Queer Wagers.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 4, 24 January 1912, Page 35

Queer Wagers.

Wagers between arnw officers are now far less common than in the "‘good old days.” In a regimental betting book of the early titties can still be read the entry: “Air. Wroughton bets Mr. Johns one bottle of port that Mr. Johns will be drunk before live nights from this date.” To this there is the significant addition: “host by Mr. Johns (et nullus error).” More humorous is a subsequent entry: “Mr. Ewan bets Air. Hallett one bottle of wine that he (Air. E.) will kick the apothecary of Dundalk from one end of the town to the other”—a bet that was not decided. In 1861 a Lieutenant Hayter bet Dr. Seaman that he (the lieutenant) had more hair on his head and face than the doctor, and the sequel reads: “Decided by the majority in the room, decidedly the worse for drink. Lieutenant Hayter losing*” Finally, there was a dramatic end to a wager made in India in 1856. A Captain Crawford bet a Captain Wright one bottle of champagne that neither of them would be killed in action within twelve months from that date. The bet was never settled. for a marginal note reads: “Captain Crawford and Captain Wright both killed.”