The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-23
BREAKING BANK
AT MONTE CARLO
Old Hoss Hoey's Story Turns
Up Periodically, but Bank
Is Still Open.

MONTE CARLO, Jan. Is. = Once
again the Monte Carlo season is in full
swing, and we hear daily tales Of huge
sums won and lost on the green cloth.
Like the great gooseberry and our
(now almost defunc) friend the sea
serpent, the breaking of the bank
story turns up periodically, as fresh as
though it had not done duty ever since
M. Blanc-that genius of og-rolling-
first utilized it for drawing attention to
his pleasure palace by the tideless sea.
But, old and stale though the story is,
some people must believe it, or it sure
ly would have died a natural death.
And that these credulous folk not in
frequently pack up their traps and go
to the Riviera in the hopes Of emulat-
ing the imaginary gamblers success is a
fact which merely reflects credit on the
Casino company's astute paragraphing.
The bank, it may be said at once,
never has been broken (since M. Blancs
reign) and never will be. 1t occasion
ally happens that a lucky gamester
working with maximum stakes, tenn
porarily cleans OUT table, For lack
of ready cash the game is suspended.
The suspension rarely lasts ten min
five. A supply of notes, gold and sill
yer is instantly forthcoming from the
| Casino company's safes. Almost be-
| fore the room has had time to realize
| that a historical incident Is taking
cFoupiers' voices are sing songing their
formula Of ''Faites vos jeux. LIE jeu
est fait. Rien ne va plus"
The Addison SwindIe.
There are one or two famous authen-
ticated examples of fortunes made in
the Sales des JeuX. None of these
relate to what may be termed Straight
forward" gambling. They are each and
all records Of swindles OF extreme dar-
ing and ingenuity.
One of these, which began and ended
well within half an hour, resulted in a
loss by the bank of 100000. The great
Ardisson-Whose name is revered
among a certain class of people to this
day-journeyed to Monte Carlo with
the deliberate intention of devising
colossal coup. To this end he visited
the rooms daily for some time, studying
the methods of play. The game Of
roulette-with it's mechanical wheel
and almost mechanical ball-he at once
pronounced useless for his purpose
Trente-et- quarante-which is worked
with cards-seemed to offer an opening,
however. In due course Ardlssons
trained faculties discovered that open
ing, and having laid his plans he quit
ted the principality to raise capital
and train his assistants.
A few weeks later he reappeared, ac-
companied by two ladies, both attired
Al oicr1o4 So n ,k.,Sz,
afternoon the trio entered the rooms
and approached one Of the trente-et-
quarante tables. Addison and one Of
the two ladies took up a position on
one side of the table and the second
lady stood on the other.
Took Away 100000.
A series Of games had ended, and
the pack Of cards were being gathered
out of the we'll in the center Of the
table and shuff1ed. At this iuncture one
of the ladies asked the presiding crou-
pier to explain the game to her. He
was doing so, when the other lady re-
quested the second chef, to oblige her
with change for some 1 000-franc notes.
On receiving the coins she clumsily let
them slip, and they rolled hither and
thither over the floor.
There was a momentary confusion.
The coins were soon retrieved by the
games began.
Addison and his fair accompIices
staked heavily. They did not all three
place their money On q single combina- |
ton. That would have been inartistic. |
But whatever they did, the result was
the same. Again and again the bank |
had to pay out gigantic sums, for the |
party of three scorned to play with |
less than the maximum.
In a few minutes Addison and his |
friends pack up, as has been said, q
mass of francs equivalent to 10000 |
British pounds. Coolly they strolled to |
the door. A carriage was in waiting. It |
conveyed them across to the frontier, |
and they vanished from the Casino |
conlpany'S ken.
How was the thing done?
By trick as old as conjuring. In /
the excitement over the dropped coins
the head croupier's attention was di-
Verted for fraction Of a second.
How It Was Done.
The croupier, who was cutting the /
cards and had been heavily bribed by |
Addison. At the moment when the |
confusion was at it's height he placed !
an extra pack on the top Of the others.
Addison had procured a pack exactly |
similar to those used by the bank, and |
had arranged them in a certain order, |
which he and his accomElices memoir
lied. He consequently knew before |
hand the results Of a run Of games. |
The rest was easy.
Large hauls were made by swindlers
in the early years of Monte Carlo gam
ing. M. Blanc at first die not allew |
cash upon the cloth CCunters--pur-
chasable from the Casino authorities
at francs apiece-were the only rec |
ognized currency of gambling. These !
counters could be redeemed at the |
guichet every night after the close Of !
the play. Often they were not redeem |
ed, and thus IN time they filtered into