The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1889-08-24

The plan and scope of the
new amusement temple embraces not
only vast concert halls, gYmnasiums, baths.
libraries and lounglng rooms, but It will
have all the great modern improvements
of elevators, electric lights, telephones,
telegraph, bureaus where the stranger
within our gates can get the most reliable
information on every conceivable subject,
and a corps of trained linguists will be
able to converse with any foreigner from
Cingalese to Irish, or from Chinese to
Hottentot.
What cloud of memories come back 10
me as gaze on its weather-staiped walls.
Here for many weeks, fifteen years ago,
thousands upon thousands of repentant
sinners sought the saving grace of the
Master while Moody thundered that the
day of retribution was at hand and San
keys sweet voice fioated like rainbow of
hope above the weeping crowd as he told
them the grand old story Of 'NinetY and
Nine" Great days were these, when Mr..
Moody begged the saints who crowded The
front seats to stay at home and make
room for the sinners who waited without
the door in the bitter freezing air, praying
forgiveness for the sins that were as scar
let, which the preacher told them should
be washed as white as wool. The mighty
chorus that swelled from twenty thousand
throats of "Hold the Fort" had scarcely
died away and the echoes of the benedic
tion were still ringing In the ears Of the
multitude, when four hundred workmen
took possession of the building and in
twenty-four hours the house was prepared
for walking matchl Oh, what a change.
The building which week before had
been dedicated to the service of God and
the salvation Of sinners, reeked with the
fumes of smoke and rum, and the air
grew blue with blasphemy, while gamblers,
thieves and harlots enjoyed the passing
show. Six long weary days of tramp,
tramp, tramp, and on the last day, as five
of the wretched contestants dragged their
wearied and emaciated forms around the
course-judges of the courts, great lawyers,
bankers and merchants were mingled
cheek by jowl with the motley throng that
made the old walls shake with mad cheers
for the victor of the match.
Where Moody and Sankey stood, there
too stood John L. Sullivan, and New
York paid twenty-five thousand dollars in
single night to see him knock out Tug
xuho ha a -
it was here, too, that the rum-bottle
knocked John i. out, and Charlie Mitch
ell walked off with FIVE thousand dollars
without raising hand. Then came Bar
mum and the Greatest Show on Earth.
Here, night after night, before admiring
thousands, were enacted the wild Roman
chariot races so vididly described in Ben
Hurr, and here the young Azel was dashed
to death under the chariot wheels. Horses,
dogs and fowls have had their day in this
old arena, and here band of native Jap
anese illustrated the glories of an ancient
civilization, which was covered with mold
and moss when the Brlton wandered
about naked with an iron ring ia his nose,
and the Gaul covered himself with skins
torn reeking from the back of the original
possessor.
Raze 1t to the ground, and of the old
foundation leave not one stone upon an
other; then sow it with salt and purify it
with fire, that not single taint of the
ancient curse may rest upon the ground.
Then rear temple to the Muses. which
shall be the marvel of the age, and the at
fractions of which shall surpass the glitter
ing wonders of the Trocadero or the glory
of the Eiffel Tower.
Another social downfall has clouded the
sunshine of the week, and Eben P. Allen,
the President of the Thirty Fourth Street
Crosstown Railroad is now behind prison
bars. Unlike the husband spoken of in
the first part of this letter, he lays the
blame upon his reckless and extravagant
wife. The curse of the present age, which
leads to most of these defalcations and
robberies, is the desire of people without
money to run the race with and live like
millionaires. Allen had been a car con-
ductor at dollar and seventy-five cents a
day; he married a poor variety actress
who wanted to be star. She loved
diamonds and fine dresses, horses, carriages,
and magnificent houses in town and coun-
Try. Allen had no money OF his own TO
supply her extravaganza and vanity. and
to procure it he became thief. During
the years of his struggle he had risen from
street car conductorship to the piesi-
in the city with salary of ten thousand
dollars year. Mrs. Allen spent thirty
thousand. Is it not time to call halt?
Are not the best of us Lying faster than
we ought? Do we keep q lookout for a
rainy day as our fathers and mothers did
long ago? Can we afford to send the family
off summering? Can we send Jim and
Tom TO college, and Mamie and Ethel to
boarding SCHOOL, Can we afford itp Ought
we to do itP Think of it, good wife; think
of it, boys and girls, when you are worry
ing the old mans life out to let you 90.
Think of II before the sheriff comes to
take papa away. If YOU do think of 1t in
time you may not be able to make such a
show, but you will be happier, far happier
and better.
Yes, SIR, good has come out of Nazareth.
Dick Croker has kicked Sheriff Flack out
of Iammany Hall. The head of the
Grand Sachem rolled in the basket on Fri
day. His divorce case looks worse and
worse. No piece of political or legal viii
lainy has given this community such a
shock for years. Mixed up in it are
judges, lawyers and court officers whose
regulations are utterly ruined. Let the
investigation go on, and if guilty, let the
ermine be stripped from the shoulders Of
the unjust judge. Raise the cry, let it
ring out loud and clear: Let justice be
done though the heavens fall.