THE NEW MONTE CARLO.

Shannon News, 1 September 1925, Page 1

THE NEW MONTE CARLO.

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT. "FLEECING" OF THE LAMB. THE WAY IT IS DONE. A story of Monte Carlo under the new control, under which the old-time courtesy is replaced by strict methods of modern business, is told in a Chicago paper by Mr. H. K. Moderwell. Writing from Monte Carlo, he says: "This is the tale told by the fleeced lamb who emerges from the Monte 'Carlo casino, shivering in the cold world of reality. Whether it is true that the new Monte Carlo is actually so different from that of the good old days, who can say? But that the lamb now bleats in a different tohe of voice is a fact that the visitor to the Riviera may confirm for himself. The difference between the good old days and the bad new days has nothing to do with the fact of the fleecing, .but with the way it is done. The visitor used to be fleeced as a gentleman. Now, he says, he is fleeced as ordinary live stock.

"In the good old days—say, before 1922—the visitor entered the casino and was greeted by gentlemen in morning coats, offered his calling card or his passport for inspection, paid a small fee for an admission card, and was pompously ushered into the den of sin. There the noblessse oblige of gamblers was the law. One might play 5 francs or 5000. One might Btudy the wheel and stroll off without playing. One might make a lucky win and walk away without feeling he was 'no sport.' When one. gave a tip to the. croupier it. was received with a courteous bow. Then the Methods Changed. "But about two years .ago, the lamb has heard, the famous, the mysterious Sir Basil Zaharov bought a majority of the stock in the.gambling syndicate which goes by the innocent name of Sea Bathing Club (Societe des Bains de Mer). It must have cost him dear, for stock in this corporation used not to be quoted on the Bourse, it was so expensive. Anyway, about this time the technique of shearing was suddenly modernised. "The admission fee has been raised to the highest point the traffic will bear. The gentlemen in morning coats do not care a dash^if your elbows are emerging from yen*.sleeves so long as! you have a bank roll. ; Once' inside" the sin to sin. quickly and get out' when your money j|s gone. pJo longer may. you stand for hours bfefore thfe whcjei; in t.h'oughtful attitude and work but 1 your •system.' You are approached by one of: the morning coats and informed that .the; bathing club is not bathing for"its health. "No Ipnger do the .croupiers ,bdw^ ; When ;you magnanimously pass 20 croupiers into Uie eagnotte or kitty. Rather they pass the kitty to you and tell you how much to contribute. For they, too, poor dears, are ground under the iron heel 'of the new system. Sir Basil, it would seem, has demanded a share of the kitty. It is unsports-. manlike, say the croupiers—arid pass the cost (on to the ultimate consumer, the tourist.' Oht So Very Different. "No longer does the visitor emerge saying to himself: "Well, well! So that is Monte Carlo! Won't Aunt Matilda be shocked when I tell her! Been gambling among English lords and-the cream of the bon ton. There certainly aren't many members of any church who ever lost 50 .dollars at Monty. That was money well spent.' No Nowadays the emerging lamb bleats: 'That sure is a well-organised boobtrap, and I'm the grand imperial boob. Could have spent a whole day at Palm Beach for the price of five minutes at Monte Carlo.' "And the final insult! In the good old days, when you had lost all your jack at the wheel, the. Prince of Monte Carlo gave you a second-class ticket to your home, and sandwich money for the trip. Now you are kicked put and left to starve."