The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1896-05-16

100000 of the money of people whom he
duped with his bogus patents. So with a
well known London money-lender, one of
the best customers of the tables, who visits
Monte Carlo every season. He generally
plays the maximum of II, 900 francs eisO)
coup at trente- et-quarante, and has won
large sums from time to time. He in
formed me, however, last winter that he
was almost always loser at the end of his
stay; that he made E10, 900 his limit Of
loss, and that during the last ten or twelve
years he had left at least 100000 upon the
tables. These are only typical cases. The
winner at Monte Carlo returns to make a
little more; the loser returns to try to get
his money back again. And so, in the
end, la banque game toujours!
Each roulette-table is given a capital of
go, 600 francs e2i00) every day at noon,
with which to opea the play, each trente-
et-quarante table receives 100000 francs
(Ei0C0). Only upon rare occasions when
some heavy player is having run Of luck,
is it necessary to make second call.
Wells, for instance, forced the chef de partie
to fetch further capital no less than four
times in one afternoon.
Monte Carlo is tempting bait for all
hlackmarkers, and the most ingenious
schemes are connected for extortng money
from the bank. Here is game:
"A little band of five Paris journalists
who were down for the demonstrating and
racing season also conceived plot by which
they obtained $1,000 from the manager
bomb scare was raging at the time
lhey brlbed one or two of the night watch
men to place half-a-dozen bogus Shells
with piece of lamp-wick hanging from
them, under the windows outside of the
building and beneath the gambling tables
in the interior. These engines, were found
at daybreak by the ''pompiers,' and a
scene of great excitement ensued. In vain
did the manager try to hush up the affair,
the news OF an attempt to blow up the
casino spread like lightning. As soon as
the doors opened Messieurs les journalists
went i'll body to interview the manager
We know all about the outrage they
said, and unless we receive $1,000 by 4
O'Clock we shall send column about it to
the papers we represent They got the
money. Their accomplices, with whom
they had promised to divide, were, how
ever, arrested, and sentenced to two years
imprisonment.
Monte Carlo hasa very curious pension"
list. On it are inscribed the names of men
and women who have lost their fortunes at
the tables and who are allowed small sums
daily for the rest OF their miserable lives.
Mr.. Waller says
This practice, which was inaugurated
| by Pere Blanc in his paternal care for the
caves, is also being dropped as the pension
naires die out. The pensions now paid
range from five francs to forty francs day,
according to the amount which has been
lVSl az NV l'iplNS tHC SbClHl SltlOu VI
| the recipient. For instance, tall Scotch
man who is a familiar figure upon the
promenades DIES Angais in Nice receives
two louis per day. He lost quarter Of a
million of money at roulette. He has still
small income, and the bank therefore
considers thirty shillings per day sufficient
to keep this broken vessel from coming tc
the ground. If one could go through the
whole list, what story might be written
anent each itemn'
In conclusion we quote Mr.. Waller con-
corning the suicides at Monte Carlo as fol-
lows:
THE number has been comparatively
small during the last two years-five and
four respectively. This charge against the
tables is always greatly exaggerated. Some
writers upon Monte Carlo would have us
believe that every morning at sunrise the
gardens round the casino are likea Gehenna,
strewn with the corpses OF men and women
who have ruined themselves at the tables
the night before. :: = When talking
one day to the doctor whose duty it is to
examine the body of every suicide on be.
half of the police of Monaco, Measured me
that the number seldom exceeded half a
dozen per annum. Six too many, surely
but how many people commit suicide in
England every year through failure in trade
and losses upon the Stock Exchange. Ii
must be remembered that Monte Carlo
represents gambling in concentrated
form, just as the Stock Exchange represents
condensed speculation, and that men who
are already ruined often fly to the casino tc
make final coup. They generally fail to
retrieve their fortunes One wonders,
| therefore, that the death-rol! is not
greater"
THE MODERN COACHMAN.