Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-02-28

in that place. or your body will be thrown
bloody into the street, or dead into the East
River. You go along little further and find
thepolicy establishment. In that place you bet
on numbers. Betting on two numbers is called
saddle, y betting on three numbers is called
''gig, betting on four numbers is called
'shorsen and there ara thousands OF our
young men leaDing into that saddle and
mounting the gig" and behind that
'horse" riding to perdition. There is always
one kind of sgu the door Exchange"
most appropriate title for the door, for
there in that room, man exchanges health,
peace and heaven for loss of health, loss or
home loss of family loss of immortal soul.
Exchange sure enough and infinite enough.
Men wishing to gamble will find places
just suited to their capacity, not only IN
the underground oyster cellar, or at the
table back Of the curtain, covered with
greasy cards. or in the steamboat smoking
cabin, where thu bloated wretch with rings
in his ears instead Of his nose deals the pack,
and winzs in the unsuspecting traveller
provi ling free drinks all around-but in
gilled parlors and amid gorgeous surround
ings.
Again, this sin WORKS ruin BY ailhng indus
try A man used to reaping scores or hun
dreds or thousandso of dollars from the gaming
table will not be content with slow work. He
win say: What is the use of trying to make
these fifty dollars in my store when can get
tBillysg" You never knew confirmed
gambler who was industrious. The men
gwen TO this vice spend their time, not ac-
lively engaged in the game, in ldleness or
INVESTIGATION or sleep, or in corrupting new
victims. Th!s sin has dullei the carpenters
saw and cut the band of the factory wheel,
sunk the cargo broken the teeth of the
farmers harrow and sent a strange light
ming to shatter the battery of the phfloso-
pher The very first idea in gaming is at
war with all the industries of society.
This crime is getting its lever under many
a mercantile house i'll our great cities, and
before long down will come the great estab-
lishment crushing reputation, home, COM
fort and immortal souls. How it diverts and
sinks capital may be inferred from some
authentic statement before u.s. The ten gam
ing houses that once were authorized in Paris
passed through banks, yearly, tares hundred
and twenty-five millions of francs. Where
Goes all the money come from? The whole
world is robbie {! What is most sad, there
are no consultations for the loss and suffering
entaied by gaming Ii men fail in lawful
business, God pities and society commiser-
ates: but where in the Bible or in society is
there any consolation for the gambler? From
what tree OK the forest ooZes there balm that
can s0othe the gamester's heart? In that
bottle where God keeps the tears of His chill
dren are there any tears of the gambler? Do
the winds that come to kiss the faded cheek
of sickness, and to cool the heated brow of
the laborer whisper hope and cheer to the
emaciated victim of the game of hazard?
When an honest man is in trouble he has
sympathy. "Poor fellowp they say. But
do gamblers come to weep at the agonies of
the gambler?
In Northumberland was one of the finest
estates in England. Mr.. Porter owned it,
and in year gambled it all away. Having
lost the last acre of the estate he came
flfl from tbA sal OOf oar
riage; went back, put up his horses and car
rage and tow. 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 to the saloon and be-
fore great while had won twenty thousand
pounds He died at lass a beggar in st.
Giles How many gamblers felt sorry for
Mr.. Porter? Who consoled him on the loss
of his estate9 What gambler subscribed to
put a stone over the poor mans graveg Not
onei
furthermore, this sin is the source of un-
coupt9 / dishonesties. The game of hazard
Itself is often a game OF cheat. How many
tricks and receptions in the dealing of the
cards! The opponents hand is ofttimeS
found out by fraud. Cards are marked so
that they may De designated from the back.
Expert ganesters have their accomplices
and one wink may decide the game. The dice
have been found loaded with piatina, so that
are introduced by the gamblers unobserved
by honest men who have come into play; and
this accounts for the fact that ninety-nine
out of a hundred who gamble, however
wealthy they began, at the end are found to
be poor, miserable, ragged wretches, that
would not now be allowed to sit on the door
step of the house that they once owned. In
gambling house in San Francisco a young
man having just come from the mines de-
posted large sum upon the ace, and won
twenty-five thousand dollars But the tide
turns. Intense excitement comes upon the
counteuances of all. Slowly the cards went
forth. Every eye is fixed. Not sound is
heard until the ace is revealed favorable to
the bank. There are shouts of Foul"
"Foulm but the keepers of the table produce
their pistols, and the uproaris silenced and the
bank has won ninety-five thousand dollars
Do you call this a game of chance? There is
no chance about it.
But these dishonesties in carrying on of
the game are nothing when compared With
the frauds which are committed in order to
get money to 90 on with the nefarious 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 counterfeit signature, emptied
the bankers money vault and welded the
assas sins dagger. There is 10 depth OF mean
ness TO which il will not stoop. There is no
cruelty at which it is appalled,. There is no
warning OF God that it will not dare. Merc-
less, unappeasable, fiercer and wilder it
binds it hardens it rends, it blasts, it
brushes, it damnS. 1t has peopled our pris-
ons and lunatic aSyiums. How many rail-
road agents and cashiers and trustees
of funds it has driven to dis
grace, in generation and suicide! Wit
ness years ago a cashier of railroad who
stole one hundred and three thousand do
lars to carry on his gaming practices. WIG
ness forty thousand dollars stolen from a
Brooklyn bank within the memory of many
Of you and the one hundred and eighty
thousand dollars taken from Wall street
1 insurance company for the same purposel
/ These are only illustrations on a large scale
of the robberies every day committed for
the purpose of carrying out the designs Of
gamblers. Hundreds of thousands of dol
/ lars every year leak ont without observa-
on from the merchants till into the
gambling hell. A man in Loudon keeping
one of these gambling houses boosted that
4 he had ruined nobleman day: but if all
/ the saloons of this land were TO speak out
/ they might utter a more infamous boast,
/ for they have destroyed thousand noble
men year.
Notice also the effect of tho crime upon
/ domestic happiness. 1t has sent its ruthless
| plowshare through hundreds of families. I'M
] til the wife sat IN rags, and the daughters
/ same infamous practices Or took short cut
/ to obstruction across the murdsrers scaffoM.
| Home has lost all charms for the gambler.
How tame are the chldren's caresses and
7 wlte'S devotion to the gamn er, How drearily
| the fire burrs on the domestic hearth There
must be louder laughter and something to
win and something to lose: an excitement to
drive the heart faster aud Flip the blood
I and fire the imaglDation. No home, however
bright, can keep back the gamester The
sweet cal Of love bounds back from his iron
soul, and all the Ell iearments are consumed
! in tho flames of his passion The family
I Bible viii go after all other treasures are lost,
and if his crown in heaven were put into his
1 hand be would cry: "tIere goes ono more
! game, my boySi On this one throw |
! stake my crown in heaven A young
man in london, on coming OF age,
received a fortune of one hundred aud
twenty thousand dollars, and through gam
bling, i'll three years was thrown on his
moUner Tor support. An onry son went TO a
| southern city; he was rich, intellectual ami
| elegant jill manners His parents gave him
! on his departure from home their last bless
| Ing. The sharpers got hold of him. They
| battered hin. They lured him to the gam
ing table, and lei him win almost every time
for good while, and patted him on the
pack aud sad, FIRST rat player But full
| ~ IN their grasp they Il him and his
thirty thousand dollars were lost Last of
all he put up his watch and lost that. Then
| ne began to think of his home and his old
father ana mother, aud wrote thus:
N'My Beloved Parents-You will doubtless
Teel a nomentary JOY at the reception Of this
letter from the child of your bosom. on
whom you have lavishad all the favors of
your declining years. Bat should feeling