400,000 florins, divided into shares of 100 florins each. Half
the shares were subscribed for by the Hebrew financialists, and
the other half was credited to the Blancs as the price of their
concession. During the winter a small kursaal was built and a
small garden planted; the mineral well was deepened, and flaming
advertisements appeared in all the German newspapers announcing
to the world that the famous waters of Hombourg were able to cure
every disease to which flesh is heir, and that to enable visitors
to while away their evenings agreeably a salon had been opened,
in which they would have an opportunity to win fabulous sums
by risking their money either at the game of _Trente et Quarante_
or at _Roulette_. From these small beginnings arose the
"company" whose career has been so notorious. It has enjoyed
uninterrupted good fortune. During the twenty-six years that
have elapsed since its foundation, a vast palace dedicated to
gambling has been built, the village has become a town, well
paved, and lighted with gas; the neighbouring hills are covered
with villas; about eighty acres have been laid out in pleasure-
grounds; roads have been made in all directions through the
surrounding woods; the visitors are numbered by tens of
thousands; there are above twenty hotels and many hundred
excellent lodging-houses.'[77]


[77] Correspondent of _Daily News._


`Let those who are disposed to risk their money inquire what is
the character of the managers, and be on their guard. The
expenses of such an enormous and splendid establishment amount to