Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1901-02-14
LOTTERIES AND LUCK
TRICKS THATsHAvE BEEN plAYEosx|
PICKLE FORTUNE.

PICKLE FORTUNE.
Ssnse lastaases That Aptly llI1stFas1
the Trslh ss sAs OLE Aaags Tlhae
Fbere o Masy : siip "Twixs 80
Cup and the Lip.
There ars few things with which "a.
nance 10 more closely connected thAn
the distribution Of lottery prizes. md
there can be- no doubt that we Britono
are all tho better Off becanse Of the ille-
eality Of holding lotteries in the United
Kingdom. A big lottery must disap-
point hundreds Of thousands while it
enriches ona winner. who often finds
that his hastily acquired wealth results
In doing him more harm than good.
A short time ngo the first prize in
one OF tho Italian state lotteries, which
amounted to some GS. 900, fell to
peasant who. with his wife. had actually
died OF starvation within a few hours
Of the drawing Of the prize.
Owing to a dream in which peasant
had tho presentiment that u certain
number would be on the ticket which
would win the splendid prize. DO \
puraped all his money together aud purs
chased not the ticket he wanted. boz
cause it was already sold. but one which
bore the same numerals, differently ar-
ranged. Then be and his wife fell on 1
desperately hard times. which eventual
II closed upon them in death from sheer
starvation, for he had tried and failed
to sell his lottery chance, which Was
the last thing loft to him.
When the drawing came on, he won
the first prize OF 5000, but as he was
dead aud no next Of kin could be liscDv-
cred the prize was ratified for again.
when it fell to swell tho purse Of an
Italian banker who already was pos
sessed Of vast wealth.
A German lady living in Brunswick
had q fancy that q certain ticket wonld
win prize In o lottery in which the
first prize was $4,000, It may seem
strange, but It is ynuched for as being
perfectly true, that sho 80 altered her
opinion as to the chances Of her ticket
winning O prize that she bartered Il
away for new hat from her milliner
within few days Of having purchased
L..
This was melancholy exception to
the rule that ''second thoughts are al
ways beet The ticket which she had
exchanged for hat. possibly worth 81
couple OF guineas, succeeded in captur-
ing tho first prize Of 5000. and the
milliner, who considered he had run
his risks, absolutely refused to palliat0
his customers bitter disappointment by
anything beyond the payment Of few
pounds, which were dragged from him
by hollow threats of legal action.
On one occasion the first prize in an
Italian lottery. amounting to nearly
e5. 600. fell to q man who had died
three days before the rattle, the second
prize OF e2,0O0 fell to q lady WHO had
sold her lucky ticket at the eleventh
hour. and the third prize Of 81, 600 to =
private soldier who, on hearing Of his.
good fortune, drank himself mad and
then committed suicide For want of
claimants who could establish their
claims satisfactorily, the first and third
prizes were again raffled for. and this
time they both fell to the same person
the owner Of one of the largest pri-
vate estates in Austria, who was quito
Indifferent about the addition to his al
ready huge fortune.
Silly superstitioDs play an Important
part in the buying gand selling Of lottery
tickets and it is no uncommon thing
for person who fancies a certain num-
ber to buy it at q price equal to hum.
dreds of times its original cost. and
many Of those who indulge in this kind
of speculation with the fixed idea of
gain generally discover that it is an
expensive game.
A German banker conceived the idea
that the first prize in q certain lottery
would fall to the holder OF q ticket on
which the figure three stood either alOn0
or will, others. So greatly impressed
was he with this belief that he bought
up every ticket that bore the numeral
three. a little deal which cost him some
thousands Of pounds because many Of
tho tickets be fancied were held BY per-
sons to whom he had to pay fancy priceA
One Of these persons when APPROACH
ed on the matter refused to sell bic
ticket unless ths banker purchased .
complete bundle Of 20. Of which he was
anxious to get rid. The banker did not
wish to do this, as there was only o1e
ticket bearing q three in the bundle
but be ultimately consented, took tho
ticket he wanted and gave the scnder
back all the others. Great must have
been his annoyance on discovering Later
that the first prize had not fallen to
him. but had been won BY one Of tho
tickets he had bought and scorned.
London Tit-Bits
Gold.
Twenty four carat gold is all gold:
% carat gold has % parts OF gold, n
Of silver and of copper; IS carat gold
has 19 parts Of pure gold and 3 paris
oach nf silver and conner in itS cOnnYnA.