Now I Know Read Online Free Page A
Author: Dan Lewis
Ten minutes before the race began, each of the bettors placed wagers on Yellow Sam to win.
Fifteen minutes earlier—unbeknownst to the off-site accomplices—another of Curley’s friends faked a family emergency. The friend, Benny O’Hanlon, walked into the phone booth and pretended to call his “dying aunt,” offering her solace in her final moments. No one was willing to force O’Hanlon off the phone, thereby precluding the off-site bookmaking offices from reconciling the wagers before them. When the race started, Yellow Sam remained a 20-to-1 underdog, and, of course, won. Curley’s £15,000 investment earned him £300,000, or, accounting for inflation and exchange rates, about $2.25 million in early 2013 money.
Because the operation was entirely legal, albeit sneaky, the bookmarkers were obligated to pay Curley his winnings. They did so in £1 notes, filling over 100 bags with cash. And, to prevent others from abusing this loophole in the future, bets of greater than £100 now must be placed at least thirty minutes before the race begins.
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BONUS FACT
Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher, was quite wealthy—and garnered his wealth in a manner similar to Curley’s. From 1728 to 1730, the French government created a lottery intended as a fundraiser. Voltaire (then in his mid-thirties) and a colleague realized that the government had made a mistake—the prize pool was larger than the amount of francs it would take to purchase all the tickets. So the two set off to buy as many lottery tickets as they could. Voltaire earned roughly 1 million francs in the gambit.
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SABLE’S STABLE
AN ISLAND OF TINY HORSES
Travel about 150 miles southeast from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and you’ll hit something: Sable Island. You may not see it coming—positioned precariously on the northern Atlantic edge of the North American continental shelf, Sable Island is a small, treeless crescent of sand. At its widest point it runs not quite a mile and is only thirteen square miles in area. No one has been born there since 1920 and, except for a handful of transient researchers, no one lives there, either.
Unless you count the few hundred horses.
Sable Island is home to 350 to 400 short, stocky horses, which over generations have found ways to thrive in the unfriendly terrain they call home. No one owns them—they’re feral and roam the island freely.
How did they get there? Although many believe the horses’ ancestors were stranded on the island after a shipwreck (Sable Island has a history of causing such disasters), that’s not the case. During the French and Indian War, Great Britain deported thousands of French settlers, known as Acadians, from Canada, stripping them of their property in the process. One merchant hired to assist in this forced relocation was a man named Thomas Hancock (uncle of the now-famed American patriot John Hancock). Hancock took some horses owned by the relocated Acadians for himself and, for reasons that remain unclear, relocated them to Sable Island.
Today, this species of horse is called the Sable Island Pony. They are not truly ponies, however; the name is a misnomer, likely given to them because they are smaller than most horses. The vast majority of Sable Island Ponies live on the island. The only other place they’re found is at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Nova Scotia; the Canadian government moved a few there to ensure the species’ preservation. But at this time, that may be unnecessary. The horses’ Sable Island habitat is protected by Canadian law, which mandates that the creatures be allowed to live on the island without human interference.
----
BONUS FACT
The deported Acadians were relocated to many different places—some to other New World colonies, some to England, some to France. A group of those sent back to France later returned to the New World, settling in the then-Spanish colony of Louisiana. There, these Acadians revived their culture, one that still
Fifteen minutes earlier—unbeknownst to the off-site accomplices—another of Curley’s friends faked a family emergency. The friend, Benny O’Hanlon, walked into the phone booth and pretended to call his “dying aunt,” offering her solace in her final moments. No one was willing to force O’Hanlon off the phone, thereby precluding the off-site bookmaking offices from reconciling the wagers before them. When the race started, Yellow Sam remained a 20-to-1 underdog, and, of course, won. Curley’s £15,000 investment earned him £300,000, or, accounting for inflation and exchange rates, about $2.25 million in early 2013 money.
Because the operation was entirely legal, albeit sneaky, the bookmarkers were obligated to pay Curley his winnings. They did so in £1 notes, filling over 100 bags with cash. And, to prevent others from abusing this loophole in the future, bets of greater than £100 now must be placed at least thirty minutes before the race begins.
----
BONUS FACT
Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher, was quite wealthy—and garnered his wealth in a manner similar to Curley’s. From 1728 to 1730, the French government created a lottery intended as a fundraiser. Voltaire (then in his mid-thirties) and a colleague realized that the government had made a mistake—the prize pool was larger than the amount of francs it would take to purchase all the tickets. So the two set off to buy as many lottery tickets as they could. Voltaire earned roughly 1 million francs in the gambit.
----
SABLE’S STABLE
AN ISLAND OF TINY HORSES
Travel about 150 miles southeast from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and you’ll hit something: Sable Island. You may not see it coming—positioned precariously on the northern Atlantic edge of the North American continental shelf, Sable Island is a small, treeless crescent of sand. At its widest point it runs not quite a mile and is only thirteen square miles in area. No one has been born there since 1920 and, except for a handful of transient researchers, no one lives there, either.
Unless you count the few hundred horses.
Sable Island is home to 350 to 400 short, stocky horses, which over generations have found ways to thrive in the unfriendly terrain they call home. No one owns them—they’re feral and roam the island freely.
How did they get there? Although many believe the horses’ ancestors were stranded on the island after a shipwreck (Sable Island has a history of causing such disasters), that’s not the case. During the French and Indian War, Great Britain deported thousands of French settlers, known as Acadians, from Canada, stripping them of their property in the process. One merchant hired to assist in this forced relocation was a man named Thomas Hancock (uncle of the now-famed American patriot John Hancock). Hancock took some horses owned by the relocated Acadians for himself and, for reasons that remain unclear, relocated them to Sable Island.
Today, this species of horse is called the Sable Island Pony. They are not truly ponies, however; the name is a misnomer, likely given to them because they are smaller than most horses. The vast majority of Sable Island Ponies live on the island. The only other place they’re found is at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Nova Scotia; the Canadian government moved a few there to ensure the species’ preservation. But at this time, that may be unnecessary. The horses’ Sable Island habitat is protected by Canadian law, which mandates that the creatures be allowed to live on the island without human interference.
----
BONUS FACT
The deported Acadians were relocated to many different places—some to other New World colonies, some to England, some to France. A group of those sent back to France later returned to the New World, settling in the then-Spanish colony of Louisiana. There, these Acadians revived their culture, one that still
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