CURSE Of THE CASINO

NZ Truth, Issue 817, 9 July 1921, Page 6

CURSE Of THE CASINO

'■ Ugly Monte Carlo / Dark Side, of the Pleasure City. Fashion's favorites, m search of ways to expend easily obtained money, make for Monte Carlo m the- season as flies settle on the honey-pot m summer time. Lately, George Slocombe, special correspondent for the London "Daily Herald," has been visiting the resort, and has something to say of the various types seen there. The old jest at the expense- of so-called sportsmen: -"It's a fine day; let's go and kill something," has come true m Monte ' Carlo, which is famous for-its Pigeon-shooting. For the benefit of the ' sportsmen" who shoot on the exclusive pigeon ground on the terrace between the Casino and the sea the wings and the tail feathers of the birds are clipped, so that their power to escape is curtailed. This fact may well explain why thirteen birds out of thirteen were killed straight off by the sportsman" who won the champion«?i P V Z,' 1 SUD P os e." says Slocombe, that the reason why profiteers like the pig.eon- shooting at Monte Carlo is that they are accustomed to having the dice always loaded m their favor." m ♦£* COUld be more unsportsmanlike than this butchery of half-crip-pled birds on the very edge of the bright blue Mediterranean Sea iW? a «Kr e -l' Dfl £ y Herald " correspondent "Monte Carlo is probably the most beautiful and. at the same time THE MOST HORRD3LE ot all the great capitalist pleasure citLnY 6 rld ' No nonest man had seen the easy and reckless way n which the money that now buys the ives. and labor of men is won and ost on the green tables here could long dispute the basis <* the "Daily Heralds argument against the capitalist system. In ten minutes I have maS'J h ,t, S^ ingrs ° f a Britisn working mans lifetime change hands, and at leeV a * le e value of his whole life s industry has been staked m the same time." M -S^ Ve r'^ those who cr & ve for 1 real excitement do not long remain staking their money on the ff reen tables of the Casino. The stakes are not high enough for them. They repair to the private gambling room at the famous Sporting Club," where between one dance and another a man may lose or win a fortune. At .this club THE PLAY IS FAST AND FURIOUS and the wagering is on a scale dear to the heart of such men as Pierpont Morgan's partner, the late Charles Gates, one of whose favorite expressions was, "Bet you a million." Of the thousands who proceed to Monte Carlo for the purpose of "breaking the bank," few accomplish this pleasant task. R. S. Sevier, who, under the name of "Bob Sutton," introduced cash betting on racecourses m Australia, and Wells, the well- advertised sportIng man of the "Pelican Club," have "broken the bank" several times. It is well understood, though, that this was done with the connivance of the company which runs the casino, for the purpose of inducing mugs to come to Monte Carlo with pocketsful of money. The "breaking of the bank" is a term which connotes that the tables have lost the set limit for the evening, and the game is then closed down for the night, to re-open the following evening. The bank Is not "broke" m the sense that the would-be fortune winners are ."broke" after a' bout with the spinning wheels. It is .a curious fact that m the years that Wells broke the bank at Monte Carlo the company made higher profits than at any other time m its history. There are many types of humanity to be seen at Monte Carlo, and the majority of them (says Slocombe) are remarkable for their ugliness. "Half an hour spent m the large hall of the Casino outside the gambling-rooms is like half an hour spent m a -large picture gallery of WILL DYSON/S FAT MEN. | "Large men with wobbling legs and deep rolls of fat overlapping their collars, thin women with restless and feverish eyes and hands that are never still— all the horrible varieties of human beings whom the little yellow god has m his clutches are to be seen there. The outer lobby of the French Chamber of Deputies is called-, picturesquely enough, 'The Hall of Lost Footsteps'; the outer lobby of th« casino might be called with equal justice, 'The Hall of Lost Souls'." Slocombe goes on to point out that Monte Carlo, like Nice, Cannes, and San Remo, is sustained by British and American tourists with money to burn. And m this pleasant occupation they are never without any active assistance required. Everyone who is "any-* one" is MADE A GREAT FUSS* OF —the other kind are riot welcome. "Everywhere — on the terraces, m front of the Casino, m the 'clubs, and the great hotels— one meets the same high-voiced generals, the same hardfaced and wonderfully-dressed women, young men with waxen faces, and old men recovering- from gout, but still eager for 'a devil of a time' — all the varied and fascinating facets of the g-litteringr plutocracy %f post-war Britain. Up ana down the sunny terraces they stroll, the women m gowns by Poiret and Doucet. the men dressed as only a Bond -street tailor can clothe you. and their shrill and empty laughter g-oes out over the sea between the dull reports of the double-barrelled guns that are blazing away at beautiful, harmless things below." . A picture is then drawn of Britain, where there are cold, rain, and hunger, and an unemployed problem more intricate than has ever before demanded solution. As the profiteers dance and gamble, the nation seems headed" for destruction.