The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-03-04
a youne man. havi1g suddenly n

fool, into the ditch, Dr sending him,
with the drulhaTd'S h ccoush, stagger-
ing up the street whert his family lives.
But gambling does notin that way ex-
pose It's victims, The gambler may be
eaten up by the gamblers passion, yet
you only discover it by the greed IN his
eyes. the hardness II! MS features, the
nervous restle>SnesS, the threadhare
coat and his embarrassed business. \ ct
he is on the road to hell, and no preach
er's voice or startling warning. or
Wife's entreatv. can make him stay Tor
a moment his headlnng career. The
Internal spell is on him; a giant IS
aroused within; and though you bind
him with cables. they would part like
thread: and though you fasten him
seven times round with chains, they
would snap like rGsted wire; and
though you piled up II his path heaven
high Bibles, tracts and sermons. and on
the top should set the cross Of the Son
OF God. over Them all the gambler
would leap, like a roe over the rocks,
on his way TO perdiuon.
Again. this sin works ruin by Killing
industry. \ man used to reaplng
scores or hundreds, or thousands OF
dollars from the gambling table viii
not be content with his slow work. He
will say, What is the use Of trying to
make these S50in my store when l can
get five times that in half an hour down
at 'Bllly'S?" You never knew con-
tirmed gambler who was industrious.
The men given to this vice spend their
time, not actively employed IN the
game, in ldleneSS, or IN lnlntoXlcatlon, or
sleep, or in corruptlng new victims.
Tie sin has dulled the carpenters saw,
ard cut the band Of the factory wheel,
sunk the cargo, broken the teeth OF the
farmers harrow and sent strange
lightning to shatter the battery of the
philosopher. The very first idea IN
gaming is at war with all the indus
tries OF society.
But these dishonesties in the carry
ing oD of the game are nothing when
compared with the frauds which are
com mitieG in order to get money to 60
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 Sig
nature, emptied the bankers money
vault and welded the aSsas sins dagger.
There is 20 depth OF the meanness to
which it will not stoop. There IS no
cruelty at which it is appalled,. There
is no warning OF God that it will not
dare. Merciless, unappeasable, tiercer
and wilder it blinds, it hardenS, it
rends, it blasts, it cruShes, it damns.
1t has peopled our prisons and lunatlc
aSylamS, How many railroad agents
and cashiers and trustees of funds it
has driven to disgrace, incarceration
and suicide. Witness years ago a cash.
ier OF railroad who stole 100000 to
carry on his gaming practices. Witness
$4,000 stolen from Brooklyn bank
within the memory Of many of YOU,
and the $4,000 taken from Wall
street insurance company for the same
purpose. These are only illustrations
on a large scale of the robberles every
day committed for the purpse of carry
Ing out the designs of gamblers. Hun
dreds of thousands of dollars every
year leak out without observation from
the merchants till into the gambling
hell. A man in London keeping one
of these gambling houses, boasted that
he had ruined nobleman day; but II
all the gambling saloons OF this land
were to speak out, they would utter a
more infamous boast, for they have de-
stroyed thousand noble men a year.
Notice also the effect Of this crime
upon domestic happiness. 1t has sent
its ruthless plowshare through hun
dreds of families ~s.Itil the wife sat IN
rags and ses daughters were disgraced
ana the sons grew up to the same in
famous practices or took short cut to
destruction across the murderer'S scat
fold. Home has lost all charms for the
gambler. How tame are the children's
careSSeS and a wife'S devotion to the
gambler! How drearily the ire burns
on the domestic hearth! There must
be louder laughter, and something to
win ana something TO lose; al excite
ment to drive the heart faster and I'll.
lip the blood and fire the Imagination.
No home however bright, can keep
back the CANISTER. The sweet call OF
love bounds back from his iron soul,
and ali endearmentS are consumed ID
the flame OF his passion. The family
Bible will go after all other treasures
are lost, ard if his crown IN heaven
were put into his hand he would cry:
Here goes one more game, my boys!
On this one throw stake my crown OF
heaven." A young man IN London on
coming OF age received a fortune OF
$4,000, and, through gambling, IN
three years was thrown on his mother
for support. An only son went to
Southern city; be was rich. lngellectu-
al and elegant in manners. His parents
gave him on his departure from home
their last blessing The sharpers got
hold of him. They fiattered him. They
lured him to the gamlng-table and let
him win almost every time for good
while, ond patted him on the back and
said, ''First-rate player" But fully IN
their grasp, they feeced him; and 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 a momentary Joy at the
reception OF this letter from the child
o. your bosom. on whom YOU have Law
ished all the favo-s of you declining
years. But should a feeling of JOY for
q moment spring up in your hearts
when you should have received this
from me, cherish it not. | have fallen
deep-never to rise. Those gray hairs
that should have honored and p1o.
tected l shall bring down with sorrow
to the grave. I will not curse my des-
trover; but oh. may God avenge the
wrongs and impositions practiced upon
the unwary in a way that shall best
please him. This, my dear parents, is
the last letter you will ever receive
from me- l hurb'y ask forgiveness.
1t is my dying prayer.
The old father came to the postofilce,
got the letter and fell to the floor.