The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-11
COMEDY AT MONTE CARLO
FURNISHED BY THE AMERICANS WHO
CAMILLE ron run.
Their Invasion Disturbs tho Serious system
Plnyers-The Timid American Girl who
Tries Her Luck with n F~ivs-FraDc
Piece and the L0ud-TRlking Alderman.

Tries Her Luck with n F~ivs-FraDc
Piece and the Loud-rnlking Alderman.
MONTE CARLO, Ian %. In this place, where
comedy and tragedy dwell together in bro'herly
love. one Of the most amusing things In the com
edy line IL tn wee a gambling table invaded by
Americans. The humor Of II depends n good
deal on the point Of view, 10 he SURF. Thu rest Of
the cosmopolitan company 81 players don't see
anything funny in IT, A composite photograph
Of their faces would pass for a picture II long
suffering Patience, not willing 10 suffer much
longer But a dsinteresied American, a little
IN the background, will see a succession Of
tatleaux which will make him chuckle,
W everybody has been told several thousand
times, the 'asino at Monte carlo IL one Of the
most orderly places in the world. This Is one
Of the few travellers tales which are absolutely
true. 4 Sunday schOOl IL bedlam compared
with the gambling rooms Of Monte 'arlo, Sorosis
itself, drowsily listening 60 h. a paper on Phi
lanthropy, is scarcely more quie, than these 800 or
600 men and women silently watching the turn
Of a card or the diabolical whims Of a little ball
capering around a red and black wheel.
To these orderly halls Of leaning there's moth
ing the matter with that title come two kinds
Of visitors; Americans and others. The others,
no matter what may be their condition IN life,
whether they are rich or poor, old or young, prin-
cess or demi- mondaine, prince or butcher all
drop right into the prescribed 'asino manner.
They do il 40 successfully, in fact, that the princess
and the demi mondaine are TO be Distinguished
chiefly by complexion, while ii is as hard To tell
the prince from the butcher as To guess the next
turn u the cards.
But you can count the Americans. The others
ore gambling for money, money, money The
American is generally al Monte carlo gambling
for fun. He has gambled before, Of course. But
the enlivening game Of poker, played with friends,
il not the same thing as trsnte r q~udrdnte played
with assorted foreigners. The assorted for
eigners, sitting around the table, are almost every
one u them regulars. They've been there for
days, weeks, perhaps years. They have a smile
and a word for one another, occasionally. They
know one anotheT's gains and losses because
they see them. not because they hobnob with
their fellow gamblers. People do not talk at the
tables, The only audible remarks are exchanged
briefly with the croupierS about placing money.
Even then II is all In an undcrtone or. half the
time, the eques, is Indicated by a motion Of The
head without a word being spoken,
The nervous intensity with which the players
watch their varying fortunes is a painful sight
The quiet is almost absolute. But il is the quiet
OF intense concentration, not OF easy indifference.
Most of the regular players have som nervous
affection, twitching Of the eyes, Of the mouth, Of
the whole head And they all have systems.
Between plays they consult little books in which
they have worked out elaborate calculations
and according 10 which they regulate their betting
I,isall very serious. very ma thematical. very formal.
But the Americans upset the whole thing.
Last night, for instance, one Of the frenie ei
qudrdnte tables the heavy betting is at these
Ia bles going calmly on in the usual way.
The players were trying TO get into the run Of the
cards and were strictly occupied with the task Of
deciding what TO do next. Somebody who had
lost all he could afford To left the table and an
American man took the vacar' scat. He ha. been
dropping into the Casino every day for a week
or more and always patronnes these tables, where
he plays the Back unfaiingly and very often wins.
lie is rich, a man Of the world on his own CONT
nent, with a face much more worn than his clothes
overlook, but with an unspoiled smile and the air
OF a general good fellow
lie Won several times and the others began TO
follow his betting. lmmedia tely they all lost.
the bank raked In a heap Of gold, and the Ameri
cans neighbor, with a disg us,ed shruR, left the
table, An American woman sat down next To
her compairlOt, whom she evidently knew. Her
husband stood behind her At the next play
Alt ult Ills Htl the DlhCk sue 10 then SAl ypa
and won. The same thing the next time and the
next The others concluded that a run had
started and they Joined the American, who won
two more plays Then came three mora A maj;
cans, friends Of those already there, and Joined ,hs
crowd around the table. one Of them was nm
aldernanic parsonage whose gold watch chain,
stretched nght across MS expansive waistcoa,.
looked exactly like a yellow equator on a black
globe, The voice which issued from the depihs
OF that waistcoat was like a forghorn with The in.
tiuenza.
How you gettln' on" said the fat man. and all
the players Jumped, and their iwi,chings became
really terrible,
"Oh, frs, rate" responded the other with a
How many times you won?"
"0h, don't know. Seven or Gig ht, | guess,
and lost once
,"Bet!n' on black"
We'll, pu, this over on the rouge. won't you,.
handing gu, a 800 franc bill,
PUT 1t on what"
on the rouge"
".All right"
The rest Of the players were not struck dumb
by TINS lively, conversation because they had
been practically dumb before, But operations
hung. fire while everybody, crOupisrs Included,
stared and listened. Finally the dealer sud
denly remembering, that he had something to
do himself, resumed the monOtonoys ".MsMtSurs.
fdltes r0S Jrut. So long as the first American
had been the only Yankee in the game and had
been having Yankee luck. the others had fol.
lowed his play, though with disturbed demeoror
But the appearance ~ the big fat man dls,on.
certed them. II he had followed his countyu.
mans lead all might still have been we'll i'm sniis
Of the almost objectionable iovialty Of the two,
and the distraction II their remarks But this
new form o. Greek meeting Greek was too much
for the regulars.
Probably II wasn't a new form either They
must have had the same ex perience before and
have learned that discretion in similar Cases 10
the better part of yalor Al any rate they sp hed
YEARLY, shrugged their shoulders, sat back in
their chairs and quietly let the deals follow one
another without their risking q louis on the issue
The fat man lost the FIRST deal. He is a man
who persplreS ~prOfusely every time ne PLAYS and
who always tucks an immense handkerchief
into his collar as soon AS he stakes his money
The rolling heads Of perspiration arr his sole
sign Of agitation, hut IL fascinates the PLAYERS
and the crot piers can scarcely pay the bets thev
are SO deeply Interested in watching the dew
Of honest toll gather on his chin. After losing
once the fat man won a few thousand.
I'm going 10 leave 1t there I'LL IL wins three
times" he announced 10 all his friends within
earshot Then he lost
II doesn't make much difference how the thing
came out; except totne American crowd which
watched with glee the tournament between ths
two men, The land u the rec and the home ~
the brave buffer at poker does not insist on n
man making a deaf mute II himself wnen ma
gambles. So the Americans had a beautiful
time. They talked and they laughed and nc.
casionall, they swore in what was an under.
tone for them. but was three keys above the nrdi
nary tones Of the Casino.
And the regular players grew more and moro
irrimted, shrugged and tWitChpd at n irit-bt
fil rate. and hreathed low maledictions on ina
invaders, The fat man drove out the first Amer.
can who went away mad, and finally the ia, man
himself ~pocketed his wad II hills and ver, IN
probably to hunt up his irate friend and srend
some of his gains In the work If reconciliation
The ether Anne riCAnS drifted away. too. ord vim