Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-03-24
DR.. Talmage Discourses on the
Age Of SWindle.
He Warns Young Men that Dishon-
esty Never Pays.
Wall street Spectators scored I'm.
mercifully.
a SERMON on HONESTY.

Hold thee IN full survey;
Forget the steps already trol.
And onward urge Thy way"
As, last sabbath, the Rev. T. Dewitt
Talma@c, ID. the pastor, had baptized
by sprinkling, he this morning baptized
by immersion those vino preferred this
mode, IA baptistsy having been built M.
der tbe pulpit. The subject Of his ser.
mon was The Agc If ~windlc, and
the text, job 5, IL.
Whose tlu.t shall De a spilcr's WEB.
Dr.. Talmagc said.
The two most skillful architects in the
world are the bee and the spidpr. The
one puts up a sugar manufactOry and thc
other builds a slaughter house for flies.
On "A bright summer day when the sun
comes out and shines upon the SPIDERS
web, bedcckcd with dew, the gossamcr
structure seems bright enough for a sus
pension bridge for supernatural beings 10
which, in the latter part Of that very day,
ventures on il, and is caught and dun
gconcd and destroyed. The fly was IN
formed that ii Was "a free bridge, and
would cost nothing, bat al the other end
Of the bridge the toll paid was lis W
life. The mex day there
comes down "a strong wind,
and away goes the web, and
the marauding spider and the victimizcd
fly. SO delicate are the silkcn threads of
the spiders web that many thousands Of
them are put togcthcrbcfore they become
visible to the human eye and IL takes four
millions Of them TO make a thread as
large as the human hair. Most cruel as
well as most ingenious is the spider. \
prisoner in the Rastlle. France. had one
SO trained that at the sound of a violin it
every day cam" for its meal of flies. job,
the author Of my text and the leading sci
enlist Of his day, had no doubt watched
the yoraCious process Of this II insect
with another, and saw spider and fiy
swept down with the same broom or
scattered bv the same wind, Alas that
the world has SO many designing spiders
and yictimized flies.
rESTILHNCE oF CRIME.
There has not been a time when the
utter and black irrcsponsihility Of many
men having the financial interests Of
others in charge has been more evident
than in these last few years.
The %unroofing Of banks and disap-
pearancc q, administrators With the funds
of large estates and the disorder amidst
post Office accounts and deficits amid
United States officials, have made a pesti-
lence OF crime that solcmnizcs every
thoughtful man and woman. and leads
every philanthropist and Christian TO ask
What shall bc done to stay the plague
There is a nso abroad, a typh0on, q
s@irocco. | sometimes ask myself if il
would not be better for men making wills
10 bcqucath The property directly to the
executors and officers of the court, and
appoint the widows and orphans a com
mittcc to see that the former got all that
did not belong to them. The simple fact
is that there are "a large number of men
sailing yachts and driving fast horses,
and members of expensive club houses
and controlling country seats who are not
worth a dollar if they return to others
their Just rights. Under some sudden
reverse they fail. and with afflicted air
seem to retire from the world, and seem
almost ready for monastic life, when IN
two or three years they blossom out
again, having compromises with their
creditors, that is, paid them nothing but
regrets. and the only difference between
the second chapter of prosperity
and the first. is that their pictures are
Nurillos instead of Kcnsetts, and then
horses 20 IA mile in twenty econds less
than their predecessors. and instead OF
one country seat they have three, ] have
watched and have noticed that nine ou'
of ten of those who failed in what Is
called high life. have more means aftel
than before the failure. and in many OF
the cases failure is only a stratagcm t.
escape the payment Of honest debts ant
mt the world off the track while they
practice a large swindlc. There is some
thing woefully wrong III the TACT TIA
these things are possible.
WHERE TIE BLAME !
First of all. ! charge the blame on care
less Indifferent bank directors ana board'
having in charge great financial lnstitu
lions. 1t ought not 10 be possible Tor
president or cashier or prominent oniccr'
of a banking institution TO swindle J
wear after wear without detection, Wi
undertake to say that if these frauds arr
carried on two or three yeaIs w!thou
detection. either the directorsa are partner
in the infamy and pockcted part OF th'
theft. or they are guilty OF a culpaDi'
neglect of duty, for which God viii hol'
them AZ responsible az He holds the ac
kpowledged dcfrauders. What rlgh
have prominent business men TO ahoV
their names To he published as director
in a financial institution, so that unso
phisticated people are hereby Induced II
deposit their money in or buy the scrip
thereof. when they, the published q rec
80. oro dninO nothing for the safety o