The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-20
SOME TRUE STORIES
OF MONTE CARLO
The Celebrated Man That Broke the
Bank Never Existed.
COLD FACT SEPARATED FROM FANCY



referring to a current report that a
certain American girl had made three
consecutive winnings at Monte Carlo,
says: OF course, $500 is quite a nice
little fortune" to pocket at Monte
Carlo, but what an insignificant sum
it is to the over S13S, 900 which some of
us saw an American boy win in two
afternoons at that same earthly para
disc" few years back. Harry Rosen-
field was from Chicago, and he shares
with a Captain in the English Hus-
sars, British squire by the name of
Blythe, the late Allan Thorndyke Rice,
Nine. Fanny Roberts, a famous deml-
mondaine of Paris midnight society,
and a few others, the proud honor"
of havingwon enormous sums Of money
at roulette or at trente ct quarante in
the principality of Monaco. But Ros-
enfeld's fame is even greater than any
of the others. for it was of him and
concerning him that the popular song,
THE Man That Broke the Bank at
Monte Carlo" was composed.
The present writer saw all these
celebrities" make their big winnings
and he knows, moreover, that. with
one exception, each of them lost it
their own money on top of It, The
single exception was Mr., Rice. but
then he was not real sport" he
hadn't the right kind of backbone"
to be big player, and he was one Of
the worst losers that ever gambled
In two successive afternoons he won
something like $33, 900. According to
his own story. it was 1000 francs one
4, i ~ I, 1,,
said he stopped playing because the
excitement of winning so much money
gave him severe headaches. Indeed,
so unstrung We're his nerves by these
two days of play that he left Monte
Carlo and went on a visit to Taggia,
beyond San Reno. as he wanted to see
the birthplace of Rufini, the author of
Doctor Antonio" and other novels.
Three or four days later he was back
at Monte Carlo, and was pointed out
as a man who had won over 10000
francs a day at trente ct quarante
to a reporter for the Associated Press,
who, having learned his name and the
date of his arrival from Paris. not
Italy, put this and that together by
multiplying eight days by $4,000, and
thus produced a despatch which told
the United States world the wonder
full news of how the editor-proprietor
of the North American Review had
broken the bank by winning more
than a million" at Monte Carlo. He
took good care to leave out the word
| francs, and naturally American read
ers put in the word dollars, so that
great sensation was thus produced,
and in which patriotism" rushed in
with its usual boastfulness. 1t was
Hip hip, hooray!" all over our
country for the clever American who
had won so much by gambling. -..
FABULOUS WINNINGS.
Broke the bank at Monte Carlo"
| indeed! Why, person or party would
| have to win as much as 81, 100000 to do
| that, as at no time in the winter sea-
son, between Nov. 20 and April 10. is
there ever less than 1900 900 francs on
deposit in the Casino vaults. The win
nings of the Casino are so enormous
| that they amount to $4,000 on an aver
| age for every day in the year. This
| gambling day begins precisely at noon
and it ends as precisely at IL o'clock
p. m. 1t would be possible, maybe, if
| a dozen or SO of the thousands of per-
sons who crowd into the place daily
and hastily bet on a game that has
| been arranged for them to lose att
! would, perhaps, be possible, should ten
or twelve players win 1000 or 5000 louis
| every day during a whole week, for
them to break the bank" but not
! otherwise.
Every winter there are big gamesters
at Monte Carlo, and determined efforts
to win large sums, either by a ''sys-
tenn or skilful judgment, have been
| going on for the past fifteen or eigh-
| teen years. But there is no system,
| no cleverness. no good luck that can
possibly beat the bank in the long run.
| No kind of play or possible calculation
| can guarantee success at roulette. IT
| is perfectly fair. as the bank never
| cheats, but the table and the scale of
payment on winning chances are so
| arranged as to give the Casino a regu-
| lar percentage on all the stakes. so
| that the bank is bound to win. This
! certain commission to the house
| amounts to per centum Of all money
| staked on each spin of the ball at rou-
| lette, and to 1l2 per centum of all the
| bets made on every deal at trente ct
quarante. The inspectors and croupi-
ers will tell you that this is their list
of odds-they openly admit the fact
| They will not let any one play a
| minute before midday nor minute
! later than IL o'clock at night; and, in
| deed, you are never asked to play.
! You may wander freely about the
gambling rooms as a mere lookerOn;
you may stroll, without paying any
thing, into magnificent hall and hear
a band of musicians, which is quite
| the equal of our own famous Boston
| Symphonic orchestra. There is a read
| ing room. where there are over so, 600
| books, as many as 500 newspapers and
| magazines, writing paper, envelopes,
ETC., all to be had free and for the
asking, and so long as you behave
yourself you will not be sent away or
refused anything, no matter whether
you enter the "salles des jeuX" or not.
| The brilliant surroundings, the sweet
| music, the library, will cost you moth
ing, but pass into the gambling halls,
and every man, be he a royal prince
or a mere plebeian, must off with his
hat and remain uncovered, and all wo-
men, be they of the best or Of the
worst society, fashionable or fast,
moral or immoral, grandes danes or
cocottes, are, during good behavior,
treated precisely alike by ices mes
sieurs" who preside over and manage
that fool trap of a place called Monte
| Carlo, and where "Sa Majeste PAr.
gent" is the generous monarch.
A CHICAGOANS LUCK.
Harry Rosenheld Of Chicago went
down from London to Monaco with a
vast paraphernalia of notes and gold
pieces, and commenced business on a