The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-06-05
THINGS AS THEY SEEMED TO RE
For to behold and for to see

/ TOT 10 DenOiQ ana Tor TO see
The wonders of this world so wide"
November 1st-We passed the Bal
leric Islands this afternoon. They
are rugged, and I believe uninhabita-
BILE.
DIR. tough CAV" an illustrated lee
ture on Vile Franche, our next stop
ping place, substituted because the
order had gone forth from the Egyp-
tlan government that any vessel
! touching at Italian ports will be quar-
antined for five days, and as no one
cares to be quarantined, we gave up
Naples. This order was imperative,
because of the war raging at Tripoli
AT p. M, we came to anchor in
the roadstead off Vile Franche. Here
we were met by small boats, in which
from six to a dozen people could be
seated-not forgetting the dog. Some
time ago the Han.burg-American line
tried to have its own tenders, but as
the means of subsistence is meager
in this place, the owners of the small
boats made it so unpleasant and ston-
ed the passengers, until the French
government took up the matter and
put the tenders out of commission,
and pooled the earnings of the row
boats, so that now the landing is
pleasant and rather a novelty, as one
goes about four stories down the side
of our majestic building" and drops
into boat which is a mere speck be-
| side it.
OF course our objective point was
Monte Carlo, the greatest gambling
place on earth. We took our places
| in a compartment train, and in few
minutes we reached Monte Carlo, and
walked up the steps of the terraces.
Beautiful flowers and fountains were
at every turning. The steps brought
us into a beautiful park-like garden
which surrounds the Casino The
|
| the main entrance to the Casino are
beautifully kept and artistically laid
out. Picturesque guards and police
men are in evidence in their red
trimmed uniforms. But the main
place of attraction is inside the Ca
sine, where are located the Sale de
Jou, whose Roulette and Trente ct
Quarante are played. The halls are
magnificent, the mural decorations
and the carving of the woodwork are
exquisitely done. Beautifully wrought
chandeliers flood the rooms with
light, and the French costumes of
deliberately dressed ladies add to this
| background of light and coloring. Ia
| bles are placed all about the large
rooms; at either side of the table, at
the center, sits a man-the banker
and the man who turns the wheel.
When the money is all placed the
sets the little marble in motion, and
| in a second the money is won or lost.
Mine was lost. To watch the faces
of the players is indeed study. Some
few play simply for the moments
pleasure, and win or lose and pass
| on; others have a set look, that
could come from long and constant
gambling. One woman's face at
tracted me, for it had such a hard,
| haunted look; she was old and wrin-
killed., and poorly dressed, yet she
staked gold pieces by atwos and
| threes, where others hazarded only
| fivefranc pieces All the time her
| lips kept moving, as if she were NUT
| tering some incarnation. Another
was playing at eight; when we left,
at half past twelve, she was still at
it, sometimes winning, sometimes
| losing, but with never a change Of
| countenance or a perceptible twitch
of a muscle One man whom l watch
ed play won until he had a great pile
of gold pieces stacked up before him,
and then rising he gave several to a
young man beside him, and they
went ut-wisely-while they, and
not the bank, had the money. Gam
bling as a sport for the rich might
be a good way to rid them of their
surplus, but for the poor it is too
| much of a Get Rich Quick Walling-
ford" scheme, and if the stories are
| true the fever gives delirium which
ends in poison or quick shot. 1t
| has a fascination about it which l
fancy might easily grow on one, and
l for one would feel safer about my
next meal if I did not live too near.
We left at last, and came back to
our home on the ship. When we
pulled out from the shore in little