Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-09-02
Drall.P oquier.

avn N'"eA 10 TIC ioIioWlng Uayestv
on somewhat common American anus
ment:
Abou Ben Adhem, in an unpleas.r,
frame of mind one morning, was AM
preached by long -nosed, sad.look;bp.
man, who propounded to him the cuerys
" What is remorse," -
To which Abou replied, "The hum;,;.
ating sense of an AFFECT failure"
Whatn exclaimed the seeker alto,
truth, is there no such thing as sorrov
and regret for wrong doingy'
Frequently, my aged infant, frequent.
ly. There are minds so susceptihle N
proper impressions, SO spiritualized, ifI
may use the expression, as to feel /, nan.
or two after they have done wrong thing,
but they are not common.
Listen to my own experience:
great many years ago, in Persia, | made
the acquaintance of party of men WIZ
met frequently 10 indulge in rams
played with cards. which, I presume cow
know nothing of here, called in Pers;,
drah-poqdier 1t is curious game. IN,
cards are dealt one at time till each Ia,
five; then those who are playing put Oh
the center OF the table q coin, such as has
been determined upon-say q kopeck.
then they are allowed TO throw as msnv
cards as they choose, taking from The
pack an equal number, then the man who
sits next to the dealer remarks, sarcas
tically: i am the aged one, impoverish
me- and the betting begins. 1t is curl.
GUS game, and is tluctuating, the PLAYERS
being kept in pleasant state of uncer.
tainty as to what the others have till thew
come to what they call Z showdown,
We'll, learned this game and PLAYED
1t with unvarying success for some DAYS
winning, on an average, four or fy.
dirhems at a setting. As I gathered in
my spells saw nothing wrong in the
game. 1t seemed to me most desirable
and, in all respects, q gentlemanly game
"' am sorry I said to myself, for
Hafiz, the bellows-maker, and for Nadir
the seller of shawls; but Allah knows |
risk my substance on the cards as do they
and had they my luck they would have
my money. Be chesm, il is highly
moral game, and had I an hundred Chill.
dren l would teach it them. What is
there wrong in it2 1t is my money which
! risk; it is their money which they risk.
There is no trickery or cheating in this
game, for the cards are fairly dealt, and
we make wavers on our judgment or our
luck. So does the merchant who buys the
wheat of khurdistan believing that the
crop will be short and that it will 90 up.
So does the merchant who sells the corn
Of kohmul, believing that the crop will
be heavy and the price will 90 down
What is this but gamblings If they
play with wheat and corn why should not
Hatiz and play with cards, And then
it strengthens the mind, it develops the
judgment, quickens the reasoning powers,
and broadens, widens and strengthens the
mental man. 1t is noble game and 8
great pursuit.
"Tlius reasoned l, joyously.
81 had no remorse, nor did it occur TO
me that it was gambling.
but one night ii so happened that 1had
a certainty on Hafiz. ! had three cards
alike in my hand-that is to say, three aces
and when the cards were helped, as the
phrase is, took another Haiz drew
card to the four that he had in his hand,
and the betting began. Now, four aces is
q strong hand, there being but one
that can beat it, namely, n te-phlush.
l wagered kopec to help Hafiz on to his
ruin How gloated over those four aces!
l saw nothing wrong in those four aces
nor in making out Of Hafiz, the bellows
member, all that he should make by his
trade for year. He saw my modest ko-
peck and said he would wager dirhem
in addition. Exulting in the strength OF
my four aces, ! gladly put up the dirhem
and remarked that such was my faith IN
my hand that would impoverish him to
the extent Of ten dirhems more. Hafiz-
on whose head light curscs!-saw the ten
dirhems and boosted me boosted is PEI
sian phrase) 100 dirhems. made sure
that the four aces were not an optical de-
fusion and went him 900 dirhems, which
he saw and came back at me 5 900 dirhems,
which, feeling that il would be cruel tout
terly ruin him, called without further
gymnastics.
Smilingly l laid down my four aces
and reached for the property. SmilingY
he put away my outstretched and eager
hand, and laid down beside my four aces
his accused hand, which was . sua'e-
phlush.
1.-THE property is miner said he.
1T isr said l.
"Then l experienced q feeling OF re-
morse. linen 1elt tnat Oran- poqulei ""~
gambling and that gambling in any form
was a sin of the most heinous nature, and
that / had been guilty Of crime.
"'Oh, why exclaimed, did ever
permit myself To become infatuated WIZ
the desire for gaming, If | win, II is my
dirhems; if l lose, it is my
own. In any case, there is nothing o.
actual value that passes. While we use
capital in gambling, We produce nothing
One side is richer, the other poorer, anu
there has been waste of precious umg.
Besides, it is terribly demoralizing' y
infatuates a man and enfeebles his mihu'
His mind dwells on the game to uie sA
clusion of everything that is goou'
brushes out everything that is hign az.
noble, and develops everything una. =
mean and small in ones nature. II rum
the loser financially and ruins the "in1eI
i