The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-11-11


Tho Great Extent of the Evil.
BROOKLYN, Nov. THE Rev. T. Dewitt
aimaSe, d. D., preached in the Brooklyn
tabernacle this morning on the subject
"Aceldama." The opening hymn was;
My soul, be on thy guard
Ten thousand foes arise.
After expOunding the EDistle of James con
corning the nature of temptation, DR.. Tai
mage announced the text, Acts j, 10: "Acel-
dana, thatis to say, the field of blood" Fol
lowing is tho sermon in full:
The money that Judas gave for surrender
ing Christ was used to purchase graveyard.
AS tho money was blood money, the ground
bought by it was called in the Syriac tongue
Aceldana, meaning "the field of blood. "
Well, there is one word 1 want to write 20
day over every racecourse where wagers are
staked, and every poolroom, and every
gambling saloon, and every table, public or
private, where men and women bet for sums
of money, large or small, and that is a word
incarnadined with the life of innumerable
ADMINISTRATIONS. The gambling spirit,
which is at all times a stupendous evil, ever
and anon sweeps over the country like an cpl
denic, prostrating uncounted thousands.
There has never been a worse attack than
that from which all the villages, towns and
enacted in our Brooklyn courtroom, by
which it was proved that in the City of
Churches there is not enough moral force to
put into the penitentiary the gambling
Jockeys who belong there, is only specimen
of the power gained by this abomination,
which is brazen. sanguinary, tFanscontinental
and hemisphere.
While among my hearers are those who
have passed on into the afternoon of life, and
the shadows are frightening, and the sky
crirnsons with the glow Of the setting sun, a
large number of them are in early life, and
the morning is coming down out of the clear
sky upon them, and the bright air is redolent
with spring blossoms, and the stream of life,
cleaning and glancing, rushes on between
flowery banks, making music as it goes.
Some of you are engaged In mercantile con-
Germs, as clerks and bookkeepeFs, and your
whole life is to be passed in the exciting world
of traffic. The sound of busy life stirs you as
the drum stirs the fiery warhorse. Others
are in the mechanical arts, to hammer and
chisel your way through life, and success
awaits you Some are preparing for profeS-
sional life, and grand opportunities are be-
fore you; nay, some of you already have
buckled on tie armor.
But whatever your age or calling, the sub
iect of gambling, about which speak to-day,
citation for the suppression of gambling Jyas
organized, an agent of the association came
to q prominent citizen and asked him TO pa
tronize the society. He said; mo, / can have
no interest in such an organization. / am in
nowise affected by that evil" At that very
time his son, who was his partner in business,
was one of the heaviest players in Herne's ia
nous gambling establishment. Another re
fused his patronage on the same ground, not
knowing that his first bookkeeper, though re-
ceiving a salary of only $1,000, was losing
from $50 TO 500 per night. The president of
a railroad company refused to patronize the
institution, saying; 'That society is good for
the defense of merchants, but we railroad
people are not injured by this evil;n not
knowing that at that very time two of his
conductors were spending three nights Of each
weel, at faro tables in New York. Directly
or indirectly this evil strikes at the whole
world.
Gambling is the risking of something more
or less valuable in the hope of winning more
than you hazard. The instruments OK gam
ing may differ, but the principle is the same.
The shuffling and dealing Of cards, however
full of temptation, is not gambling unless
stakes are put up; while, on the other hand,
gambling may be carried ON without cards,
or dice, or billiards, or a tenpin alley. The
man who bets on horses, on elections on bat
tles-the man who deals in 'fancy" stocks,
or conducts a business which hazards extra
capital, or goes into transactions without
foundation but dependent upon what men
call "luck," is a gambler.
It is estimated that one-fodrth of the bust
ness in London is done dishonesty, What
ever you expect to get from your neighbor
without offering an equivalent in money, or
time, or skill, is either the product of theft
or gaming, Lottery tickets and lottery pol
icies come into the same category. Fairs for
the founding Of hospitals, schools and
churches, conducted on the rafting system,
como under the same denomination. Do net,
therefore, associate gambling necessarily
with any instrument, or game, or time, or
place, or think the principle depends upon
whether you play Tor glass of wine or 100
shares of railroad stock. Whistler you pat
ronize 'auctiop pools, !" French mutqais'' or
ssbool,making," whether you employ faro or
billiards, rondo and keno, cards or bagatelle,
the very idea of the thing is dishonest, for it
processes to bestow upon you good Tor
which you give no equivalent
This crime is no newborn spFite, but q
naggard transgression that comes staggering
down under mantle of curses through many
All nations, barbarous and civil
lied, have been addicted to it. Before 1888
the French government received revenue
from gaming houses. In 1867 England, for
the Improvement of her harbors, instituted a
lottery to be held at the front door of St
Pauls cathedral Four hundred thousand
tickets were sold at ten shillings each. The
British museum and Westminster bridge
were partially built by similar procedures
The ancient Germans would sometimes put
ND themselves and families as prizes, and
suffer themselves to be bound, though
stronger than tbs persons who won Them
But now the laws of the whole civilized
world denounce the system. Enactments
have been passed, but only partially enforced,
and at times not enforced at all. The men
in gaming houses and in jockey
clubs WELD such influence by their numbers
and afiIuence that the judge, the jury and
he police officer must be bold indeed who
would array themselves against these in
famous establishments. The house Of COM
mons Of England actually adjoHTls on Derby
lay to go out and bet on the races; and in
he best circles of society in this country to-
lay are many hundreds OK professedly re-
;pectabIe men who are Acknowledged gam
Dlers.
Hundreds of thousands OF dollars in this
and are every day being won and lost through
,heer gambling. Says a traveller through the
west: Il have Travelled 1000 miles at a
line upon the western waters, and seen gam
bling at every waking moment from the
to the termination OF the
Journey" The southwest of this country
-eeks with this sin. In some OF those cities
very third or fourth house in many of the
streets is a gaming place, and it may be
aserTed that each Of our cities Is
cursed with this evil
In themselves. most of the games employed
10 gambling are without harm Billiard
tables are as harmless as tea tables and a
pack of cards as a pack of letter envelopes.
unless stakes be put up. But by their uso
for gambling purposes they have become sig
nificant of an infinity OF wretchedness-6O0
gambling saloons in New York city when last
Eounted.
Nan wishing to gamble viii find places Just