Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-25
PARIS OBSERVATIONS
A Wood Carver's Curious Case
of Rabies.
TRAGEDY ON A STEAMER
Terrible Battle for Life With a Mad
man.
THE PROPOSED BETTING BILL
Immense Profits Accru.ng to the State
From the System-After Clan
destine Bookmaking.
Terrible Battle for Life With a Mad
THE PROPOSED BETTING BILL
Special Cablegram to The Star.

Special Cablegram to The Star.
PARIS, March pa curious case of hyp
motto rabies, or the idea of rabies suggested
by circumstances, has been brought to the
notice Of the Paris police. French wood
carver with English name lost his wife
sof0e months ago and was left a widOwer
with three small children. His bereavement
so preyed on his mind that he became mel
ancholy and taciturn. His mother begged
him to come and live with her and invited
him to dine at her house every evening in
company with his elder brother, hoping that
this would cheer him up He refused, how
ever, to leave his own home, and gave as
pretext that he was afraid of savage
watch dog kept In the yard of his mothers
house. She persuaded him that the dog
was not so savage as he imagined. where
upon he said he would try and walked up
to the dog as if to caress him. The dog
mistook his intentions and bit him in the
hand with such fury that the wood carver
imagined the animal was mad. A chemist
to whom he applied sent a veterinary sur
geon to examine the dog and he reported
that the dog was not mad.
The wood carver believed it for some time
till some fellow workmen where he was
employed suggested that perhaps the dog
was mad, and pretended joke to be
waiting to see him go mad in turn. The
wood carver finally conceived fixed Idea
that some day he would go mad. and last
| week. when dining with his mother and
elder brother, he suddenly began to foam
and tremble at the mouth He cried out to
his mother and brother to get away at
once, that he was getting mad and would
bite them. They were unable to quiet him,
and he rolled about on the floor in terrible
commissions. Two policemen who had been
called seized him and bound him. and
finally he was taken to the Pasteur Insti-
tute. Despite the fact that he showed all
symptoms of rabies the doctors at the In
| stitution are convinced that he has not got
the disease and that the symptoms are
merely the effect of strong suggestion.
The fact is he has already been growing
better. and in a few days. If he is allowed
to remain quiet, they believe he will be
entirely cured
A Mysterious Tragedy.
A mysterious tragedy occurred on the
steamer Vile d'Oran her last passage
from Tunis to Marseille. a passenger, said
to have been public highway superiutenl
ent at Gabes. being found in his cabin.
which he had shared with a waiter, with
his throat cut. and stabbed In six different
places. On the morning before ;he 1ay
the steamer arrived d discussion is alleged
to hav' !as IN place between him and the
waiter Hho. 1t is saf. accused hl'a of raw
Ing stolen some Of his money. TIL. 1Gat-
| ter was, however snioothed over during the
day. On the following night the waiter,
who continued to sleep in the sam, cabin,
was suddenly awakened by the passenger,
who stood before him. it is alleged, with
knife in his hand and WAS shou,ira at
him.
the writer says he had to fight for his
life as with q mailman, and after d rro-
iongei struggle he was able to throw his
agsress1r 1a the floor, but not without first
sustaining severe cut in the hanG. He
| rushed out # the cabin, and Wen: t. SIX
some OF the olhvr walters for help. When
| they returned the passenger. who nAi sp-
paren::y tTicG IN vain to open the (iuc- to
fo;.ow thu, waiter was found on the dcor
| In a POOL Of tll cd. He had it is stated,
81 hbed himself six times in the thro..t nd
alb lomen and was dying. He expired later
at the hospital at Marseille, whittier he
wa; carricu alter the arrival of the steam
err There was a sum of 500 in the ca bin,
, together with revolver. and some papers
belonging to the passenger. The pouce are
conducting inquiry into the case, but
the impression seems to be that til, man
committed suicide during an attack Of mad
ness.
Another Gay Institution.
Pari; may soon have another gay lrs:i.u-
ton to add to its other attractions. A dep
uty, M Rouby of Corrieze. has coucl geous-
ly come forward and laid bill before tne
committee Of the chamber Of depu les for
establishing the pari-mutuel all over Paris.
What is the pari-mutuel? 1t Is the official
betting institution on race courses known
| In other countries the totalizer. The
way the system is worked in France Is both
picturesque and profitable On every race
course there scores of little booths
planted In rows. In these booths, at Long
:hamp or Auteuil. for instance. there are
two men who deal out to the public little
Square tickets properly punched and stamp
cd, bearing the number OF each horse. AS
soon as the numbers of the horses before
| crowd rushes for the booths and buys as
many tickets as each one wants of the num-
Der corresponding to his horse The tick
cts cost 81 in the polouse and 81 In the
pesage whether 1t Is for win or for place
+ AS soon as a race starts a bell rings and
the booths are instantly closed. When the
race Is over the number Of the winning
horse rs posted up. and. of course, only the
number are worth anything. The specula-
ton then is what the lucky holders Of the
winning number will get for their slips of
paper. 1t may be anything from 81 up to
favorite OF an extreme outsider. The re-
suit Is only known after the entire number
of tickets sold at the booths have been cal
culated. This Is why the pari-mutuel else
where has been called the totalisator.
State Betting Profits Increased.
The calculation is very rapidly made and
usually in five or ten minutes after the race
- poStcu up, duO Tie llCkelS OF the WIN
ming number are paid. while those of the
losers are scattered over the field by their
unlucky holders. who. however if they have
another coin left, will try their luck again
in the following race.
In the course Of the past year the state
has increased Its profits from the official
betting booths by $1O,OOO.OoO The profits
result from the fact that the pari-mutuel
is an official monopoly and the state de-
ducts per cent from all the money 1t
handles 1t also explains the reason why
it Is tolerated by the authorities. On the
one hand the government finds it prolific
source of revenue, and on the other Paris
ians are delighted at the chance of combin
ing gambling, sport and taxes all in one.
There has hitherto been only one inconven-
fence. and that is no betting could be done
off the field, at least openly. In order to
have the pleasure of doing so, one had to
go in person to the booths of the pari-
mutuel inside the race course, and no pro-
vision was made for betting In the city.
However, in spite of this a large traffic has