The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-14
THE WICKED RINK.
A Minister Points Out Some of the Spiritual
Evils of Isoller-Skating.

A Minister Points Out Some of the Spiritual
Evils of RoIler-Skating.
The Rev. J. V. Saunders, pastor of the Attor
ney-street Wesley Chapel, talked to his conere-
CATION last evening of the spiritual pers of roll
er-skating His text was the twenty ninth verse
of the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes: ''Lo, this
only have / found, that God hath made
man upright; but they have sought out many
inventions"
There has never been an age" said the pas
tor. but Satan has devised some means by
. which to entrap man into wrong doing. and this
age beyond all others has been prolific of these
evil devices. Most of them have been directed
against the young, who grasp at their sparkle
more readily. The young do not stop to think
that Christian life has in it river of light and
Joy far exceeding the hollow mockeres held out
by SaAhcs and his agents, Sin has always
reared IT'S horrible front in every city, but it was
never more conspicuous than it is to-day. A
new path of wickedness has been opened for the
young and thoughtless to walk into, and it is
crowded always. A new temptation that is more
deadly than the gambling hell, the theater, the
saloon or even the unwhoesome literature that
is often SEEM has sprung up and IS hourishing
in our city, and in nearly every other city and
town, and hamlet in our land.
II refer to the roller skating-rink, for which
there is craze just now. 1t is evil that so
crazes people that every other thought is driven
away from them. Is roller-skating SIM Dur
ing the past week a number of young men and
women have asked me that question, and | will
enGeavor to answer it now Everybody admits
that it is either doing great deal of harm a
great deal of good. Two great events have oc-
Cured during the past week. One was the in
auguration of President Cleveland and the other
was the skating carnival at the Madison-square
Garden. didn't go to Washington, because l
didn't help Cleveland to get there, and thought
he could get along without didn't
go to see the skating, because l did
not think it proper that 1 should.
hear that the young have been there pitching
rolling, and tossing around When the pugil
istic craze was ripe heard that a good many
Christian persons were affected by it, This
was brutal craze, but SO far as real sinfulness
was concerned it was far better than the pres
ent craze.
''Let us look at the men who were in the late
race hear that one of them at least is so
worn out in body as to resemble corpse while
the rest are not much better off. Looking at it
from financial standpoint, the racers have
made nothing The successful ones the
managers or proprietors who would not care if
the men who brought the money into their
pockets suffered the fortunes of the damned.
You can hang skates all over you and not
commit a sin, and skating on them at proper
times and in proper places, and with proper com
panions, cannot be termed a sin either 1t is
the abuse of the practice that l condemn. My
heart was sick and my ear was panied when 1
heard that a church had to set apart big room
for roller skatingrink to help pay the salary of
should be called The Church of the Holy Rink. ;
All classes and kinds OF young men and women
gather together in these Kinks, and, under the
inspiration of street band, yell, shout and
tumble about ana set all ideas of propriety at de-
fance. The apparent harmlessness of the
amusement is what renders it 90 harmful 1t
bears on its face an aspect of innocence that
lures the guiltless and the innocent
to ruin: Every fact is against it.
An officer whose duties led him
much into skating Kinks has told me many
terrible stories about them. He said he had
known of many cases of immortality growing
out of them. Physicians say the exercise is often
injurious to the very young or the physically
weak. have heard undertakers say that they
have buried persons whose deaths were caused
by the Kinks A pastor of one of our churches
told me that six ladies, members Of his congre-
cation, have been lured from his church by the
Kinks. Just think of the indelicacies committed
by men who teach young women to skate. Young
women are compelled to associate with persons
in rink that they would abhor outside of one
The evils growing out of skating Kinks are con-
stantly increasing If you want exercise go out
in the fresh air and get it, and, mark me well,
when | tell you that much sin and no good comes
from the roller skating Kinks"