The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-13
AT MONTE CARLO.
DARK SIDE OF THE GAMBLING RE-
SORT.
The Criminals Who Prey on Stran-
gers, the Suicides of which Moth
ing Is said, and the Ugly Scenes
at the Tables.

ms - hhN WY
at the Tables.
j. A. Hart in the Argonaut.
We hear and read much of the sunny
side of Monte Carlo-the beautiful gar
dens, the gorgeous Casino, the brill
liant crowds, the concerts. the operas,
the modish gowns, the dashing ac-
tesses, the royal and princely person.
ages to be seen there. There are other
sides to life at Monte Carlo the prac-
teal side, the dark side. Let us take
a glance at those:
Elsewhere l have spoken of the care
full watch maintained by the bank over
its employees. But the administration
is Obliged to watch its customers as
we'll as it's croupiers. Some years ago
three or four Italian gamblers discov-
cred a slight fault in roulette wheel
it did not turn true" They began
playing the fault in the wheel, and
their continued winnings excited the
attention of the administration. They
were watched shadowed their foot
steps logged eavesdroppers were put
in adjacent rooms in their hotels, and
at last their secret was discovered.
What did the bank do? hdSty and
impulsive directorate would have
kicked up a fuss about it, taxed the
Italians with their crookedness, and
forbidden them ever to enter the Ca
sine. Not so the administration. They
put another wheel in place of the faulty
one, but with a different fault The
Italians played the old fault, and lost.
They thought they had made some err
ror, and played larger stakes to recoup
their losses They lost more. When
the bank had recovered what they had
won, and got all the Italians had be-
sides, it fired them out of the Casino
and put in a true wheel.
A startling incident took place in
the Casino a few years ago. One night
when the place was crowded and all
the tables full deafening explosion
was heard. The gas jets at once went
out, and the place was plunged IN
darkness. When lights were brought
it was found that a gang of crooks, UNI
der cover of the darkness, had carried
off all the money they could lay their
hands on. What they took, however
was principally the banks funds; this
money is all in one place, and largely
in mathematician notes. Since
that time the gas jets in the Casino
have been replaced by electric lights.
1t is not strange that the admins
tration should watch it's customers sc
carefully-among them are the vilest
of the vile. In addition to crooked
gamblers and thieves. there are cap
pers of all kinds-male and female.
That women are hired to steer men
against the game is denied by some
who say that the bank does not need
"steerers." The answer is that even
if it does not there are plenty of har-
pies in Monte Carlo who prey upon
reckless gamblers, who fatten upon
ruin. They are usurers who are anX-
ious to loan money at 2 per cent. per
day to gentlemen who are hard up. The
female "steerers" make money in eth
er event-if the newcomer wins heavily
he spends his money royalty, and the
woman gets some; if he loses heavily
she gets a commission for steering him
to a Insurer.
When a newcomer arrives who looks
like a pigeon, cappers hang around him
at the cafes and tell him stories of big
winnings at baccarat as we'll as at the
Casino tables. For if the cappers dc
not cap for the Casino, they work fol
other games. All sorts of things sc
on in the private rooms of the hotels
at Monte Carlo-all sorts of games, in
Guiding the panel game" The Paris
Monte Carlo are used as the decoys
many a man has been led into snares
financial and otherwise, by these sirens
All sorts of games are played-bacca-
rat, bridge or poker. If the American
saws he plays nothing but the national
game, he will find himself accommo-
dated. Ana if he plays a good poker
game and will not stand for cold decks
his kind friends will get his money
even If they do not win it. They dc
not stick at drugging. Some say they
do not stick at worse. There are those
who believe that all of the bodies
found around Monte Carlo are not those
of suicides.
The Suicide Roll.
There are many stories of suicides at
Monte Carlo. The subsidized newspa-
pers suppress all accounts of unpleas-
ant occurrences, and gibe at the ru-
mors of bodies found in the gardens.
All the ruined gamsters do not commit
suicide in the precincts of the Casino,
but some of them do, while suicides
among returning gamsters are numer-
Gus all along the Riviera and at more
distant points. Naturally the greater
number of suicides is among the for
eigners who live far away Not only
are all Monaco subjects excluded from
the Casino, but all French citizens re-
siding in the Department of the
Alpes Maritimes are also forbidden to
enter there. Certain classes. including
physicians. advocates, army officers and
others in the southeastern departments
are also forbidden to visit the Casino
Naturally. therefore, the greater part
of the players come from elsewhere
naturally, Also the majority of the sui
cides are strangers. Suicide seems to
be mode common among the Russian
Austrian and German gamesters; the
American and English players are
more phlegmatic.
1t is not only in the gardens of Monte
Carlo that suicides are found but they
are also frequently discovered in the
public gardens of Nice, and in the
towns and villages of Mentone, Cannes
Nillefranche and other points along the
coast. Many intending suicides avoid
the precincts of the Casino 1t is not
always so. Sometimes a dramatic
suicide will blow out his brains on the
grand staircase of honor" for it seems
that at Monte Carlo there is one thing
of honor-it is the staircase.
To pessimists, the scenes in the Ca
sino must be sweet morsels. Probably
there is no passion in the world more
ignoble than that of gambling. The
love of money" says the good book, is
the root of all evil" If that be true OF
money which one has earned or inner
tied. how much the more true of the
gamblers thirst for money Avarice is
an unlovely vi~e in human beings.
Gold gold, gold,
Molten beaten hammered and rolIad