Review of Eeviews, l/i/13. 



LEADING ARTICLES. 



175 



THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE. 



The most interesting article in 

 McClure's is one by Mr. C. N. William- 

 son on " Systems and System-Players 

 at Monte Carlo." 



This privileged resort has been de- 

 scribed as a Garden of Eden and 

 likened unto a Hell upon Earth. The 

 spirit of evil may be the only nexus, 

 but whether for pleasure or excitement, 

 Monte Carlo continues to attract an 

 amazing assortment of men and women 



THE JAGGERS SYSTEM. 

 Mr. Williamson chats pleasantly of 

 the great Jaggers who succeeded in a 

 system invented on the ordered fluctua- 

 tions of a faulty roulette wheel : — 



Tlie " sy.stem " began to soem superna- 

 tural, and in a few months Jaggers had 

 taken from the Casino the unprecedented 

 .sum of £120,000. The autliorities began to 

 suspect that all the cylinders were imper- 

 fect. The maker was sent for, and each 

 wheel was subjected to a rigid scrutiny. The 



i&e*«S:- 



THE PBINOIPALITY OP MONACO. 

 Away on the left is Monte Carlo, the towers of the faiiii>u8 O.isiiio are jnat visilile. 



from the four corners of the earth. The 

 most notable, if not the most pic- 

 turesque, amongst these are undoubtedly 

 the system-players. Mr. Williamson 

 gives us an odd glimpse of these hope- 

 ful ones : — 



A little after nine o'clock in the morning 

 a stranger would be surprisetl to see a crowd, 

 composed mostly of men, solemnly assenihled 

 on the pavement across the road opjjosite 

 the Casino. They look more like business 

 men waiting for a suburban train to take 

 them to the city than gay Riviera idlers. 

 Their faces are intent, though not visil)]y 

 anxious. They talk little to their neigli- 

 bours, and laugh less. 



faulty one was discovered and taken away, 

 and next morning Jaggers' tide of fortune 

 turned. For a fmv days ho wont on jilaying, 

 and lost back to the Casino some i:4"0,(HX) 

 of his enormo\is winnings. Then he was wise 

 enough to see that he was beaton. He dis- 

 charged his staff, ceased nlay, and retired 

 with the comfortable sum of ,£80,000 intact. 

 Never did he appear again at Monte Carlo; 

 but his memory has lived there since as a 

 classic one. 



The simplest s\'stem is that adopted 

 by the Grand Duke INIichael : — 



He is a most popular figure ; haiuLsome, 

 dignified, striking, easy to find in a crowd 

 because of his height, and amazingly lucky. 

 His system is one tliat seems to be based 



