Milford chronicle., 1885-04-24
THE SUNDAY PULPITS.
rAL1AeE AND THE ROLLER Kinks
The Brooklyn Preacher says They are n
Power for GOOd-Beeeher on the sRlYa-
eion Army


Rev, T. Dewitt Talmage preached
Sunday on roller skating. In future
sermons he will direct his attention to
dancing. Subsequently he will speak on
the labor Questions
sThe noise of the wheels over against
them" and 'The noise Of the rattling OF
the wheels" we're two texts which Mr..
Talmage selected from the Old Testa'
meht. "In one house," he said, ''are
the wheels of help and in the other are
the wheels Of destruction. The good or
the bad wheels Of this world will deter
mine its destiny; wheels of railway
trains, of printing presses, OF sewing
machines, balance wheels, belt wheels,
driving wheels And now the wheel
has been applied to amusements. Are
the roller skates wheels of help or wheels
Of destruction Never in my time has
there been so much disctssiOn on the
subject of amusements as now: For the
last TWENTY-FIVE years have been look
ing for some healthiul aInusement for
the rescue of this nation. OF honesti
healthful amusement there has been an
awful scarcity. There is no lack Of gam
bling saloons. There are plenty ofgrog
shops where the owner, by the expendi-
ture Of So for alcohol, can make mix
ture that he can sell for 5000. Plenty
of gates of hell and all of them open,
but Of honest, healthful amusement
there is scarcity. Seven o'clock in tie
evening finds thousands of men at home,
at boarding house or hotel. How shall
they 6pehd the evening? Go to prayer
meeting, says one. Well, thet viii do
for two evenings of the week and Sun
day evening, but what of the four even
inRs left for secular purposes? GO to
lecture on astronomy you say, but the
xout1p man Is tired out with adding up
long rows Of figures, and trying to make
people buy what they don't want. He
doesn't want to know anything about
other worlds, for he has a hard enough
time in this.
i'Wbat our people want is some recre-
alton that will help body and mind and
will enable them to 60 asleep at ~
D. m. and awake refreshed at am.
That will make them not merely splin-
ters of humanity; not masculine and
feminine apologies. People are asking
if the skating rinks are providing this
kind of amusement. You ask me if
favor them. I answer, Yes, with re-
strictions; without restrictions, No.
Some of them have exhilarated the body
and mind. given health and strength
and afforded innocent amusement But
there is as much difference between
skating rinks as between heaven and
hell. Skating rink exercise, with proper
precautions, seems to me to be the most
healthy of all amusement 1t eclipses
bat and ball, croquet and lawn tennis.
It is good for the nerves, for the mus
cles and for the spirits. 1t has all the
advantages of the gymnasium and the
old-time skating on ice ponds without
the dangers. It would be well if all our
voung men took one hour a day of this
exercise. It would be well if our Amer
ican women who decline to adopt the
English habit of the constitutions! walk
wo1ld turn their back on their house.
keeping and try for an hour a day this
exhilaratine sport. The great demand
Of this country is for some honest
amusement for its women, who are dying
for the need of it.
'tThere are possibilities for good in
roller skating which 1 can see in no
other amusement. But now l come to
the restrictions. Let there be an end to
young ladies going alone to any place OF
amusement And if a man tips his hat
to a lady whom he does not know at a
skating rink let the proprietor conduct
him to the door and assist him down
stairs with all the momentum necessary.
Let not the bright lights and the music
tempt YOU to q senseless prolongation OF
the amusement. Let the department OF
the parlor be the department OF the
skating rink. It is time that the people
understood that Irritation is damnation.
When on Broadway or Fulton street,
when the world Of business men are re-
turning home see the daughters OF re-
spectacle families with giggling and un-
seemingly conduct trying to attract mas
culine attention, remember that the
vast majority of those who make ever
lasting shipwreck carry that kind OF
sail.
'Nothing pleases me so much as to
see young people having a good time,
that is. an innocent good time. People
are apt to forget that they were once
bows and girls. Go back forty years and
think what was best for you then.
Rheumatism is incompetent to give ad-
vice to a sound ankle. But amusement
is not fit for anything that does not fit
MS for usefulness. Alas for the man who
makes amusement depletion instead Of
an augmentation.
BEEoHER ON THE SALVATION ARMY.
morning in Plymouth Church, taking as
his text, "Fot ye see your calling breth-
ren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, are called" After commenting
on the wonderfulresults that have flowed
from the teachings of the early disciples
Mr.. Beecher said that it was mistake
to suppose it was on account Of their
lowly origin, but the rather in spite of
these infelicitous surroundings. 1--WE
have in our streets the Salvation Army,
he said; "there is much in it that is
grotesque; much that is irregular; much
that should shock all those that believe
in the prophecies Of the sanctuary. 1t
is not to supersede preaching and work;
but if these salvationists, with all their
ignorance, have fallen on an enthusiasm
Of faith in the savableness of the weak,
the vicious, the drunken; if they believe
they are inspired of God to do His work,
then they will be victorious in that
struggle. It will be a renewal Of that
struggle that made the early Corinthians
powerful. Not because of their grotesque
banners; not because of their wild
music; not because they violate taste are
they powerful. Their power must come
from a conviction that God has called
them to save the wretches round about
them, and in Gods name let them save
them; and if there is any help we can
give them let us give it to them. II you
want to set men on fire you must be on