The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-14

Ehim with the condition that should he again play within the month at White s he would forfeit a1000 He was back again within a fortnight, but 1t is not re- corded that the E1000 forfeit paid. BrummeIs wit got him some caustic an- swers. He was playing one evening with Alderman Combe. who was a brewer. Brummel won, and as he was pocketing his gains he remarked: Thank you, al derman, I shall never drink any porter but yours in future ''I wish, sir" said the alderman in reply, that every black guard In London would tell me the same.'
 Crockfords was another fashionable gaming establishment which fiourished in London in the early part of the nine- teenth century It was there that Lord Sefton is said to have lost G200O00, and 1t is matter Of historical record that after the peers death his son honored an &C., ceptance of e40,000 which the proprietor presented. Fox, who frequented Brooks [, joined that organization when he was but l6 years of age. He once played haZ- ard 22 hours in succession, losing 911,0O. At the age of 25 he was penniless, all though his father had advanced G1p,0W for him. Tn 179S his friends by subscrip- tion raised s70,000, paid his debts and bought him an annuity General Scott, who patronized Brooks also, was a high player. He is said to have won G20O,000 at whist in his house.
 He was ever eager and ready to wager on anything, and one of his successful bets was at Newmarket, where a race in which he had a starter was about to be run. A MT Panton called out: General, I'll lay you R1000 your horse Is neither first nor last" The general accepted the wager. and thereupon told his jockey to come in last Mir. Panton objected to the payment of the bet on the ground that the general had spoken to the rider. The Jockey club. however, held that the bet was laid not upon the chance of the place In which the horse would come if the rider was uninformed of it, but upon the opinion that he had not speed enough to be first nor tactability enough to be brought in last-a decision which would scarcely go nowadays and wager which would undoubtedly result in the ostracism of any turfman making it.
 Men played cards so necessarily m those days that it Is not surprising that many were able to give singular evil dences of their skill. For instance, a MT. Pratt could at the conclusion of each rubber correctly call over the order of the cards as they had fallen as well as the person playing them.
 One of the most peculiar wagers ever chronicled in England was when Captain Bennett in 1907 engaged to trundle a hoop from Whitechapel church to Ongar, in Essex, distance of 22 miles, in three and a half hours, the sum wagered being R100. The captain won with consider able time to spare. In 1735 Count de Buckaberg. a well-known German author on a visit to England, wagered that he would ride from London to Edinburgh with his back to the horses head, and seated thus in the saddle he accomplished the journey in four days. Shortly aft erward an English officer, not to be out done, rode a trotting horse in the same manner from Chelmsford to rummond, a distance of 15 miles, in one hour and nine minutes. Lord Oxford in 1740 bet another nobeman that he could drive a flock of geese from. London to Norwich in a shorter period than the taker of the wager could drive an equal number of turkeys The turkeys flew to roost as evening approached. while the slower but sedater geese kept to the highway and won the novel contest.
 So great was the craze for wagering at this time that there was invented a game gnown as travelling piquet. This was productive of novel entertainment for two persons on a journey and the roints were reckoned according to the
 
 parson riding op a o-n " horse. game An old woman under a hedge. .. game cat looking out of a window SO man, woman and child in a buggy 40 man riding with woman behind him ............... ............. 30 A flock of sheep ............... 20 flock of geese 10 A post chaise .......................... horseman / A man or woman walking ......... Even the gallows was not exempt from the craze. Two unfortunates were about to be hanged at the Old Bailey and young nobleman present wagered that the shorter of the two would make the last kick. It even extended to the clergy. young divine near Edinburg wagering that he could read six chap stated period. King George ". when Prince of Wales, won a sensational match by rlaing from London to Brigh = ton and return, a total distance of 112 miles. the instance being covered on a single h orse in 10 hours. In 17S6 on a wager a lightweight jockey rode a single horse 23 miles In 5S minutes over the heath at Newmarket. The Duke of Queensberry in 17S9, during the October meeting at Newmarket, matched Sir John Lade to ride a brace of mules from the Ditch to the winning post for f1000. It was a hard fought contest, the Duke of Queensberry win ming,