STORIES OF MONTE CARLO.

Northland Age, Volume 3, Issue 22, 8 January 1907, Page 6

STORIES OF MONTE CARLO.

—+ — BY A VICTIM. + One of \he saddest sides of life at this great gambling resort in the frequency ;of suicides. The number of cases which precolate into print is small compared with the self-inflicted deaths known to the few. Naturally it is in the interests of the promoters of Monte Carlo to hush up every case of suicide, and with the close connection existing between the Casino and the hotels, they are able to do this not unsuccessfully. It is only when the player has lost his last franc, and sees the futility of hoping against hope for some fortunate accident to place money in his path, that suicide commends itself as an easy way of ridding himself of debt. A pisto>l-shot in the gardens, or a dose of prussic acid at his lodgings, at once settles his account. Not long ago an unsuccessful gambler shot himself through the heart on the marble steps at the entrance of the Casino. His blood made a dark stain which for a time remained an ugly, silent witness of the fatal deed. One evening during the holidays a peculiar incident occurred. To the cafe of the Paris Hotel, which adjoins the Casino, a haggard and dishevelled Frenchman entered hurriedly called for a glass of absinthe, and, seating himself, proceeded to write vigorously on a sheet of notepaper in front of him. The attention of the other visitors was attracted by his appearance and evident nervousness, and by his examining a goldplated revolver, and toying with it nervously. A stout, florid Englishman thereupon quickly turned to the Frenchman and said. "You wish to sell that weapon, sir?” The Frenchman drew back in astonishment ; but after a moment his sambre, haggard features lit up with a smile, and he answered, “If you wish, sir." The Englishman j aid over a couple of sovereigns, and the would-be suicide left the cafe for the Casino. That same night he won 1 ,200 francs.

Some years ago Monte Carlo claimed a victim in a young clerk of a large counting-house in Germany, who was spending his honeymoon in Italy. While sojourning in the latter country he received 40,000 francs in I ay men t of a bill due to his employers, and on his return home he made a detour to Monte Carlo. Fearing the temptations of the gamblinghall, he gave the money into his wife’s keeping. Unhappily, at. this time he was called away from the town, and on his return laund that his wife had disappeared. His search for her was unsuccessful, until he learned that a young woman, after losing 40,000 francs at the gamb-ling-tables, had thrown herself into the sea. The unfortunate wife had visited the Casino from curiosity, had been led into play by the many harpies around the tables, and had last all.

The story of the suicide of a Russian, Count Ivan Chankoff, in January. 1891, is not dissimilar in its sordid details, lie was newly married, and Monte Carlo was visited during his wedding tour. The Casino attracted him ; he played heavily, and lost all he had. He was so overcome with the shame of his possition tha't lie abruptly closed a short but brilliant career by shooting himself.

Another victim put an end to his life by throwing himself off the cliffs into the sea : and yet another, more original in his methods, threw himself from a railway train as it travelled at the edge of the.cliffs between Monaco and Nice. He rolled over and over into the sea at the foot of the steep crags. These are but a few of the cases in which losses at the table have tempted men and women to make away with themselves ; but there is also the record of those whose reason has left them as the result of giving way to the mad, avaricious passion of gambling. The stories of these unfortunate folk are too numerous and ghastly to

bear repetition. It is said that out of every hundred visitors to Monte Carlo some fifty or sixty are gamblers. Even if this average is too high, it is pretty certain that nowhere else in the world can gambling be conducted under conditions that encourage rather than repress the vice. Everyone over twenty-one is welcome, providing he or she can procure ‘references' from a Monte Carlo hotel-keeper. Curiously enough, there is na school at which the intending gambler may graduate before taking part in the keen match of the tables on which the roulette ball rolls. He gains his knowledge in the hard school of experience, and no account is taken of tender youth. The watchful, alert croupier is willing to oblige in every possible way—except in giving advice. The player may obtain plenty of the latter commodity from the men and women rooks who surround the table.

The occasions on. which youth finds luck on its side are few, but one instance may be mentioned. It was in the early days of the new Casino, when a young Englishman, persuaded to try his luck; backed the black ball for a certain number. He won. Again he played, and again he won. Further play produced the same result, until he broke the bank, the bankers declaring play closed. He won several thousands of francs. He was strongminded enough to leave Monte Carlo the next day, and in that way, escaped the turn of the luck in which many believe, and which many who have lost hope will veer round in their favour.