MONTE CARLO.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9254, 5 June 1908, Page 2

MONTE CARLO.

— j-^ THE WINNERS AND THE MANY LOSERS. A story was current at Monte Car-lo last season : •" There is a man who never loses, a man .who has won nearly 2,000,000 francs!" And the habitues asked their friends, " Have you seen the Pole ? What is his total now ? Are the Casino shares falling?" " A fewdays later I saw the Pole (writes a correspondent of an exchange). I found him almost as unapproachable as royalty, and followed by a court of satellites. My diary describes the man and our meeting as follows : — " He is a Pole, but of distinctly German type, tall, nearly bald ; he has a strong nose, a sallow complexion, a hard mouth; the moustache and beard are grizzled. He seems to act on the principle of always playing the maximum — at roulette £240, at trento et quarante £480. With a nonchalant air ho takes from tho pocket of a 6omewhat shabby coat a handful of 1000-franc notes; licking his thumb, he counts them rapidly, and, having waited till the little white ball is rolling round, so that no other can follow his stake — which he obviously believes would be against his luck — he mutters to the croupier a certain number, any number, it seems. ' Rein ne va plus 1' No more stakes. . . . Then, the little fatal click of the white ball rolling in one of the numbered cases, and the indifferent voice of the croupier anncuicing the winning number. The, rakes draw in over the green cloth the louis and the ' pieces ' (five francs), the notes, too, except those of the everwinning Pole, who slowly picks up the little fortune. " Then he rises with a weary air and, accompanied by a small Pole, his rubicund, stout and frizzy friend, walks leisurely to another table and repeats the performance, with usually a similar result. "The little Pole makes two steps to the big Pole's one, and, physically, the pair look an amusing replica of Don Quixote and Sanclio Panza. T secured a seat next the lucky man. With the irost absent and languid air, I remarked in French, 'Dull evening.' He looked at me suspiciously. Then, turning to Sanclio, standing patiently behind him, the picture of meek but half-ner-vous resignation, he remarked in German, 'Another of them!' 'Interviews must be a plague,' I remarked, also in German. A smile gleamed in the Pole's puffy eyes. ' It is hardly credible,' he said ; c I have dozens of men after me, asking where I was born, what size of boots I wear, if my aue is my lucky number, and fill that notoriety because I know when to stop, whether I win or lose.' 'But you always win.' 'People say so.' 'What — cr — is the figure?' I ventured. " The man muttered energetically in Polish, rose abruptly, and went to a ' trente et quarante ' table, followed by a flock of gamblers of both sexes. The Poles, a little later, left the rooms for tho Atrium. Elbowing my way through the people crowding this hall, where men and women can smoke while summing up their gains and losses, I came upo'^them as Sancho Panza, pencil in hand, was adding up the winnings of many days' play. I saw him write down £80.400. Passing the Commissariat I met one of the officials. " ' The Pole is still winning !' I eaid. 'So much the worse for the Casino.' The gentle Monegasque smiled. ' The Casino is all right; the Casino is always all right, my friend,' ho replied. •If the Pole loses/it is well ; if he Avins, wins much, his luck brings crowds. The Pole is the best of advertisements.' For a while he played with his monocle, then added, with a wink, a thoroughly Monte Carlo official wink, ' Our friends are very faithful, both the lucky and the unlucky. The Pole will kse to us all he is winning, this season or the next.' And later the prophecy came true. If many of the dramas played around the tables at Mont© Carlo are invested with a tragic atmosphere, yet others are, to the observer, delightful comedians. Here is one quite- authentic and full of picturesque simplicity. As I went up the stops leading to the portico of the Casino I noticed a typical German couplo whose naivo expression attracted my fancy. They approached with obsequious respect one of the uniformed attendants, and asked, blushingly, ' Wo kann man Karten. bekomnien?' After obtaining tho cards and passing the ironic and quizzing glances of tho ushers they entered with a tremor of excitement. With timidity they approached the nearest table. • Play ! You aro the man.!' eaid the lady. ' Put our ton francs on one of those numbers I heard someone- Kay that it brings thirty-five times the stake.' 'We will stake five Francs twice,' he said, with a gleam of cupidity lighting up his eyes. ' I know !' the woman suddenly exclaimed. ' Our Son Rupreoht is eleven ; let us play five francs on his age.' ' Ach ia! And Anna is fourteen; we will play on her age first!' 'Nein!' said the wife with remarkable energy. ' Play first on the. boy's.' They discussed the question with great excitement. Finally Herr Schmidt yielded with a bad grace. " The roulette spun one way, the white ball the other. As it stopped, in the dead silence which always precedes the fateful moment, Frau Schmidt uttered a little cry which moved" the whole table to a discreet merriment. Eleven was the winning number. " One of the croupiers piled coins on the 11 to the amount of 175 francs. 'Well! What did I say?' Frau Schmidt exclaimed triumphantly. Schmidt was already bending forward to pick up the little fortune, when his wife pulled his arm. ' Leave- it, Hans, II may come out again ; then we shall be rich for ever.' ' Faites vo® jeux, messoeurs/ 6ang the- croupier monotonously. ' Aber, mein liebes Kind, Schmidt ventured to object. " The cropuier was now singing the end of the fatal song, ' Lea jeux sont faßs! Rein ne va plus!' 'It is too late.' ©aid Frau Schmidt. She turned her head away from the roulette so as not to see the little white ball spin. Curiosity, however, was stronger, and, breathless, she now watched th© ball. Would it never stop? 11— 11— Let it be 11 ! 11 ! She pronounced the number quite loudly ! ' Thirty-four,' corrected the croupier, pitilessly drawing in the Schmidts' fortune. ' We have lost,' one sighed. ' Perhaps you would like to put the other on,' he jeered, going angrily away. ' Ja, ja, gewiss!' She ran after him, then returned and placed the coin on Anna's number, 14 — and lost. ' ' The pair left the room , still continuing in undertone® a vigorous recrimination, she shedding hairpins from her email yellow chignon as she emphasised her points, while ho wiped the perspiration from his brow with a hricrhilv coloured handkerchief."