The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-03-15
SHOW YOUR TICKETS.
Clergyman Talks TO the 100000 COM
mercial Travellers of the United States.

] otlnlbl III lilb luOtIlihtlt III.
to the 100000 commercial travellers in
the United States. He said :il H1.nc
Now you, the commercial traveller,
have received orders from the head man
of the firm you are to start on the long
excursion; Well, what is this little pack
age in the valise? "Oh !" you say,
tainly no harm in pack of cards--is
there 2" Instead of answering your ques-
ton L will tell you that there are thou
sands OF men with as strong o brain as
you have who have dropped down into
the gamblers life and into the gamblers
hell. What's that other bundle in the
val1se? oh" you say, that's a
brandy flask" Well, my brother, just
empty the contents and fill it with chol-
era mixture. It's very important to have
something that will help you in case of
sudden illness. Only one more advice
to you and then L will have done with
| your baggage. Take some good whole
some reading let it be historical work
or even work of fiction, or some work
that will be of particular advantage in
your business. Get a Bible with large
type. .......
Now you are ready to start. You have
your valise in your right hand, and your
blanket and shawl strapped in your left.
Goodbye May you have prosperous
voyage, large sales and great percent
ages. Oh, there is one thing L forgot to
ask you about. "What train are you 60
ing to take p "Well," you say, 81 will
take the five o'clock Sunday; afternoon
t1ain. l will save day by that, and 1
Will be by Monday morning in the COM
mercial establishments by the time the
merchants get down town." My brother,
you are starting wrong, Sabbath break
ing pays no better in this world than it
pays in the next. If the Sabbath is Civ
en- for the employer it is given for the
employed. The dollar that you earn on
the Sabbath is a red-hot dollar, and if
You put it i'll bag with five thousand
honest dollars that red hot dollar will
burn hole through the bag and let out
all the five thousand honest dollars with
it.
For a few weeks now you will pass half
your time in the railroad train. How are
you going to spend it? Don't do as
most OF the commercial travellers do-sit
reading the same newspaper over and
over again, looking istlessly out of the
window, or spending three or four hours
in the smoking car. the nastiest place in
Christendom. Instead of that cali Shake
speare and Tennyson and Ezekiel and
Paul, inspired men of God-call them to
stay with you and talk with you.
But You have come now to the end of
Your railroad travel. You saunter out
among the merchants aud begin business.
, There are two things you must remem-
Der. First, that all the trade you get by
the practice Of treating always damages
the house that gets it. Besides. YOU
cant afford to iniure yourself for the
sake of your employers. Again, I charge
you, tell the whole truth about everything
you sell. Lying travellers will precede you
and lying travellers will come after Won:
don't let their lying competitor tempt you
to do as much.
But it is almost night, and you are
getting back now to the hotel. You 60
back to the hotel. Now comes the
nightly tug for the commercial traveller.
Tell me where he spends his evenings
and will tell You where he will spend
eternity. There's your room with the
books, thoIc'o the Young Mems Chris
tan Association room, there's the gam
bling saloon, the theater and the house
of infamy. The theater-do you think
the tarrying in that place till eleven
O'Clock at night will improve your bodily
health or earthly fortunes? No man ever
found the path of commercial success or
heavenly reward through the American
theater.
"Well," YOU say, 81 guess, then, I
will go TO the gambling saloon" Y You
will first go to look on; then you will
go to play. You will make 800 or $500
or 81 900; you will make 81 1,5O0-then
You will lose all. Then you will borrow
some money SO as to start anew. You
will make $50 then 5000, then 5000;
then you will lose all. Those wretches
Of the gambling saloon know how to
tempt you. They lead YOU on and lead
You on; but, mark this, all gamblers die
poor. They make great fortunes, but
they lose them. You say: "John Nor
r.sscy IS "A brilliant exception" John
Morrissey is not dead y t. | wish he
We're. (Sensation.)
Well, You say, elf l can't go to
the theater and can't go to the gambling
saloon | guess / will go to the house of
lnfamy.' Halt . Gn stentorian tone).
There are other gates of sin through
which man may go and yet come out
but that gate has a spring lock which
snaps him i'll forever. He who goes there
is damned already. He may seem to be
comparatively free for little while, but
he is only on the limits and Satans
police have their eye on him to bring
him in any minute. The curse of God
is on that crime. There are men here
to-day whose heaven was blotted out ten
years ago. There is no danger that they
will be lost-they are lost now. | look
down through their glaring eyeballs,
down into the lowest caverns of hell.
Oh, commercial traveller / pray for
you to-day. There are twokinds of days
when you will specially need divine
grace the one when you have no sue
cess-that night you will be tempted to
give way to strong drink the other day
will be when you have had great success, I
and the devil tells you you must go and
celebrate that success.
There is another day, the last of your
life. L don't know where you will spend
it-more probably in the railroad car or
in some strange hotel. I see you on
your last commercial errand. The train
of your earthly existence is nearing the
depot of the grave. The brakes are fall
ing, the bell rings at the terminus, the
train stops All out for Eternity Show
your ticket now for getting into the
gate of the shining city = the ticket
washed in the blood of the Lamb. What
shall it profit man if he gain the whole
world and lose his soull :