St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-01-31
How Gambling Begins.
\ PLAIN TALK WITH YOUNG MEN

How gambling often ends is illus
tratcd 10y the recent suicide of ii young
man of nigh social standing who was
well known in the sporting" circles
of New York. Tampering with cards
and the roulette table had aroused in
him the same insane .furOr which tam
pering with the bottle arOuses i'll the
victims of strong drink. We are told
that this wIctchcd young man married;
hnt ''even marriage did not cure him
of what had become IL positive disease.
Little gaming parties III his rooms ut
the hotel, and reckless plunging ut the
public tables soon ran away with all
his winnings, and with the greater part
of his fortune besides. At last few
months ago, he found himself ruined.
! His former friends fought shy of him
and in pitiable depressed frame of
mind, he said: 'Ill 90 to Philadelphia,
and either make or brake myself TO
| Philadelphia he went, with Il revolver
in his trunk. He played nearly the
whole time that he was there. The
record was mOnotOnous. His old luck
had deserted him and one night he
went to his room at the hotel and put
! Il bullet through his brain"
Such is one of the latest tragedies
perpctrated under the insane inlatua
ton of the gaming-table. But their
number is legion. Many of the mys
terious suicides which fill the records
of the morgues, or haunt the depths of
the rivers around our cities. would tell
the same story. Gambling is prevalent
to Il degree, which sober, quiet people
never dream of. 1t is practiced-often,
indeed, in IA small way and for mOder-
ate stakes by thousands of young
-men in all our cities practiced in the
privacy of their rooms at their lodging
houses, as well as in houses for "pro-
fessional" play. Employers little sus-
pect-alas fathers and mothers little
suspect-what devilish mischief is go
ing on under the cover of secrecy.
Many of the larcenies committed III
stores. COunting-roOms and banks
(s0me of which are "hushed up" in
order to save reputatiOns) are com
mitted in order to cover up the losses
at the card table. On the other hand
the illegitimate winnings at the same
tables will account for the fine equip
age OF shOwy turn-outs of certain fast
men whose legitimate income is too
slender to maintain such eXtravagance.
Gambling is moral pestilence that
"walletlt iii darkness" and therefore
its terrible prevalence escapes publ"
observation. 1t is not decreasing. -.
This perlous practice, which so
often becomes fatal to character and to
the soul, begins, .just as drunkenness
begins, with playing with fire. At the
bottom of the frat glass of wine which
the tippler tampered with lay an adder.
Underneath the first dime that is ever
thrown down in game of chance is
a serpent. When a young man makes
his first bet, or puts up his first wager
on match or race, or when he risks
his first penny at a card table, he puts
a coal into his bosom which is not easi-
ly extinguished it may kindle into a
cDntiagrati0n which, in the tremendou.
language of Scripture, "will burn unto
the lowest hell" The step that cost
is the first step. Gambling for a penny
Is as essentially a sin as gambling for {;
J. Thousand pounds. No sin is a tritie
My young friend, the moment tha