The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-08-15

an increase of 100000 over the
net profits for 1928. This handsome profit is not
by any means made out of the bathing establishment
on the sea front under the shadow of the rock of
Monaco, and which, by an amusing piece of fiction,
is supposed to constitute the reason for the COM
pany's existence. Indeed, though l have been to
Monaco a good many times, and once lived there for
four months, / never discovered any foreign visitor
who went to the sea-bathing establishment to take
his bath, and as for the natives well, the
minority who do occasionally take a bath are in
variably provided with free admission cards, says a
writer in the New York Times.
The profits which enable the Monaco Sea Baths
company to pay such substantial dividends are ex-
clusively derived from the Casino, or clubhouse,
which belongs to the company, and which is erected
on the adjoining promontory of Monte Carlo. Pur-
suing the pleasant fiction which gives the company
its name, it may be pointed out that when erecting
the bathhouse half a century ago. the directors. in
their wisdom, came to the conclusion that a physical
reaction generally occurred after a sea bath, and
that it would be well to provide possible bathers
with some form of mild excitement which, while
stimulating the nerve centers, would not raise the
temperature unduly. Prompted by such a praise
worthy motive, the directors obtained permission
from the then reigning sovereign of the little princi-
pality-namely,P Prince Charles III-to build a house
of recreation" in which a number of games should
be installed, and especially a game known as
roulette"
l have heard it stated, but cannot, of course, guar
antee the truth of the story. that the late NJ.
Blanc called upon the prince and showed his high
ness the little cylinder or wheel, with its red and
black "spokes" and its numbered edge, and ex-
planned the working of the game of roulette,
Charles III, who had received a Christian training,
looked distressed.
Dear me" he Is reported to have said, II am
afraid this seems very much like gambling" but
the bishop of Monaco, who had had some pre-
vious conversation with M. Blanc, and who was
present at the interview, interviewed OPPORTUNITY.
The right reverend gentleman suggested to the
prince that it seemed to him, judging from M.
Blanc's explanations, to be rather a scientific
form OF propounding, in a recreative manner, the
interesting theory as to the laws which govern
chance"
The prince. who was probably less innocent on
the subject than his bishop, asked no better than
TO be convinced, especially as he was to receive
a very substantial annuity in return for the con-
cession. So, on May 10, 1858, the foundation
stone Of the Casino was laid, and the bishop at.
tended and read prayers for its success.
Monte Carlo at that time was a very different
sort of place to that which now exists. Certainly
II enjoyed a beautiful climate and the sunshine
was perpetual, but there were no roadways, no
palm trees, no hotels and no flower gardens. The
few tumble-down houses that existed on the hill
side were fuller of heas than of guests, and the
little pocket handkerchief principality was 80
poor that a tax on bread had been established.
and the Inhabitants were In the proverbial con-
dition Of the patient Job. OF course, a railroad
had never been heard of in these parts; commu-
nication was by steamboat. or by an oldfashioned
coach once a day from Nice.
Without loosening HIS sway over Homburg,
which was then the queen of gambling resorts,
M, Blanc set out to transform Monte Carlo into
a sort of earthly paradise, not forgetting Eve and
the serpent. Into this place poor Adam has wan
dered ever since, only to leave It, most of the
time, in the same denuded condition as his first
ancestor left the Garden of Eden.
The native-born inhabitants Of the principality
have every reason, on the other hand, to bless
the advent of the Casino; they pay no taxes Of
any kind and live in a sort of land of milk and
honey. All the cost of upkeep, the laying out of
the roads, the sewerage, the paving, the gardens,
the police. administration of justice, lighting,
armed force, and, indeed, the public services of
every kind. are paid for by the oreigner-name
~, out OF the money he leaves on the green cloth
tables at the Casino. AS a sort of act of atone
ment, 6 fine cathedral church has been built on
the rock at Monaco, but anybody who processes