MONTE CARLO’S WATERLOO

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 19 June 1926, Page 11

MONTE CARLO’S WATERLOO

THE “MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK”

HISTORV of captain de courcey bower.

(CAPTAIN Arthur William de Courcey Bower, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo three times in one day, has died in London. Captain Bower’s career reads more like the synopsis of a sensational cinema plot than a real life-history, though ho crowded into .it more adventures than any film hero has yet dared. ~ Two alternating motifs dominate the most amazing chapters in that story — getting rich quick and getting rid of his money still quicker, in both processes Captain Bower was equally successful. Captain Bower’s first fortune was made in Chile, where he went after leaving the army, which he had entered as a cadet, having been educated at Eton. It was nitrate that he turned into gold, in association with Colonel North, the millionaire nitrate king. This fortune Captain Bow r cr melted in London quicker than lie had made it in Chile. , A later stage in his career found him in Buenos Ayres, where he ran a casino, and invented a “system.” Armed with this—it became known as “Bower’s Binominal .System”—and a capital of £27,000, he went to Monte Carlo, where he won £243,000 and “broke the bank three times.’.’ To an interviewer, he said: “The first afternoon I won £30,000, and I knew luck was with me. I supplied six assistants with £4OOO each and gave them their instructions and waited for the ‘run’ which I felt sure was due. “My assistants, following my cue, played in maxima, and we won time and again. After I broke the bank for the first time there was no stopping me. ’ ’ ! Captain Bower gambled, too, at San Sebastian and Ostcnd, and though luck

was often with him, the money he made was quickly dissipated. Twice- married, Captain Bower s seeond wife was a Mrs Smith, a *° whom a Hungarian prince left £I,I)UU,000. None of this fortune was left to Bower when his wife died. Recently Captain Bower had lived with a married daughter at a boarding house in Hayerstock Hill, N.W. - - His only gambling then was to join in an 1 occasional sweepstake. A thud was heard after he had gone to his room,'and he was found dead on the floor —apparently from a heart . attack. ’ “He was interested in the iirm ot . Hamon, Bower and Co., and went to ; their offices in Kingsway daily,” said a friend who lived in the house. ‘‘He was a great believer in the simple life. ■ For his lunch he would have some biscuits and a cup of tea, and ; perhaps an apple or a pear. “Every night he would go to the ! movies. ' He was very fond of the pic- ’ tures, and used to say they gave him i rest after his day’s work. Sometimes 1 he went to two picture theatres in one : night. L “His famous generosity persisted to the end. He would go to a West End s restaurant, order a chop, give the waiter £5, and toll him to keep the l change. s “If he had £IO,OOO or 10s he was just • the same—he gave it away. “He was not a bit interested in , gambling or the turf. As for his past s adventures, he made little reference to : them, although he was always keen to j. get us to read one or two books ho had written on gambling systems. i l“Strangely, none of us ever wanted to c read them! ’.’