The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-05-24

| A TOURIST 5 IMPRESSIONS OF MONTE CAR
LO, THE WORLD-FAMED GAMBLING ES
! TABLIsHNIENT-TII FLOTSAM AND JET
SAM OF THE CERCLE DE MONTE CARLO
/ Correspondence of the Philadelphia Press
MONTE CARLO, April 10.-The fairest
spot in the world. That is the first thought
that strikes the stranger as he stands in
the lovely gardens at Monte Carlo and sur
veys the scene before him and around him
We are standing on the beautiful terrace
in front of the Casino, with the palms and
the aloes and the agaves growing luXuri
antly beside us. AT our feet, just sep
arated from us by the strip of green sward
devoted to the pigeon-shooters, is the
curiously irregular coast-line of the Medi-
terranean, the blue eXpanse of which
stretches before us to an illimitable dis
lance To the right is a picturesque bay,
at the further side of which is the castle
crowned promontory Of Monaco, with its
ancient towers showing dark and gray in
the bright sunshine. Away to the left the
| broken line of coast stretches. with MANY
rugged headland and fretted bay, towards
green Mentone and palm-shaded Bordi-
ghiera. Behind us isa noble amphitheatre
OF dark mountains. on whose precipitous
| TANKS the cactus, the orange and the olive
grow, the one succeeding the other as the
mountain climbs higher. Then comes the
region of pines, then the bare, blue rock
and the white snow peaks that contrast so
strikingly with the rich yerdure beside us.
1t is like a dream. l feel to-day, as l
look on all this exquisite beauty of nature,
this glory of the mountain and the sea.
this wealth of tropical vegetation, this
grandeur of crested outline, as | felt when
| first saw Constantinople rising in it's
splendor from the waves. One does not
hesitate to say to ones companion. ut is
the most beautiful place in the world. y
And it is gay place, too. One is reminded
here OF Baden-Baden in it's palmy DAYS.
There are the same little cafes, with the
awnings to exclude the SUM- There are
the shops where you may buy all manner
OF useless articles at exorbitant prices ::
there are the neat victolias waiting for
hire, the drivers doing on their boxes in
tho sunshine, the horses standing with
patient mien, as though nothing in this
world could have any interest for them.
There are the big notes.-the Hotel de
Paris the Grand Hotel, where every Amer
lean comfort can be obtained at no ex-
cesslve cost. And here is q fresh stretch
OF gardens, through which we wander
while noting the care with which all is
kept.
THE CERCLE DE MONTE CARLO.
But we must do our duty. We have
come to see, not the gardens of Monte
Carlo, nor the natural beauties of the love-
lest spot on the Riviera, but the great
gambling establishment, ITO the existence
OF which we are indebted for these we'll
kept walks, these well-flled flower-beds
for these big, handsome hotels and all the
other adjuncts of the place. Many men
and women are going up and down the
broad steps of the Casino. At the top of
these steps there are soldiers in uniform
and servants in handsome liveries, whose
business it appears to be to watch carefully
all who enter or leave the place. But not
word is said to anyone; both entrance
and exit are perfectly free to everybody.
and so, all day long, the doors swing noise
leSSly to and fro, and the double stream of
men and women flows in and out Pass
ing through the doors we come into
spacious vestibule. At one side is an
apartment where cloaks and hats may be
deposited in the care of attendants. who
wait upon you with respectful and we'll
drilled attention at the other is an office
where, at an open window you present
your card, receiving in return ticket on
which your name has been written, and
which states that you have become mem
Der of the ''Cercle de Monte' for one day
only.
Armed with the official voucher, you and
the ladies who accompany you-for whom
no tickets are required-enter the great
central hall of the building. This is really
a noble apartment, recalling that in the
Casino at Hamburg. There is fine double
row of marble columns supporting the
roof, which itself is ornate and grand. At
either end are lovely pictures of the most
beautiful stretches of the Riviera. and
round the hall are many couches and
lounges. The ali is thick with tobacco
smoke, for the hall is the only part of the
building where smoking is permitted A
hundred men and women are pacing up
and down on resting on the couches, and
the place is filled with a babel of voices
Nowhere else in the world nowadays can
you expect to meet quite such company
us that which is to be seen any day in the
season in the great hall of the Casino at
Monte Carlo. Hours might be spent in
studying the different faces to be seen
here, the different types of character, the
different nationalities. There are many
women, perhaps more women than men.
The majority of these women are by no
means such as even the most reckless of
men would willingly associate with. They
may have been good looking once, but they
have grown old and haggard and vile.
Their dress shows no sign of good taste :;
on their faces is stamped the brand of the
gambler. 1t is hardly an exaggeration to
say of many here, that they look as though
they would be ready to sell not their own
souls only, but those of their children, too,
for gold. The men, like the women, are
OF all types and sorts, but mostly bad
Here and there you may see an English or
American gentleman-the former, too,
often clad in that marvellous suit of large
patterned tweed which aff1icts the eye of
the traveller, and proclaims so Enthusiastically
the Briton. There are gay, lively fellows
here also from Paris and Vienna, from Ber-
lin and st. Petersburg, who have come for
a little pleasure, and of whom it would be
unfair to suggest that they were more than
merely foolish. But along with these you
may meet the most accomplished and I'M
scrupulous knayes in Europe Mixed up
with the gay and ever moving throng you
may catch glimpses of the wrecks of the
| place-forlorn, WOe-begotten, miserable
creatures, creeping here and there, with
| furtive glances addressed, ill-fed, but
still burning with the fire Of the gamester.
IL.