Milford chronicle., 1895-07-12
ION THE ROAD TO RUIN
STORIES OF THE TEMPLE OF NAM
MON AT MONTE. CARLO.


Some Of Them True. Many False, but All
highly Interesting -Baolrum and the
"welIington boot system''--A Talk with
Mr.. Spectator. Man who Knows.
But who should this be slipping some
iced vermouth at the marble table but
an old friend whom I win call Mr..
Spectator. He lives at Monte Carlo, he
has passed a score of seasons here, he
has plenty of money, he goes to the
Casino every day and every evening and
he never plays a cent. It is his occupa-
4 ton in life to be an observer of things
and to mark the ways Of man and wom-
an kind In the summer he will mark
them at Aix-les-B ains, at Lausanne OF
at TrOuville He knows everything
about what is going ON just now at
monty, what Russian princess
pawned her diamonds last week and
what Cuban sugar planter did not die Of
apoplexy at the Hotel Carmbole, but
poisoned himself with prussia acid.
''I9e was a fool, sir, - quoth Mr.. Spec
tator. "Why didn t he 60 to the admin
istration? Why didn't he make his dec
laration? They knew well enough that
he had lost 200, 900 francs in the course
Of ten days They would have paid his
travelling and hotel expenses back to
Paris, or back to Brazil, for the matter
Of that. He was a fool, sir r.
Mr.. Spectator went on to explain that
when a cleaned out player made a can
did admission of his impecuniosity the
administration gave him sum Of mon
ey sufficient to defray his journey by
railway to the place whence he came
and his incidental expenses en- route.
He mentioned one case in which whole
family Of five persons were allowed 10
louis apiece to take them from Monte
Carlo to London, the sole condition at
tached to the largess being that the
recipient should not re-enter the Casino
unless he or she recouped the admins
tration for their ontlay. In the case |
which he cited, one Of the party, lady. |
who had not gone farther than Nice, |
received some weeks afterward hand |
some remittance from England. She |
went back blithely to Monty" repaid |
the Is louis, re-entered the Casino, and |
backing the douze dernier, not forgetting |
zero, won e30O "You are not TO be-
heve, " added Mr.. Spectator, ga 1.-THE of |
the sensational stories printed about /
ruined gamesters hanging themselves to
trees in the gardens, or blowing out
their brains in the reading room The
majority Of these canards are set on foot
by obscure French newspapers which
have not been subventioned on bribed by
the administration to puff Monte Carlo.
One of the pleasantest characteristics
Of my friend Mr.. Spectator is that every
time you meet him he has a fresh story
to tell you about an infallible system for
winning at roulette, and this time he re-
called me with a succinct narrative Of
what l may call the Wellington boot
system. Captain Backum had played
ior many years a large number of sys-
ems, and by the time he was five and
,orty had played away Il handsome for
une. A happy thought occurred to him.
de always wore Wellington boots. His
,apital was just louis. This he
hanged into franc pieces, and he new
II stal1ed more than one piece at time,
md if he won he withdrew his stakes aft
r the third coup His winnings he care
ully placed in a side pocket, and when
yer he had won four pieces he changed
hem into louis and slipped the coin
nto one Of his boots He played for
even consecutive hours before his stock
apital was exhausted. Then he returned
o Nice, somewhat heavy of footstep,
4
ad won 100 louis.
This was two years ago, " continued
IT. Spectator, "and only last week l .
0und Baclum at a third class hotel at j
Vice. He was in a dressing gown and
lippers and looking by no means cheer :
Ul How about the Wellington boot
ystem? 1 asked. Utter collapse, he !
sphed. 'Confounded run of bad luck I
And the boots% Iwent on. The boots?'
Q replied. 1 pawned them yesterday
fternoon. 4" I
So this is Monty in full swing =
Monty, " with its ups and downs, its I
saseless whirl of gayety and dissipa-
on. There is no rest at Monte Carlo
hen you are tired of play, there are
ramatic performances, there are con s.
,rts, there is pigeon shooting, and in S,
le spring and summer there is plenty g
yachting. But all these are only side /
sues The Grand Trunk line of Monte ii
arlo leads to the temple Of mammon. b
is crowded night and day by people R
sting for money which they have not Ii
rned, and it is the road to ruin A
ohdon Telegraph. T