NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 April 1921, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL.

“SPASMS.” I ' BRUSSELS, Fell 25. j Antwerp presents a forlorn and de- ■ sol ate appearance to-day as 411 cafes, | iestaurants, and bars have closed foi a . week. Condemned to suspend business for being caught in the act of selling sdcohol and free to choose which week '•they liked, the proprietors all decided j to shut for the same period, as a pro-

, D'* l ' , i ) They allege that the police employed ; unworthy tricks and ruses to obtain j convictions. It is said that the police do not hesitate to enlist the services of j women, who enter a bar and beg for a ! drop of spirits for the “spasms.” The ! kindly landlord falls a. victim to these ; feminine blandishments and is lost. The police are even accused of dressj ing themseves in cloak and bonnet as I old women and sitting m cafes lor I hours watching for an infringement of j the law. The special police employed, j it is added, are usually Flemish, and ! they go down into cellars and carry off | oil the spirits they find, even to the i unopened bottles. Versed in the h.d----j ing places that defied the Germans, j they are able to unearth carefully hiddon bottles. j RIVIERA GAMBLING. j NICE, February 26. ! Gambling at wrfat is known as “tlm : ‘ large table” at Nice Casino Baccarat I Club lias received a fresh fillip by the l arrival of an amazing little From! ’j whose daring play every night draws a ’ i crowd of fascinated spectators watching j bundles of 1,000 franc notes (nominal"£10) change hands and thrown around ' as if they were worthless scraps oi

I paper. ' lam told that last summer he went to . Deauville with £BO ami came away with ; £120,000 odd. Half of this sum he invested in such a manner that he cannot touch the capital, ensuring himself a j safe large income for rest of hi - 1 life. The other half he has brought jdown to the Riviera for gambling pinj poses. Not appearing to cave whether he loses this sum or not, he takes enor. nous risks,