Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-10-14
PLAYING AT MONTE CARLO.
Great Gambling Palace Is Still Lighted
With Old-Fashoned Oil Lamps.

| 1reat SamDlln9 FaldCe is 0tIIi LI9Hteo
With Old d-Fashioned Oil Lamps.
The principality of Monaco is the
most densely populated country in the
world 1t consists practically of one
large town. though this in itself Is
divided into Old Monaco, lying round
sweeping shores of the bay Of that
name. and Monte Carlo proper, the
pleasure resort on the high eastern
promontory of the bay. The whole
place is dominated by the great white
establishment Of the SOciete des Bains
I de Mer, as NJ. Blanc chooses to call
his gaming house.
The principality Is. theoretically.
an entirely independent state, with
| its own ruler, the distinguished ex-
plorer and scientist, the Prince Of
Monaco. 1t has a tiny army Of about
| 1876 men, a navy consisting of royal
yacht and a couple of auxiliary ves-
sells. and its government buildings
and government offices. clustering
| around the palace on the opposite
prOmontory to the Casino. 1t also
has a national opera house. national
museums and a national picture gal
| lery.
The inhabitants are in the happy
position of having neither taxes nor
rates to pay. The whole principality
is supported by the subsidy received
from the great white building which
stands on the edge of the prOmon-
tory. fronting the principal public
gardens-a huge whited sepulcher Of
ruined gamblers souls and lost hopes.
But let us pay a visit to the Casino
| t.,
stant coming and going Of almost all
the famous personages in Europe.
Grand rulers and musical comedy ac-
tresses rub shoulders under the por-
tico. Painters and princes, authors
and autocrats. statesmen. merchants.
adventures and great ladies mix in
| one Heterogeneous crowd with the
French and Italian peasants who
come here to risk their little all, the
savings of a lifetime, In a wild, vain
endeavOr to find a short cut to wealth.
| Before we are admitted to the gam
ing rooms we have a little ceremony
to go through. On the left Of the
portico as you enter is a small office,
and here we must apply for an en-
| trance card. Nominally, we go through
the ceremony Of being elected a men,
ber of the Cercle des Etrangers, or
Foreigners Club, a vast amorphous
organization which alone has the
right Of using the gambling rooms.
| The object of this is to give effect to
the Monagasque law, which forbids
any subject of the principality from
entering the establishment, a law
which shows that the rulers Of the
little country, while quite prepared
to live on the follies Of foreigners,
take good care that their own people
shall not be entrapped by the tempta-
tion in their midst. All we have to
do as a matter of fact, is to give our
full name and address, and state our
age, because no person under years
of discretion is admitted. We are
| handed a card which admits us to
the rooms.
The first time we walk across the
great entrance hall to the glass doors
of the gaming rooms we are scanned
by n whole posse of international de-
tectives as well as by attendants of
the Casino itself, trained especially,
and selected for their ability to re-
member faces. This Is the first and
only time we shall have to show our
card. A uniformed official, who looks
at 1t. scans us closely, and within a
minute or two every one Of those de-
| tectives and attendants knows our
names and faces. If a message or a
note be sent into the rooms for us it
will be brought straight to us with
out a moments hesitation.
| AS we approach the swing doors we
are scanned by two attendants. whose
special duty it is to see that persons
using the Casino are decorously
dressed and if we be Britons we
shall probably be pulled up short for
having our trousers turned up. To
most people this appears a ludicrous
regulation; but 1t has a very good eX-
planation, as its object is to prevent
the possibility of a swindler "acci-
dentally' brushing money off the
tables on the chance Of two or three
pounds falling into the hem Of his
trousers. a trick which was frequently
resorted to in the early days Of the
| Casino.
When finally we are through the
doors we find ourselves in a series Of
gorgeously decorated and brilliantly
lit saloons. Coming in from the bril-
| liant sunlight. the effect of the arti-
fetal light is bizarre in the extreme.
| The palace is crowded with richly
dressed, well-to-do people. gathered
in close throngs around enormous