BEAUVILLE CASINO.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 16 October 1925, Page 7

BEAUVILLE CASINO.

MILLIONAIRES AT PLAY

FORTUNES WON AND LOST.

EXCITED WOMEN GAMBLERS,

Take one chapter from a popular neurotic novel, one reel, of an American. “uplift” film drama, flavour with six piquant paragraphs from a fashion paper, mix thoroughly with jazz music, •aid vou have the recipe for the Casino at Deauville, says a Daily Mail writer. “ q’] ie Casino is a place where you pay nearly £2 for the, privilege of playing fast and loose with your income, and, an experience, iti is well worth the nr ice. lam told that play at- the Deauville tables is higher than, at Monte Carlo, and. from what I have seen T can well believe it. The clique known as. the Greek Syndicate won something like a million and a-quarter francs: (£12,a00) m two hours at baccarat, in. the room reserved for men only, where the, gambling is so .strenuous that it looks like real work. With racing every . other dav and the tables every mglit, visitors lriav bc hard pressed to rub one million against another, especially after they have tipped the head waiters at Ciro s and the Ambassadors’. High Stakes.

Next to a. police comt the Casino provides the best study _ of human nature, foil self-revelation is almost as eiomicnt at the tables as in, the dock. Under the strain, of gambling for high stakes the faces of men and women reveal’ emotions' just as the tension of a trial makes the eyes of tl.e accused flickering mirrors of their minds.. " sooner or later, .as the nerves e* cape the control of the will, the mask slips aside, and the eyes and bw truv those primitive emotions that dominate all of us when the test comes. The women are more iiiteiestmg than the men Accustomed to business deals demanding firm: purpose and iron restraint, many of the men players ietain the mask through long hours, but the women, unless they are professional gamblers, swiftly succumb to tlie ex citement of hazard. , ~ Fingers, eyes and lips telegraph the joy of gain and the pain of loss better than spoken words.

Women’s Tense Moments

When a woman ceases to notice another woman’s 1 clothes she is l controlled bv a force stronger than 1 her guard, and such' a force is the passion for play But the atmosphere of the rooms never loses its high tone. Manners are ahvavs correct, and the accepted attitude'of disdain.for money as money is generally maintained. A. casual visitor walking through the rooms would probably leave with the impression that, the players weie meie]v spending an idle hour in mild; excitement, but let. him watch those same players hour after hour, and lie, would understand the compelling fascination of the, Casino at Deauville. Only two games are played —cliemin-tle-fer and baccarat, both childishly simple to learn,' and both very difficult to forget. Beautiful clothes are worn. by tlie lovelv women at Deauville, and it is in the Casino that both are seen to perfection. Poetrv of Clothes.

I cannot describe these wonderful dresses in the language of the milliner. Rather should they be described as pictures or poems. There are frocks like moonlight on the green water of a woodland pool; frocks fashioned from the foam of tlie sea breaking on a t-or.-il shore: frocks, reflecting the glory of the setting sun; frocks formed from the gold of wind-stirred wheat; frocks gleaming like ice -and sparkling like ’frozen* snow; frocks purple- as plums and. red as cherries; frocks green as, jealousy and white as purity; frocks made of flame: and frocks made from the morning mist. And what of the jewels that every woman wears? How may one describe the flashing of diamonds, the lustre of pearls, tlie glow of rubies, the; gleam of emeralds? How may one convey the effect, ot rare gems clasped on white arms, caressing dainty fingers and nestling in pink ears? The very stars seem to have been stolen to glitter at a woman’s will from midnight till dawn.

The Man Who Remembers.

Apart from the rooms, the Casino has other charms —less thrilling, but delightful. The attraction of the dance, the music of the. opera, the stimulating influence of witty conversation over exhilarating meals and drinks served by perfect waiters. Politeness here is more than a. pose; it is a religion. Money has smoothed the way and life, flows easily through the gilded halls. Everybody appears to ..-know somebody, and the physiognomist knows us all. Here is the official with the piercing eves l and the vigilant' moustache, whose duty it is to know by sight everyone who has the. right of enti y to tiie 1 rooms. He is something between a Scotland: Yard detective and “Who’s Who.’.’ . After your first, visit your face is indexed in his mind, and he never makes a mistake. That man’s sleep must be haunted by faces lie has yet to meet. . , , When the rooms become over-heated and the ceaseless,interchange of money palls, it is pleasant, to walk on the. terrace inhaling the scent of the flowers and listening to the music of the sea singing a lullaby to ears! deaf to all things but tlie elusive whisper of wealth.