The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-02-04

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SANITY still you hear the wrangling OF the
gamblers and the rattle OF the dice, the rumble
| OF the balls at the ten-pin alley, or tie crack
OF the balls at the billiard table. Lne Games
! themselves are no positive sin. In the aosract,
| a pack of cards are productive OF no more evil
! than pack of envelopes; but in the use OF
gamtling and these evil games, they become
| Significant and infinite In wretchedness. In
! New York city there are seven thousand
houses devoted TO this practice; in Philadelphla
about three thousand; and in CINCINNATI ABOUT
one thousand. ,,,,
The number in Washington is not computed %
| Some claim IL TO be a relaxation. 1t Is no rellet,
/ for IL is an unhealthy excitement we must
! have excitement; 1t is health-B s rlgnt
! which God implanted. But anything that hrst
pratides by excitement, then wearies the DOdy
! 10 unaue exhaustion, or eXctes to degree
! having an evil effect on the mind ana Ine OOuS,
! should be summed. These, IN gambling, win
| all It's phases we have, and their practices none
| should iOlloW. -
! side sit ecstacy, enthusiasm, frenzy 10Y; on
the other side SIT wretchedness and dlsappOlnt-
ment. The Keepers of the houses are generally
fat rolliCkiug, and sleek. Inc thorolgh
gambler, in nine cases out OF ten, not only
sW Gems of the stakes from before toe tremulous
PLAYER, nut he sweeps his soul and his lie away,
and forever. One case Will come up as wit
ness OF this truth. Mr.. Potter, OF England, who
was the owner of an immense income, one
night at the gambling saloon spent the last
dollar OF his estate he got into hls magnihccntly
equipped carriage, which was standing before
the door and told the driver TO go on; alter
proceeding little way he shouted, Toto
turn baCk.D This the driver did. Potter went
up into the saloon, staked the horses the car.
rage, and lost them. He came down, met
Trend, borrowed some money, and spent 1t in
the same way. Once -tWice-three times did
he perform the same act. AT last he came do Tn
for the last time, went oil, and died begGar in
ST. Giles. Who of all the gamblers pitied him
who! Who OF them subscribed TO buy monu-
menU TO erect over hls grave? Who subscribed
To make the widowed mother and children com.
Portable? None.
But IN these modern days, in addition TO the
other forms, gambling has come to be
thoroughly organized, and sometimes legalized,
lottery. BunC reds OF PhIadelphians have been
eternally ruined through the lottery system.
There are multitudes Of people who desOise the
ordinary lottery, but who have been thoroughly
deceived by the same mqulty under more
attractive nomenclature. The lottery in which
our most respectable people invest Is some art
Associations" for there can be no harm,
they say, in drawing Blerstadts yosemite
Valley" or Washington Irving and his
Friends" or Cropsy's American Autumn"
Or 1t comes under the appellatlon OF Soldiers
and Sailors Relief Institutions" ana 10 soy any
thing against this would be to wrong the SOL
diers and sailors, and the orphans OF the men
who under God, delivered the nation.
There never has been time when there we're
so many lottery ticEets broadcast as TODAY
Though the law fOrblds the Old-style lottery, our
newspapers have famed with the advertisement
OF the Crosby Opera-hOuse sWlnde. A AclJizen of
Chicago, finding on his hands an Improbable
building calls on the whole country to help him
out Rooms are opened in the great cities, and
in rush, not so much the abandoned and repro
bate, as the educated, refined, and polished until
many thousand people are in imminent peril of
having thrown upon their hands valuable
painting or q splendid opera house.
The portentous day approaches. The rail
trains from other cities bring in dignihed COM
mittees, who have to see that the great wicked
ness is conducted is decent and ChristIan-like
manner. The throne press in. Holu fast your
tickets, all ye respectable PhiladelphIans, Bos-
tOnians, and New YOrkers, Tor the wheel begins
TO move The long agony is over Two hun
died thousand people have had narrow escape
from being ruined by sudden atlluence. Swift
horses are despatched; tOam.lathered, they dash
up TO the house OF him who owns the successful
ticket; the lightnings tell it TO the four winds of
heaven
Our weekly pictorials will hasten forward
their phOtographists to take picture of the
famous man who owned httyeight thousand six
hundred. Multiu udes think there has been toul
play and that after all, they themselves, it the
truth were known, did draw the Opera House.
And pTophesy that ten years from now there
Will stand on the scatfold, or behind the prison
door, or in the lonely room In which the suicide
writes his farewell to his friends, men who Will
say, 'Tbe first misstep of my llte, that put me
on The wrong road, was the ticket bought Tor
the Crosby Opera House ~ | care not on what
street the office was, nor who were the abettors
of the institution, nor who bought the tickets,
pronounce it a swindle a crime, and an insult
to the world 10 Almighty God, TO the true SEN
timent of the city, and the nation.
The Church of God has not been willing to
allow the world to have all the advantage OF
these games of chance. The church fair opens,
and towards the close it is found that some of
tue more valuable articles are unstable.
olthWith, the conductors of the enterprise
conclude that they will rattle for some of the
valuable articles and under pretense OF anxiety
70 make their minister present, or to please
some prominent member of the church, fasci-
mating persons are despatched through the
room pencil in hand, to solicit shares, or, per-
haps, each draws for his own advantage, ana
scores OF people go home with their trophies
thinking that all is right, for Christian ladies'
diO the embroidery and Christian men did the
rafting, and the proceeds went 10 the Duylng OF
a new communion service; but you may rely
uDon il that as far as the morality is concerned,
you might as well have won by the crack OF the
billiard bail or the turn of the dice. -
But some Christians cannot stand the ralllnSJ
and so they go to OOtlnd, sometimes Tor eullors
ard sometimes tor ministers. dollar vote
Now the Methodist minister is ahead now tue
Reformed Dutch minister ahead and now the
BAPTIST But lust at the last moment when
one of the ministers of the more popular sects
feels sure to get the prize, the members OF
some heterodoX denomination, that do not
deserve the prize, come in, and, by large con-
tribution carry OFF Tor their minister the silver
tea set. Do you wonder that churches punt,
liqhted, or upholstered by such process as that,
come to great financial straits ana splIlluai
dpcrepitude The Devil says:-"l helped build
that church, and have as much right there as
Won have - And for once the Devil Is right
There are still other multitudes going down
through slock-gambling. Now the business OF
stock-broker is Just as ieglInave anu anu IeCeS by5
ware The broker is, in the sight OF Goo, as
Tnnch entitled TO his commissions as auy hard-
working mechanic is entitled to his DAY wages
The broker takes risk D9t 50 uo az no, to DE-