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Literary
December 24, 1896
The Jersey City News
Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
What is this article about?
A collection of anecdotes illustrating the profound impacts of the card game whist, including personal losses, business ruin, rare hands, and a historical tragedy linked to Metternich's neglect of dispatches.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
STORIES OF WHIST
A Game That Cost the Lives of Thousands.
Lord Sligo was at a card table when the news was brought to him that his magnificent residence was on fire. He stopped only a moment to ascertain whether or not his presence could be of material service on the scene of the conflagration. Finding that it would not, he calmly took up the hand which had been dealt him while he was talking with the messenger, and resumed play.
A case where a single game of whist was responsible for a good deal was that in which G. M. Drummond, of the famous Charing Cross banking house of London, lost £25,000 at a single sitting to Beau Brummel. When his loss became known to Drummond's partners they decided that a gambler was an undesirable associate in a business requiring for prosperity the confidence of the public in its managers. They therefore forced him to retire.
What is known as a Yarborough hand in whist is one in which there is no card above a nine spot. The name given to this hand is derived from a certain Lord Yarborough, who used to offer the attractive but very safe wager of £1,000 to £1 that a hand of this sort would not be dealt. He may have worked out the chances or he may not, but the fact is, such a hand occurs only once in 1,827 rounds. It is said that Yarborough won his wager many thousand times.
At the Union Club of Boulogne some years ago the dealer dealt the twenty-six red cards to himself and partner, and all the black cards to their opponents. When we come to realize that the odds against such a round of hands are eight billion to one, we must admit this was a very remarkable deal.
Metternich, the great Austrian statesman, owed to a single game of whist the greatest sorrow of his life. One evening, while he was engaged in his favorite game, an express arrived with dispatches from Galicia. He placed the papers on the mantelpiece, and went on playing all that night and far into the morning. When the party broke up he was horrified to learn that upon his immediate reply to the dispatches depended the fate of 2,000 innocent persons. Had Metternich loved whist less passionately, history had never recorded the infamous Galician massacre.
—London Tit Bits.
A Game That Cost the Lives of Thousands.
Lord Sligo was at a card table when the news was brought to him that his magnificent residence was on fire. He stopped only a moment to ascertain whether or not his presence could be of material service on the scene of the conflagration. Finding that it would not, he calmly took up the hand which had been dealt him while he was talking with the messenger, and resumed play.
A case where a single game of whist was responsible for a good deal was that in which G. M. Drummond, of the famous Charing Cross banking house of London, lost £25,000 at a single sitting to Beau Brummel. When his loss became known to Drummond's partners they decided that a gambler was an undesirable associate in a business requiring for prosperity the confidence of the public in its managers. They therefore forced him to retire.
What is known as a Yarborough hand in whist is one in which there is no card above a nine spot. The name given to this hand is derived from a certain Lord Yarborough, who used to offer the attractive but very safe wager of £1,000 to £1 that a hand of this sort would not be dealt. He may have worked out the chances or he may not, but the fact is, such a hand occurs only once in 1,827 rounds. It is said that Yarborough won his wager many thousand times.
At the Union Club of Boulogne some years ago the dealer dealt the twenty-six red cards to himself and partner, and all the black cards to their opponents. When we come to realize that the odds against such a round of hands are eight billion to one, we must admit this was a very remarkable deal.
Metternich, the great Austrian statesman, owed to a single game of whist the greatest sorrow of his life. One evening, while he was engaged in his favorite game, an express arrived with dispatches from Galicia. He placed the papers on the mantelpiece, and went on playing all that night and far into the morning. When the party broke up he was horrified to learn that upon his immediate reply to the dispatches depended the fate of 2,000 innocent persons. Had Metternich loved whist less passionately, history had never recorded the infamous Galician massacre.
—London Tit Bits.
What sub-type of article is it?
Prose Fiction
Essay
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Political
What keywords are associated?
Whist
Gambling
Anecdotes
Yarborough Hand
Metternich
Beau Brummel
What entities or persons were involved?
—London Tit Bits.
Literary Details
Title
Stories Of Whist
Author
—London Tit Bits.
Subject
A Game That Cost The Lives Of Thousands.
Key Lines
Lord Sligo Was At A Card Table When The News Was Brought To Him That His Magnificent Residence Was On Fire.
G. M. Drummond... Lost £25,000 At A Single Sitting To Beau Brummel.
What Is Known As A Yarborough Hand In Whist Is One In Which There Is No Card Above A Nine Spot.
Metternich... Owed To A Single Game Of Whist The Greatest Sorrow Of His Life.