Curious Wagers.

CURIOUS WAGERS .

( Continued from page 24 ) . A MALE GODIVA . —Bichard Nash , or " Beau Nash , " as this extraordinary gambler , fop , and good-natured exquisite was called , won a large wager by riding nude through a village upon a cow , but it ' was at that period of his life when the exchequer of His Majesty of Bath was so very low that he could scarely maintain his genteel dissipations . He died in 1761 , aged eighty-seven

years . Quiz . —The origin of this term , which is sometimes used to denote a sarcastic person , or one who banters or chaffs another , is a very curious one . At fche time Richard Daly was patentee of the Dublin theatres he usually spent Saturday evening in the society of some of the first wits and men of fashion of tho day . Gambling was then carried on to a very considerable extent , and upon one occasion Daly staked a large sum that he would , by a certain day , cause a word , having no meaning , to be spoken in all the

principal streets of Dublin . Wagers were laid , and the money deposited . Daly went to the theatre and despatched all the supernumaries and servants of the establishment , with orders to chalk the mystic word " Quiz " upon the shop doors and walls of tho city . The following day being Sunday , all the shops were closed , and people going to church , or returning , saw the word , and began to repeat it . Thus " Quiz" came into frequent use , and has remained current in tbe English language in its present signification . It is a corruption of the Latin , Quidest ? ( " What is this ? " ) .

Celerity in the Manufacture of Clcth . —According to an account which appeared in the " European Magazine , " the town of Newbury was uncommonly excited on Tuesday , 25 th June 1811 , in an experiment attempted and effected by Mr . John Coxeter , of Greenbam Mills , near fchat town . At five o ' clock on the morning in question , Sir John Throckmorton , Baronet , presented two Southdown wether sheep to Mr . Coxeter , he having engaged to make from their wool a complete coat for Sir John by nine in the

evening . Accordingly , the sheep were shorn , the wool spun , the yarn spooled , warped , loomed , and wove ; the cloth burred , milled ,-rowed , dyed , dried , sheared , and pressed , and put into the hands of the tailors by four o ' clock that afternoon , and at twenty minutes past six the coat , entirely finished , was presented by Mr . Coxeter to Sir John Throckmorton , who appeared with it before an assemblage of upwards of 5 , 000 spectators , thus winning a wager

of one thousand guineas which had been staked on the performance . The two sheep were roasted whole on the same day , one of them , together with 120 gallons of strong beer , being given to the workpeople in connection with the factory . The other was sent on board the Prince Regent , a vessel furnished for the purpose of dining a number of the public who had been specially invited . This experiment , hitherto unexampled , was completely effected in the short space of thirteen hours and twenty minutes .

A Sovereign for a penny . —In all ages ifc has been considered an easy task to make capital out of the cupidity of the average Englishman ,-and history furnishes many glaring instances of successful practice in this direction ; but the following wager was apparently laid in direct opposition to this belief . A gentleman staked a considerable amount of money that he would stand for a whole day on London Bridge with a trayful of sovereigns fresh from the Mint , and be unable to find a purchaser for them at a penny a piece ; and it has been affirmed that he won his bet , for not a coin was disposed of .

Smart . —As related in the " Macclesfield Courier , " of 30 th September 1823 , " a wager was made at a public house in Manchester , between a calenderer and two other persons ; the terms were , that the calenderman , having two yards start allowed him , should run 100 yards with a wheelbarrow , sooner than the other parties without any such incumbrance ; the calenderer stipulating that he should choose the ground , and that the others

should not touch him during the race . They went out forthwith to decide the wager , and the calenderer chose a narrow x 3 assaga m Chorlton-row , which afforded the requisite length , and was throughout so narrow that the wheelbarrow completely filled it up . Here he trotted leisurely behind his vehicle , much more to the amusement of the by-sfcanders than of his antagonists , and won the wager without difficulty .

Foolish Wagers . — " It is alleged , " says the " Badminton Magazine " of August 1897 , " that George Skelly , " butcher , of Berwick , who died not long since , had just previously emptied a quart bottle of whisky in four gulps to decide a bet . After the performance he was taken suddenly ill . He was fifty years of age . Such was the announcement in the newspaper , though from its nature it would seem to have been an excerpt from a news-letter of a century back , when heavy drinking was in vogue , though at that time surprise would not have been expressed so much at the terms of the wager as at the result of it .

Almost on a par with the tandem-driving feat of tho gentleman who tooled his pair down the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St . James's Park , was the remarkable cycling feat accomplished by a young Englishman , appropriately named French , who , for a bet of £ 100 , made a descent from Monaco proper to the Condamine on a unicycle early last year , the difference

being that the latter feat was the more difficult , as the path , unlike the steps , is not only very steep , but has three turnings and several flights of steps . The cyclist accomplished the feat , much to the surprise of the crowd , who had assembled to see him fail , and to murmur over his shattered remains those pleasing words ( for the sayer ) , " I told you so ! "

One hundred and eight years ago £ 20 , 000 depended on the issue of a wager which a young Irish gentleman made , to the effect that he would walk to Constantinople from London and back again , within the year . A few months ago two Germans arrived at Toulon , who bad undertaken to walk round Europe , Asia Minor , Palestine , and Egypt , for a wager of £ 2 , 000 . They had eighteen months allotted them to accomplish their task in , and what with brigands , and soldiers who arrested them as spies , they were enjoying quite an eventful stroll ; on an average , we learn , they cover twenty-five miles a day .

Another of these extraordinary wagers was made about the middle of 1893 , by a wealthy native of Cincinnati , Ohio , who bet £ 1 , 000 against £ 2 , 000 that he would trundle a wheelbarrow 10 , 000 miles in 450 days , under tho following peculiar conditions . He was to start from Cincinnati wifch only four cents in his possession , and he must return within the specified time , either with 3 , 000 dollars in cash , or a wife . He must neither beg , borrow ,

nor steal any money during his tramp , nor use any of his private fortune , but must earn the money to pay his way , v . bile he must put up afc a good hotel in every place visited , paying for such accommodation not less than eight shillings per night . The wager arose out of a discussion as to the chance of obtaining work in the United States , the man who eventually laid thc wager contending that money couhl always be made easily by one willing and able to work .

Curious Wagers.

A certain French count betted 10 , 000 crowns against a duke , that m six hours he would go twice , and back again , from the Porte St . Denis to Chantilly . His body was tightly bandaged round , and as a means of keeping up a supply of moisture , he carried a leaden bullet in his mouth . Various relays of horses of the swiftest kind were provided , and every care was taken to prevent embarrassment to the rider , the time being marked by a clock which was attached to tlie Porto Sfc . Denis . The writer of the incident

says * . — " Ho sot out with the speed of an arrow , and was soon out of sight . Never did man cleave the air with such rapidity . On arriving at each relayj without alighting he sprang from one horse on to the other , and continued his flight . He arrived at the Porto St . Denis , having performed the four courses , eighteen minutes before the appointed time . The count stated that he was still able to go to Versailles to bring the king tidings of his success . All bathed in perspiration , he was put into a warm bed , from which he never rose , and five months afterwards died from the effects of his foolish effort . "

Election Bets . —The payment of bets and wagers in America arising out of the election of the President at the latter end of the year 1896 was , according to the newspapers of the time , " productive of a great deal of amusement for the onlookers in many cities . One man who lost had the hose turned on him for ten minutes in the street , while at least 1 , 000 people gathered round to see what was regarded as the fun of the thing . The man stood this drenching for five minutes , and then appeared to collapse . A doctor who

happened to come up at the time saw that his condition was serious , and ordered the water to be turned off . He was taken home chilled through , and according to the latest statement was threatened with a severe illness . Another loser , a respected citizen of a Pennsylvanian town , startled the congregation of his church by walking into service in his bare feet . The congregation thought he had lost his wits , and were preparing to take him

out of the church , when he told the deacon that he was paying a debt , the condition being that he should go to church barefooted on the Sunday following the election if Mr . McKinley won . Another individual was locked up for threo hours in a refrigerator , while a fourth had to roll three pea-nuts round a square before he could satisfy the condidions of the bet he had made . "

That men can be found willing to do anything for money is proved by the two incidents which I shall now relate . Eating for a Wager . —A handbill as follows was issued by the keeper of a public-house where the gluttony was to happen , as an attraction to the neighbourhood : — " Bromley in Kent , July 14 th , 1726 . A strange eating worthy is to perform a Tryal of Skill on St . James ' s Day , which is the day of our Fair for a wager of Five Guineas , —viz : he is to eat four pound of bacon , a bushel of French beans , with two pounds of butter , a quartern loaf , and to drink a gallon of strong beer ! "

An Egg-sucking Wager . —A curious performance for a wager took place in the early part of 1897 at Pinchbeck West , near Spalding . A tailor , named George Risley , accepted a wager to suck forty hen eggs within an hour . Tha eggs were broken into a glass , and pepper , vinegar , and salt used . The weight without the shells was five pounds , four ounces , and the swallowing process was completed in fifty minutes , with the accompaniment of four fourpennyworths of brandy and a bottle or two of soda-water .

The Champion Shaver . —A London barber , who delights in fche name of Teddy Wick , and who claims to be champion of the razor and strop , performed the following extraordinary match against time at his shop in Chelsea , October 1887 . He was backed to shave fifty persons in sixty minutes , the wager being £ 15 a side . He actually shaved seventy-seven

in fifty-nine minutes , fifty-three seconds , and thus won the stakes . The " subjects " were customers , who eagerly availed themselves of a free shave and a cigar . He won a previous match against all comers , shaving forty men in fifty minutes , and on another occasion came off victor in a blindfold competition . \ _

A Wagor and its sequel . —The last incident whioh I have to record is perhaps the most ghastly of its kind on record . " Tha late Baron Hirsch , " says Mr . Arnold White , in the " English Illustrated Magazine , " for June 1898 , " was a man of rave courage , which on one occasion , at all events , he pushed fco the verge of folly . When ho was quite a young man—he himself told me the incident was true—he was in a town in Turkey where the cholera was raging . Some Austrian officers were there , and a conversation sprang

up about courage . A bet was proposed and accepted by Hirsch , that he would pass the nighfc on a bed with the corpse of a man who died from the cholera , one condition being that the layer of the odds was to stand in the doorway all night and see that the wager was fairly won . This was done . Hirsch passed the night with the body , and won the bet . Next morning , as ho and his friend were leaving the house , they encountered a funeral at the

corner of the street , at which there was a block . The hastily made coffin , which was borne on men ' s shoulders , by some mischance fell , aud in falling , the body , that of a beautiful girl , rolled out of the shell into the street . The girl was the sister of the Austrian officer , who did not even know she was ill . The shock was so great to the brother that he fell to the ground , was immediately seized with cholera , and himself was a corpse within forty-eight hours . " The " Book of Rarities , " by Bro . Edward Roberts , P . M .

Hertford County College.

HERTFORD COUNTY COLLEGE .

WE gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity of congratulating Bro . Herbert Catford on the recommencement of duties , on Wednesday , at his popular educational establishment at New Barnet , after the Christmas recess , wifch every prospect of a successfull future . Although very early in the term the lads who have re-assembled , with the several new pupils who are taking the place of others who have left " by effluxion of time , " as it

were , are already looking forward to some pleasant hours in the football and cricket fields , their anxiety in this direction being doubtless encouraged by the Principal ' s known desire to make school work rather an adjunct to pleasure , than a labour calling for ceaseless attention to lessons , and hard and dry preparation . . As we have said before , in speaking of Bro . Catford ' s educational work , his motto is " Mens sana in corpore sano , " and looking around at some half dozen lads in whoso careers we have been personally

interested at his School , we can confidently say the outcome is most satisfactory—guided by that most straightforward of methods , actual results . We had the pleasure of spending a pleasant hour on the occasion of the breaking-up entertainment by his pupils in December last , and wore then further convinced o £ tho soundness of the principles on which Hertford County College is conducted , and considerably gratified at seeing the good feeling so generally displayed by tho lads towards fcheir masters . Happily times have considerably changed in this respect , and although we can hardly