Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1908-07-09
SOME QUEER WAGERS.
Extraordinary Bets Made BY All
Sorts Of Persons.
Sir Walter Raleigh Won = Novel wages
from Queen E,izabeth.-A Fortune
staked the shape of
. Mans Leg.

btttluS Is u nuIian WedhucSS ho
means confined to the wagering of
money on sporting events. In all ages,
says the New York Word, it has been
common to settle points of difference
'by wager or To accomplish great feats
under the penalty of the loss of a given
sum. There's "A man down in Kentucky
who vowed never to cut his beard until
Henry Clay was elected president. This
was really IA vow, but il was also bet
The man bet against fate and fate won.
A rash young Harvard graduate recent
ly went around the world without
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. 1t has since turned out that
he was simply the agent of a widely
advertised article. Election bets are
sometimes made which require the
loser to wheel the winner in II barrow
over certain distance. A famous
Yale football player once laid II wager
that he could eat two dozen eggs at
one sitting. He ate them. Bridge
| jumpers have rislled their lives for a
wager. The old English law forced
bettors to pay their debts. remarka-
BILE action was brought in 1912 by Rev.
Mr.. Gilbert against Sir Mark NJ.
Sykes. The baronet 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 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 a
day for nearly three years. At last he
declined to pay any longer and an ac-
ton was brought to enforce the pay
ment. 1t was contended by the de-
PENDANT that he had been surprised into
the bet by the clergymanS hasty ac-
ceptance of it, and that the transaction
was an Illegal one, seeing that Mr.. Gil
bert. having IA 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
IF his country. The jury loyalty
brought in a verdict for the defend
ant.
Another queer wager is the one pop
ularly believed to have been won by
|
beth on the debatable question of how
much smoke is contained in pound oil
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 us exactly that OF
the tobacco before being burned, minu,
the ashes. The fact of the ashes hav
ing received an additional weight by
combination with the oxygen of the at
mospherc was unthought of by Eliza
beth and the knight. An amusing BET
for the small sum of five shillings wa,
laid in 1900 in the castle yard, York
between Thomas llodgson and Samue
Whitehead as to which should succeed
10 assuming the most original charac
, ter. lIodgson appeared decorated will
ten-guinca, fvc-guinca and guinei
notes all over his coat and waistcoa
and row of five-guihca notes aroun,
his hat, while to his back was fastene,
: the words John Bull" Whitehea,
| appeared like woman on one side
onc-half of his face painted, one sill
: stocking and slipper, while the othe
side represented u negro in mans dress
: with boots and spurs. John Bull
i won the wager.
l A gentleman of the last century lai
I wager to Il great amount that
: could stand for Il whole day on Londo
bridge with tray full of sovereign
fresh from the rlint and be unable I
find Il purchaser for them at a penn
apiece. Not one was disposed o
Wagcrs have sometimes taken grin
form. 1t is crcditubly recorded that
: the last century wager was laid fc
!. one of Il parry Of guy jewellers to ente
: Westminster Abbey ut the hour of mit
. night. He was to enter one of TIL
: vaults beneath the abbey; in proof {
his having been there he was to stick
. fork into Il coin which had been r,
Gently deposited there. He accom-
pliahed his objrat.:nd was returning i
. triumph, When hc ftlt himself suddenl
caught, ana WE 80 ovcrpowered
= terror th@t Il, .cll in swoon. HI
= companion not being able to accour
). for his abaen foaud him in this cond
. ton. The for, yshilh he had fastene
: into the colin had caught and pinne
: his cloak and SO oocasioned fit of te
= ror which nearly proved fatal.
. Sir John Pal,ington, called Lust
a Paiington, and by Queen Elizabet
: My Temperance" laid a wager
thirty thousand pounds sterling I
3. swim against three noble courtiel
from Westminster bridge to Greer
. witch, but her majesty interposed I
!. prevent any further procedure on tn
bet. gentleman named Corbet,
y distinguished family near Shrewsbur,
bet his leg was the handsomest in I'll
country or liinTdom, and staked estat,
!. worth eighty thousand pounds sterlin
Il On the subject. lie won the wager, an
!, picture is still preserved in the famil
mansion representing the process
J. measuring the legs of the different col
testantS.
n Of the queer recent wagers, one h,
a just come to light of New York bus
ness man who made a bet sixteen yea
!. ago that he would not look at himse
in mirror for twenty years. He h,
=. kept up his end of the bet, which b,
4 still four years to run.
The Welded State In England.
n Earl Russell is utilizing his recent e
Is perienccs in Lo.don divorce court