The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1913-04-04
KING OF GAMBLERS
Francois Blanc, the * convict,
Who Bought Monaco.
THEN STARTED MONTE CARLO.
Bold and Reckless Soldier Of For.
tuno, He Instituted the Gilded Gam.
ing Palace That Now Wins Millions
Yearly For Its Wealthy Owners.

Francois Blanc, an ex-convict from
Homburg, bought the principality of
Monaco. boots and baggage. The gen.
ius of gambling had claimed. many an
individual, many a noble and his estate
and o infrequently an entire city.
but it had never before undertaken
such a conquest as this.
Francois Blanc Is one of the most re-
markable of all soldiers of fortune. OF
his early history little is known. He
was seized by the authorities of HON.
burg for having made fraudulent use
of the telegraph in relation to stock
exchange news received from Paris.
His method was one of the very oldest
namely, the corruption of the EN-
ployees. 1t seems that at this time the
German law did not precisely cover
this species of swindling. and he and
his twin brother escaped with a SEN
tence of seven months.
Francois Blanc vas not discouraged.
He had accumulated 100000 francs.
and with that sum he established the
Kursaal at Homburg. The Kursaal
flourished. and Blanc might have gone
on there to the realization of his am
billions but for the national sentiment
he was shrewd enough to foresee.
Blanc realized that the time was not
far distant when the German people
would put down the sort Of gambling
in which he was engaged. so he began
to look about for some new country in
which to set up his temple of fortune.
On the coast Of the Mediterranean,
between the kingdoms Of France and
Italy, there was a little Independent
principality. 1t was not more than
two miles and a quarter long and hard
ly three-quarters of a mile wide. but It
was an independent kingdom. with an
old and royal house.
Charles Ill. was the reigning prince,
but he was a tattered monarch, and his
court was a beggarly make believe. In
his desperate situation it is said he ap-
piled to a shrewd Partisan for counsel.
who advised him to set up gaming ia
bles and thereby ruin other peoples
subjects since you have already ruined
your own"
Charles III. followed that pregnant
advice. He sold a gambling concession
in the principally to two Adventures.
Duval and Lefevre. These men built
the casino. but their venture was not
particularly successful. They asserted
that Charles avarice could not be salts
fed, and when Francois Blanc arrived
on the Mediterranean. around 1860, he
bought the concession and moved his
gambling establishment from the Kur-
saal at Homburg to Monaco.
Francois Blanc was a bold and dar-
ing adventurer. The little principality
was divided practically into three
towns-Monaco, Condamine and Monte
Carlo. 1t was the last that Francois
Blanc occupied. He employed the best
architect to be had. built a great ca
sine, laid out beautiful gardens and ter
races and expended over $3.0OO,0 900
upon the mere prospect Of making
Monte Carlo the gambling headquar-
tiers of Europe.
Francois Blanc. the ~ex-convict from
Homburg. was no ordinary man. Lord
Brougham said that Blanc was the
greatest fnancier of his time. At any
rate, his great financial adventure justi-
fed itself. Blanc came to live in splen-
dor. He married his daughters to
princes, he accumulated a fortune of
100000, 900 francs, and he left behind
him an establishment that nets at least
$1,000, 900 a year in profits.
More than this, Francois Blanc
bought and paid for the principality of
Monaco. He paid Charles III. 500, OOO
francs a year and all his expenses. with
a percentage of the profits; he kept up
all the roads and gardens for the prin-
cipality; he paid the police and magis.
trates and all fixed charges of the
kingdom. Moreover. when the mer-
chants Of Nice ~endeavored to persuade
the French senate to resist gambling at
Monte Carlo and when the subjects of
the principality threatened to revolt
Blanc, daring and full of resources, had
Charles issue an edict abOlishing all
taxes in the principally, and out of his
concession. in addition to what he had
already paid, Blanc paid all the taxes
of Monaco.
When Albert Honore Charles. the
present Prince of Monaco. came to the
throne he remained under the thumb
Of the famille Blanc, and in 1893 the
concession they had obtained was re-
newed for fifty years upon the pay
ment of 100000 francs down. 15.OOO.-
600 to be paid in 1914 and other vast
sums. together with practically all fixed
charges Of the principality. All this is
done by a company called La SOciete
des Bains de Mer de Monte Carlo.
And 81 the genius of gambling ate q
king and his court. a monarch Of one OF
the oldest reigning houses In Europe
a palace. an army. a principality with
its subjects. and a bishop and cathedra
to boot!-Melville Davissou Post, in thu
Saturday Evening Post.