The Tupelo journal., 1908-08-14

- of mistresses, Dame
Roulette. In the great gilded sa-
Ions, where the light of day is ex-
cluded by curtains of black and Grim
son muslin, where the senses are be-
w1ldered by an apparent disregard
of wealth, and where the atmosphere
is heavy with that faint odor of per-
SEPARATION and perfume, it is the same
invitation to play rising above all
other sounds, year in, year out, Sun
days and week days-"Messieurs,
faites vOs jeuX!"
To frequenters of Monte Carlo | re.
quire little Introduction. They know
me, perhaps, as a familiar figure of
rather funeral aspect, in frock coat
and black tie, strolling aimlessly
about, sometimes watching the play
at this table or at that, but more often
keeping close observation on one or
other of the players who, like moths
around a candle, are attracted to the
tapiS-vert by golden expectations. |
am an observer by profession, having
graduated under Mons. Goron, chief
of the Paris Surete, and afterwards
served a term as croupier at the rou-
lette tables, whence | rose to be chef
de partie, and afterwards became APP
pointed to the office | now hold.
AS chief of the surveillance depart
ment, my office is no sinecure, for,
truth to tell, the Cercle des strangers
de Monaco is the sink of Europe. An
interesting procession of malefactors
and criminals of the upper class seems
to filter through our salons year by
year, in blissful ignorance of the fact
that, when they mount the carpeted
steps from the Place, they are simply
walking into an international police
bureau. Little do they dream that, if
warrants are out for their arrest, it is
more than probable that in one of the
large albums in my private room be-
hind the bureau, where they present
their fictitious visiting cards to obtain
their carte d admission, there reposes
q w~ell-eXecuted counterfeit present
ment Of themselves, together with a
brief and pointed statement of their
offense. In these heavy albums, each
devoted to a separate country, | have
a truly cosmopolitan collection. Nearly
every region on the face of the earth
contributes its quota to my gallery of
celebrities, for whenever a delinquent
is known to have obtained a consider
able sum of money by his crime his
description or his photograph is at
once forwarded to me, for the fatal
fascination which the roulette wheel
exercises upon those guilty Of the
more serious offenses is truly astonish-
ing. Yet, when once they are recog-
nized, either by myself or my as
%sistants, they have as little chance of
escape as they have of winning a zero
Or the ami de la maison, as we know
it familiarly-on their first throw.
To discuss the morality OF this, the
most picturesque spot on the whole
Littoral, or to hold a brief for or
against the tables, is not my intention.
To describe it as a hell within a para
disc will perhaps suffice. Much has
already been written about wild
gaming and its dire results-much
that is true, but more that is false.
Yet, now for the first time, will be
shown in these "reminiscences the
manner in which the administration of
the Cercle des strangers renders as.
sistance to the police of Europe.
AS may readily be imagined, a good
many romances in real life pass be.
meath the notice of one whose days
are spent at a spot where drama is
continuously being played, and where
it is not i~nfrequently varied by
tragedy. Truly, ours is a strange
world-the world of Monte Carlo.
High play, or a run of luck, always
interests me, tired as | am of the
eternal stakes of single five-frant
pieces; and it was this eagerness tt
watch heavy risks which one after
noon attracted me to that roulette
table which stands at the further end
to the right of the entrance to thu
trente-et-quarante rooms. 1t was thu
height of the Riviera season, a bright
balmy day in early February, a few
days before Carnival; the sea outsid,
was turquoise, the sky cloudless, an,
the gardens were looking their bes
and brightest, but, as usual, utterl,
HcSlSClSu ny luOSe eager CTOWuS. I
glance around the tables showed m
that something unusual was in prog
ress. The croupierS - who ar
changed each hour-chanced to be al
young men, and with such a party tn
game was always fast and furious
They made it their boast that wher
ever these six came together the
played twice as quickly as the "fogies
did.
"Messieurs, faites vos jeux!" ros
sharply as l approached the chair {
the chef de partie, and at the sam
instant the croupier reversed the re
and black wheel, and with a twist c
the thumb launched the ivory ball 0
its way along the circular ledge.
The excited players threw their 81
yer and gold on the numberI, tn