St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-24
4 POKER SENSATION,
Saint Paul Ladies Indulge
Strongly in the Great
American Game,
And Rev. Andrews, Of Christ
Church, Warns Them
From the Pulpit.
The Divine Tells a Globe Re-
porter He Meant Every
Word OF It.
A Sensation Created in Polite
Poker Circles as the
Result.


morning by Rev. Charles d. Andrews,
rector of Christ church, has created
nothing short of a decided sensation
among church-going people. Whatever
the reverend gentleman'S text may have
heen, his discourse was directed against
the spirit of tolerance exhibited by So
ciety nowadays towards certain
forms of vice which the Rev
Andrews asserts are more aggravated
o-day than they were fifty years ago.
In short he preached against gambling,
variety thraters, suggestive pc sters and
the ballet.
The sermon was nothing if not
pointed. 1t was Intentionally so. The
whole system of gaming was con-
demned in absolutely unmlStakable
terms; but the professional gambler,
while involved in the general cOndem-
nation, was not the sole subject Of the
preachers sOlicitude, by any means.
He pursued the gameSter of the worst
type to his very fireside, where sat
his wife and daughters, and proved
that the general decentralization in
vOlVed not alone those of the sterner
sex. The home, that one place Of all
others which should be the synonym for
purity in everything that the word I'M
piled, had been converted into a gam
bling den. The ethics of poker and
other vicious games were as familiar to
wives and daughters as to brothers and
fathers, and there was reliable proof
that the former indulged!in even greater
excuses than the latter i'll many in
stances. Vice undisguised Haunted
itself unchecked in the very face of
virtue, as the latter was represented in
the young men and girls of the period,
and parents were regarding with indif-
ference the pitfalls to which they were
exposed. Nay, more than that, the
mothers of families gained for money
in the very midst of their families, and
taught those whom it was their right
to protect from evil the very
practices which would insure their
moral downfall. The most dangerous
gambler in the world to-day was the
woman gambler. The family gaming
table was the most aggravated of all eX-
istent evils. and in st. Paul the vice of
gaming had assumed proportions which
necessitated the calling of peremDtory
halt.
Last evening a representative Of the
GLOBE called on Rev. Mr.. Andrews at
the rectory. In regard to the sermon
which has caused Juror among the
four hundred, he said:
Il have no manuscript OF the sermon.
1t was never written; 1t never will be,
so far as | know. l spoke my mind
without the aid of notes, on that occa-
sion"
'What particular class of gamblers
was it you desired to reach?"
hof 10 vnintaH nitncfinI, I
directed my remarks against gambling.
end. First and chiefly, however, against
gaming by women. What | particularly
condemn is the tolerance of society
generally of vicousness such as exists
and is to be seen at every turn"
when you speak of the whole sys-
TEN of gambling, do you include such
games as progressive euchre, played
for favors, or merely games played for
a money Stake?"
lit matters not what the stake may
be. The principle is the same. CON
denim the principle. The gambler for
pennies is equally guilty with the gam
bier who stakes fortune"
''In speaking OF women gamblers, was
your intention to generaliZe or to call
to account members Of your own flock?"
both. AS have said, l condemned
gambling as a whole; that made it gen.
eral. Chiefly | desired to call halt on
the march of the gaming vice here in our
very midst. l referred to women in
St. Paul more pointedly than to women
in Monaco"
Had you then reason to believe that
gambling was prevalent vice in st.
Paul hOmes?'
The best of reasons. 1t does exist
1t is one of the rel gning evils. The
very people to whom we must needs
look for the education and moral train
ing of the generation to come are smil-
ingly tolerant of the very vices which
caused the everlasting dow nfall of
Rome, Greece and France. America is
drifting rapidly toward the same cha
otto moral conditions that have proved
the destruction of nations in the past.
Mothers play poker at home, or in the
homes of others, while their sons are at
the variety theater; pretty domestic
picture, indeed
You also include in your arraign-
ment the theatrical poster, did you
nOt?"
Certainly. How can any pure
woman remain pure III thought and
action when confronted at every turn
by nearly nude pictures, suggestive in
their attitudes, eXecrable in their eX-
ecution, immoral in their tendencies. l
certainly included this among the other
crying vices against which the voice Of
the church must be raised in tones suf-
fciently loud to be heard, and terms
sufficiently strong to be unmistakable
in their meaning"
lon the same principle, then, you OBJ
ject to the ballet, comic opera, or any
theatrical or other performance which
invokes an expose OF their limbs by the
participants"
Il do. The entire train of immorall-
ties of this character, which have come
to be regarded with an unholy tolerance.
are to be condemned in the strongest
terms possible"
Are you aware that your sermon of
Sunday has since been the subject of
widespread discussion-in short, that it
has caused a sensation?''
Sensation IS scarcely the word. 1t
may have attracted attention. | hope it
has. That it is being discussed is the
best proof, perhaps. that it was effect
i've. Let US hope that such is the caSe.''