gambling at all had been the large increase of so-called gambling clubs
in Paris entirely devoted to single tableau baccarat, from which an
enormous harvest of gold had been gathered by those holding the banks.
It was said that no less than 126 new establishments of this kind had
sprung up in Paris, a state of affairs calculated to make the dead
proprietors of the long-suppressed and very strictly regulated tables
in the old Palais Royal turn in their graves. Many of these Clubs were
frequented by women, and it was rumoured that many of the brightest
stars of the French _demi-monde_ had lost almost everything they had.
Paris began to be seriously alarmed. Drastic measures were adopted;
the foreign proprietors of the gaming-places expelled from France; "La
Faucheuse" forbidden throughout the country; and gambling generally
placed upon the strictly regulated footing which has been described.
The results of the very sensible action of the French Government appear
to be highly satisfactory, for since the promulgation of the decree
regulating play no scandals have occurred, whilst it is anticipated
that in the course of time a sum well over two million pounds a year
will be available for objects of public utility.
Surely the wise regulation of what appears to be an irradicable evil is
far more salutary, alike from a financial and a moral point of view,
than the unthinking policy of drastic suppression, which, as experience
teaches, has ever been powerless to extirpate gambling.
X
The Principality of Monaco--Its vicissitudes--Early days of the
Casino--The old Prince and his scruples--Monte Carlo in 1858 and
1864--Its development--Fashionable in the 'eighties--Mr. Sam
Lewis and Captain Carlton Blythe--Anecdotes--Increase of visitors
and present democratic policy of administration--The _Cercle
Privé_ and its short life--The gaming-rooms and ways of their
frequenters--Anecdotes--Trente-et-quarante and roulette--Why the
cards have plain white backs--Jaggers' successful spoliation of the
bank--The croupiers and their training--The staff of the Casino--The
_viatique_--Systems--The best of all.
Many years before the tables at the German resorts were closed by the
Prussian Government, M. Blanc was quietly seeking for a suitable spot
where his roulette wheels might whirl free from interference and his
croupiers deal in unmolested peace.
Gaming-house proprietors seem in one respect to resemble the monks
of old, for almost invariably their establishments have been pitched
amidst attractive surroundings commanding lovely views. Thoroughly
imbued with this tradition, M. Blanc eventually selected the little
Principality of Monaco as being a suitable spot to afford his industry
a peaceful and alluring haven. After certain negotiations with the
reigning Prince Charles Albert, he obtained the required concession,
and a Casino (in its earliest days called the "Elysium Alberti") was
erected upon the rocky ground known as the Plateau des Spelugues,
which, adversaries of gaming will rejoice to learn, means in Monagasque
patois "the plain of the robbers."
The ruling family of Monaco, the Grimaldis, had been exposed to
many vicissitudes. During the French Revolution their people rose
in rebellion and plundered the Palace, which afterwards served as
a military hospital during Napoleon's Italian campaign, and later
on became the Dépôt de Mendicité for the Department of the Alpes
Maritimes. In 1841, however, Florestan I., the reigning Prince,
repaired the home of his ancestors, which was thoroughly restored by
Charles Albert after the advent of M. Blanc.
In the turbulent past the Princes of Monaco at times experienced
considerable difficulty in holding their own, and often had to defend
their rugged old rock against piratical raids, besides occasionally
having to cope with internal troubles, the last of which occurred in
1847, when the Monagasque bitterly resented taxation. The cannon given
by Louis XIV. to the Grimaldi of his day may still be seen near the
palace. These are fine specimens of the founder's craft, and bear the
grim motto "Ultima ratio regum," amidst much ornate decoration.
The armed force which the Princes maintained was much improved in
uniform and equipment when M. Blanc brought prosperity to Monaco. Even
up to quite recent years there existed a smart little army of something
under a hundred men, in all probability the best dressed and least
offensive troops in all Europe. Their rifle practice, it was always
said, was indifferent, owing to the fact that they could not fire
inland, because the boundaries of the Principality were so limited; but
whatever may have been their efficiency or non-efficiency as a fighting
force, their light-blue uniforms--with old-world aiguillette, neat
shako, and picturesque cape--were highly ornamental features, which
struck a pleasant note of colour in the streets of the Condamine or
about the grounds and terraces of the Casino.
This little army is now but a memory, for within the last decade the
reigning Prince, who is a warm advocate of International Arbitration,
realising, it is said, that the maintenance of a standing army was
inconsistent with his well-known love of peace, abolished the last
relic of military strength left to the Grimaldis. Such sentries as
are still required are at present furnished by the gendarmerie, whose
dainty cocked hat--most military and attractive of head-dresses--was at
the same time superseded by an abominable cloth-covered helmet, which
for unalloyed ugliness would easily carry off the prize against all
competitors. Thus does it constantly happen in the modern world that,
whilst there is much prating about art, cultivation, and taste, the
very people who should do their best to preserve every distinctive and
decorative reminder of a more artistic past are foremost in the work of
obliteration.
Old Monaco consisted of a few unattractive streets and a somewhat
dilapidated Palace, in which lived the blind old Prince who granted the
concession for the tables to M. Blanc, and by so doing converted his
poverty-stricken realm into the most prosperous State in the world.
At first, the Prince was somewhat troubled by conscientious scruples
as to tolerating gaming, but these were appeased by the large sums
which were rendered available for religious purposes and the building
of churches--the Church of St. Dévote, which stands in the ravine, for
instance, is said to have been erected from funds received in exchange
for permission to increase the number of roulette tables, whilst the
beautiful little cathedral on the Palace rock would never have been
built had not M. Blanc made his descent upon the Principality.
Much abuse has been lavished on the Prince for granting the concession,
but it seems a doubtful question whether he did not do more good than
harm when he signed it. Certainly his own people of Monaco (who, except
on one day in the year--the Prince's birthday,--are not allowed to
enter the Casino) gained very largely thereby.
To them the establishment of the Casino has brought lasting prosperity,
whilst it has indirectly benefited the whole Riviera, now so popular
as a pleasure-resort. On the other hand, a number of people, no
doubt, have been ruined at Monte Carlo, but such as these--gamblers
at heart--would most probably in any case have lost their fortune in
other forms of speculation. It should also be realised that the number
of those who have actually been ruined by the Casino is extremely
small--as a rule those who lose their last penny at the tables are
individuals who, already at their last gasp owing to a long series of
gambling reverses, come to Monte Carlo with such funds as they can
scrape together in order to indulge in one last desperate plunge.
The old Prince was a kindly man at heart, and did not like to think
of visitors losing more money than they had actually brought with
them. For this reason he forbade the establishment of any Bank in the
Principality, and as a natural consequence, numbers of waiters, who
carried on a brisk business in money-lending, made nice little fortunes.
In later years Smith's Bank was established on French territory;
this was afterwards absorbed into the Crédit Lyonnais, which (the
prohibition having been revoked) is now quite a prominent feature of
Monte Carlo.
At the time when M. Blanc made his peaceful conquest of Monaco the
place was sparsely populated and miserably poor. The contrast indeed
between the Monaco of fifty years ago and the Monte Carlo of to-day is
striking in the extreme.
The following description of the Principality at that time was given to
the writer by one who has seen every phase of its development.
In 1858 this gentleman and his wife, being on their honeymoon in
France, drove from Marseilles to Cannes, then also quite a small place.
A report had recently reached the latter place that the celebrated M.
Blanc had started gaming-tables at Monaco, and accordingly the Duc de
Vallombrosa, who owned the finest château at Cannes, invited several
of the English visitors to go over to the Principality on his yacht,
and in due course the party climbed up to the rock, on which stands the
Palace.
After making inquiries they found the gaming-tables--two roulette and
one trente-et-quarante--which were installed in a very unpretentious
barnlike edifice somewhere near the spot where the Cathedral is now.
The arrival of manifestly well-to-do visitors created quite a sensation
amongst a somewhat limited crowd, mostly composed of Italian tourists
who were indulging in a little mild play. M. Blanc, it should be
added, had merely started these tables as a preliminary step, being
at that time engaged in negotiations with the reigning Prince as to
the erection of a more serious gambling establishment in the latter's
dominions.
After playing a stake or two the party made their way down to the
little town in the Condamine, where, finding that donkeys could be
hired, they determined to picnic out of doors. Accordingly, taking the
requisite materials with them, they made their way by a bridle path
(which more or less followed the present road) to the plateau, on which
the present palatial Casino stands to-day.
Monte Carlo (the place was then unnamed) was almost a bare rock covered
with rough grass, and here and there a few stunted pine and olive
trees, most of the latter of immense age. A few tumble-down hovels were
sparsely scattered here and there on the mountain side, in which lived
a miserably poor peasantry; the whole spot was as different from the
Monte Carlo of to-day as it is possible to conceive.
Just about where is now the ornamental plot in front of the doors of
the Casino, the party collected some dry bits of sticks, boiled their
kettle, cooked an omelette and drank their tea, whilst they revelled in
the lovely view, which remains to-day almost the sole feature which the
hand of man has been powerless to change.
Almost the last of the few survivors of this expedition also described
to the present writer the marvellous alteration which he found on his
next visit to the Principality some six years later. The first Casino
had then been built by M. Blanc, and a small Hôtel de Paris stood
where the gigantic modern one stands to-day. M. Blanc, in addition to
presiding over the rooms, was in supreme command of the hotel, which
was managed on the most liberal principles, bills being never sent in
unless they were asked for. Since those days the hotel has been much
enlarged and altered. It is now being entirely rebuilt on a palatial
scale.
When visitors of any standing whatever were about to depart, M. Blanc
himself would be present to wish them good-bye, and also to inquire
whether they might not like a thousand francs for the expenses of their
journey, adding that this could be refunded on their next visit, or
sent him at their convenience.
In 1864, except the hotel, there were scarcely any houses in Monte
Carlo itself, and most of the visitors had to live on the other side
of the Bay in the old town. As the journey from Nice by road took
four hours, an abominable and, it was said, unseaworthy, small white
steamer, the _Palmaria_ (probably the best that could be got), had
been chartered by M. Blanc to convey visitors from Nice. This vessel
anchored beneath the Castle rock, where its passengers were landed in
boats, being met by four-horse omnibuses which plied gratis between the
rock and the Casino.
The _Palmaria_ made two journeys from Nice a day. If the weather was
calm and nothing went wrong, the passage took something like an hour
and a quarter. It was a curious sight to see visitors landing in the
highest spirits for a flutter, most of them to return in the evening to
Nice, weary and sea-sick, without a penny to take a cab to their hotel.
In the early days of Monte Carlo there were two zeroes, and the
inevitable result was that the _Palmaria's_ evening cargo was usually
largely composed of what were facetiously called "empty bottles."
The crowd which thronged to the tables was of a heterogeneous
description and not at all smart. There were a number of enterprising
damsels in pork-pie hats and a considerable sprinkling of raffish
Englishmen, looking as if they had seen better days and were likely to
see worse.
Monte Carlo, though a tiny place, already bore evidences of its future
expansion. An air of prosperity pervaded it, and the inhabitants
had lost the air of hopeless poverty which was formerly such a
characteristic of the Principality of Monaco.
In the early days of the Casino not much was heard of its existence,
the truth being that M. Blanc, after his experiences at Homburg,
feared lest European public opinion might demand the abolition of
the tables were their existence to be too prominently thrust before
it. In consequence of this as little attention as possible was drawn
to the gambling which, if alluded to in the Press at all, was merely
mentioned as one of the minor attractions. Knowing the sensitiveness
of M. Blanc with regard to publicity, unscrupulous journalists traded
upon it, demanding bribes to keep silence, whilst ephemeral newspapers,
containing sensational accounts of suicides of ruined gamblers, were
published solely in order to extort blackmail.
As time went on, however, Monte Carlo began to be regarded as an
established institution, and many visitors took to coming there year
after year.
The development of the Riviera as a pleasure-resort steadily proceeded,
and at the present time the coast from Genoa to Marseilles is an
almost unbroken line of pleasure-resorts filled with villas, not a few
veritable palaces, all of which owe their existence to the advent of
M. Blanc with his roulette and trente-et-quarante. Abuse gambling as
you may, it has in this instance beyond all question brought wealth
and prosperity to the inhabitants--not to the rich, for there were no
rich--but to the people of the soil, born and bred along this beautiful
coast-line lapped by the azure waters of the Mediterranean.
It was after M. Blanc's death in the early 'seventies that the Casino
was first enlarged, and the theatre built by M. Garnier. From time to
time further additions have been made--an entirely new gambling-room
was added only a few years ago, and at the present moment another is
being built.
Monte Carlo itself, which even in the 'eighties was quite a little
place, has now become a regular town with streets stretching up along
the mountain side almost up to the gigantic hotel, which is now such a
conspicuous feature of the Principality.
The earthquake of 1887, though it ruined the season of that year, was
probably beneficial to the prosperity of Monte Carlo, for it brought
the name of the place prominently before the public eye. Shortly after
that date the vast crowds which now throng to the place began to make
their appearance, and Monaco quite changed its character. New hotels
were opened and numbers of houses built, whilst Monte Carlo quite
lost its air of reposeful peace and became a sort of cosmopolitan
pleasure-town swarming with excursionists. Before this the Casino used
to shut at eleven, after which hour every one went to bed, there being
no night cafés to go to such as exist to-day.
From about 1882 to 1890 was perhaps the best day of the Principality
from a social point of view, for at that time it was the resort of a
number of the most distinguished and fashionable people in Europe. All
the sporting characters of the day made a point of paying a yearly
visit to Monte Carlo--most of them are gone now, including Mr Sam
Lewis, who always played in maximums with varying success.
Another well-known figure was Captain Carlton Blythe, who is still
alive. He was very successful at trente-et-quarante, where his
operations were conducted in a most methodical manner. It was his
practice to stake only when sequences were the order of the day. By
means of men told off to watch the tables, he was kept informed of
this, being sometimes sent for even when not in the Casino. His stakes
were high, generally about two thousand francs, which, if won, were
increased to six thousand, the next being a maximum (12,000 francs),
which was left on till the termination of the run. At times this cheery
devotee of coaching was extraordinarily lucky; it is said that he once
won as much as £10,000 during a deal.
I believe, however, that in the end this system, like so many others,
broke down.
The authorities of the Casino were then rather more particular than
at present as to the costume of visitors, and in many cases refused
to grant cards of admission to people of the most indisputable
respectability on account of their dress not being in conformity with
the regulations which they laid down.
On one occasion, indeed, the late Lord and Lady Salisbury, who lived
close by at Beaulieu, having been seized with a fancy to look into the
rooms, presented themselves at the entrance, where cards of entrée are
issued either for the day or longer periods.
They were both dressed in thoroughly country clothes which the official
in command viewed with no kindly eye, as his offhand manner showed.
When, however, the visitors, in accordance with the regulations, gave
their names, he was convulsed with laughter, and at once told the
distinguished couple to go about their business and not try their jokes
upon him.
The Prime Minister and his wife, who were rather amused at the
incident, accordingly retired. Some time afterwards the matter reached
the ears of the Administration, who, as a sort of compensation, sent
a box at the theatre, but no very profound apology was made. The great
gambling monopoly is no respecter of persons, and in the Casino, as on
the Turf, complete equality prevails.
In the same year, 1892, a curious incident occurred at a
trente-et-quarante table. An individual having staked a maximum on
the black, red won. He immediately snatched up his (or rather the
bank's) notes from the table and ejaculating, "_C'est la dot de ma
fille_," strode out of the rooms before any one quite realised what had
happened. For some reason or other he was not followed and got clear
away.
Many rich Englishmen annually found at Monte Carlo relaxation and rest
from lives of arduous work in the city; some of these regarded play
much as sportsmen do shooting, hunting, or yachting.
One of these, now dead, said to the writer: "I have regularly taken
a villa here for years, and with hardly an exception have lost the
sum which I set apart for gaming every year; but I do not regret it.
The amount of amusement which I have obtained has been well worth the
money. I might, it is true, have kept a yacht which I should have
hated, or taken a shooting which would have been little to my taste. I
might, in fact, have spent the money in various ways which would have
thoroughly bored me--on the whole I am well content."
Another well-known high player, who from time to time has lost large
sums at Monte Carlo, once declared that he considered the money well
invested. "Many a large landowner," said he, "is not as lucky as I have
been, for he is obliged to spend a large sum every year on the upkeep
of his estate for which he obtains nothing in return. I, at least, have
had a great deal of amusement."
To this it may be objected that the money which goes into the coffers
of the Casino benefits no one--but this is not strictly true, for the
shares are held by all sorts of people, who draw their profits in the
same way as from any industrial enterprise.
In the 'eighties there were many less hotels than at present and not
a great number of villas, whilst the Café de Paris, which has since
been rebuilt in an enlarged form, was about the only restaurant apart
from the dining-rooms in the hotels. The Gallery, now filled with
shops, which is such a favourite morning resort, had not yet come into
existence, and except the admirable band in the Casino (which gave two
performances a day, free) there was little music in Monte Carlo--a spot
which now rings from morning till late at night with the strains of
Tzigane bands.
After the tables were closed--at eleven--there were no amusements at
all, and, instead of sitting up half the night, every one went to
bed--contentedly or discontentedly, as they had won or lost.
The gambling-rooms were much quieter in those days, the flocks of
German excursionists having not yet arrived. Many of these visitors,
as a rule somewhat undesirable from a decorative point of view, are
divided up into little coteries or bands, each of which elects a leader
who is entrusted with such funds as the party is desirous of risking at
the tables, where the leader alone stakes for all, winnings or losings
being divided in proportionate shares.
Of late years the crowds round the gambling-tables have increased to
such an extent that except in the early morning or during dinner-time
it is impossible to make certain of obtaining a seat. Formerly two or
three old men of solemn aspect were always to be found sitting at the
trente-et-quarante marking down the run of the game, and on a louis
being unostentatiously slipped into their hand they would at once yield
up their seat. Of late years, however, they are no longer to be seen,
the Administration having banished them from the Casino, much to the
discomfort of habitual players desirous of risking substantial sums
under comfortable conditions. In old days far more attention was paid
in a great many other small ways to visitors who had the appearance of
belonging to the upper strata of society. To these the croupiers and
other officials made a point of being especially obliging and polite.
The authorities of the Casino, however, seem now to have decided on
a more democratic policy, no favour being shown to any one. From a
financial point of view this is probably not unsound, a vast number of
small players, who drop a certain amount of five-franc pieces and then
depart to make way for others, being probably more profitable to the
bank than a few heavy gamblers, some of whom may hit it very severely.
It is more than likely that scarcely one in fifty of the individuals
who sit with a pile of silver beside the roulette wheel goes away a
winner, whereas amongst the high gamblers at trente-et-quarante success
is not so rare as is usually supposed. The proof of what has been
stated was furnished by the brief existence of the "Cercle Privé"--a
new gaming-room which for a short time was highly appreciated by
frequenters of Monte Carlo some seven or eight years ago.
The "Cercle Privé" was open only at night in a room upstairs, and men
alone enjoyed the privilege of being allowed to play there. There were
four tables, three trente-et-quarante and one roulette, a small bar
where refreshments could be obtained, smoking was permitted, and the
tables, which did not commence operations till the ones downstairs had
closed, were kept going very late.
From the point of view of players this innovation was highly
successful; for, owing to the comparatively small number of persons
who frequented the "Cercle Privé," greater comfort prevailed than
downstairs, whilst the conditions in general were far more conducive to
calculated and calm speculation.
A large proportion of the frequenters were well known to one another,
and the whole thing somewhat resembled a club, the members of which
were leagued together against the bank.