The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1916-11-16
BETTING FAVORITES
Have Won in Presidential Cont4 sts
in Past SO Years.

III asst 1 ears
Election betting odds in the week
before election have indicated COR
rectly in advance the results of the
presidential fights in every campaign
in the last SO years, since Wall street
election wagers became common.
While on the face of it, the ana
ogy to be drawn from election bets
of previous years augured for Mr..
Hughes, there was an able-bodied fly
in the g. o. p. betting ointment, and
that is the fact that only once in the
last SO years have the odds on the
candidate at first favored fallen and
that time the wan whose odds took a
reversal of form lost the election.
This was in 1888, when the odds on
Cleveland dropped from 10 to 8 to
10 to g., to even money, and then to
10 to on Harrison. Harrison won
The odds on Mr.. Hughes fell
from 2 p to l to to l, to 10 to Z,
to 10 to 8, to 10 to 9, and even.
Going back SO years to 1880-the
presidential contest was between
Garfield, republican, and Hancock,
democratic. Garfield was strong
favorite all during the campaign,
With some fluctuations in the betting,
and uOp tho a1actiOn
In 1884, in the neck-and-neck
fight between Cleveland and Blaine,
the bets were. at even money up to
election day.
In 1888 Cleveland ran against
Harrison. Cleveland started out in
10-to-8 favorite. Late
in September big business to1R a
deeper interest in the republican
fight, and with an influx of campaign
contributions for the Harrison fight
the odds reversed until Harrison was
favorite at 10 to 8. The odds re-
manned there until election day when
Harrison was successful.
Cleveland opposed Harrison again
in 1892, and started out favorite
at small odds, which increased in the
last week of October. He was sue
cessful on election day.
In the free silver campaign of 1896
when Bryan~was opposed by McKin-
ley, the odds settled in favor of Nc
Kinley after Bryan's famous speech
in New York on August IL, and rose
until, in the week before election, the
republican candidate was a 3-to-1
favorite, Mckinley won.
In 1900 Bryan and Mckinley were
again the contestants. Mckinley
was favorite at 10 to and 10 to 7
from the start, and in the week be-
fore the election was a 2-to-1 candi-
date. Again the betting odds pres
aged the result on election day.
Roosevelt ran against Parker in
1904. Roosevelt started out 2-to-1
favorite in September. The odds on
the republican candidate rose to 3 to
l, and in the week before election,
when the signs of a landslide became
apparent, bets were made at 5 to
on Roosevelt, the successful candi-
date.
In the campaign of 1908, when
Taft ran against Bryan, the odds
were long on Taft from the outset.
They went from to l to II to- S, to
3 to 1, to Z to 2, and in the week be-
fore election Lloyds was offering 9
to l that Taft would be elected, and
he was.
In the famous three-cornered cam
paign of 1912, when Wilson, demo-
crat; Taft, republican and Roosevelt
progressive, were the candidates, the
odds in Wall street were always, long
on Wilson. He started a 2-to-1
favorite soon after the placing of the
third ticket in the field. In the week
before election the odds were 4 to l
and to l on Wilson to win. Incl
dentally, the betters made mistake
as to the Taft and Roosevelt results,
for the to l wagers were on Wilson
to beat Taft and A. to l on Wilson to
beat Roosevelt, whereas Roosevelt's
vote exceeded Taft's-Cincinna
Coal comprised SO per cent of the