Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-11-19

| fortune to pocket at Monte Carlo, bus
what an insignificant sum u 70 the
over si3s.o00 which some OK W saw On
| American boy win In two afternoons at
| that same earthly paradise lew
| years back. Harry Bosenfeia was TON
| Chicago. and he shares with captain
IN the English Hussars. q British squire
| by the name OF Blythe. the late Allen
Thorndyke Rice. Nine. Fanny Roberts,
a famous demI-mondaine OF Paris mid
| night society," and a few others. the
eproud honor OF having won enormous
| sums Of money at roulette or at trente
| ct ouarante in the principally OF Mo-
naco. But Rosenfelds fame is even
greater than any Of the others. for II
was Of him and concerning him that the
popular song, 1.-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 Ii all back
again. and a great deal OF their own
money on top Of it. The single excep-
ton was Mr.. Rice, but then he was not
real sport; he hadn't the right KIND
| Of backbone TO be big player, ana ne
was one of the worst losers that ever
gambled. In two successive afternoons
| he won something like $4,000. Accord
| ing 10 his own story, 1t was $4,000 francs
one day and 5000 francs the next, ana
! he said he stopped playing because the
excitement of winning so much money
gave him severe headaches. Indeed. SO
unstrung were his nerves by these TWO
days of play that he left Monte Carlo
and went on visit TO Taggia, beyond
San Reno as he wanted TO see the
Il L G..t nth nf
tor Antonio and other novels. Three
or four days later he was back at Monte
Carlo, and was pointed out as man
who had won over 5000 francs day
at trente ct quarante to reporter for
the Associated Press, who, having learn
ed his name and the date OF his arrival
| from Paris, not Italy, put this and that
| together by multiplying eight days by
| $1,000. and thus produced a dispatch
which told the United States world the
| wonderful news OF how the editor-pro-
| prietor of the North American Review
hao broken the bank by winning more
than n million" at Monte Carlo. He
took good care TO leave out the word
francs, and naturally American readers
put In the word dollars. so that a great
sensation was thus produced. and In
which patriotism rushed in with its
usual boastfulness. 1t was Hip, hip,
hoorayp all over our country for the
clever American who had won so much
by gambling, just as It was Hip, hip,
| hooray! the other day for the clever
young oarsman who brought over those
diamond SOULS" from Henley.
''Broke the bank at Monte Carlo" IN
deedl Why, a person or party would have
to win as much as $1500,000 to do that, as
at no time in the winter season between
November 10th and April 10th is there
ever less than 10000 francs on deposit
| in the Casino vaults. The winnings Of the
| Casino are so enormous that they amount
to $4,000 on an average for every day In
the year. This gambling day begins pre-
cisely at noon and it ends as precisely at
| IL o'clock p. NJ. 1t would be possible,
maybe, II a dozen or so Of the thousands
of persons who crowd into the place daily
and hastily bet on game that has been
| arranged for them to lose Att would,
perhaps be possible, should ten or twelve
PLAYERS win 1900 or 5000 louis every day
during 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 system"
or skilful judgment, have been going on
for the past fifteen or eighteen 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 pos
sible 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 regd-
lar percentage on all the stakes, so that
the bank is bound TO win. This certain
commission to the house amounts to 3
oil CT m
spin of the ball at roulette, and TO IL
per centum of all the bets made on every
deal at trente ct quarante. The inspec-
tors and croupiers will tell you that this
is their list of odds-they openly admit
the fact.
They will not let any one play minute
before midday nor q minute later than IL
O'Clock at night; and indeed, you are
never asked to play. You may wander
freely about the gambling-rooms as a
mere lookeron; you may stroll, without
paying anything into magnihcent nan
and hear a band Of musicians, which Is
quite the equal OF our own famous Boston
Symphonic Orchestra. There Is read
ing-roon, where there are over $1,000
books, as many as 500 newspapers and
magazines, writing paper, envelopes, &C.,
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
teux" or not The brilliant surroundings,
the sweet music, the library, will cost
you nothing, 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
women, 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 pre-
cisely alike by ices messieurs" who pre-
side over and manage that fool trap Of
place called Monte Carlo. and where "Sa
Majestic PArgent" is the generous mon
arch.
Harry Rosonfeld. Of Chicago. went
down from London to Monaco with a vast
paraphernalia of notes and gold pieces,
and commenced business on large
scale, with a confident air Of superb dis
dain. as of assured success. The story OF
the Hussar officers downfall was not yet
forgotten, however, and plenty of per-
sons predicted but a short run of THIS
new fox over the green fields OF Edmond
Blanc's gambling grounds. In 1887 the
gallant Captain. who had months leave
OF absence from his regiment, had
great stroke OF luck the second day or
his arrival 1t lasted for eight or nine
days, and in that time he had won as
much as 10000 francs
Smith, the banker with whom the
young officer deposited his winnings, told
us so at the time. Then the Captain took
almost the whole first floor OF the Grand
Hotel an awfuIly extensive house but