The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-03-06
rs or rBE LOTTERY.

Church lteli.-A Lottery or n bibie So'I
ety-A singular BIZ Of social History.
Rv ono az those condolences which are
csI.d strange" in fiction, although they
49, oil the time occurring in real life, IT has
han,ened that (while Monsieur Lesscps
has been agitating the idea of g lottery IN
France To carry through bis new Panama
canal proiect) the old Union canal, the very
oldest canal in this country, ana when was
originally and materially Alueu IN is Coh'
.truction by a lottery, has outliNed us use
fitness and has been abandoned.
The Union Canal Of Pennsylvania was the
6,st projected on the American continent.
II wss Suggested hy William Penn III 1863,
wears before a canal was in operation even
In England. The route was surveyed by
Tsvid %Rittenhousc, the astronomer, and
Dr William Smith. proves, Ofthe University
of Pennsylvania
The drawings of the lottery III aid OF the
Union canal took place ia the old Arcade IN
Philadelphia, on tc'tnut street near
Seventh, and were 7 s.fded as occasions oi
public interest. u" woIk was lh'erruPpeu
bv the Revolutionary War, but later on
Robert Morris. Robert Fulton and Jacob
Francis became interested IN u
The canal was e~lghty-nlDc miles long ana
nscessitated in its construction some OF the
creates, engineering work OF the day. The
nrs, tunnel in the United States was bored
for his canal, and a colossal pumping ap-
naratus WAS used 70 raise the water 10 The
necess ,ry height.
The canal cost s3e0,v
times that sum at the present tlme), was
worth 10 the country every dollar u cos',
and would never have been completed had
II not been for the lottery.
rival 10 the Union Canal was after
wards started by the BOstOnesc to enable
the Hub" to compete with New \ ORR put
although this canal was completed Through
M, agency also of n public lottery formed 10
Aid in lis cOnstructiODl 1t failed % render
BOSTON equal to New York, though II did
much good, nevertheless.
Various public works besides canals re-
sorted TO the lottery for aid. When New
England patriotism fell short Of iniSblpg
The Bunker-Hiil Monument, a large lottery
was suggested to continue the good work,
and a rattle was gotten up at a "ladi,s
fair 10 which Fanny tlssler, the ianseuse,
contributed. and which supplied the funds
TeQuised
Even the phlegmatic Germans took kindly
10 the lotteries, and drawings OF interesting
magnitude took place in Vienna and Berlin.
The lottery then found its way, on the gen
erai principles OF human nature, into Great
Britain. wherc II took root and fOurished.
The first English lottery was tOrtherepairing
OF harbOrs and ioTtlnCauODs along the coast.
III f,st pubic drawing in England tool
Mace AT The Nesf door of Id st. Pauls Ca
ihedral. in the presenCeof a vast crowd.
Queen Elizabeth, the most sensible and
successful OF English sOvercignS, established
the lottery by royal odlCt, and placed 1t
under the control of the Prime Minister and
the Chancellor Ot the EX%chequer. So sue
cessiul were us results that IL was continued
as an accepted institution for raising feve-
nues down 10 the close OF the eighteenth
century. II Was during this brilliant period
that the banking ~ stem, Insurance, ex-
change, and paper money were first intro
duced. md all. If not born of, were Un-
doubtedly Graded in, the lottery system.
1he greatest public institution in London,
or perhaps in the world. the British Museum,
was materially aided in is inception by II
lottery. Nearly tG0. go were thus con
tributed 10 this magnificent object one hun
bred and thirty five years ago.
Meanwhile, the lottery had gained a firm
foOthold in France. The mercurial Parsians
took kindly to 1t They dearly loved the
excitement of the drawings while at the
same time the government took care to de-
vote the major portions of the funds thus
raised to public purposes.
AT present lotteries in France are in full
favor for charitable and art purposes, and
are regulated by government. "A public Off
cial being present at all drawings over
forty lotteries have obtained the sanction of
the French Government during the last de-
cade. The lottery known as The Central
Union of Decorative Arts" had u capital of
100000 francs (Beariy ~S3,op,Go0). One
lottery disposed Of SIX hundred thousand
tickets i'm twenty days. The Algerian Ma
tiOnal Lottery sold over a million OF tickets
per month for i've months, and the lottery
for the SOcietie DIES Gens de LOttOJes sold
over hall that number at a higher price.
In this country, a. has been previously
stated, lotteries have always been popular,
and until late years have been sanctioned
while regulated by law. Religion has, even
in America, awaited itself largely of human
natures tendency 10 the lottery.
Churches from Maine to Louisiana have
been aided by lotteries The Philadelphia
eteeple Lottery Was managed by 40 less a
man. statesman and philanthTOpist than
Benjamin Franklin, and through its agency
the steepie of old Christ church, Philadel-
phia, was raised and its peal Of bell Sc
cured.
These Christ Church bells are almost as
well known and historical ia the Quaker
City as are Bow bells" in London the
whole peal weigh over nine thousand
pONAiN7i hiAN oA' N'iA IlubblpNS iN'iuilN
Emusic by the pound They were cast in
London and brought over with great care
and large expense tO Philadelphia. The
lottery the funds of which procured these
bells was regarded by the good men and
women at the time as a public benefit.
In New England a lottery was originated
for the purpose of raising funds to supply
sailors and strangers with Bibles, and sue
Ceeded largely in accomplishing its object.
Thus II lottery became n Bible society. Va
rious Episcopal and Congregations! church
rs at Newport and elsewhere have been
built with funds raised by lotteries.
Two Of the most noted preachers i'll this
country Increase gnd Cotton Mather, lived
and died in houses built by Lotteries, and
the Key. DR.. Eliphalet NOtI, OF Union Col
lege, has written the best, because most
truthful, defence of the lottery system. Rev. !
DIR. Mott was "A historical character, the
grandfather of The present Bishop Henry
Goldman Potter, # New York, and the in
vent0r of the celebrated Mott stove. The de
fence OF the lottery system was before the
New York Legislature.
The first Episcopal church in Brooklyn, |
st. AIMS, on the Heights, was erected large
ly by means of n lottery under the personal
direction of Rev. Or. Page.
The famous charity hospital of New Or
leans. one of the historic institutions
of the country. has for many years
been partly supported by over a quarter OF
u million OF dollars received for II during
that period from the Louisiana state Lot
terry.
Christ Church, in Louisiana, the frs,