Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-03-12
THE GAMBLING PLAGUE.
DR. TAl.MAGE STARTS A NEW
SERIES OF SERMONS.
His Subject -" The Ten Plaques of
Modern Gotham. THE Gambling
Evil the First to Receive Attention.


Modern Gotham. The Gambling
Evil the First to Receive Attention. |
New YORK, Feb. 22, lS9l.-A decided |
iensation was produced in this city and in
Brooklyn today, by Dr. Talmage's an
nouncement of q series of sermons which !
he proposes to preach ON 1.-THE Ten
Plaques of These Three Cities" In this
sermon, which is the first of the series, he
gambling. He preached it in the Academy
Of Music in Brooklyn, in the morning, and
again this evening in this city. His text
was taken from Exodus 9. 1914: '.Let my
people go that they may serve me; for l
will at this time send all my plaques"
Last winter in tae Museum at Cairo.
Egypt, I saw the mummy or embalmed
body of Pharaoh, lhe oppressor Of the
ancient Israelites. Visible arc the very
teeth that he CRASHED against the Israelit-
ish brickmakers, the sockets of the merci-
less eyes with which he looked upon the
overburdened people of God, the hair that
foated in the breeze off the Red Sea- the
very lips with which he commanded them
to make bricks without straw. Thousands
Of years after, when the wrappings of the
mummy were unrolled, old Pharaoh lifted
up his arm as ii in imploration. but his
skinny bones cannot again clutch his shat
tered Sceptre. 1t was to compel that
tyrant to let the oppressed go free that the
memorable Ten Plaques were sent. Sailing
the Nile and walking amid the ruins of
Egyptian cities, saw no remains of those
plaques that smote the water or the air.
None of the frogs croaked in the one, none
Of the locusts sounded their rattle in the
other, and the cattle bore no sign of the
murrain, and through the starry nights
lowering about the pyramids no destroying
angel swept his wing. But there are ten
plaques still singing and befouling and
cursing our cities. and. like angels of wrath,
shifting not only the first born but the last
born.
Brooklyn, New York and Jersey City,
though called three, arc practically one.
The bridge already fastening two OF them
together will be followed by other
bridges and by tunnels from both New
Jersey and Long Island shores, until what
is true now, will, as the years go by, be-
come more emphatically true. The aver
age condition of public morals in this
cluster Of cities is as good if not better
than in any other part of the world.
Pride of city is natural to men at all times,
If they live, or have lived, in metropolis
noted for dignity or prowess. Caesar
boosted of his native Rome; Lycurgus of
| Sparta; Virgil of Andes; Demosthenes of
| Athens; Archimedes of Syracuse; and
Paul of Tarsus l should suspect man
Of base heartedness who carried about with
him no feeling of complacency in regard to
the place of his residence; who gloried not
III its arts, OF arms, or behavior; who
ooked with no exultation upon its evil
aences of prosperity, its artistic embellish-
mcnts, and its scientific attainments.
All this premise in opening this course
of sermons on the Ten Plaques of these
Three Cities, lest some stupid man might
shy am depreciatng the place Of my resi-
lence. speak to you today concerning
the Plague of Gambling. Every man and
woman in this house ought to be interested
10 this theme.
Gambling is the rsking Of something
moro or less valuable in the hope Of win
ting more than you hazard. The instru.
ments of gaming may differ but the princi-
pie is the same. tbs surfing and dealing
Of cards. however full of temptation, is not
gambling, unless stakes are put up; while,
m the other hand, gambling may be carried
on without cards or dice, or billiards or a
ten-pn alley. The man who bets on horses,
on elections. on battles-the man who deals
in fancy" stocks, or conducts business
which hazards extra capital, or goes into
transactions without foundation, but de.
pendent upon what men call ''luck," is @
gambler. Whatever you expect to &c,
from your neighbor without Offering on
equivalent in time or money or skill. is
.ther the product OF theft or gaming.
Lottery tickets and lottery policies come
into the same category. Fairs for the
founding Of hospitals, schools and churches
conducted on the rafting system, come
under the same denomination. Do not
therefore, associate gambling necessarily
with any instrument or game, or time OF
place, or think the principle depends upon
whether you play fc. a glass of wine Of
ono hundred shares of railroad stock
\ | Whether you patrOnize auction pools,
French mutuals," or shook making,
whether you employ faro or billiards
D rondo and keno. cards or bagatelle, the very
9 idea of the thing is dishonest; for it pro
fes3 es to bestow upon you good for whicl
you give no equivalent.
It's estimated that every day in Christen
: dom eighty million dollars pass from han'
n to hand through gambling practices, an,
h every year in Christendom ono hundre
!. and twenty-three billion one hundred mil
= lion; dollars change hands in that way
There are in this cluster Of cities abou
0 eight hundred confessed gambling estah
l. lishments There are shout three thousan
1--we hundred professional gamblers. Gu
IF the eight hundred gambling establish
II ments, how many do you suppose profes
Q TO be honest? Ten. These ten professin
10 be honest because they are merely tn
lnte-chamber to the seven hundred an
ninety that are acknowledged fraudulen,
p These are first-class gambling establish
Y ments. You 60 up the marble stairs Yo
n ring the bell. The liveried servant intro
a duces you. The walls are lavender-tintet
~ The mantles are Of Vermont marble. Tn
pictures ara "Jephthah's Daughter" an
l. Oore's - Dan,es and Viryirs Frozen Regio
it Of HE'LL" most appropriate selection. tn
n last, for the place. There ID the roulett
:" table, the finest, the costliest, the most e,
70 auisite piece Of furniture In the Unite
p States. There is the banQucting-