The Casino, Monte Carlo, Monaco circa 1900

Written on reverse:.Monaco, the smallest state in Europe, having an area of eight square miles, is an Italian principality in southeast France in the department of Alpes Maritimes, on the shore of the Mediterranean. The state has a population of about 15,000 represented almost wholly by the three towns of Condamine (6218) Monaco (3292) and Monte Carlo (3794). The government is very old, dating from 968 A.D. Monte Carlo is notorious as the greatest gambling resort in the world. The revenues of the state and of the ruling prince are derived from the farming out of the gambling to a joint stock company which is given a monopoly of the business until 1947. For this privilege the company paid the prince in 1899, $2,000,000 and will pay in 1913 $3,000,000 more. In adition to this an annual payment is made of $350,000 which will increase to $500,000 in 1937..The Casino, the beautiful palace where the gaming tables are, has a commanding position on a headland overlooking the sea, and surrounded by a superb park, with palms and exotic trees and fountains. The Casino has a theatre and reading room, and many beautiful halls with chairs and tables for the players. The game is running every day from noon till midnight. The players are men, women and children, whose losings furnish the dividends to the company. The inevitable losses of fortune drive many to despair, and tragedy broods over the place, the suicides averaging over one a week..From Monte Carlo we may enjoy a delightful trip southward and westward over the blue Mediterranean to Old Granada in sunny Spain.