The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-10-20

! where GAMBLING
PictErs Of the Games at Monaco, "
Scream with Delie
A game of chance has from time i'm
memorial had a fascination for man
and ever those, it is said, who would
as soon think of eating their hats as
laying a bet down in their hearts have
a mild superstition that the goddess
of luck might some day favor them
with a smile. Today. s~eventy-fve per
cent. of the world classes a gambler
as a fool n a fool is a fool from the
dowager duchess playing bridge whist
in a London drawing room with coffee
n cigarettes on the side, to the "cul-
lud gen'men" shooting craps in a back
alley and munching at a ham bone.
But it is d we'll known fact that the
world takes a decided interest in all
kinds of fl olishness and especially in
that particular brand in which they
see their fellow man throwing away his
money.
A gambling hell from a materialistic
and worldly point of view is Very little
and upholsterers nave dom their best
to make it as much like paradise as
possible n they succeeded best when
they built the Casino at Monte Carlo.
The guide who, was conducting me
through the principality of Monaco OLD
not necessary to play If 1 wished to en-
ter the Casino-but he added hat it
was customary for visitors to try their
luck.
When NJ. Blanc too over the gam
bling privileges of Monaco and built
thereon the biggest gambling den in
the world he certainly picked out the
prettiest spot in Europe. The Casino
is a collection of buildings situated in a
handsome park. Around it are dozens
of hotels and villas put up for the ac-
commodatfon of the thousands of wish
tors who flock there every ear. Six out
of every ten of the people who-visit the
spot go there as q mere matter of cur
iosity. But they try their luck and
thus the revenues are swelled. 1t
would be difficult to attempt to de-
scribe the architectural beauties of the
Casino. One travels through a maze of
halls and rooms, with orchestras muir
perfume of the orange glades being
waited through the open windows.
The whole is too big to grasp in the
stay of an hour.
Dress Suit Crowd at Tables.
I visited the place during the early
part of the night but, early as it was,
the rooms We're crowded. Moe, a few
miles distant, had %disgorged her crowd
that night and everyone was at the
Casino. The entrance door of the
Casino is the main corner of he world.
IL you stay there an hour you will be
able to see every nationality under the
sun.
Most of the men We're in dress suits
and all of the women were handsomely
OnNoaa Thprn coay,aS To ho y,,,C{o
everywhere. Except for the monot-
onous cries of "M'soo lie banquier'' and
the whirring of the wheels one might
imagine 1t to be a scene in a fashion
able drawing DON
Most of my time was spent watching
one table. The banker looked every
inch a banker. He seemed to be the
perfect image Of snug responsibility
and in the street would have passed as
a prominent citizen. All The old wo-
men of the lower continent seemed to
have gathered at this table. Count
doubtful titles and morals of which
there was no doubt at all, placed franc
pieces on the table and exclaimed
loudly as they won or lost. They
usually lost. At the corner of the table
was seated a typical Englishman. He
said "Haw" when he lost and Hum"
when he won. The gods favored him
as I watched n he soon attracted the
attention of a crowd of women fitting
around the halls. AS his pile grew, the
crowd of women grew bigger and when
he finally gathered up his winnings to
depart, they followed him with Ian
gushing eyes OF course, he was but
knew better than these ONE that
gambling gains are spent quickly.
Some OF these women, the guide told
me, came of the ancient families OF
Europe. But, Ma Fol, what would
you? Suppers must be paid for and
call is Rouge ct Noir." to get the
money. Altogether it was not pretty.
There were other tables and other
halls. In some Of the halls there We're
cards, but the crowd seemed to be
drawn toward the tables.
Graveyard Full of Victims.
Before departing from the place the
guide took me to a small cemetery.
There were about twenty-eight graves
there, but no grave bore a name. These
were the resting places of those who,
after losing heavily at the Casino, had
gone to their hotels and comfortably
blew u their brains. Sometimes, the
guide told me. the loser had not the
decency to wait till he got to his hotel.
but shot himself on the marble steps
leading to the hall. 1t was not polite
to shoot oneself on the marble steps.
1t stained TIE marble and created a
furore. When the bodies were not
claimed they were inferred at the ex-
pense of the Casino management.
There they lie, nameless and forgotten,
their graves the object Of pity from
thousands of tourists. The monuments
they leave to mankind is an object les
son warning their fellow men to forego
the fun and not die suddenly.
From the Casino to the back of the
officers mess in northwestern India is
a far cry, but the goddess of luck rules
everywhere. There are gathered a
gan of saises coachmen. Their mas
ters are dining in the mess and the
men are amusing themselves till they
go home. The night air is a trife
chilly and the men are wrapped up in
she horse blankets. The gardeners wife
has lent them a charcoal burner and
they are gathered around this. playing
after their own fashion. Also, one Of
them has stolen a checkerboard. Two
men play and the rest make side bets.
At every move of the checker a bet is