Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-11
FAMED MONTE CARLO.
Mrs. Sherwood Describes it as Both
Paradise and Purgatory.
WINNINGS, LOSSES AND SUICIDES.
The Glamor Of Royalty Shed Over the
Riviera Gaming Tables
A MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO LIVE
tvn,rrxs FOE THE p1spArcH.1

face where heaven and its antipodes may be
said to meet. It has enjoyed this destlnc'
ton since the year 1S46, having only had
monopoly of "charm without danger" up
to that time A new Dante Is needed to
paint its now delirious excitements, and itE
soft tranquilizing, and indefnable charms.
Martin Luther is said to have objected to
the possession in which his Satanic Majesty
held all the good tunes, "and one might with
propriety say, that the King of the Internal
Regions should not have laid claim to this
health breathing and otherwise virtuous
spot. where every prospect pleases and only
man is vile. Monte Carlo from its sheltered
situation, its beauty, the entire salubrity Of
all its conditions, its remarkable cheapness,
is marked out as the natural refuge for in
valids, half-pay officers, widows, the clergy,
and the angels, il indeed these last are not
already comprenended in the other classfica-
tlons. There are, however, carping critics
who would here observe that if Monte Carlo
were given over to the good only, that II
would not be as amusing as it now is.
MORALITY OF GAMBLING.
Gambling is vice which it Is hard to
classify. 1t Is not forbidden in the deca-
logue. No man commits mortal sin by
playing or betting, unless the commandment
'Thou shalt not steal" may. comprehend 1t.
And vet, not one. but all the vices are
covered by this passion. 1t is everything;
Generalization, degradation, despair; 1t
brings all in its train. Its victims are more
haggard and more moribund than the VIC
Tins of absinthe. No vice brings so certain
doom. The respectable and thoughtful
man, the elderly and careful woman, are as
sure to be ruined, as is the young SPEND
thrift, who has youth and its impulsive
heart-throb, to excuse him. Indeed, it may
be called the vice Of middle age-as Byron
spoke Of avarice, "a good old gentlemanly
vice"
Who can explain therefore the deliberate
tampering with this Minotaur who devours
his victims, in utter oblivion of age or sex,
daily and hourly at Monte Carlo7 Who?
The philosopher has not been found. There
are several classes of gamblers. There are
those who come regularly to it az business,
and who make money. There are those who
put aside portion of their income to play
with, just as man decides that he Will
spend SIC, 900 year on pictures. There are
invalids who seek at the tables distraction
from the inevitable pain, and ennui Of
mortal disease.
THE LAW SANCTIONS IT.
Every one has right to be there. It is
law, and no one can say that it is not gospel.
It is by the common consent of mankind
pronounced hideous, senseless, dangerous,
and yet, among its votaries are the most
ssgacious bankers, the coolest politicians
and the most respected mothers of families.
1t would be hard to condemn a woman in
Europe for being a gambler; it wonld come
very near home, in the houses of the aris-
tocracy, the clergy and amid the respectable
Bourgeoisie. A famous old gambler at
Baden Baden used to boast that he had edu-
Gated family of sons, who had filled high
places in Europe, by his winnings at the
gaming table.
But the tables are not put there for any Of
these classes. They are arranged for the
fools, as Carlyle said of England, 139, ,000,-
900, mostly FOOLS" So one is tempted, in
the gambling rooms at Monte Carlo, to thus
classify the human race. It is the fool who
plays and loses all he has, who cannot come
ing the siren, knowing very we'll that she
leads to the edge of a gulf, who feeds with
his half-crowns that ever voracious appetite
of the bank. Yet if the respectable gambler
commits sin, it is that by his presence he
and keeps alive this industry.
Who that has seen the pale face, the knitted
brow, the shocking expression about the
mouth of Q female gambler, new to the trade,
who has not wished that some great law
should be passed against this indefinite
crime2
CASES OF SUICIDE.
One thing only arrests the game, that is
when some desperate man blows out his
H. loI I.k4 - h.
fore he began to play, but he does it after
ward. If at the table, he is removed SO
uuickly that scarcely his next neighbor
knows it The croupier does not turn pale.
A woman screams, perhaps, and breaks the
luck of the gambler next to sher, who de-
clares nothing else can make his pulse
quicker or more even in its beat. They may
then 90 out and drown themselves, but no
one can find out who or where. The papers
along the Riviera are all subsidized to this
item. No reporter makes his bread by
writing up" suicide.
Many women, the deserted friends of
gamblers, kill themselves; but they have the
iecency to 60 away and poison themselves
out of sight. A woman cannot shoot herself
herself or cut her throat, well; she therefore
uses the little bottle of aconite or laudanum
,r prussic acid. One of the saddest sides of
he gambling story is this of the ruined
avorite, who is in such heyday OF pros
oerity, brilliant in diamonds one day,
,ut who is SO deeply miserable the next
week.
A few years ago, several philanthropic
English ladies, dressed as Sisters of Charity,
walked the streets of Monte Carlo at night
% try and rescue and save some of the vic
inns of despair. Their success was very
,reat, and some day this story will be told.
These Sisters of Charity often hear stories
which make all the novels of Ouida seem
DOOR and colorless, and indeed sometimes q
ragedy which Dante or Milton could alone
write out-a "Commedia Inferno" or a
'Commedia Divina," which Monte Carlo
8, In every hour of its existence.
A LITERARY VORTEX.
Gambling hells are said to encourage
very kind of industry, particularly novel
writing. From this spot therefore have all
he fertile English novel writers drawn
heir easily cultivated inspirations There
8 nothing left to be said about the blue
XIV, the moonlight nights, the facile
limate, fresh. yet warm, the eternal glare,
he dissolute Russian princess, the actor,
he singer, the prince. All the elements of
he three volume novel are here in per-
ection from early dawn to latest eve.
Perhaps the least emphasized feature OF
he Riviera life ON its best side is the cheap
yilia, the home of the literary man or art
st, where for 81 900 a year man and his
amily can live most comfortably, under
onditions of health, ease and natural seem
ry, amusement and quiet unsurpassed in
he world. It is only wonder that large
anitariums do not flourish all along this
AIMED coast for those who do not care to
,lay. The delightful concerts at Monte
,arlo must be counted in as one of the best
esults of gambling. In where else can one
lear such music for nothing? A classical
nh,r