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EXTREME ANTIQUITY OF BETTING Case of Samsons Losing Wager Cited, as Related in the Old Testament All Bets Then at Evens. In evorv walk in life, in every trade, pursuit, or calling, one inevitably discovers the proverbial nla.k sheep. One could mention dozens of trades where greater evils exist than there-does m betting, but that is beside the point. First of all, as to the antiquity of betting. Many r instances occur in Greek and Latin authors of wagers, but all appear to have been even bets. There is nothing that exactly corresponds to what we call giving or taking odds 2 to 1, 5 to 4. etc. Jacob Grimm cites a curious example of laymt odds. Morolf . in playing chess with tho queen, staked his head, against which she staked thirty golden marks! Odds, and great odds, indeed. If a mans head is to be taken at his own appraisement! Men wagered or staked one thing against another iu classic times it may have boon on gladiators, or on chariot races, blues or greens, but always to an equal amount except as instanced in the case of Morolf. SAMSONS EVEN MONEY BET. In the Old Testament at least one he t ting transaction is mentioned. In Judges xiv. l--13 we linu Samson put forth a riddle to his th.irty compamoiis which, if answered within seven days of e feaKt. "I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments; but if ye cannot declare it to me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments decidedly a wager, or .bet, and Samson lost. But he was a sportsman,, and paid UlShakespcare in Henry IV.. Act V., Scene 5, makes Prince John responsible for the offer to "lay odds"; ami ever since Shakespeares time the practice of hiving odds has increased. I forget who it was who once said "the tes,t for a mans opinion is a wager," but it is un- HnfsLwnCthat betting in some form or other has been in existence from time immemorial, I would ask: "Are we any better in morals than Continental nations always excepting the Huns, of course?" STOCK EXCHANGE IMMUNITY. We mav take the Stock Exchange. Just because the stakes are high, and the frequenters on the boards are socially o i a higher level than the man in thl street, we wink at deals in cotton futures, ""course men" have" pleaded the gaming act in action at law with regard to Stock Exchange "deals," but these men are the black sheen of t o community, and happily few in number. But the Stock Exandiange is never raided by the police for beThTbookmaker who makes a genuine book, on a horse race, or the corner man who takes your moey and does not trouble about odds are the mort honorable people n the world as far as liabilltj s concerned! It may be. of course, that a .failure the. victim, to acquaint the to pay out would cause authorities, and lead to a prosecution at the police court. No doubt this fact has a tendency to keep bookmakers and corner men up to the scratch but petition is keen even in this lucrative business and new faces are not always welcome old clients tfiSiSTt-tew of legal betting is too well known to revert here. It has the merit of being open and aboveboard; it has not the tendency to make a man into a sneak, and it would check the secret betting so rampant among the wives of workfng me... Undoubtedly this Is the worst feature of betting today, and the sooner it is made legal to put a sum of money on anything one has a decided opinion about the sooner the dark spots will be washed out. The revenue of. the country, too. would benefit to an appreciable extent Jf betting was recognized by the government. H. in Manchester Sporting Chronicle.
