The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-03-13
''Truth About Monte Carlos

The movement for the suppression o
the gaming tables at Monte Carlo ha
been in progress for the past two years
A very hostile pamphlet, entitled eth,
Truth about Monte Carlo" handles tn,
subject without gloves. 1t shows tha
what neither Italy nor France nor Ger
many will tolerate the Prince of Monaco
encourages and makes use of as source
of revenue. The late NJ. Blanc, whose
keen managerial and financial eye saw
at glance what could be made of Monte
Carlo, carried on the two greatest
| gaming establishments at the same time
After the Franco-German war, how.
ever, NJ. Blanc had to limit his enter.
! prise to Monte Carlo, and here he sur
passed all that he had previously &C,
complished at Hamburg and Baden
Baden. Then he died. Soon afterward
his widow did the same, and the pro-
prietorship of the Monte Carlo gaming
house was then divided into five shares,
of which one went to the Prince OF
Monaco, the head of the firm; second
| to the Princess Radziwill, daughter of
the late NJ. Blanc, in association with
her husband, the Prince; a third to M.
Edmund Blanc; fourth to the Princess
Bonaparte, another daughter of NJ.
Blanc and wife of Prince Roland Bona
parte; fifth to the two sons of the late
NJ. Blanc, who receive but small
shareof its profits, and are treated by
the princely and other members of this
family of gamblers with lofty contempt.
The proprietors of the gambling house
keep it going through the seduction of
its splendor and by the romantic beauty
of its surroundings, but they are said to
receive powerful aid from three classes
or supporters-journalists, loose women
and priests.
When NJ. Blanc. seeing that gamb,
ling had been or was on the point of
being suppressed in all parts of Europe,
bethought himself of the little Mediter-
ranean State with its impecunious king,
he offered the Prince of Monaco for the
privilege of openings a gaming establish
ment an annual payment of 100000
francs. The proposition was accepted.
But after few years the prince wished
for more money, and suggested that
instead of receiving fixed sum yearly
he should have a share in the profits
from the tables; and, his least desire be-
ing law to the proprietors of the
gambling house, he is said to have
drawn from it a regular income of
1,300, 900 francs. Thanks to this increase
in his revenue, he was able to raise the
number of his army from five to eighty
men. His military outlay, however,
seems to have compelled him to curtail
his expenses on the civil department;
and few years ago he cut down the
salaries of all his ministers. Their ex-
cellencies complained to the directors
of the gambling-hOuSe, and the estab-
lishment from which the State of Monaco
draws its wealth, agreed to pay the
difference. Monte Carlo is surrounded
by everything that is at the same time
attractive and demoralizing. But no
effort is spared to give the place look
of responsibility. Priests and members
of orders expelled from France and
Italy have been encouraged to settle in
the principality of Monaco. A cathe,
dral has been built at Monaco with
money of which large portion was
supplied from the gaming table.
A regular record has been kept by
persons who have begun the effort to
suppress the gamingtables of the num-
Der of unfortunate gamblers who COM
nit suicide in the beautiful gardens
surrounding the place. The average is
about five month. Last year the num-
Der was sixty-seven. The police have
very strict orders to carefully remove
from the grounds the bodies of ali sui
cides, so that the tender feelings of the
patrons of the establishment may moi
be shocked at coming suddenly upon a
pool of blood or visage cold in death.
Times.