National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1872-06-07
Female Gamblers at the German Spas.

Daden, hamburg, Wlesbaden, and EN-
have each their feminine noblesse fro,
the leading nations of Europe. The
compose, indeed, some of the best know,
habituees can be met, while thev ar
alive, in the Dichtenthal avenue. tn
Wllhelmstrasse, or on the Mahlbery
kopf with as much certainty as the tail
ieur with his imperturbable face, frigidl,
polite manners, and perpetual "Faitel
votre leu, messieurs.
one OF the most noted players of ranl
Is the famous Countess Kisselef, whom
All freqnenters of Hamburg must remem
per rs "a large gray haired woman hob.
bling about with crutch, and often
carried by her servants in an invalid.
chair to the gaming table, which she
seldom quits, ..3b She lRGpP66rrteed dead again
and again. Her portly and crippled
figure was conspicuous in the Cursaal
last season, and will be again this, |
am sure. She could hardly forego the
pleasure of occupying her accustomed
seat during the last gambling year, when
she has for nearly quarter of century
breathed the genial summer air of the
Taun"s Mountains. She is, or rather
was, the wife of the former Russian
mi stcr to Rome, and all kind of stories
are told about her. She is said to have
separated from her husband because he
insisted that she should o.'vo him up or
give up gaming, and she adhered to the
latter rs the more attractive of the two.
The gossips declare that up to her fortieth
year she was beautiful basilisk of fas-
cination, and her figure (who ever saw
very fat old woman that had not once
been modal of lissome grace so light
and symmetrical that St Petersburg and
Moscow followed it with adoring eyes.
(If this be so, it is only another corrobo-
ration of my aesthetic theory concerning
the tendency of rank to awkwardness
and avoirdupois.) The hour of begin
by the countess. She is at the
table before the croupiers, day and night,
k-days and Sundays, find her glued
to her familiar chair. Roulette is her life,
and her last words, as the ball of death
goes swinging round the circle of her
being, will be, no doubt, lie jeu est
fait rieu he va plus"
Her losses at Hamburg are stated to
have been enormOus-not less during the
last twelve or thirteen years than eight
Of ten millions of florins. She has done
much to improve the little town, has
built many of its best houses and opened
4 street, which is named in her honor.
But all her property has been mortgaged,
and it is questionable if she now has left,
out OF colossal fortune, more than IL
modest independence. She no longer
bets with her former audacity, stalking
rouleaux of napoleons upon a simple
chance, but limits her mise to few
iorins, IN consequence of her compara-
lively straltened circumstances. To her
more than to any other one person the
Direction is indebted for the large divi-
lends, averaging about twenty per cen
.um per annum, which it pays to its
stockholders, after doducting its very
liberal expenses. All the tables at the
springs are owned in this manner, though,
IS may be presumed, the companies are
close corporations, and the |
hares are no more purchasable than the |
'orrect biography of Prester John. As
llyided-paying stocks they probably |
ave no rivals in all Europe.
a lionne at Baden is the Princess
ouvarrow, Russian lady of distinction,
Who devotes herself almost as zealously |
o rouge-et.nojr in the Conversationshaus
IS the Countess Kisselef does to roulette
II the Cursaal She must have been ex-
eedingly pretty indeed, she is very
now, although full five-and-
o'ty, if it be allowable to conjecture a
Toman's age, and she still has a fine
presence and engaging manners Al
'ays dressed richly-yellow silk, trim
ned with black lace, is her favorite cos
ume, setting of her brunette beauty to
dvantage-and having a really grand
ir, she draws the fire of many glances.
.ccordinS to general report, she has
layed as sad havoc with the funds of
he Baden bank as she has with the
carts of men all the way from Paris to
t. Petersburg, from Constantinople to
.ntwerp. She is said to have won as
luch rs her notorious country woman
as lost, and she bears the credit of hav-
lg again and again exhausted the trea-
lry of the tailleur. Her reputation as
lucky player is dlffused throughout the
rand duchy, and she is often implored
} make bets for others, as persons be-
eyed fortunate are apt to be. Full of /
onhomie, she generally yields to per- {
lasion, albeit she AYERS she has little {
,isure to look after other stakes than
er own. She is deemed the best au. [
lority on systems in the entire valley of {
and appears to have studied 7
lem to some purpose. | have been i'm {
'rmed that she has thousands of the @
tile pricked cards (having noted the
purse of the game for many years. care |
lily arranged in her archives according
} date, and that she gives the late hours |
the night to their diligent investle a 7
on. She must be a feminine Anastasius, a
all the on dts conc rning her are to be t
usted. She has been everything and v
one everything speaks all languages g
rs Travelled all over the worlds, in n v
ord, paragon of imprudence and en-
lantment, of folly and generosity, of e
lckedness and charity, of tenderness t
I'd temptation. She is a Greek, Rus "
IN, an Italian, Spaniard, and
rench woman; the much fathered +,
lughter of a Grand Vizier, of the Pope
Rome, of the Emperor William, of q e
ussian admiral, of n Spanish grandee, h
ID of a French general. Every body at
lden knows something about her no. Il
'dy else knows and what each knows
altogether different from the general n
lowledge of this singular woman, who d
ems pleased with the mystery sur v
unding her, and nowise averse to deep IL
ing it by continuation of eccentric 81
urses and inexplicable vagaries. jun al
$ Henri Brolcae V,
ScARED TO DEATH A day or two ago d
lighted kerosene lamD was capsiZed in m