Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-10-03

banquets whose piece de resistance con
sisted of gebratene gans und kartoifeln,
the unlucky bird being tribute i'll kind
from the farmyard Of some peasant sub
ject living in a miserable hut on black
bread.
But 4 change was impending. \
mighty wizard had visited the place,
with an eye quick TO see the possibih
ties of the situation, with a brain to
plan and a hand to execute. His name
was Francois Blanc, the head Of the
great gambling establishment at Hom-
burg. Vast as were his ambition and
achievements, he was man of the sim
plest tastes.
To see him-as 1 often have-in his
seedy coat, his old fashioned spectacles
on the tip of his nose, one would have
taken him for a country advocate whose
widest dreams We're of a practice of
2,000 thalers a year, with an old gig
and a wheezy mare to haul him around
the countryside from client TO client
Before his Wiesbaden days he had been
the guiding spirit in the direction Of the
splendid gambling halls, the Casino at
Homburg Blanc was impervious TO
fattery-a hard headed, silent man, a
man without enthusiasm and without
weaknesses, who kept lavish table and
ate sparingly himself, who had a wine
cellar rivaling that of the autocrat of
all the Russias and yet contented him
self with slipping a harmless mineral
water, who kept and directed huge
gambling machine-a mighty conglom-
GRAFTON of gorgeously decorated halls,
wine parlors and music rooms, crammed
day and night by giddy and excited
throngs, but himself never indulging in
anything more exciting than an after
dinner game of dominos or quiet
drive with his wife through the country
lanes.
Thus this Francois Blanc with per-
feet equanimity watched the thousand
thQnsands of butterflies and moths Of
society scorch their wings i'll the terrific
flame that glowed in his Casino, while
he looked ON cynical observer. despis-
ing the fools enraptured with roulette
and fascinated with rouge ct noir
But one thing he was not afraid Of,
aud that was spending money. To COM
pass his business ends he laid it out Law
ishly, and i'll the end he drew all Europe
TO Wiesbaden. Suli broader and still
deeper he laid the foundations of the
fortune that ultimately grew to colossal
proportions. But he did not make Wies-
baden famous without keen opposition.
tie made the fortune Of the beggarly
Prince Karl and the whole hungry crowd
- hicl,,,aeco- i.,c IN Cf
selves. At every fresh opposition he
simply opened his purse and a golden
shower fell or them.
1t required hard head to withstand
the attacks made ON him when it be-
came known that he had bought up
both prince and municipality and pro-
posed to make Wiesbaden par excellence
the gambling city Of the continent. But,
despite of all, he pushed on his plans to
wonderful success. 4 great park was
laid out and stately buildings arose, all
dedicated to the goddess Of chance. Slim
was the chance the votaries Of the game
had in his gorgeous halls. He threw out
his money in millions, but he knew the
weak, foolish heart of man, the egotism
Of each and every one of us, that leads
us to ignore for ourselves the immuta
BILE law Of numbers So he counted up
ea mis- returns, and never counted in
vain.
As I say, he had hard head TO with
stand the attacks made upon him. Ev-
cry day the post brought hundreds of
letters containing propositions or threats
from people who had lost their money
and demanded its return with fierce
threats, pitiful supplications and warn
ings Of intended suicide, place, date and
hour carefully specified, so there could
be no mistake, and more than one at
tempt was made upon his life. But the
equanimity of Francois Blanc was equal
to all adventures. Threats, prayers,
temptations, left him untouched. This
man Of ice, self possessed, cold, indiffer
ent to the ruin Of the thousands of vic
Tins of his will, had "a fad or a fancy.
1t was for raising red and white roses,
and while the mad throngs were flutter-
ing in frenzy around the tables in his
halls at Homburg, WieSbaden and Monte
Carlo he, hoe or trowel in hand, would
be training and transplanting his roses,
solicitous over an opening bud or de-
ploring the ravages of an insect, or,
again, refusing all invitations, he would
sit down with his wife TO a dinner of
boiled turnips and bacon, washed down
with a glass of vichy water and milk.
This was the town and these the scenes
constantly occurring there.
Now for my adventure. La 1870, just
before the warcloud burst, covering all
that part of the world, l was stopping
for some weeks at the Hotel Nassau. 1t
stands i'll the main street, opposite the
park gate leading to the Casino. All thu
World went to Wiesbaden to be amused.
However fashionable frivolity and vice
may be elsewhere, here it was strictly
de rigueur, and to pretend to decency
and sobriety would be to stamp ones
self heather and barbarian, all un-
versed in the glorious flower wreathed
Primrose Way of our orb.
The daily routine for the throng be-
gan with coffee in bed at s p. IN. then
dressing gowns were donned, and the
baths in the underground floors of the
hotel were sought and a bath had in the
hot mineral waters which were con-
Quoted to all the hotels direct from the
hot springs of the town. Half an hour
in the bath, then a light breakfast. pre-
paratory TO sallying out for an hour on
the Spaziergang around the quellen
to drink the water, listen to the band,
see and be seen, but, above all, to gos-
sip and tell lies. At II a. IN. the gam
bling began in the Casino, and with
rush the seats around tho tables would
be filed Then speedily there would be
rows behind rows Of eager players or
spectators, and what sight it all was
to the cool headed observer!
At the time of which speak many
were my idle days, i'll which | was free
to seek pleasure. used to find much
enjoyment i'll frequenting the Casino to
watch the people and to play the role of
"looker ON in Vienna, which, by the
way, Is q star role and therefore rather
agreeable. One evening while watching
the rouge ct noir | noticed lady just
in front of me, magnificently dressed III
all save that there was an entire absence
of jewelry. She was literally dressed to
kill, and, although near so, yet to the
casual observer she seemed no more than
40 or even less. She was a well pre-
served woman of the world and was
known as the Countess de Winzerole.
This was the adventures who had mar
ried Van Tromp some two years before.