Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-12-04
ROULETTE.

The Last OF the Game at Bnuens
rA4A baden' WN ~.
Correspondence Of the London Times.l
The 3lst of October is here. the close
of the season proper, which this year IS
remarkable for being also the end of the
public tables for the games Of trente ct
quarante and roulette This is the first
place in Germany, under the operation
of the law, that is now definitely closed.
The other two great establishments,
Wiesbaden and Homburg, remain open
until the last day of the year, and the
smaller one, at Nauheim, until the end
of November. A variety of absurd
canards were rife some days previously,
one of which will surprise no one more,
perhaps, than the members of the club
who were said to be coming to play here
the last two days. This was the English
Jockey Club and this canard had an
additional pair of wings given to it by
the alleged receipt of telegram at the
Hotel de Hollande to engage two hun
dred beds for the members-not an easy
task, as the hotel has but one hundred
and fifty rooms. The general expecta-
ton was that immense crowds would
come to see the last of the public play.
In the afternoon, about 3 o'clock, there
seemed to be no probability of such being
the case. / walked through the three
rooms that now remained open, with two
roulette tables and one trente ct qua
rante, and there seemed to be hardly
the accustomed number of punters; pos
sibly, in all, less thana couple Of hundred
persons in all the salon. There was no
evidence of anything unsusl. People
lost their rouleaux of gold and thousand
francs bank notes with the accustomed
apparent indifference. But for the last
two or three weeks there has been much
less than the former high play, and the
number of aristocratic and wealthy Wis
itors has very sensibly diminished,
though many were resolved to stay and
be in at the death. / astonished mod
est Manchester man by informing him,
by way of comfort for losing his money,
that he was in good company, as, in
point of fact, both his immediate neigh
bors were princes; one q well known
Russian and the other formerly sover-
eign German potentate. At eight
O. clock, when the usual concert, OF more
than average excellence, by the very ad.
mirable orchestra under the direction OF
the able director, Herr k@nnemann,
was given il the great room adjoining
the play-rooms, the audience was very
large. In the play-rooms another phase
of things was seen. A lady who amuses
herself every evening in playing one
louis ON the twelve numbers in which
falls the number she receives on check
card for her mantle and belongings, and
who, by caprice of fortune, has, with
one days exception, won regularly for
three weeks, told me in despair that
there was not the slightest human
probability of getting near enough
to place her stake, and watch ii and
see that it vas not appropriated un-
fairly, for these little mistakes have
been vastly more frequent than
usual in these latter days. This was the
more provoking Rs the actual number
sbe had-23-came up during her efforts
70 arrive, Each coming train had
hronght n iar1e quota of visitors. From
Frank(ort,on-the,.I Vain, from Mannheim.
Carlsruhe, and Rastadt On one slde, ana
from Freiburg, Strasburg. blscl'Weler,
and Mulhouse on the other, large streams
of visitors poured in. Heidelberg fur
nished contingent OF students, and
Rastadt of officers = in civil costume
mostly. as in uniform it is improper to
play. In civil costume some license is
taken. However, the greater part we're
destined neither TO win nor to lose, as
by ten o'clock there was a regular JAM
and approach to the tables was only OBJ
tained by q very patient few. Extraor-
binary precautions had been taken by
the officials in case of any disorder,
heard several expressions ot hope that
there would be row or fight which
unamiable desires seemed destined to
end in utter disappointment. The crowd
was decidedly very mixed one; there
were butchers, bakers, grooms, peasants
(male and female), and evidently some
cooks.
The grooms Of the chambers were. as
usual. in attendance in full evening cos
tune. They seemed struck with horror
at the unwonted vulgar mob, and if | am
not mistaken / saw something like tear
staad 10 the eye Of one as he remarked
il was melancholy to see such people IN
the Baden saloons, vhcse the cream OF
the aristocracy we're formerly ts be met.
the crowd was, If not yery
quiet. wellbehaved, and the expectations
of those who looked for any disturbance
appeared likely to be doomed to disap-
pointment, when just at IL ;45-midnight
was the hour when tha possession Of the
establishment passed from the family of
Bcnazet and Dapressoir-iike the ineV-
table cur at the Derby, a vulgar, dirty