg mail., 1899-03-17
GAMBLERS ARE WARY
fHE RELIANCE THEY PLACE
UPON CHARMS.
Luck Bringing Potato-An ngliah Gam
bier Who Always Carried One In His
Pocket-A Jockey Who Carries
Pearl Button.

Seeing that gambling is nearly al
ways a matter of luck or ill-luck, it
seems consistent with the eternal fit-
ness Of things that habitual gamblers
should be superstitious and place a
certain amount of reliance upon
charms and presentiments; but never
theless, 1t is truly extraordinary how
much Importance many gamblers at
tach to trivial things and occurrences
such as any one else would simply ig-
nore
One of the most notorious gamblers
in the British aristocracy is an implicit
believer in the luck-bringing powers of
small kidney potato, without which
ne rarely plays at any game at the risk
OF losing large sums Of money. The
history Of the extraordinary charm is
wrapped in mystery" and no one has
been able to drag out of the noble lord
(for he is member of the House of
Peers) in what way he became possess
Sed of his plebeian potato. But he
stoutly asserts that but for his tails
man he would have been ruined years
ago by his gambling habits.
He is one of the luckiest men who
ever cast dice or cut pack. and it is
notorious that an evenings play at his
favorite club has more than once put
il,O0O into his pocket and it really
seems that the superstition attached to
his potato has solid basis, for on one
,hnv 1,tyo L, 11cl Ii,
charm at home-a very rare thing for
him to do--he lost heavily; whereas 1t
is most exceptional thing for him to
rise from card table a penny the
poorer for a long evenings reckless
gambling.
A well-known jockey who is reputed
to have won ten times as much in bet
ting as he has by his profession, al
though he has been wonderfully sue
cessful, never rides in race or backs
horse for half penny if he has not
on his person at the time a smoked
pearl button, and to attempt to argue
with him that his charm could not pos
sibly affect his fortunes would be USE
less; he would tell you of hundred
occasions on which the button chang
ed his luck, and finally inform you that
1t had, when he was a child saved his
life by catching in the upholstery of a
railway carriage when he fell out of the
improperly closed door.
How he gets over the fact that he
always carries the button when racing.
but does not always get his horse a
place, we do not know Probably he
believes it saves him fall even when
it does not carry him to victory, and
he has certainly been remarkably
lucky in the matter of accidents.
A leading light of London society,
who is a frequent visitor to the gam
ing palaces at Monte Carlo and Ostend,
when gambling wears on her wrist part
OF broken clock spring, to which she
attaches the greatest Importance. 1t is
said that on the occasion Of one of her
visits to Monte Carlo friend persuad-
ed her to leave her strange looking
bracelet at her hotel and to play with
out it, and the result was that, I'M
able to resist the fascination of gam
bling, even when losing, she lost be-
tween $1,000 and $4,000, not thinking
how the money was going until it had
actually gone.
Since then she has never gambled
unless wearing her famous clock
spring, and she has often surprised
the company at her table by her Won
derful runs of luck. She is perfectly
calm when gambling with the bracelet
on her wrist, while without it she al
ways lost her head at the first loss of
money and then plunged.
Every one knows how superstitious
racing men are concerning dreams, but
we came across case short time
since which appears so novel that we
include it in this article, although the
actual subject is so hackneyed.
The superstitious gentleman is one
with whose name every sporting man
Is acquainted, and relies absolutely
upon suggestions made to him in
dreams for every move he makes upon
the turf; and since he made it his habit
to do so he has never lost penny upon
a race, or lost race in which one of
his horses was running!