Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-11-20

- ~ -, ~ tiAo'
upon the western waters and seen gam
8 bling at every waking moment from
the commencement to the termination
of the journey"
THE SOUTHWEST REEKs WITH THIS SIN
In some of those cities every third d
fourth house in many of the streets il
a gaming place, and it may be truth
fully averred that each of our cities i.
cursed with this evil.
In themselves most of the games EN-
ployed in gambling are without harm
Billiard tables are as harmless as tea
tables, and a pack Of cards as 4 pack o.
letter envelopes, unless stakes be pu'
up. But by their use for gambling
purposes they have become signiiicant
Of an intinity of wretchedness-60C
gambling saloons in New York city
when last counted.
Men wishing to gamble will find
places just suited to their capacity, not
only in the underground oyster-cellar,
or at the table back of the curtain, GOV
cred with greasy cards, or in the steam
beat smoking cabin, where the bloated
wretch with rings in his ears deals out
his pack, and winks in ,he unsuspect-
ing Notwithstanding free drinks all
around-but in gilded parlors and
amid gorgeous surroundings.
This sin works ruin, first, by un-
healthful stimulants. Excitement is
pleasurable. Under every sky and in
every age men have sought it. The
Chinaman gets il by smoking his
opium; the Persian by chewing hashish;
the trapper in n buffalo hunt; the sailor
in "A squall; the inebriate in the bottle,
and the avaricious at the gaming table.
WE MUST AT NJ HAvE EXCITEMENT
A thousand voices in our nature de-
mand it. 1t is right. 1t is healthful.
1t is inspiritins. 1t is II desire God
given. But anything that first graft
ies this appetite and hurls it back in a
terrific reaction, is deplorable and
wicked. Look out for the agitation
that, like a rough musician, in bring
ing out the tune plays so hard he breaks
down the instrument. God never made
man strong enough to endure the wear
and tear of gambling excitement. No
wonder if, after having failed in the
game, men have begun to sweep of
imaginary gold from the side of the
table. The man was sharp enough
when he started at the game, but a
maniac at the close. At every gaming
table SIT on one side Ecstacy, Enthusi-
asm, Romance-the frenzy of joy; on
the other side, F~ierceness, Rage and
Tumult. The professional gamester
schools himself into apparent quiet
ness. The keepers of gambling rooms
are generally fat, ~rollicking and obese.
but thorough and professional gamb.
lers, in nine cases out Of ten. are pale,
thin, Wheeling, tremulous and eX'
hausted.
Again, this sin works ruin by killing
industry. A man used to reapine
scores or hundreds of dollars from tn,
gaming table will not be content with
slow work. He will say: "Wha is
the use of trying to make these fifty
dollars in my store, when | can ge
five times that in half an hour down a
Billy's.'
You NEVER KNEW A CONFIRMED A
BIER WHO WAS INDUSTRIOUS.
The men given to this vice spen,
their time, not actively employed il
the game. in idleness, or intoxication
or sleep, or in corrupting new victims
This sin has dulled the carpenters saw
and cut the band of the factory wheel
sunk the cargo, broken the teeth of tn
farmers harrow, and sent a strang
lightning TO shatter the battery of tn
!, philosopher. The first idea of gamin;
is ut war with all the industries o
/, society. Any trade or occupation tina
is of use is ennobling. The stree
{ society by the cleanliness effected. Tn
1 cat days for the fragments il eats b
, clearing the house of velmin. The IL
, that takes the sweetness from the dreg
of the cup. compensates by purifyin
the air and keeping back the pestilence
+ But the gambler gives not anything TO
7 that which he takes. recall that sen
: tence. He does make a return; but
is disgrace TO the man that he f1eeces
despair to his heart, ruin to his bus
ness, anguish to his wife, shame to hi
children, and eternal wasting away
/ his soul. He pays in tears, and blood
and agony, and darkness, and woe.
What dull work is ploughing to tn
farmer when in the village saloon i
t one night he makes and loses the valu
!, of the summer harvest! Who will wan
to sell tape, and measure nankeen. AM
cut garments, and weigh sugars, whel
in a nights game he makes and loses
and makes again and loses again tn
profits of a season. John Borack wa
sent as mercantile agent from Bremen
TO England and this country. AfteI
two years his employers mlstruste,
that all was not right. He was "a de
~faulrrr for cighty-seven thousand dol
lars. II was found that he had lost il
Lombard street. London. twonty-nin,
thousand dollars: in Fulton street, New
York, ten thousand dollars, and in New
Orleans. three thousand dollars. II,
was imprisoned but afterwards ESCAPED
and went into the gambling profession
He died in a lunatic asylum. Thi
crime is getting its lever under many
mercantile house in our cities, and be