Evening star., 1902-03-08
AT monte !: :.:CARL0 0
Scenes Within the Famous
Casino.,s' {
AROUND THEuSS WHEEL
s.
TRYING VAINLY TO BEAT THE
SYSTEM"
American Millionaires Do Not Favor
the Game = Ladies
Like It.
Special Correspor deLce Of The Evening Star,

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco, Feb. 2s, 1902
When Charles NJ. Schwab made his now
famous descent upon Monte Carlo he stopped
at hotel truly palatial in construction and
| furnishing, but perched SO high on the
mountain side as to be inaccessible at night
except to the automobiles Of it's service,
and for this reason-and because of its
equally high prices-poorly patronized Pac-
| ing it's three-story palmarium alone his
| hands full Of censorious cablegrams, Mr..
Schwab had anything but the appearance
of the joyous party in the song who broke
| the bank. No gambler would choose a ho-
| tel so situated From the Casino to dress
and dine and back to the Casino is like liv-
| ing at Nice; while the slope climbing auto
mobiles, though novel and amusing, are
| highly irregular in their goings and COM
| ings.
| AS elsewhere, you can tell the type of
| Monte Carlo visitor by his hotel. Lord
| Rosslyn, up to the last, patronized the
| smartest. liveliest and oldest established
| hotel on the hill, across the street from the
| Casino, a stones throw from the Pigeon
| Shooting, and possessed of a splendid ten
| mis- court in the midst OF It's own wooded
| park. The incidents of his second attack
on the bank were vaguely treated by the
| English press, for the simple reason that
| he no longer played in the public rooms.
and so played unperceived by their repre-
| sentatves. His final collapse, which took
the form of a painful ''petering-out" with
| fve-franc pieces squared" on single num-
| bers al roulette. passed in the same decent
| privacy-which was the privacy of the now
much-talked-of Private Club Of the
Casino.
In any case the difference between these
DrOmiOpnt Of ba
| ent season-Schwab and Rosslyn-is ali the
difference around the wheel. The mex
| perienced millionaire with no determina-
ton to win. but only an idle desire to play)
represents the average visitor, who risks
his few gold pieces and departs unaffected
The only difference is that the American
| millionaire, seeing other rich men do it.
put down a 1,GGO-franc note as his first
stake. / have 1t from a reliable source
| that he never rsked more than that one
note. He won, let the winnings stand, got
to the maximum and played it a couple of
times. as much surprised as any one. Lord
Rosslyn came ostensibly to win, possessed,
he pretended, Of ane advantage over the
bank in his SYSTEM Although there are
hundreds OF experienced gamblers here who
saw him play, | have yet to meet the first
who could describe that System" 1t ap-
piled equally to pigeon shooting, trente-et-
quarante and roulette, and in the latter to
the single numbers, squares, transversales,
columns. dozens. odd and even, and the
rest. l saw him spend half an afternoon
covering single numbers and their neigh
bOrs' with five or ten-franc pieces. to win
35 for l and for 1-just as stout old
German lady at my hotel does, without
any system. 1t is a favorite flutter for the
ladies thus to square a number, oftenest
the number standing for their age. because
the highest number is but 36. and 36 is not
a bad age, while If one changes 1t must
always be for the better.
Credentials Needed.
Tba ssCaro,o Dry uybaro Lord pocc-
lyn's system gasped its last, makes a Gu
rious addition to the Monte Carlo Casino.
Once inside the central smoking and con-
versation hall, where the news dispatches
are posted and the American bar functions.
you mount moving stairway to the left.
on the road to the public reading rooms.
At the top, to the left. stands a uniformed
employe beside a closed door. This door
you may pass If you can justify member
snip In any continental or British club OF
recognized standing paris tripots includ-
eO. Here there are no ladies to slap down
dozen dollars and forget where. Here
you may smoke in peace. Three long. mar
row rooms, en- suite contain the roulette
and trente-et-quarante tables; and around
them you ought only to see high play. 1t
Is the place-but the high stakes are not
always on the tables. You hear stories
about taking off the maximum: but the
maximum seems to be already high enough
FOR the clubmen. Each time 1 have visit
ed these rooms / have seen as many five
franc silver pieces as on any average table
downstairs. while as for maXimums ($24CO)
ana 1,OOo-franc notes in general, 1 have
seen more downstairs. The Private Club
has become In reality the Smokers Club"
with the added glamour of a difficult ad-
mission. Mr.. schwab did not take the
trouble to get to it.
Two other prominent personages who
never frequent the "Cercle Prive'' are San
tos-Dumont and his new partisan, the VEN
Santos-Dumont plays he puts 100-franc
note on an even chance and lets it lie untii
1t wins three times or gets lost. 1t oftenest
gets lost. Nothing is more strengthening
to the nerves than this kind Of playing.
To win and let the doubled stake lie there
to WIN again Is common enough proceed
ure, but after this the average man be-
comes uneasy. Once In an evening San
tos Will put down his unique stake. If it
loses the first time he plays no more. His
present host, the Due de Dino. would
scarcely call this playing at all. The duke
has been notable player in his time, and
MS present regime, which he calls safe
ana mlld one, the game Of n family man.
Is 70 put 5oo-franc notes on the even chances
them. This makes 900 francs day (S2OO)
something which the Due de Dino has ac-
complished for the past month. The only
dlsadvantage of the system Is that in hunt
ing Ior the TWO 5OO-franc notes the player
always runs remote risk of losing twenty
times as much. the old history of the
pltcher that came once too often to the well.
How Rochefort Plays.
Henri Rochefort is a different type Of
player from either of these. His system
appears to consist in persuad!ng his own
young and pretty wife to play as seldom
and as moderately may be. Except when
Nine Rochefort-or, pardon. the Marquise
de Rochefort-is seated at one of the rou
lette tables Rochefort walks aimlessly
about, with his hands In his pockets. nod
ding recognitions to the hundreds who are
proud to know him. Now and then he will
stare at table for turn or SO. but his
mind is obviously elsewhere.
Al! the continental papers have been
speaking of his sensational and accidental
meeting with the Empress Eugene. in
Santos-Dumonts balloon shed What they
omitted to describe was the activity with
which the great old man got out OF the
reach OF Franz Bucher's camera at the
moment the group was being photograph
ed: Here is the man who did most to
bring about the fall Of Napoleon III Here
is the woman who was HIS enemy and vic
tim. And they had not met for more than
a quarter OF century, Rochefort has
been through most everything, including
TRANSPORTATION for life fO the convict col.