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Show A PARADISE ON EARTH I Monte Carlo the Beauty Spot of Europe Famous Gambling Rooms Furnished by Nature With Most Magnificent Mag-nificent Setting. (Special Correspondence.) fHE Ittvlcra Is In full Nice, Monto Carlo, and Mcntono aro crowded with guests. But most people will And that beautiful, subtle sub-tle sinister placo called Monto Carlo tho most attractive, spot In the wholo little paradUo of towns that strotch along tho Mediterranean In theso regions. Tho lovo ot gambling remains ono of the primordial Instincts In-stincts of mankind, and also ono ot tho strongest. Lately a distinguished man ot Bdenco has been Investigating Monto Carlo from tho scientific point of view. This romarkablo man, Sir Hiram Maxim, Max-im, discusses all subjects In tho cold light of reason. Ho has mado a vast fortune by a death-dealing machine which has sent moro men to dust than possibly any plague of modern times. You may talk of great statesmen, of wondorful generals, of magnificent tactics, tac-tics, but In the last resort It was Sir Hiram Maxim that decided the battles and tho fates ot nations. Bohold Sir Maxim, then, at tho tables of Monto Carlo, and Indifferent, like nature, to the poor human passions pas-sions of hope and despair surging round him, examining tho wholo thing as he might a new shell. Out of a very long article, I choose this passage as summing up in very clear terms, his Judgment ot tho chances for and against tho player when he fights against M. Blane with tho tables as tho battle ground. He describes how a little guldo book to Monto Carlo laid down that tho chances between tho player and tho bank were as GO to CI and that the winnings ot tho bank woro $5,000,000 a year. Ho says: "This appeared to indicate to me that the players of Europe and America Amer-ica took $305,000,000 to Monte Carlo ever year, staked It, won back $300,-000,000, $300,-000,000, and left (5,000,000 with tho bank. Tho magnitudo of those Aguros staggered me. I could not understand it. Surely It could not be true. Still, it, tho total amount probably did not exceed $5,000,000, of which tho bank, Instead of winning, as shown In tho guldo book, about 1 per cent, actually actual-ly won rather moro than 90 per cent! therefore tho advantages In favor of tho bank, Instead of being CI to GO, wcro approximately 10 to 1." Bcforo I give a delightful and characteristic char-acteristic llttlo picture of Monto Carlo llfo from Sir Hiram Maxim's pen, I ought to premlso to thoso who don't understand tho laws ot tho tables that thero aro thlrty-Blx numbers and zero on tho roulotto tablo. When zero turns up tho punter gots nothing; tho bank takes half his stake, and this Is supposed to represent tho ndvantago i i i ti&FfLifl.flflBBBBflM The Casino. tho bsnk has over tho playor. Now bearing this In mind, read tho following follow-ing little cplsodo of Monto Carlo llfo; it will show tho absoluto and incurable incura-ble fatuity with which bo many people play there: "While at Monto Carlo I becamo acquainted with a married couplo who wont thero every day to tho bank, drew out 40, divided equally bo-twecn bo-twecn them, and then went to tho Casino, and played until thoy had lost their monoy. Thoy generally commenced com-menced by staking a 20 franc piece at a time. If they won, they added a 20 franc pleco to their llttlo pile on tho tablo. If they lost, they replenished their pile with another 20 franc pleco from their pockot. On one occasion, I noticed that tho wlfo was patiently backing red, whilo tho husband qulto as patiently backed black. "When ono lost, the other won, and at each put down 20 francs at each coup, they kept oven bo long as zero did not come up, but when zero did como up thoy lost half their stake that Is, tho bank took from the two players 20 francs, and as about ono coup was playod In a minute, It followed fol-lowed that tho zero came up on an averago onco In overy thlrty-sevon minutes. Their averago losses would thorcforo, bo 20 francs every thirty-seven thirty-seven minutes, and this sum when only 20 francs was staked; but at tho play dragged on thoy usually staked throo or four times that amount, tholr money lasting them from about 1 BBBBBBB AvflflBflPIES BB A vkflflflflflflfllt fl 5!RJ stfB" h IH'iiSHIHI'i'i'fcAr JW RaiK cf ' RbbJkIibb Entrance to Gambling Room. If tho bank actually won J5.000.000 a year, and its chances wero only 1 In GO bettor than tho players, It was qulto ovldent that $305,000,000 must havo bnen staked. Howovor, upon visiting vis-iting Monto Carlo and carefully studying study-ing tho play, I found that, Instead of tho playorB taking $305,000,000 to Monte Carlo, and losing $5,000,000 of o'clock in tho afternoon until 6 or 7 o'clock in tho evonlng." And so, ot courso, at tho end ot a certain number of days or weeks, thlj oxcollont couple had lost all thd monoy with which they had come. This may appear an exceptional casoj from what I havo 'heard, It Is very tvplcal of Monto Carlo life. |