The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-07-07

The fascination OF MONTE C@A-O
undoubted; it even holds certain
SWAY over the most austere anti-gam
bier. Men there are who have neve
been attracted by race meetings an'
have never registered a single bet, ant
vet have felt drawn toward Monte
Carlo. There is something in the air
some secret charm that marks it from
every other place where they gamble
why? Well, I think principally be-
cause it is Ell Dorado to most people,
II centuries up the vision of wealth be-
yond the dreams Of avarice. the
thought of what a successful coup
may dc for you is sufficient to make
the heart go quicker. to send the blood
coursing through the veins in a tingie
of excitement and anticipation: You
have only to find the number, or
combination of numbers. three, four or
FIVE times, and the whole of your hol-
iday expenses are paid-how much de-
ponds, of course, upon your stake-and
presently you have in your possession
more money. in one great glittering
heap, than you have earned by the
preceding twelve months labor. Is not
that exciting? Does it not keep you
on the tenter hooks of excitement?
have revisited Monte Carlo these
last few days-after an absence OF
some years-and I want to express my
emotions Much, very much, has been
written of the metropolis of roulette.
but most of the descriptions are made
q1ate and misleading. Then, too, there
Il ones mental picture of. the place,
founded on what one reads and mag
ines a gambling palace to be. Most
people. 1 think. suppose the Casino of
the little principality to be standing
1oftily in it's own grounds. perched in
solitary grandeur upon a promontory |
jutting far out into the blue Mediter- |
ranean.
But il is not so, at all. The Casino |
stands high upon a cliff overlooking the |
sea. but so does the whole of the town.
The gardens are by no means spacious.
The famous terrace is comparatively |
narrow strip, fronting the sea-this
terrace upon which the suicides (such
as there are) occur, under the cold
stars of heaven and to the soft muir
muir of the Mediterranean. 1t is a
pretty garden, set with trees and
shrubs and a winding path or two, but
It has not those deep, mysterious re-
tcesses with which popular imagination
has endowed it.
Neither is the gaming house set upon
a lonely hill; it is flush with the
street; in front of it are restaurants,
and fanking it are hotels. A mob of
pigeons fly about it as if it were the
Royal Exchange. In a sense it is, no
doubt, for you can exchange your
wealth for counters.
Before the Cote d'Azur rapide thun-
dered into Monte Carlo with me among
its passengers, I had fondly imagined
a wild scene of gayety in the rooms,
of the strenuous life Of excitement on
the very strenuous pitch. 1 had imag-
med Partisan "cocottes'' in surprising
hats and amazingly low necked
dresses. I had, certainly, expected to
hear peals of strident laughter from
painted Jezebels in the intervals of
ogiing men and stealing their win
nings; there would be smoking, of
course; by the two sexes, ana every
one would wear desperate and fever
Ish, if not a villainous, air-the sinister
glare of vultures busy with the car
eass, of the dreadful look of the hunt
ID beast.
All this 1 have certainly read about
in the novels OF the day, but what I
saw was quite different. The whole at
nosphere of the Casino is solemn to a
iegree. You feel you are in a salon,
aot in mere gambling place-a
place" sure enough, within the mean
ng of the act-and with the ceremo-
aiousness of some old city bank about
t. You are not admitted until you
rave produced your card. 1t is care
sIIly scrutinized, and, if the result is
satisfactory, a hexagonal pasteboard is
presented to you authorizing you to
inter and lose your money-as You are
BOUND to do if you stay there long
enough. Most people hope to get away
before that happens.
They are very particular about your
appearance; there must be no mud