The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-09-19
ODD BETS AND BETToRS.
Titled Men and Their Curious Wagers
at Whites.

/ other gay followers of the game OF
/ chance. The betting book at White S
| Is most interesting volume, for ii
/ contains a record of all the wagers
made there for nearly two centuries
and there IS d great variety, mainly
the offspring of the singular whims and
/ caprices of several generations of men,
/ bers of the old club. In the second half
| of the eighteenth century the passion
for making wagers reached its height.
Men staked their money on anything
that happened to suggest itself, no mat
ter how trivial it might be. The dura-
ton Of a mans life and the increase in
! well known families were never failing
/ subjects for bets and they completely
/ OverShadOwed those placed on sports
/ and athletics. A history Of the club
| has been published and as a sort Of a
/ supplement the items Of the betting
/ book came out and it proved to be the
| best part of the work.
! One of the best known members of
/ Whites was Lord Montford, a TYPICAL
! ly reckless gamester OF the period. In
/ his day the gambling spirit at the club
/ was at its zenith and in the old book
/ there are no less than sixty Of his
] wageTs recorded, aggregating $4,000,
and marriages, births and deaths were
| the events upon which nearly the whole
Of the sum depended. Evidently sport
| ing matters did not appeal to his lord
| ship. Under the date Of November,
| 1854, bet is recorded which is the
most tragic in the whole book. 1t reads.
| Lord MOntford wagers Sir John Bland
| 100 guineas that Mr.. Nash outIives Mr..
| Cibber," the latter being the noted ac-
tor and poet and the former the famous
character Beau Nash. The bet was
/ never paid, for below it is the signifi-
cant entry. Both Lord MontfOrd and
Sir John Bland put an end TO their own
lives before the bet was decided"
Lord MontfOrd supplied the first of
the tragedies by committing suicide on
New Years day, 1855, after having
spent the last of his fortune. He had
sQuaudeTed a vast sum Of money ex-
| travagantly, but the worst blow came
when two of his greatest friends, Lord
Gage and Lord Albemarle, died on the
same day. 1t was the general opinion
that they paid Lord MOntford an an
nuity, but anyway he became more
reckless than ever, for he even went
so far as to stake his life that the
Duke Of Newcastle would secure him
a government appointment. He wanted
to be master Of the Royal Hounds or
else governor Of Virginia, and in both
jobs he was disappointed. The blow
was sore, and Immediately Lord Mont
ford aroused suspicion by inquiries as
TO. the easiest method of self-destTuC-
ton. He spent his last evening at
Whites and it was the last day of 1854:
ne ate supper and afterwards played
whist till the advent of the new year.
Next morning Lord Montford sent for
witnesses and a lawyer and had his will
drawn up. He then asked the limb of
the law if a man shot himself would
his viii hold good. On being informed
that it would Lord MOntford told the
lawyer to wait a while and stepping
into the next room shot himself, Sir
John Bland, the second party in the
famous wager, shot himself in Septem-
Der of the same year on the road from
Paris 10 Calais. According to the his
tory Of the club, Lord Lincoln made the
following comment on the death of Lord
MOntfOrd: well, 1 am very sorry for
poor Lord MNltford, but it is the part
Of every wise man to make the best of
every misfortune. 1 shall now have
the best cook in England" He was
forestaIled by the new Lord NOntford.
who retained the services Of JOras, the
chef in question.
The very oldest bet in the book reads:
oct. We 5; 1743-Lord Lincoln bets Lord
Winchilsea 100 guineas to fifty guineas
that the Duchess DOwager Of MARI
bOrO does not survive the Duchess
DOwager of Cleveland" The vitality
of the Duchess Of Marlborough was
then a common topic, and "Old Sarah
as she was Familiarity called, was the
subject Of more bets than anyone
among the members at Whites. Two
years before the date of the bet the
old woman was very i'll, and one day
Oh. To- s.
til she heard the dictum of the physi-
clan that she should be blistered or she
would die. Instantly she woke UP in
the bed and, shaking her head in an
emphatic manner, said: 4 won't be
bliSteTed and I won't die" and neither
did she till toward the close Of I744.
Coming down a little later there is a
bet recorded under the date Of May,
1915, and it has more or less Of the
sporting character. The entry SAYS Mr.,
Bouverie bets Mr.. Butler 200 guineas
to fifteen that he does not name the
winner of the Derby, the Oaks and the
new Bishop. 1t was not ever known
that the good gentleman knew he was
called with horses. That was the year
of the battle of Waterloo, and there is
an entry that Mr.. Mills bets Mr..
Raikes four ponies to one that hOstfIi-
ties commence between England and
France on or before the fourteenth
Aug. 1875" and this same bet is fol-
lowed by wager Of 200 guineas be
tween Sir Joseph COpley and Mr.
Raikes, the conditions being the same,
Sir Joseph having previously wagered
Mr.. Raikes 100 gUineas to twenty-five
that war would break out on or before
May % The unsettled state of things
at this particular time provoked lots
of betting on the same line, as, for in
stance, Sir Berkeley Paget bets Lord
Seton ten guineas that BOnaparte is
not at the head of the French govern
ment on the twenty-second Of Aug
1916" Waterloo definitely settled this
bet, as well as a lot of others in the
same line.
A great spendthrift and gambler Of
this period was Sir George Talbot In
April, 1916. he made his one hundred
and fiftieth bet, his first wager being
recorded at Whites in 1909, and that
was before he got the title. The bet
which was his century and a half
was, Mr. Butler bets Sir George Tai
bot twenty guineas that he is not in the
room at Whites with Napoleon in the
course Of the next two years"
The fOOtnOtes to Wagers are nearly
always more or less lacOnic, but they
are very often significant One in par
ticular tells the tale that the debts Of
the famous Beau Brummel are still un-
paid, and under a twenty-five guinea