The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-24
WOMEN WHO GAMBLED.
Historic Danes Who Have Won and
Lost Big Fortunes at the Cards.

hoSt BIG fortunes at the Cards.
From the Philadelphia Telegraph.
History is found to contain many in
stances of women, queens and slaves
alike, in whom the passion of gam
bling has gained a complete mastery
These women seem to lose all restraint
over themselves, they become trans
formed, and in the end, when all their
finer instincts have deserted them, they
sink into the uttermost degradation.
1t is notorious that English women
are fond of betting. With the majority
of course this is merely a harmless
amusement. Others have been known
to lose everything that they possessed
and finally to have gambled their souls
to the highest bidder and then to have
crept away and put an end to their
Wretched lives. Goldsmith's story Of
the old woman who, knowing that she
had not long to live, played cards with
her undertaken for her funeral eX-
penses is we'll known. Parallels are to
be found in everyday life
The women of France, perhaps on
account of their warmer blood, were
at one time the most ardent gamblers
in the world. In Louis XIV.'s reign so
many families were ruined through
the passionate love of the mothers and
daughters for a game known as "hoca"
that it was forbidden by law on pain
of death. At Versailles an exception
was made to this rule. and here the
queen herself frequently lost large
sums of money.
The frenzied gambling Of Nine de
MOntespan has become proverbial in
France as LIE Jeu de la Montespan."
At baSset she would play for as much
as 100000 and would grumble heartily,
and the king also, if no one dared to
cover her stakes. One Christmas even
n inn HIT
recovered with three cards $500, 000
Three months later she lost $40, 900, but
won 1t back almost Immediately. In
1852 the crash came. At "hOca" alone
she had played away as much as $780,
900.
In Louis XV.'s time matters were in
much the same state. On June 25 1865.
dertook to teach Nine. de Barry lans-
quenet in her boudoir. Within a few
minutes, however, he had lost no less
than 100000. This immensely amused
the king, who was looking on, and VINO
was delighted with his favorite's good
luck. Mime. de Pompadour it will be
remembered, gambled for enormous
stakes.
In Charles rs time women PLAYED
freely That they had few scruplas
about so doing is shown from the fact
that the kings wife, Henrietta Maria,
Bassompierre, well known sport"
and Buckingham, In 1926, played for
stakes in a window overlooking Cheap
side, while they waited for a process
sion to pass.
In Charles IFS time, however.
women gambled to an extent hitherto
unknown in English history In, those
dissOlute days the pleasures of the
English court were not far different
from those of the French. The Duchess
of Mazarn, for instance, a niece of the
famous cardinal, lost more than a mil.
lion pounds, and ended her days in
beggary. Nell Gywnne lost $40, 600 to
her rival, the Duchess of Cleveland,
and this at one sitting, The latter, in
her turn, squandered an immense
fortune at the basset table
So fast was the evil spreading that
in 1896 Chief Justice Kenyon threatened
to send any lady to the pillory, how
ever high in rank she might be, who
should be convicted before him of play
ing faro. This provoked from Gilray,
the we'll known caricaturist, an mag
mary picture of the first ladies in the
land standing in the pillory. Beneath
was the inscription: Daughters of
Pharaoh"
During the following year many
ladies were heavily punished for re-
fusing to comply with the law. Lady
Buckingham, for instance, together
with Lady Luttrell and Mrs. Sturt,
were fined 5000 for playing faro. Ladies
at the present time do not openly
gamble for stakes which amount to
thousands Of pounds. 1t rests only with
their COINCIDENCE to say how much they
lose at Monte Carlo, and in private
deals during the course Of the year.