The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-04-20

end before morning there will be a
light on the sky and cry of "Fire iireW
this is an assassin and tomorrow
morning there will be dead body in
one of the vacant lots. During the
daytime these villains in our cities
lounge about, some asleep and some
awake. but when the third watch of
the night arrives. their eye keen, their
brain cool, their arm strong, their foot
| leet to tly or pursue, they are ready.
| Many OF these poor creatures were
| brought up In that way. They were
born in a thieves garret. Their childish
toy was burglars dark lantern. The
first thing they remember was their
mother bandaging the brow of their ia
ther, struck by the police club. They
began by robbing boys pockets, and
now they have come to dig the under
ground passage to the cellar of the
bank, and are preparing to blast the
gold vault.
Just so long as there are neglected
children Of the streets, just so long we
VIII have these deSperadocS. Some one
wishing to make a good Christian point
TO and quote a passage of Scripture, eX-
pfctlng TO get Il ScripturaI passage in
answer, said tC one Of these lads. cast
out and wretched, "When your father
and your mother forsake, who then
VIII take you up" and the boy SAID,
"!he p"rlice, the perlicew
In the midnight, gambling does its
worst work. What though the hours
oe slipping away, and though the wife
oe waiting III the cheerleSs home? Stir
up lhe IRE. BRING on more drinks.
tut up more stakes. That commercial
mousse that only little while ago put
out sign Of copartnership will this sea.
mere Will be many Il money till that
Will spring leak. A member of con-
gresS galnbled with a member eloct and
won $l2o,OOO. The Old way of getting
Il fortune IS so slow Come, let us
toss up and soc who shall have it. And
SO the work goes on, from the wheeZinp q
Wrrtches pitching pennies in q rum
grocery up to tho millionaire gambler
In the stock market.
In the midnight hour, pass down the
streets of our American cities, and Won
hear the click Of the dice and the sharp
Keen tap OF the pOolroom ticker. At
these places merchant princes dismount
ana Legislators tired of making laws,
axe a respite in breaking them. Ali
classes Of people are robbed by this
crime, the importer Of foreign silks and
the dealer OF Chatham street pocket
take hand after the shutters are put up.
and the officers Of the court while away
thclr time while the Jury is out
III l5auen-l}aden, when that city was
the greatest of all gambling places on
earth, 1t was no unusual thing the next
morning III the woods around that city
| 10 ma the suspended bodies of suicides,
Whatever be the splendor of the sur
| ronhdlngS there is no excuse for the
crime. The thunders of eternal dps
truction roll in the deep rumble of that
gambling ten pen alley, and as men
come out TO JON the long procession of
! SIN all the drums Of woe beat the dead
march of Il thousand souls. In one
year in the city Of New York there
were - ',OOo,OOO sacrificed at the gaming
table.
Perhaps some Of your friends hay,
"ren Smltten OF this sin. Perhaps some
Oh YOU have been smltten by it. Per
maps lhere may be stranger in the
house this morning come from some
OF the hotels. Look out for those
agents of iniQuity who tarry around
about the hotels and ask you, "woull
you IKE to see the city," Yes. "IIave
you ever seen that splendid building
"ptown?' No. Then the william vii
lihucrtake to show you what he call.
the "lions" and the "clcphants," and ar
Ter Il young man, through morbid curl
"Slty or through badness of soul, has
seen the "llOnS' and the "elephants" he
VIII be on the enchanted ground. Look
out for these men who move around
thr hotels with sleek hats-always sleek
hhtS-and patrOnlZing air, and unac-
couhtable interest about your welfare
ana entertainment. You arc a fo)l if
S"u cannot See through it. They want
| y eur money.
IN CheStnut street, Philadelphia,
while was living IN that city, an Incl
dent occurred which was familiar to-
us 'ntre. In Chestnut street Il Young
itan went INTO gambling saloon, lost
all oi his property, then blew his brains
out, and before the blood was washed
rom the floor by the III ,id the com
rades were Shullling cards again. You
see, lherc Is more mercy in the high
Wayman tor the belatel traveller OF
whose body he heaps the stones, there
IS more mercy in the frost for the flow
er II Kills, there is more mercy in the
hurricane that ShjVers the steamer on
the Long Island coast than there is
mercy IN the heart of gambler for
his victim.
In the midnight hour, also. drunkon-
ness does its worst. The drinking will
be respectable at o'clock in the eve
nlng, little flushed at 9, talkative and
garrulous at 10, at II blasphcmouS, at
IL the hat falls Off and the man falls to
the lloor asking for more drink. Strewrl
through the drinking saloons of the
city, fathers, brothers, husbands, sons,
as good as You are by nature. perhaps
better.
In the high circles of society it is
hushed up. a merchant prince, if he
gets noisy and uncomfortable, is taken
by his fellow revelers, who try to get
hlm to bed, or take him home, where
he falls flat in the entry. DO not wake
up the children. They have had dis.
grace enough. DO not let them know
it. Hush 1t up. But sometimes it can,
not be hushed up-when the rum
touches the brain and the man becomes
thoroughly frenZied.
on, If the rum touches the brain, YOU
cannot hush it up. You do not see the
worst In the midnight meetings a
gI eat multitude have been saved. We
want Il few hundred Christian men and
women to come down from the high
est circles of society to toll amid these