The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-02-23

II the finest estates in England.
Mr.. Porter owned it and in year
gambied il all away. Having lost the last
acre OF the estate, he came down from the
saloon and got into his carriage; went back;
put up his horses and carriage and town
house and played He threw and lost He
started home, and in side alley met a
friend from whom he borrowed ten guineas;
went back 10 the saloon, and
before great while had won
| last, q beggar in ST. Giles. How many
gamblers felt sorry for Mr. Porterl Who
consoled him on the loss Of his estatel What
| gambler subscribed TO put a stone over the
! poor mans gravel1Sot one!
Furthermore. this sin IS the source Of I'M
| counted dishoneSties. The game Of hazard
itself is often g cheat How many tricks
| and decep:iocs in the dealing Of the cardsl
! The opponents hand is ofttimes found out
/ by fraud. Cards are marked 50 that they
/ may be designated from the back. Expert
/ gamesters have their accomplices. and one
! wink may decide the game The dice have
/ been found loaded with platina so that
''doubletsn come up every time. These dice
are introduced BY the gamblers unobServed
| by honest men who have come into the play;
and this accounts for the fact that ninety
nine out Of a hundred who gamble,
! however wealthy they began. az
the end are found to be poor, miserable,
/
be allowed to sit on the doorstep of the house
that they once owned. In a gaming house
/ in San Francisco a young man having just
| come from the mines deposited large sum
| upon the a"e, ana won twenty-five thousand
dollars. But the tide turns. Intense
| anxiety comes upon the countenauces of all.
| Slowly the cards went forth. Every eye is
| fixed. Not a sound is heard until the ace is
| revealed favorable to the bank. There are
shouts of "Foulr "Fouln but the keepers
of the table produce their pistols and the
uproar is silenced and the bank has won
ninety-five thousand dollars. Do you call
this game of chance? There is no chaLce
| about it.
But these dishonesties in the carrying on
of the game are nothing when compared
with the frauds which are committed in
| order to get money to 60 on with the nefa-
rious work. Gambling, with its greedy
hand, has snatched away the widows mite
and the portion OF the orphans; has sold
| the daughters virtue to get the means to
| continue the game: has written the counter
| felt signature, emptied the banker'sI money
vault and welded the assAssins dagger.
| There is no depth of meanness TO which it
will not stoop. There is no cruelty at
which it is appalled,. There is no warning
| of God that il will not dare. MercileS, un-
| appeasable, fiercer and wilder it blinds. it
hardens, it rends, it blasts, it brushes, it
| daInns. It has peopled our prisons and
lunatic asylums How many railroad
| agents, and cashiers, and trustees of funds it
| has driven to disgrace, Incarceration and
| suicdel Witness years ago a cashier Of
railroad who stole one hundred and three
| thousand dollars to carry on his gaming
! practices. Witness forty thousand dollars
stolen from a Brooklyn bank within the
memory Of many of you, aud the one hun
| dred and eighty thousand dollars taken
from a Wall street insurance company for
Thncd only III ira
| tions, on a large scale, of the robberies
| every day committed for the purpose Of
| carrying out the designs Of gamblers. Hun.
| dreds of thousands of dollars every year
leak out without observation from the mer-
chants till into the gambling hell. A man
| in London keeping one of these gambling
| houses boasted that he had ruined q noble
man day; but IL all the saloons of this
| land were to speak out, they might utter a
| more infamous boast, for they have de-
stroyed a thousand nolle men year.
| Notice also the effect of thisicrime upon
| domestic happiness. 1t has sent its ruthless
| plowsnare through hundreds of families,
until the wife sat in rags and the daughters
| wsre disgraced and the sons grew up TO the
| same infamous practices or took short cut
| to destruction across the murderer's scat
fold. Homo has lost all charms for the
| gambler How tame are the children's
| caresses and wife's devotion to the gam
domestic HEARTH There must be louder
laughter, and something to win and
| something TO lose; an excitement to
drive the heart faster and flip the
blood and fire the imagination. No
home, however bright, can keep back the
gamester. The sweet call of love bounds
| back from his iron soul and all endear-
ments are consumed in the fame of his pas
sion. The family Bible will go after all
other treasures are gone, and il his crown in
| heaven were put into his hand he would
say: Here goes one more game, my boys!
On this one throw l stake my crown of
| heaven A young man in London on COM
ing of age received fortune of one hun
bred and twenty thousand dollars, and,
| through gambling, in three years was
thrown on his mother for support. An only
son went to a southern city; he was rich,
intellectual and elegant in manners. His
| parents gave him on his departure
from home their last blessing. The sharp
ers got hold of him. They fattered him.
They lured him to the gaming-table and let
him win almost every time for good
while and patted him on the back and said,
"First-rate player.n But, fully in their
grasp, they leeced him; aud his thirty
thousand dollars were lost. Last of all he
put up his watch and lost that. Then he
began to think of his home, and his old
father and mother, and wrote thus:
"My beloved PARENTS You will doubtless
feel monetary joy at the reception of
this letter from the child Of your bosom, on
whom you have lavished all the fsvors Of
your declining years But should feeling
of Joy for moment spring up in your
hearts when you should have received this
from me, cherish it not. have fallen deep
never to rise. Those grey hairs that l
should have honored and protected l shall
bring down with sorrow to the grave.
will not curse my destroyer. but OF may
God avenge the wrongs and impoSitions
practiced upon the unwary in a way that
shall best please him. This, my dear par
ents. is the last letter you will ever receive
from me. l humbly pray your forgive
ness. 1t is my dying prayer. Long be-
fore you receive this letter from rue the
cold grave will have closed upon me for
ever. Life to me is insupporUable. | can
not nay, will not suffer the shame of
having ruined you. Forget and forgive is
the dying prayer Of your unfortunate son"
The old father came to the postofice. got
the letter and feel to the floor. They
thought he was dead at first; but they
brushed back the white hair from his brow
and famed him. He had only tainted.
wish he had been dead; for what is life
worth to af ather after his son is Destroyed
> When things go wrong at u gaming table
> they shout Foul FOUL" Over all the
, | %~h1 -, II