The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-03-30
THE GAMBLING EVIL.
REV. THOMAS OHoN DISCUSSES 1T
IN HIS PRELUDE.

Dixon. Jr.. pastor Of the Twenty-th1r
street Baptist church. preceded his SCI
mon at Association hall this morning b
the following review Of current events:
The following news item appeared in
New York morning paper some time agc
Gould not pick the winners. 4 we
dressed man hangs himself near the Gu;
tenburg race track.-The body of an m
known man was discovered early yester
day dangling from a beam under tn
grand stand at Monitor park. Weehaw
ken The body was taken TO the morgu
at HoboEleu by Coroner Murrer. TIL
suicide was n man of fine physique. 81
was feet tall and weighed 225 pounds
he WAS neatly dressed He wore liver,
cloth overcoat. Prince Albert coat, SAITH
| vest, striped trousers. white shirt, cuff
and collar and derby hat. Three cent
/ and match were all that his pocket
contained
1T is said that he has frequently beer
seen at the Guttenbnrg race track, and
! the presumption is that he has been I'm
/ successful in selecting winners at TIE
races. and becoming respondent decided
| to hang himself"
The same old story The body wa.
identified the next day by the man who
had accompanied him TO the races. But
sad old story is this. We are hearing
it very often nowadays. in anguish OF
soul we cry, How long, o Lord, how
long shall this Internal swindle-tho
gambling race track-throw its hellish
shadow across our hves?'' 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 q
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 neigh
boris goods without return-called theft
in olden times. renamed sport" for
modern uses. This thought brings all
to common level-the bottom. The so
ciety swell and the Bowery bum are one
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
ly the table on which the fakirs shuttle
their cards. Scores of crowded pool
rooms honeyeomb the city. These are
veritable sinks of iniquity into which
daily flow the life and manhood of the
people. The business districts Ct the
city are dotted with scores upon scores
of these gambling bells run daily in
open defiance of law. Into them go the
husbands of loving, trusting wives. In
to them goes the mothers handsome
boy, hallowed from the cradle with
halo of divinest prayer and hope. Into
them go the young and foolish. Into
them they go 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
II they do, they return as wrecks cast
A recent report of the Society for the
of Vice gives tabular state
ment made from newspaper clippings for
one year showing the victims of the
gambling mania Though necessarily
incomplete and imperfect, this statement
gives glimpse Of the terrible facts: One
hundred and twenty-eight persons shot
or stabbed over gambling games, 6 at
tempted suicides. "a suicides, 60 murders
In cold blood. many driven insane, GS
persons. principally young men, ruined
by pool gambling and betting upon horse
races. Among the crimes growing out
Of this record, committed by the victims
IN efforts to obtain money to gamble
with, were 2 burglaries. IS forgeries, IS
while 80 confidential of
hcers IN banks and other places alb
seconded. The proceeds of these embez-
Elements and crimes amounted toss. $685.
5I2. This was the price of blood alone
that went into the pockets of the villains
who ply their trade to the ruin of soci-
ETY.. How many other millions rolled in
without immediate criminal results God
only knows. The loss in broken hearts. |
homes, and beggared, orphan children
IAN only be known in eternity. Well
may a recent writer who has given his
life to the problem say:
Wherever public gdmbing is tolerated |
'dars are p''ostituted, justice becomes a b.
cora, the f''tctf by jury q farce, and pub |
&c oDscaats are corrupted, ac1.ile runaors of
bribery are rampant on every side.
Again. history is replete with evil
1ences that ,uhereuer gamblinq in ann
Fo'm IS tolerated in any community brib-
'ry and corruption protect it, while the
1ghts OF law abiding citizens are sub
Terted, industrious habits are DESTROYED.
common honesty undermined, and hon
,s1 business enterprises are honeycombed |
through employees rendered dishonest by
.hese glittering allurements to crime.
Murders, suicides, breaches of trust en-
'ezzlements, follow In the wake of these
seductive foes. while the homes of the poor
're besieged with squalor and want"
The Western Union Telegraph COM
ANY Is said to be one of the most deenly
Interested parties in this contest of the
hugs and thieves against decencv order
md the life of society.
The New York Times saws on tbis
,oint:
The reason they think that they are
ale now from interference rests on what
one people might consider pretty good
oundation. Tammany and the police
AVE most potent motive for standing
y them. The district attorneys Office
las p1geonholed the Indictment of cases
nat We're worked up in good faith and
s1th iawyeriike methods, but behind
aese barriers stands another In the
estern Union Telegraph connanv
'nlch has warded off the law before. and
nose interest it is to stand by its friends
ow. Its services may not be needed in
lis city, which is well protected other.
use, but In keeping the legislature silent
may prove an effective ally. .
NO department of the Western Union
avs 50 well as its racing department
ne price per poolroom for service from