Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-02-27
THE GAMBLING PLAGUE.
DIR. TALMAGE STARTS A NEW
SERIES OF SERMONS.
His Subject -" The Ten Plaques OF
Modern Gotham. The Gambling
Evil the First 10 Receive Attention.

be proposes TO preach on The Ten
plaques of These Three Cities" In this
sermon, which is the first OF the series, he
pays his attention TO the prevalent curse oil
gambling. He preached 1t in the Academy
of Music in Brooklyn, in the morning, ana
again this evening in this city. His text
was taken from Exodus 9. 1914: Let my
people go that they may serve me; Tor
will at this time send all my plaques"
Last winter in tae Museum at Caro-
Egypt, i saw the mummy or embalmed
body of Pharaoh, the oppressor OF the
ancient lsraelites Visible are the very
teeth that he CRASHED against the lsraeiit-
ish brickmakers. the sockets OF the merci-
less eyes with which he looked upon the
overburdened people Of God, the hair that
foated in the breeze off the Red Sea, the
very lips with which he commanded them
to make bricks without straw Thousands
of years after, when the wrappings OF the
mummy were unrolled, old Pharaoh lifted
up his arm as if in imploration, but his
skinny bones cannot again clutch his shat
tered sceptre. 1t was 10 compel that
| tyrant TO let the oppressed 90 free that the
memorable Ten Plaques were sent. Sailing
the Nile and walking amid the ruins OF
Egyptian cities, l saw no remains OF those
plaques that smote the water or the ar
None of the frogs croaked in the one, none
of the locusts sounded their rattle in the
other, and the cattle bore no sign or the
murrain. and through the starry nights
lowering about the pyram ids no destroying
angel swept his wing. But there are ten
plaques still singing and befouling and
cursing our cities, and, like angels OF wrath,
shifting not only the first born but the last
born.
Brooklyn, New York and Jersey City,
though called three. arc practically one.
The bridge already fastening two of them
together will be followed by other
bridges and by tunnels from both New
Jersey and Long Island shores, until what
is true now. will. as the years go by, be-
come more emphatically true. The aver
age condition of public morals in this
cluster of cities is as good if not better
than in any other part of the world.
Pride of city is natural to men at all times,
if they live, or have lived, in metropolis
noted for dignity or prowess. Caesar
boosted of his native Rome; Lycurgus of
Sparta: Virgil of Andes; Demosthenes OF
Athens Archimedes Of Syracuse; and
Paul of Tarsus. | should suspect man
of se-heartedness who carried about with
him no feeling Of complacency in regard to
the place of his residence; who gloried not
in its arts. or arms, or behavior; who
looked with no exultatiou upon its evil
dences of prosperity, its artistic embellish-
ments. and its scientific attachments.
All this premise in opening this course
of sermons on the Ten Plaques OF these
} Three Cities, lest some stupid man might
saw am deprecating the place of my resi-
dence. / speak to you today concerning
the Plague of Gambling Every man and
woman in this house ought to be interested
in this theme.
( Gambling is the risking of something
more or less valuable in the hope of win
ming more than you hazard. The instru
ments of gaming may differ but the princi
pie is the same The suffiing and dealing
I Of cards, however full of temptation, is no
Y gambling. unless stakes are put up; while
a on the other hand, gambling may be carried
on without cards or dice, or billiards or
ten-pin alley. The man who bets on horses
on elections. on battles-the man who deal
Q In fancy" stocks. or conducts business
Il which hazards extra capital, or goes int
transactions without foundation, but de
pendent upon what men call luck, is
gambler. Whatever you expect to re
8 from your neighbor without Offering a
. equivalent in time or money or skill,
Lottery tickets and lottery policies com
into the same category. Fairs for In
J. founding of hospitals, schools and churche:
+ conducted on the rafting system, com
under the same denomination. Do mo-
therefore. associate gambling nccessaril
" with, any instrument or game, or time {
n pla,<. or think the principle depends upo
whether you play for n glass or wine {
one hundred shares of railroad stool
10 Whether you patronize auction pools,
Il French mutuals," or "book- making,
n whether you employ faro or billiard
-, rondo and keno. cards or bagatele, the ven
idea of the thing is dishonest; for II pr
u fesses 10 bestow upon you good for whiC
" you give no equivalent
~ 1t estimated that every day in Christie
NJ dom eighty million dollars pass from har
to hand through gambling practices, al
every year in Christendom one hundr
Us and twenty-threo billion one hundred IN
1e lion dollars change hands in that wa
nd There are in this cluster OF cities abo
= eight hundred confessed gambling esta
lishments. There are about three thousal
five hundred professional gamblers. o
of the eight hundred gambling establis
tic ments. how many do you suppose proit
in. 10 be honest? Ten. These ten protest.
i 10 DC nOutSJ DftduS' WY hip ihtANAy
ante-chamber TO the seven hundred q
es ninety that are acknowledged fraudulei
TX, These are first-class gambling establis
ne ments. You 60 up the marble stairs.
no ring the bell The liveried servant int
duces you. The walls are lavender-tint'
NV The mantles are Of Vermont marble. Il
'ln pictures are "Jephthah's Daughter a
elk Dore's - Dantes and Virgirs Frozen Req
MS of He'll" most appropriate selection, {
=, last, for the place. There is the roule
table. the finest, the costliest, the most
JUS quisite piece of furniture in the Uni
Ter States. There is the banqueting-roo
i where, free of charge to the guests, J
!, may find the plate, and viands, and win
and cigars, sunptuous beyond paral
Then you come 10 the seconded
gambling establishment To il you are
an troduced by card through some ''ror
Of in" Having entered, you must cit
gamble or fight. Sanded cards, dice loa
roy with quicksilver. poor drinks will s.
cir help you TO get rid Of all your money t.