The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-02-25

selves, among the tombs, now sit,
clothed and in their right minds;
or Of the Magdalen asylurns, where
the lost one of the streets comes to
bathe the Saviour's feet with her tears,
and wipe them with the hairs of her
head-conhding in the pardon of Him who
said: LET him who Is without sin cast
the first stone at her" need pot 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-armed
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 tosses up in our
fountains. and Kisses in our steam en-
gines, and showers out the confagra-
tion, 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: 81 will; be thou
clean"
All this 1 premise in opening this
course Of sermons on the ten plaques Of
these three cities, lest some stupid man
might say am depreeiating the place
Of my residence. speak to you to-day
concerning the plague Of gambling.
Every man and woman in this house
ought to be interested in this theme.
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 society. He said,
mo, can have no interest in such an
organization. am In no wise affected
by that evil" At that very time his
son, who was his partner in business,
was one of the heaviest players in
Hearne's famous gaming establishment
Another refused his patronage on, the
same ground, not knowing that his first
bcokkeeper, though receiving salary
of only thousand dollars, was losing
from fifty TO one hundred dollars per
night. The president of railroad COM
pany refused to patronize the institu-
ton, saying: THAT society is good for
the defense OF merchants, but we rail-
road people are not injured by this
evil;" not knowing that, at that very
time, two Of his conductors were spend
ing three nights of each week at faro
tables in New York. Directly or in
directly, this evil strikes at the whole
world.
Gambling is the risldng Of something
more or less valuable in the hope Of
winning more than you hazard. The in
struments Of gaming may differ, but
the principle is the same. The shut
fling and dealing cards, however full
Of temptation, is not gambling, unless
stakes are put up; while, on the other
hand, gambling may be carried on with
out cards or dice, or billiards or a ten
pin alley. The man who bets on horses,
on elections, on battles-the man who
deals In fancy" stocks or conducts a
business which hazards extra capital, or
goes into transactions without founda-
ton, but dependent upon what men call
"luck," Is a gambler. Whatever you
expect to get from your neighbor with
out offering an equivalent in money
or time or skill, is either the
product Of theft or gaming. Lot
terry tickets and lottery policies
come into the same category. Fairs for
the founding Of hospitals, schools and
churches, conducted on the rafting
system, come under the same denomi-
nation. Do not, therefore, associate
gambling necessarily with any instru-
ment, or game, or time, or place, or
think the principle depends upon
whether you play for glass Of wine or
100 shares OF railroad stock Whether
you patronize auction pools" French
mutuals." or "book making" whether
you employ faro or billiards, rondo and
keno, cards or bagatelle; the very idea
Of the thing is dishonest, for II processes
70 bestow upon you good for which
you give no equivalent.
II is estimated that every day in Chris
tendon, eighty million dollars pass from
hand to hand through gambling prac-
tices. and every year in Christendom
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 establishments.
There are about three thousand five
hundred professional gamblers Out OF
the eight hundred gambling establish
ments, how many OF them do you sup
pose profess 10 be honest? Ten. These
ten processing TO be honest because they
are merely the ante-chamber 10 the sew
en- hundred and ninety that are nc
knowledged fraudulent There are first
class gambling establishments. You 20
up the marble s1airs You ring the bell.
The liveried servant introduces you.
The walls are layender-tintcd. The
mantels are Of Vermont marble. The
pictures are "tephthah's Daughter" !"
and Dore's "Dante's and virgips Frozen
Region of He'll" u most appropriate Sc
lection, this last, for. the place. There
v the roulette table, the finest, the
eostliest, most exq isite piece Of furni-
ture In the United States. There is the
banqueting room, where, free Of charge
TO the guests, you may find the plate,
and viands, and cigars, and wines,
sumptuous beyond parallel.
Then you come 10 the second class
gambling establishment. To IL you are
introduced by card through some
"rope-in." Having entered, you must
either gamble or fight Sanded cards,
dice loaded with quicksilver, poor
drinks, viii soon help you TO get rid Of
all your money 10 tune In short meter