FRISCO MAIL NEWS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12480, 17 April 1906, Page 7

FRISCO MAIL NEWS.

(Per Sierra at Auckland.) THE GAMBLING MANIA. NICE, March 25. Never beforo lias the mania for gambling reached such a pitch on the Riviera. Nightly play at baccarar. at the Grand Circle is for stakes as high as those at Monte Carlo. To such proportions has tlio fever risen that extensive arrangements are in progress for affording hosts of players vastly enlarged facilities next season. A magnificent new casino is being built at Monto Carlo. Another (splendid gaming casino is to be erected here, on the Avenue Massena, and a syndicate has also bought a site outside of Nice, whero it is proposed to erect still another huge gambling house to rival tliat at Monte Carlo. At Cannes, too, a syndicate is buey constructing a palatial casino. Th© Americans are contributing largely, though involuntarily, to the building of these new casinos. DISTRESS IN JAPAN. TOKIO, March 25. The misery and suffering in the famine districts havo been slightly relieved by the prompt aid from domestic and foreign sources, and the abatement of the rigours of the winter. Tli*> local authorities are trying to provide work for the able-bodied, but the extent, of work is inadequate, and tens of thousands aro still on tho verge of starvation. Many parents are parting from their children, sending them to tho already crowded Okayama Orphanage. Several children arrived yesterday at Uyeno railway station, in this city. Among them was a girl six years old, who was found treasuring a package of dirty old newspapers. On examination the package was found to contain a postal card with the address of the parents of the child, who had been told to mail the card upon her arrival at her destination. Tlie severity cf the suffering undergone by the children is clearly depicted in the faces of those who are compelled to part from their homos, where their food consists of flour mixed with straw and weeds. The Government has remitted the land tax in the famine districts, but this will not afford immediate relief. Liberal contributions from American sympathisers are already effective.