Connecticut western news., 1891-02-25

agony of famine and our ships have not put out with breadstuffsl What street of Damascus or Beyrout OF Madras that has not heard the step of our mis- sionaries! What struggle for national life in which our citizens have not poured their blood into the trenchesl What gallery of exquisite art in which our painters have not hung their pict- ures! What department of literature or science to which our scholars have not contributedl
 l need not speak of our public schools. where the children of the cord wainer and milkman and glassblower stand by the side of the flattered sons of merchant princes; or of the insane asylums on all these islands, where they who went cutting themselves among the tombs now sit, clothed and in their right minds; or of the Magdalen asy lums, where the lost one of the street comes to bathe the Saviors feet with her tears and wipe them with the hairs of her head, confiding in the pardon of him who said, "Let him who is with out sin cast the first stone at her."
 Ineed not speak of the institutions for the blind, the lame, the deaf and the dumb, for the incurables, the widow, the orphan, and the outcast; or of the thousand-arned machinery that sends streaming down from the reservoirs the clear, bright, sparkling, God given water that rushes through our aqueducts and dashes out of the hydrants, and losses up in our fount aims, and misses in our steam engines, and showers out the conflagration, and sprinkles from the baptismal font of our churches; and with silver note, and golden sparkle, and crystalline chime. says to hundreds of thousands of our population, in the authentic words of him who said. II will be thou cleanr'
 All this premise in opening this course of sermons on the ten plaques of these three cities. lest some stupid man might say am depreciating the place of my residence Ispeak to you today concerning the plague of gam bling Every man and woman in this house ought to be interested in this theme.
 THE PLAGUE OF GAMBLING.
 Some years ago. when an association for the suppression of gambling was or ganized an agent of the association came to prominent citizen and asked him to patronize the association. He said. No, have no interest in such an organization I am in no wise af fected by that evil" At that very time his son, who was his partner in busi ness. was one of the heaviest players in Hearne's famous gambling establish lishlnent. Another refused his patron age on the same ground, not knowing that his first bookkeeper, though re ceiving salary of only a thousand dol, lars, was losing trom fifty to one L1n- dred dollars per night. The president of a railroad company refused to pat ronize the institution, saying, That society is good for the defense of mer- chants, but we railroad people are not injured by this evil" not knowing that at that very time two of his conductors were spending three nights of each week at faro tables in New York. Di rectly or indirectly, this evil strikes at the whole world.
 Gambling is the risking of something mora or less valuable in the hope ot winning more than you hazard. The instruments of gaming may differ, but the principle is the same. The shuf1ine and dealing cards, however full o1 temptation, is not gambling unless stakes are put up; while, on the othe, hand, gambling may be carried on with out cards or dice, or billiards or ten pin alley The man who bets on horses on elections, on battles-the man who deals in fancy" stocks, or conducts 6 business which hazards extra capital, o, goes into transactions without founda tion, but dependent upon what men call luck" is gambler.
 Whatever you expect to get from your neighbor without offering ar equivalent in money or time or skill is either the product of theft or gaming. Lottery tickets and lottery policies come into the same category. Fairs fo, the founding of hospitals, schools and churches conducted on the rafding sys tenn come under the same denomina tion Do not. therefore, associate gam bling necessarily with any instrument or game or time or place or think the principle depends upon whether you play for glass of wine or one hundred shares of railroad stock. Whether you patronize auction pools." French mutuals" or "book making" whethe, you employ faro or billiards, rondo and keno, cards or bagatelle, the very idea of >lse thing is dishonest, for it pro l fesses to bestow upon you good fol which you give no equivalent.
 EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS EVERY DAY It is estimated that every day ir 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 dollar, change hands in that way. There art in this cluster of cities about fight hundred confessed gambling establish me,ts. There are about three thou sand five hundred professional gam blers Out of the eight hundred gam
 bling establishments, how many of then do you suppose profess :, b. honest Ten. These ten profess to be homes
 because they are merely the ante chamber to the seven hundred ant | ninety that are acknowledged fraudu
 lent
 There are first class gambling estab