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

ably agile. He beat Lord Frederick Ben | tinck, who vas very fleet of foot in a running match at Newmarket Heath. As
 rider to hounds he was intrepid and
 had a remarkable influence over the
 horses he rode, some of them known to
 be faint-hearted topping obstacles for him which no amount of persuasion could
 compel them to face when ridden by
 somebody else.
 Colonel Mellish-he was a colonel at
 one time in the Tenth Hussars, but was granted perpetual leave from this regi- ment lest his extravagant habits should demoralze the other officers-made some very large winnings, but greater losings | on the turf, his most disastrous re- | verse coming through the victory of Fyl- | dener in the St. Leger of 1906. Other un- | fortunate wagers were those made with
 Lord Darlington over the three matches
 between Sancho and Pavilion. The horses | first met at four miles for 5000 guineas.
 Sancho was ridden by Buckle, and the
 equally famous jockey, Chifney, was upon Pavilion. Colonel Mellish won with San
 eho. Lord Darlington was not content and made another match at the same dis
 tance, which Pavilion won, Sancho going | lame in the race. Mellish lost very heav-
 fly on this but his horse coming sound again before the close of the year, a | third match was arranged. This was
 never run, Sancho breaking down in preparation for the event and his owner paying forfeit. It is recorded at this
 time that Mellish rarely bet less than
 f500, and as he was wagering almost constantly 1t Is not surprising that after many ups and downs his fortune was
 dissipated. It Is doubtful however
 u1he tl1rf he fa h Ia
 claimed the larger part as he was known
 to have risked and lost the enormous sum Of E40.000 to his close personal friend,
 the Prince Regent, and that on another occasion while playing at Brooks he arose from the table E97.o00 poorer. It is recorded that as he was leaving the house on this occasion he was accosted by the Duke of Sussex. who, hearing of the loss, invited Mellish to stay and try
 his luck still further, urging him that 1t was due to change. The story runs that
 in three house Mellish won G100,000. the duke paying as much as he was then able and promising to liquidate the rest with life annuity of G4000. It is worthy of note that Mellish's declining years were pleasant He contracted marriage with one of the daughters of the Marchioness of Lansdowne, who brought him hand some fortune He wagered no more, but settled in the country, took to coursinS and the breeding of fine cattle ending his eventful life in comfort and peace.
 As the eighteenth century waned gen. eral speculation was more rampant than at probably any other time. Wagers were made on every conceivable chance, the color of the next coach horse that would round the corner, the weather. the birth of a child. Perhaps the most favorite mode of gambling was betting on the lives of persons. Scarcely per- son of note but had money wagered on or against his life. These were the days of George Selwyn, Fox, Lord Carlisle and Lord March, as inveterate a quartet of gamesters as ever lived at one time in any country The old betting book of Whites records such wagers as these: On March 21, 1746, MT. John Jeffries bet MT. Dayrolle five guineas that Lady Kill dare has a child born alive before Lady Catherine Petersham. Another wager in the same book was that wagered on Oc- tober in the same year. when Lord Montfort bets MT. Grevire loo guineas that MT Nash Is alive the same day four years hence. Another wager made by Lord Montfort, who evidently believed that Mir Nash, the famous beau of that name, would live to a ripe old age Is re- corded with Sir John Bland, the stake be- ing also 100 guineas MT. Bland bet that Colley Cibber, the actor, would outlive "the King of Bath" It is noteworthy that underneath the memorandum of the above wager Is recorded the fact that this wager was never decided. as both Lord Montfort and Sir John Bland had committed suicide before the death of either Nash or Cibber. Montfort killed himself as the result of disappointment in failing to secure the appointment of governor of Virginia while Sir John Bland who, like Montfort, was broken in fortune. having lost vast sums at hazard, as much as R15.000 at a sitting, shot him. self while returning from the continent. During Napoleon's Russian campaign nonv wa gers were made that the famous corsican would not get back to Paris, the odds at one time being ten to one on such an event happening.
 {, The play at Whites and Brooks. which were perhaps the most fashionable
 of inc London clubs, was very heavy about this time, as, was also that at the i Socoa Tree a St James street organiza- ] t,or rct unite as well known. This chron- ii.llr saws that an Irish player named 1 o, p;rne playing at the Cocoa Tree in
 17eo won f1e00O0 at hazard from a
 young Mir Harvey, an Englishman, wno
 had just come into his fortune. The
 ,o,,ne man wanted to sell his estate in
 order to liquidate ms oept, pu. .ile neo sai, s, lopt Jrishman offered to take f10,000 and
 cast the dice for the remainder. rem;rk-
 ing as he turned the box, You can never
 nay me" Harvey won the throw. but
 his evening still cost him f100o0.
 Beau Brummel was gambler or the
 first water. At one sitting at whist ne
 won e1oOo0 from Drummond. the bank iar Then the cards ran badly and he
 lost heavily. finally being reduced to bor-
 rowing a sl0 note, which was given 70