Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-02-28


clean!"
All this I premise in opening this
course of sermons on tho ten plngues
of these three Giles, lest some stupid
man might say an deprcciatins the
place of my residence. speak to you
today concerning the plague of gam
Lling. Every man and woman in this
house ought to be interested in this
theme
TUE PLAGUE or GAMBLING.
Some years ago, when oil association
for the suppression of gambling was or
gained, an agent of the association
c;unc to prominent citizen and asked
him to patronize the association. He
said, mo, | have no interest i'll such
ON organization. am in no visa Of
fectcd by that evil" 1T that very time
Ills son, who was his partner in bust
ness, was one Of the heaviest players in
IIcarnc's famous gambling establish
lishlnent. Another refused his patron
age on the samo ground, not knowing
that his first bookkccpcr, though re-
ceiving salary of only a thousand dol
lars wns losing from fifty to one hra-
drcd dollars per night. Tho president
of railroad company refused to pat
ronize tho Institution, saying, THAT
society is good fer the defense OF iner-
chants but we railroad people arc not
injured by this evil" not knowing that
at that very time two OF his conductors
were spending tlirco nights of each
week at faro tables in New York I'll,
rcctiy or indirectly, this evil strikes at
the whole world.
Gambling is the rislzins OF something
moro or less valuable in the hope of
winning moro than you hazard. The
instruments Of gaming may differ, but
the principle is tho same. The shutting
and dealing cards, however full of
temptation, is not gambling unless
stakes are put up; while, on The other
hand gambling may becarried on with
out cards or dice, or billiards or ten
pin alley. The maA who bets on horses.
on elections, on battles man who
deals in fancy stocks, or conducts u
business which hazards extra capital, or
goes into transactions without founda-
ton, but dependent upon what men
cali ''luck, is.a gambler.
Whatever you expect to get from
your neighbor without offering an
equivalent in money or time or skill is
either the product of theft or gaming.
Lottery tickets and lottery policies
come into tho same category. Fairs for
the founding of hospitals, schools and
churches conducted on the raffling sys-
tenn come under the same donolnina-
ton. DO not, therefore, associate gam
bling necessarily with any instrument
or gamo or time or place or think the
principle depends upon whether you
play for n glass of wine or one hundred
shares of railroad stock. Whether you
patronizc auction pools. French
mutuals" or 'boo!z making" whether
you employ faro or billiards, rondo and
keno, cards or bagatelie, tho very idea
of the thing is dishonest, for it pro-
fesses to bcstow upon you good for
which you give no equivalent.
EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS EVERY DAY.
1t is estimated that every day in
Christendom eighty million dollars pass
from hand to hand through gambling
practices, and every year in Christen-
dom one hundred and twenty-three
billion one hundred million dollars
change hands in that way. There are
In this cluster of cities about eight
hundred confessed gambling establish
nnents. There arc about Three thou
sand five l:urGlct! professional gam
bters. Out of the eight Hundred gam
hing establishments, low many OF them
do you suppose profess to be honests
Ten. These ten profess to be honest
because they arc merely the ante
chamber to the seven hundred and
ninety that arc acknowledged fraudu-
lent
There arc first class gambling estab-
lishments. You go up the marble
stairs. You ring the bell. The liver
led servant Introduces you. Tie walls
arc lavender tinted. The mantcls arc
of Vermont marble. The picturesque
"Jephthah's Daughter" and Dore's
.Danto's and yirgil's Frozen Region Of
IIcll'-a most appropriate selection,
this last, for the place. There is the
roulette tahle, the finest, the costlest,
most exquisite piece of furniturei in the
United States There is the banquet
ing room where, free of charge to the
guests, you may find the plate and vi
ands and wines ind cigars sumptuous
beyond parallel.
Then you CONC to the second class
calnp!in. establishment. To it you are