Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1895-03-01

women-Loitering Over the Green Cloth.
Especial Correspondenee.l
HOTEL DE PARIS, Monte Carlo, Feb. is.
I'm the morning after your coffee and
rolls and little corkscrcws OF unsalted but
ter you go into the sunlight and lift your
face to the caresSing breath of flowers from
tho gardens along the way and from all of
natures sweets hidden on those big,
watohful, purple hills rising like citndels
above this principality that has no dupli
cate in the whole world. Oranges and
roses mix on tho villa walls till you feel
In haze and ask IL this be rca ly n day in
February. Monte Carlo is u bower of flow
srs, n vcritablo paradise, or so it seems
until you come out on the plaza that
leads to the Casino.
1t is crowded, it Is filled with murmur-
ing voices. and fever somehow commu-
nicateS itself to you. The doors OF the beau
tiful gambling house are still closed, for
IL lacks 20 minutes of IL, the opening
hour. You know you are surrounded by
tho serious gamblers who seek Monte Carlo
as others of we'll ordered soul go into n
| business venture. Nowhere among this
crowd is there any lazy lOrdling in search
of excitement. Ho will stroll in later,
when the rooms arc full. Nowhere Is there
any curiosity seeker like myself. \ ter
/ rible carnestneSS, nervousness, speculation,
speak from every eye.
The Game Begins
In a twinkling, after the doors open,
every scat ut the dozen and more superbly
mounted green tables is taken, and stand
J ing circles are soon formed. Tho croupicrs
I -four at each table-take their places,
and tho play begins. The roulette wheels
: buzz, the ball of fate leaps in its circle, all
! over the numbered spaces the gold and sill
| x-a- l-E,A nd gyF A. Fastened
! ON tho dizIi!y whirring wheel
What number Will the ball fall into!"
What Culor will the number be On.''
These are the thoughts in every mind l
go from table TO table. One Englishman
loses 500 in half an hour and doesn't
wink an cytlash. An old Grandam, un
oubtcdly French, who from tho wicked
Iy lined face seems winding up bad life
to consistent close, wins 20 franc pieces
TO the tune of $500 and rakos them with
claw nails into an antiQuatvd purse.
BY and by the ''SwCliS" stroll in. And
this is where you see the swells ut this
season from every quarter of the globe
In the moving tahlrau, whCrC the cur
tanned sunlight mixes with green light
from tho tables. there are Imperial, serene
and royal hi ShnCSsCS galore rich Americans
and even potential diSnitarics from -NSiatic
lands. They play. ~ do their wives and
sisters. so do the jcwclcd and rouged
women of the half world" who make
Monte Carlo u Eallying ground. So does
the young English girl, who comes in
with her nurid papa, and who laughs
unsteady when she wins. and stamps her
by no means tiny foot when she doesn't
so ducS tic Young French girl of the mid
ilc class, who follows In the wake OF n
pur,ly erandmo,hcr. Every body plays,
Aquecr place this Monte Carlo-a place
II moving contrasts, n little hell Of Unhnli-
ness in jCwcliko setting that seems in
sPircd by heaven.
Come from this first table whore the
play lasss a little ana stroll down the room.
That little man there. wearing n mOnOclc,
whose face is high bird and fatigucd, who
leans over tho shoulder Of pretty Eng
fish woman amu>cdly watching her in
Senuous play-whoE1 have You seen him
bCforCI That j. England foremost COM
poser, Sir Arthur sullivan. Who knows
what new aria TO delight millions may not
DO born of this rhythmic clinking OF gold
as the crouYierS rake IN the losses and
ding out the GainSs
The Empress OF Austria
\ woman sweeps past, ono Of n party Of
tour. Her eyes are proud, her lip softly
scorpful. II Is evident she takes but a
passing interest In the scene. Born 10
| SOlnLlanN SEcAhS lEOin uSE NNSLS SdSH
pose, but when she smiles her face lights
into sympathetic sweetness. We need not
mako any surmisCs as TO her identity-thG
: whisper has gone around-it IS the en-
press of Austria
! How close she is TO that young, dainty,
. exqusitcly cowncd woman. the center 81
a group of men, Is she an empress too!
She looks IL Perfectly groOmcd. her pale
a face untouched ty cosmctiquc, her hearin 6
r. modest, refined her gown and hat Of rich,
{ simple ruby velvet, she seems born to ,
e throne, and yet tho measurcless distance
! between tho status Of the two women. fol
! the latter Is the we'll known Nellie whC
= helped an American capitalist to get rio
- IF some of his millions while in Paris las
falll There aro many like her here; but
I unlike her, most of them wear their his
n tories on their faces. Chief among TN
Y celebrities, rcSplondent, wealthy and look
j. ing ten years younger than when sh
Il danced ut the Eden Musco in New York
q Is In belle Otern. She is gambling heavily
Y playing big game, and, it is said, carrie
10 her hotel ut least frcm 1900 francs &
= so. 900 in winnings every night He