The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-11-22
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investigate respecting their occasion
'orincentives. Generally speaking, the
story is told in one or two of these i've
clauses: wine,S women, the faro-bank,
the gold-room, and the stock-exchanEe;
and sometimes it includes the whole of
them. But when the crime can be
traced to. neither of these seductive
temptations it begins to look myster-
fous. The cases we refer to have been
of this character. The eulprits have
perhaps been noted for abstemious-
ness; they have been indifferent to the
Establishments ofwomen of every sort;
they have never set foot In the palaces
of the knights of the green cloth own
ed by our future Congressman; they
nave never hazarded a dollar in the
scarcely more reputable temples of
chance about Wall street; and yet they
have made way with enormous sums,
none of which can be recovered, in an
extraor dinarily short space OF time.
The question as to what has been don 9
with these sums has for space batligd
investigation; but a light has
recently been shed on the sub
distressing field for distrust, anxiety,
and misery in the future. The worst
diseases are such as lie below the sur
face and give no superficial sign. We
EhaYe found thai a man may lead to all
appearahces the most exemplary fife,
and yet be running himself, his family,
and his business connections at the
same time. No one may see him affec-
ted by wine; he may enjoy the repute
of very Joseph; no dealer or stool
I,Pigeon of the hero of The Mill on the
Steloss'I may even know his face, nor
may ever the sharp sons of Plutus
who run about under the shadow of
Trinity have eaten up, his margins; he
may be, too, man of hubituaI discre-
tion in matters of personal or family
disbursements, regular church 90 er,
and altogether the last man to be sus-
pected; of showing for one thing and
being another. yAndyet this very man,
soi seemingly, limpeccabie and trust,
worthy to-day, may tomorrow be a
ruined, a dishonored, and penniIess
bankrupt; for he may have lost his
fortune, and those. of Others to boot,
through Indulgence in the wretched
and increasing practice Of high play at
the, clubs. - -.
The general public-and most especi-
allYlthed female portion of it-have no
idea of the nature and extent of this
evil, But thQtit exists, that it is alarm
ingly on theiincrease, that hundreds
are being entangled in its fascinating
meshes, and thnt great numbers have
been drawn by il TO the extremeSyerge
of ruin, while many have been already
hurled into the fatal abyss, we happen
positively to know. There are clubs
up town which are regarded as most
respectable, and which certainly in-
clude among their members persons Of
high social position, where thousands
upon thousands are nightly lost and
won inzprfEate rooms over the gaming
table,. Not only do young and mex
! perienced men fall Nictiuns to the insidi-
Ous vice. but those of mature years,
with snowy hair and grown-upi fami-
lies, ,Vare almost as often of the number.
There have been, of late, several cases,
of suicide which were due to this cause.
and no other. But the ruined ones, as,
in all such matters, drop out of their
places, and others rush to FIJI them up.
Clubs are constantly increasing in.
number, and with nearly every one.
dreds more to fall into the pit, new
temptation, aided by luxury by cllitSr.
and by the worst feature I'M the ease,
certain and exclusive privacy, to lure
men on to short delight and cureless
ruin, ~ 49, Is N, s, = is.r-s75.s -
There is no mistake or over statement
here as to the character and prevalence
of this terrible evil! It is coiling around
and about our society like some mon
strous and no1ious serpent, more subtle
and dangerous forabeing Iatonce silent
and unseen.a Regular gambling hells,
however injurious to morals, always
exhibit certain unm mfstak a bic Warnings
which have at least some restraining
influence. The shame ofibeing seer; at
such places, the obvious fact that they
can 6nly exist by advan tages which are
necas ssafily incompatible with fair
tNln
ience of their associations, ARE features
which will present themselves to most
people of average sense, and If insuffi-
cientto keep them from freQuenting
such haunts alt6gsth her, will generally
have a partially deterring effect, But
Jyith-priyate RamblinR these considera-
tions all work exactly the other way.
It is strictly among friends, no one
knows what is going on, the game is
entirely even and fair, there Is no loss
of caste in the associations, and SO on.
It is clear that these advantages supply
the yeryl worst elements Of the case.
They cover up and silence all that
might sound an alarm to the pride or
the conscience until the deadly habit is
fixed and ineutRble. In this way, num-
befS who never atouohed a card for
money before Joining their club have
gone thereafter straightway to destruc-
tionS liitlf tEsnl1
The clergy, and other gentlemen of
character and position, should graVely
consider this momentous subject, and
endeavor to devise effectual remedies;
and ladies of high standing and social
authority should exert all their infiu-
ence to check and mitigate the spread
ing evil. None can tell what father,
son OF, brother may next stray into its
poisonous. atmosphere and bring
wretchedness and ruin upon asOnce
happy home. There are Wel1=kuoBn
men by the SCORE to- be seen in New
York -whoAhaYe already wrecked their
fortunes by private gambling. There
are Others who. haze gone down to dis |
honoted graves, leaYing Unpaid debts |
and broken estRte hose secret Is we'll
known to the INITIATED, although the |
press, with a delicacy someWhRt sunus |
sual, forbears to tell 1t to the w0fId.9 |
The mischief which has been done is,
of course; Irreparable; butithesei iexam-
pies ought surely to be of some service. |
As wealth and population increase, the |
clubs will increase, luxury Will In |
crease, and, of a certainty, unless some
thing potent be d6ne to arrest it, pri-
vate gambling Will increase. The pres |
ence of womenGis more or less re-
Straint in domestic circles, and this, we
fear, is one great reason why the clubs |
are SO popular, and are getting to be
more and more freqn II ladies
will reflect upon this, attaching to the
subject 4hei1n pOrtanCa it deserves; club
gaming will be opposed by counter
acting force which should appreciably |
diminish It's praGtieeY EBut 0fudging |
from general experience, the vice will |
go on poisoning and spreading, cor |
rupting youth and; ;dishonOring oldAge,