MONTE CARLO.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 226, 24 September 1929, Page 8

MONTE CARLO.

A CITY OF ROMANCE.

THAGEDY AND GLAMOUR. A WHIRLWIND OF GAIETY. The fact that the original inhabitants of Monaco—the Monegasques—were unwilling to accede to the requests of the foreign section of the business community for ordinary rights, accounted largely for the recent trouble in Monaco, according to Mr. T. C. Huss, a through passenger by the Aorangi. He said that the original people were antagonistic to any foreigner who was a tour.st, on the count that he took away from them business that was rightfully theirs. This feeling was engendered by the fact that other places were competing successfully with Monte Carlo for the tourist trade, and, as always, the effect of competition was felt by the poorer classes. Quite independent of revenue from Monte Carlo, the reigning Prince, Prince Louis 11., who had large estates outside Paris, was not particularly concerned with trouble there, Mr. Huss continued, and he had 'made over his rights to the casino and other places of amusement to a syndicate who paid him a fixed dividend. Naturally, the syndicate ran its affairs in the way most advantageous to itself, and this was not aSways to the satisfaction of the lower classes. Tho syndicate was not a governing body, being merely in charge in a business way of certain of the amusements, and did not have the welfare of the people at heart. He did not think the trouble was serious, nor did he consider the Prince was in any danger of losing his throne. Monaco, continued Mr. Huss, was a place of exquisite natural beauty, which has been worked on by man until the place was, in many respects, perfection. The watchword of the syndicate was "anything to draw the tourist." One such attraction was a most gorgeously appointed'series of baths near the foreshore. It, among many other amusement resorts, was leased to what was termed the "Societe des Bains <Je Mer." Grounds, called "La Festa," were perfection in the way of gardens and walks, and the tennis courts, which were an integral part,, were world famous. All the "star" tennis players of the Continent and America came there in the season, and there tennis history had been made and unmade. The grounds | had cost some 20 million francs. Beautiful at any time, Monte Carlo in the season was a dream of beauty, and it has well been said that the only blot on a fair landscape is the pigeon-shoot. These battues are possibly less bloodthirsty than a bull-fight which may be seen in many neighbouring cities in the Cote d'Azur, but, even so, they present a pitiable spectacle, when winged a maimed bird flutters away from the shooting-stands to the blue Mediterranean and away down the lovely cliff sea-front to die in agony. Beauty of the Riviera. "I have been in every country in the world, practically speaking," said Mr. Huss, "and I have never seen a more perfect sight than the Riviera. Everything is done for the amusement of the visitor. Monte Carlo lives by the casino, but nothing is provided which might lead away from the saloons. For example, there are no pictures worthy of comparison with the other places of amusement, and, apart from the gardens, there are no operas. 'All roads lead to Rome,' and 'Rome' in Monte Carlo is the casino. Luxurious in the extreme, the interior is calculated to make one lose all sense of proportion and to forget the value of money. Beautiful pictures, beautiful frescoes, beautiful wine and beautiful women, all conspire to make men forget caution, forsake resolves, and

the gambling spirit alone holds sway. Who can escape sensing the tension in the atmosphere, when each of the hundreds! of faces seen, are set and tense, with eyes that are fixed and intent?

The casino was closed at midnight, he added, and those who still desired to play went to the Sporting Club just nearby. There the play was higher, and the night did not finish until morning. To _ see men; — and women, too —come away from there in evening clothes in the broad daylight was no uncommon sight.

Tragedies—always associated with Monte Carlo—though not uncommon, were not the order of the day, said Mr. Huss, and when they did occur they were hushed up very quickly. One thing the authorities avoided at any price was any untoward commotion. ' The police co-operated with the casino management, and very often only a few knew of the happening. A suicide's grave was not in keeping with the' decorous luxury of the.casino. With all its beauty, Monte Carlo was either a paradise or a living hell according to the individual. The Wise and the Foolish. Gambling was, however, not all loss, Mr. Huss continued. One Englishman went to the tables, staked and won, and staked and won again. He knew nothing of roulette; in fact he scarcely knew the first rules; yet with the most astounding of beginner's luck he 'broke the bank.' He was one of the few wise ones. He won and did not come back. On the other hand there were two Italian brothers who went to Monte Carlo for a holiday. They did the usual thing for holiday-makers, and they also had beginner's luck; but they came back. If wining was so easy, they thought, why should they work? They realised .their business and came back. When they again returned home they had lost every penny they possessed. Nevertheless for the man who had got past the foolishness of the gambling lure and wished only to retire, Monaco was a terrestrial paradise. There was no income tax, and the climate was all to be desired.

"To a man who has seen much that the world can offer in the way of novelty, Monte Carlo is merely an incident in a life of travel, and man-made beauty may pall."

Mr. Huss will not arrive home until November, and next year he intends to travel up the Amazon in South America, He will strike across the headwaters, and far down to the South into Pata-

gonia. He will cross Patagonia to the,, coast, and from there he will make his way by degrees to the north, and sohome—until the next time.