Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1891-02-26
THE GAMBLING PLAGUE.
'DR. TALMAGE STARTS A NEW
SERIES OF SERMONS.

j
His Subject -" Tho Ten Plaques OF
Modern Gotham, Tho Gambling
EVIL the First 20 Receive Attention.
New YoRx, Feb. %, lso1.--A decided
sensation was produced In this city and in
'Brooklyn today, by DIR. Talmage's an
mouncemont of series OF sermons which
Iho proposes 10 preach on "'rho Ten
Plaques Of These Three Cities." In this
sermon, which is the first OF tho series, ho
pays his attention to the prevalent curse OF
gambling. He preached It in the Academy
OF Music in Brooklyn, IN the morning, and
again this evening In this city. His text
was taken from Exodus 0. 1874; "Let my
people so that they may serve me; for l
will at this time send all my plaques"
Last winter In tao Museum ut Cairo,
Egypt | saw tho mummy or ombalmed
body OF Pharaoh, tho oppr2ssor of tho
ancient Israelitcs. Visible nro tho vcry
teoth that he snashed against tho lsraeit-
ish brickmakors, tho sockets of tho merei-
loss eyes with which no looked upon tho
overburdened people of God, tho hair that
tioated In the breeze OF the Rcd Sea. the
very lips with which no commanded them
TO make bricks without straw. Thousands
OF years after, when tho wrappings OF the
mummy were unrollod, old Pharaoh lifted
up his arm as II in imploratlon, but his
skinny bones cannot again clutch his shat
tered sceptre. II was TO compel that
tyrant TO lot the oppressed go free that tho
memorable Ten Plaques were sent, Sailing
tho Milo and walking amid tho ruins OF
Egyptian cities, saw no romans OF those
plaques that smoto the water or tho air
None of the frogs croaked In tho one, mono
OF the locusts sounded their ratio IN tho
other, and the cattle bore no sign OF tho
murran, aud through tho starry nights
lowering about the pyramids no destroying
angel swept his wing. But there arc ten
plaques still singing ana befouling and
cursing our Cities and, like angels Of wrath,
shifting not only the first born but tho last
born,
Brooklyn, New York and Jersey City,
though called three, arc practically oao.
Tho 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 truo now, will as the years 80 by, bo-
come more emphatically true. The aver
ago condition OF public morals in this
cluster OF cities is us good II not better
than In any other part Of tho world
Pride OF city Is natural TO men ut all times
| IL they live, or have lived, In metropolis
noted for dignity or prowcss, Caesar
boosted OF his native Rome; Lycurgus OF
| Sparta; Virgil Of Andes; Dcmosthcnos OF
! Athens; Archmcdes of Syracuse; and
| Paul of Tarsus. | should suspect man
| OF base hcartednoss who carried about with
him no feeling OF compluccncy in regard to
| tho place of his residence; who glorlcd not
| in Its arts, or arms, on behavior; who
| looked with no cxultatIon upon It's owl
dences of prosperity, its artistic ombclllsh-
mcnts, and its scientific attainmcnts
All this premise IN opening this course
| of sermons on the Ten Plaques of these
| Three Cities lest some stupid man might
say | am doprcciatng the place OF my resi-
dence. speak 10 you today concerning
the Plague OF Gambling. Every man and
woman Ia this house ought TO DO Interested
in this theme.
Gambling IL tho rislsing OF something
more or less valuable In the hope OF win
ming moro than you hazard. The instru.
ments or gaming may differ bat tho princi-
| Pile is tho Same. Tho suf1iing and dealing
| OF cards, however full Of temptation, IN not
| gambling, unless stakes are put up; while
on the other hand, gambling may be carried
| on without cards or dice, on billiards or Il
| ten-pin alley. The man who bets on horses
| on elections, on battles-tho man who deals
/ in fancy" stocks, or conducts business
which hazards extra capital, or goes into
transactions without foundation, but de-
| pendent upon what men call luck" Is q
! gambler. Whatever you expect TO get
from your neighbor without Offering m
| equivalent in time or money or skill, In
either the product OF theft or gaming.
Lottery 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 tho same denomination. DO not
therefore, associate gambling necessarily
with any instrument or game, or time or
place, or think the principle depends upon
whether you play for a glass Of wine or
ono hundred shares OF railroad stock.
Whether you patronizc auction pools"
French mutuals," or book making"
whether you employ faro or billiards,
rondo and keno, cards or bagatellc, the very
idea OF the thing is dishonest; for IL pro
1
| you give no equivalent
IL Is estimated that every day In Christcn-
dom eighty million dollars pass from hand
to hand through gambling practices, and
every year in Christendom one hundred
and twenty-threo billion one hundred mil
lior dollars change hands in that way
There are In this cluster OF cities about
eight hundred confessed gambling estab-
lishments. There are about three thousand
Ave hundred professional gamblers. Out
of the eight hundred gambling establish
mcnts, how many do you suppose profess
TO be honest? Ten. These ton processing
TO be honest because they are merely the
ante-chamber to the seven hundred and
ninety that are acknowledged fraudulent
| These are first-class gambling cstablisti-
ments. You 60 up the marble stairs. You
ring tho bell The liveried servant intro
duces you. The walls are layendcr-tlnted.
| The nantes are of Vermont marble. The
pictures are "Jephthah's Daughter" and
Dores I" Dante's and Virgifs Frozen Region
Of Hell" a most appropriate selection, this
last, for the place. There is the roulette
table, the finest, the costliest, the most OK
quisite piece OF furniture In the United
States. There Is the banqucting- room,
where, free of charge TO the guests, you
may find the plate, and viands, and wines.
and cigars, sumptuous beyond parallel.
Then you come TO the sccond-class
gambling establishment. To IL you arc in
troduced by card through some roper.
in" Having entered, you must either
gamble or fight. Sanded cards, dice loaded
with quicksilver, poor drinks, will soon
help you TO get rid of all your money to
tune in short metre with staccato passages.
You wanted to see. You saw. The low
villains of that place watch you as YOU
come in. Does not the panther, squat in
the grass, know calf when he secs il?
Wrangle not for your rights in that place,
or your body will be thrown bloody into
the street, or dead into the East River.
You 60 along little further and find the
| policy establishment In that place you
bet on numbers. Betting on two numbers
p called saddle" betting on three mum
bers is called ''gig;" betting on four num-
bers is called ''horsc,' and there arc
thousands OF our young men leap!ng into
that saddle" and mounting that gig, !"
and behind that ''horse" riding to per-
| dition There Ia ALWAYS one kind of sign