MILLIONAIRES AT PLAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 232, 1 October 1925, Page 9

MILLIONAIRES AT PLAY.

DEAUVILLE CASINO. FORTTTKES WOK AJTD LOST. ESC'ii ED WOMEN GAMBLERS. lake one chapter from a popular ■ neurotic novel, one reel of an Americas "uplift"' film drama, flavour with sis piquant paragraphs from a fashion pat>er. mis thoroughly with jazz music, ana yon J have the recipe for the Casino st Deau- i TiUe. says a" "Daily Mail" writer. ine Casino is a place where you pay nearly £2 for the privilege of playing last and loose with your income, and. as an experience, it is well worth the price, j 1 am told that play at the Deauvilie' tables is higher than at Monte Carlo, and j from what I. have seen I can well believe ; it. The clique known a? the Greek Syndi- ■ cate won something like a million* and j a-quarter francs i £12-500 i iv two hours j at baccarat in the rooiA reser.-ed for men only, where the gambling is so ■ strenuous that it looks like real work. I With racing every other day and the tables ev£ry night, visitors may be hard ; pressed to rub one mill, on against another, especially after they have tipped '■ the head waiters at Giro's and. the Ambassadors'.

Sigh Stakes. Next to a police court the Casino pro-1 vices the best study of human nature. ! ior self-reveiation is almost as eloquent at tße tables a? in the dock. Under the ■ ?train of gambling for high stakes, the i faces of men and women reveal emotion ! just as the tension of _ trial makes the j eyes of the accused flickering mirrors of their minds. i sooner or later, as the nerves escape i the control of the will, the mask slips : aside and the eyes and lips betra- those I primitive emotions that dominate al] of ' ; us when tbe test com.= The women are more interesting than ' the men. Accustomed to business" deal. I demanding finr pnrpose and iron 1 restraint .___ _y c f tie men player, retain ' L_e mask through long hours, but the '■ women, unless they are professional gam biers, swift jy sneramb to'the excite-'' ment of hazard. Fingers, eye? and lips telegraph the 1 ■ lr T °* C-a-in and the pain of los= better than spoken words. ' I

Somen's Tense Masteiits. When a woman ceases to novc- an I otter woman's clothes she is controlled ny a force stronger than her gnafd and s-ica a lorce i. the passion" for play | ■but tne atmosphere of the rooms ioses its -__?-_ tone . Manners are 1 always correct. and the accepted atutade ol disdain for money as money is seneraiiy maintained. * A casual visitor walkins through the ; rooms would probably leave with the! impression that the slavers were m=relv spending an idle hour m mild excite-! ment. but let him watch those same : }-j;ivers hour after hour and he ttoulg understand the compelling fascination ! o: the Casino at Deauviile. _ Only two games are played—chemin- i ae-ier and baccarat, both chilaishlv 1 simple to ieara. and both very difficult to forget. { In a previous article I have said some- ! thing about the beautiful clothes worn by the lovely women at DeaafiDe. and j it is m the Casino that both are sees to perfection.

Poetry of Clothes. I cannot describe these wonderful ! -resses in tbe iasgaase of tbe miiimer. Eatber should they r>r described as oic-' tares or poems. There are frocks like ' moonlight on the gr»=-_ water of a wood-' land pooi: frocks fashioned from the : foam of the sea breaking on a coral ; shore: frocks reflecting the glory of the i setting sun: freaks formed from the' goid of wind-stirred wheat: frocks, gleaming like ice and sparkling like ! frozen snow: frocks purple as pln-ma ' and red as cherries: frocks green as' jealousy and white as purity: frocks i made of flame: and frocks made from the morning mist. And what of the jewels that every j woman s-ear;" H-iw may one describe! the flashing of diamonds, the lustre of! pearls, the glow of rubies, the gleam of j emeralds? How may one convey tbe effect of I rare jrems clasped on white arsis. l caressing dainty Anger? and nestling in} pink ears '■ Tb? very stars seem to ! have been stolen to glitter at a woman's will from midni<rht till dawn. The Mas Who Remembers. I Apart from the rooms, the Casino has i other charm?—less thriUinr bur delight- I fui The attraction of the dance, the ; music of the opera, the- stimulating influence of witty conversation over exhilarating meals and drinks served by perfect waitersFoiiteness here is more than a pose: i; i- a reiiirioß. Money has smoothed tbe way and life flows easily throagh the gilded hall-. Everybody arpear? to know somebody, and the physiognomist knows us all. He is the official with the piercing j p\-:s ard the vigilant moustache, whose iu.-T i: j- to knew by sight everyone •• who has the right of entry to the rooms., IT? is something between s Scotland : Yard detective and ""Who's Who." indexed in his mind, and he never makes r. mistake. Tha: man"? sleep must be haunted by faces be ha- yet to meet. When tbe rooms become over-heated and the ceaseless interchange of money j palls, it is pleasant t-o walk on tiie terrace inn am _ the scent of tbe flowers ; and listening to the music of the sea ; singing a lullaby to ears dead to all ' thins-, but the elusive whisper of' wealth.