GAMBLING LADIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14223, 20 November 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

GAMBLING LADIES.

A NEW MONTE CARLO.

Exohikx, which besides, a, small lake boasts gaming tables, and has the advantage over Monte Carlo of being only 12 minutes from Paris, has never flourish as much as this year. The Casino net profits are expected to work out at about £400,000 for- 1909. , This is very pleasant, of course, 'or Enghien, but Paris, and in particular Parisian tradesmen, object. Dressmakers,' Jewellers, furriers, and milliners say that the number of their customers' unpaid bills is in a direct ratio to the takings •of the • Enghien tables. Never did so lew ladies of the half-world settle their accounts as this year. These ladies are the mainstays of the gaming rooms, but they are, or are expected to be, also among the chief supporters of commerce de luxe. They still order dresses, hats, and jewels enougn, but they pay for them less than ever. Their tradesmen lay the blame upon Enghien. A woman wittt the real paesion for green tables in her blood and a ten-pound note in her purse, will probaly not save it up to settle with her milliner. Tradesmen also say that the welcome South American who used to rush over from his native gold mine with a large portion of it in his pocket-book to the Rue de la Paix and buy diamond tiaras, now takes the train straight to Enghien, and sometimes has to get his consul to pay his passage back the following week. A municipal councillor has proposed to start a casino with gaming tables in the.Bois de Bologno also, as being still nearer Paris, but tradesmen at this suggestion have sent up a howl of expostulation. That would be the last straw, and at that rate no one would ever pay bills at all. As it is, the Paris trade de luxe, '. which subsists upon the extravagance ,of the demi-monde, says that it will hardly be able to go on living for a couple of years more if the present average of bad debts is maintained. Before then something must be done to stem the flow of gold to the Enghien green tables.