MONTE CARLO SUICIDES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5147, 4 July 1927, Page 1

MONTE CARLO SUICIDES.

HUSHING UP THE TBAGEDIES.

ruined men sent home

A city of pleasuie, dreaming beside the blue waters of a southern sea , gilded palacgs ; villas of white and gold gleaming in the sunshine ; Babylonian gardens; love and life.... And in the background the Casino, with its seekers after fortunes, its careless adventurers, and eager gamblers (says the “Sunday .Chronicle ). That is how the average stay-at-home world knows Monte Carlo. He sees the glitter and the froth, the high lights and luxury. What he does not see—at any rate beyond a glimpse—is’ the other side, the side that the powers behind Monte Carlo spend thousands a. year in hushing-up. From time to time the gay whirl of Monte throws up a tragedy that shocks the world. But the details are meagre. There is a hint of something ugly and sinister, then i). veil of mystery falls.

There have been three such cases during the past few days. One night a man blew out his brains with a revolver in the public salon. Two nights later two friends who were playing at the Casino and found that their “system” failed them took their lives in the same salon.

There was a dramatic scene. Shots —a groan—a figure in evening dress reeling to the floor. And then Quickly and unemotionally all traces of the tragedy were cleared away. Five minutes after it had occftrred the bodies had vanished—gone to swell the nameless graves up the hill they call Suicide Cemetery.

Many men and women who since the war have staked their all at the tables and lost have sought forgetfulness at the muzzle of a revolver. Their bodies are spirited away and are secretly buried. Nothing is ever known of their fate.

Secrecy is the thing for which the powers that be at Monte pay colossal sums a year. They pay it willingly, because a tragedy that leaks out with gory details is bad for business. That is the meaning of the secret cemetery’ on Suicide Hill. It is the reason why rather than have a “cleaned-out” man on their hands, with the possibility of him committing suicide, the authorities will pay his fare home and give him sufficient expenses for the journey.

Not long ago two Englishmen who had been losing heavily committed suicide in the fashionable sporting club. Owing to the impenetrable secrecy organised by the authorities it was not possible to get the victims’ names.

The first unfortunate plunger shot himself downstairs in the lavatories. The second man 1 hanged himself in the same place. Very few frequenters of the club were aware of the tragdies, the bodies being quickly taken away and buried. Nothing in fact, would have been known at all —so determinedly do the authorities shield all gambling tragedies from public knowledge.—had not relatives arrived from England and ferreted out details.

A few weeks later a young woman, beautifully gowned and seemingly possessed of an unlimited supply of money, created a sensation by her reckless backing of a “system.” Nobody knew anything about her. In less than a month she had frittered away a fortune.

And then came the climax. One night, after losing more heavily than usual, she rose a little unsteadily from the tables and made her way out. There was nothing beyond a slight pallor to excite anxiety, but the watchful attendants at the Casino knew the signs, and one of them followed her.

A shot rang out and a number of visitors rushed to the spot. But the woman bad vanished.

Their dislike of suicides is so-great that the Monte Carlo authorities will go to almost any lengths to avoid them. One 'night a short time ago an official observed a young man acting in a peculiar and suspicious manner. Suddenly he saw him pull out a long dagger and run his finger along the edge.

The official dashed up and seized the man’s wrist. “Put that away,” he said ; “don’t be a fool.” But the young man was not to be so easily deterred from his purpose. “I’ve lost all my money,” he said ; “there’s nothing left to live, for, and I’m going to make an end of it.”

“If I give you some money will you leave Monte Carlo ?” a<sked the official. The young man pondered. “Well, I suppose. I can commit suicide equally well anywhere else,” he agreed. The upshot was that he took the train for Paris with a wad of notes in his pocket, spent a week in riotous living, and then blew out his brains. Monte Carlo had been saved another scandal.

Some day the secret history of Monte Carlo may come to be written. When it docs some mysterious “disappearances” will be cleared up. More than one reckless plunger who is being sought for by his friends lies in a nameless grave on Suicide Hill.