Rambles on the RivieraMansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
General
Rambles on the Riviera
Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
Riviera (France) -- Description and travel
Each roulette-table has a _chef_ and a _sous-chef_ and seven croupiers,
who are expected, it is said, to keep their hands spread open before
them on the table between all the turns of the wheel. A story is told,
which may or may not be true, of a croupier who was inordinately fond
of taking snuff. It seemed curious that a coin should always adhere to
the bottom of his snuff-box whenever he laid it down upon the table, and
accordingly that particular croupier was banished and the practice
forbidden.
Another had built himself a nickle-in-the-slot arrangement which, with
remarkable celerity, conducted twenty-franc pieces from somewhere on the
rim of his exceedingly tall and stiff collar to an unseen money-belt.
Every time he scratched his ear, or slapped at an imaginary mosquito, it
cost the bank a gold piece. Now high collars are banished and
mosquito-netting is at every door and window.
No employee is allowed to play, nor are the Monégasques themselves. All
nations are represented in the establishment, French, Italian, Russians,
Belgians, and Swiss. Once there was a croupier who spoke English so
perfectly that he might be taken for an Englishman or an American, but
he proved to be a native of the little land of dikes and windmills,
where they teach English in the schools to the youth of a tender age.
The French language reigns and French money is used exclusively. You may
cash sovereigns and eagles at the bureau, and you may do your banking
business at the counters of the “Crédit-Lyonnais,” which discreetly
hangs out its shingle just over the border on French territory, though
not a stone’s flight from the Casino portals. You know this because
beneath their sign you read another in bold, flaring letters, as if it
were the most important of all, “_On French Soil_.”
The three towns of the Principality of Monaco each present a totally
different aspect; but, in spite of all its loveliness, one’s love for
Monte Carlo is a sensuous sort of a thing, and it is with a real relief
that he turns to admire Monaco itself.
Its story has often been told, but there always seems something new to
learn of it. The writer always knew that its flora was to be remarked,
even among those horticultural exotics scattered so bountifully all over
the Riviera, and that, apparently, the Monégasques had the art instinct
highly developed, as evinced by the many beautiful monuments and
buildings of the capital; but it was only recently that he realized the
excellence of the typographical art of the printers of Monaco. These
craftsmen have reached a high degree of proficiency and taste, as
evinced by that most excellent production, the “_Collection de
Documents Historiques_,” published by the archivist of the Principality,
and the “_Résultats des Campagnes Scientifiques Accomplies sur son
Yacht, par S. A. le Prince Albert de Monaco_.”
Authors the world over might well wish their works produced with so much
excellence of typography and so rich a format and impression.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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