The Progress., 1893-03-25
THE GAMBLING EVIL.
REV. THOMAS DIXON DISCUSSES IT
IN HIS PRELUDE.


New YORK, March 10 Rev Thoma,
Dixon. Jr., pastor Of the Twentv-third
street Baptist church, preceded his ser
mon at Association hail this morning by
the following review of current events:
The following news item appeared in a
New York morning paper some time ago:
Gould net pick the winners. A well
dressed man hangs himself near the Gut
tenburg race track.-The body of an un-
known mar was discovered early yester-
day dangling from a beam under the
grand stand at Monitor park, Weehaw-
ken. The body was taken to the morgue
ut Hoboken by Coroner Murrer. The
suicide was a man of fine physique He
was feet tall and weighed 225 pounds.
He was neatly dressed. He wore livery
cloth overcoat, Prince Albert coat, satin
vest, striped trousers, white shirt, cuffs
and collar and derby hat. Three cents
and match were all that his pockets
contained.
1T is said that he has frequently been
seen at the Guttenburg race track, and
the presumption is that he has been un-
successful in selecting winners at the
races, and becoming despondent decided
10 hang himself"
The same old story. The body was
identified the next day by the man who
had accompanied him to the races. But
sad old story is this We are hearing
1T very often nowadays. In anguish of
soul we cry, How long, o Lord, how
long shall this Internal swindle-the
gambling race track-throw its hellish
shadow across our lives?" In mud and
slush and rain, through winters storms
and summers scorching suns, this trade
IN souls, this barter of damnation, goes
on without interruption. Look for a
moment on the mob of smoking, swear
ing, drinking, bowling, jostling brutes
that call themselves men and women.
They once were men and women, but
the humanities of life are lost in the !
brutal now. One thought fills the soul |
and body-the vile desire to take a neigh |
bor's goods without return-called theft |
IN olden times, renamed sport" for /
modern uses. This thought brings ali |
to common level-the bottom The So
ciety swell and the Bowery bum are ono
at the races The leaders of the demi-
monde throb there in perfect harmony
with Ward McAllister's Four Hundred
fools, democracy of human passion, a
carnival Of hell.
Ii the damage done On the race track
itself were all, we would count this an
easy escape. But the race track is mere
~ the table on which the fakirs shuttle
their cards Scores of crowded pool
rooms honeycomb the city These are
veritable sinks of iniquity into which
daily flow the life and manhood of the
people The business districts of the
city are dotted with scores upon scores
of these gambling hells run daily in
open defiance Of law into them 90 the
husbands of loving, trusting wives, In
to them goes the motyer's handsome ,
boy, hallowed from the cradle with a
halo OF divinest prayer and hope Into
them go the young and foolish. Into
them they so to stake at the bidding of
thieves their money. their manhood
their honor. their hopes, their peace
their life Once thoroughly initiated, {
they rarely return TO the world of sanity i
1t they do. they return as wrecks cast c
upon lnS OedCn. Defett OF all.
A recent report of the Society for the {
Suppression of Vice gives tabular state 4
ment made from newspaper clippings for
one year showing the victims of the 4
gambling mania. Though necessarily i
and imperfect, this statement b
gives glimpse of the terrible facts: One n
hundred and twenty-eight persons shot I
Or stabbed over gambling games, 6 at n
tempted suicides, "a suicides, 60 murders Il
IN cold blood, many driven insane, 6S t
persons. principally young men, ruined
BY pool gam bling and betting upon horse
races. Among the crimes growing out P
'f this record. committed by the victims n
m efforts to obtain money to gamble p
With, were burglaries. Is forgeries, So CT
while 80 confidential of ia
lcers in banks and other places alb in
conded. The proceeds of these embez- is
dement's and crimes amounted to So $685. ell
~ This was the price of blood alone as
hat went into the pockets of the villains es
Who ply their trade to the ruin of soci- to
ty. How many other millions rolled in q
without immediate criminal results God ce
My knows. The loss in broken hearts. th
ONES. and beggared. orphan children
an only be known in eternity. Well an
iay recent writer who has given his a
fe to the problem say: TO
"WhereUer public gambling is tolerated us
'tos are prostituted, justice becomes 6y ce
ord, the trial byJury farce, and pub sh
officials are corrupted. acAiIe rumors Of 20
'1bery are rampant on erery side. po
Again. history is replete with evi- an
snces that 'ctererer gambling in am wi
''-ni IS tolerated IN any community brib- W
y and corruption protect it, while the be
shts of law abiding citizens are sub we
'rted. industrious habits are DESTROYED, tin
'mnon honesty undermined, and hon. fer
{ business enterprises are ehoneycombed shs
rough employees rendered dishonest by Ian
ese gitteripg allurements to crime. sta
urders, suicides, breaches of trust. en- in