The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-18
SCUDDER'S CRUSADE
The Tabernacle People Told
What the Pastors Sun
beams Have Done.
MADE SPIES OF HIS YOUNG MEN
The Peoples Palace to Be a Big
Anti Gambling Resort.

The Tabernacle was crowded in the even
ing to hear the Rev. John l.. Scudder tell
his congregation about the raid made re-
Gently on gambling dens in this city at the
instance of himself, with two members OF
the Peoples Palace, a full account OF which
appeared in Saturdays NEWS.
DIR. Scudder, in an introduction to his ser
mon, last night, told show the Peoples
Palace boys closed the gambling hells of Jer-
sey City"
His text was taken from II. Corinthians,
K, 4: ssThe weapons of our warfare are
mighty through God to the pulling down OF
s~trongholds." He said in part:
This church was built in war times and
has had considerable fighting to do ever
since. 1t is located among the Philistines.
This lower end of Jersey City is one OF Sa-
tan's ~fayorite Longing places, and here his
followers are peculiarly numerous and ex-
asperating. So many complaints nave come
to us of late, so many heartrending appeals
of anxious wives and mothers to go forward
and fight against the strongholds or vice,
that we should be moral towards and untrue
to our calling did we turn a deaf ear to their
entreaties and keep on, with eyes closed,
preaching mere plauitudes, while gambling
bells are doing their utmost to ruin young
men. 1t is nasty business to thus ferret out
the evil and bring it to the knowledge OF the
authorities, but when women with SAD eyes
and tear stained checks 1mplore you 70
champion their cause, 1 fail to see how any
one with one iota ;of manhood in him can
turn them away and do notnmg uohe1p bneH
in their dilemma.
EFFORT MISPLACED.
Moreover, the type of Christianity repre-
sented by the Tabernacle forces us into the
conflict. We believe the time has come When
the Church of God must do something more
than talk. We believe in a practical Chris
tlanity, which is willing to get out OF the
hammock of genteel indifference, cast aside
for the time being its fine raiment OF senti-
mentalism, and put on war paint IN dead
earnest. The fascinating centres Oh eempta-
ton must be broken up, or these recruiting
stations of Satan will ruin people raster snan
we can rescue them. To spend our time lp
pious disQuisitions upon the jews and the
sins of the world B. c. when society is rot
ting looks to the practical man ike the
height of absurdity. To discourse serenely
upon the Joys of heaven when you are sur,
rounded by vigorous little bells Is wnab 1 can
misplacement of effort. There Is on point OIL
theology on which / am perfectly certain,
uameIF, that no one will finger a harp IN
heaven who does not first WELD q sword on
earth, More and more our Christian churches
must become regiments, and the Individual
chosen member must be trained to service IN
the ~polittcal and industrial arena, as well as
~ nsalz singing and exhortations in the
PRAYER meeting. Moral sausion is good
enough for children, but it will have no more
influence upon a gambler than on a goat.
Our Peoples Palace is becoming more than a
mere anti-saloon and anti-gambling resort;
under God, it is becoming a military
-l1-1N crn01 lnnd CnI6laTC or
Jesus viii go forth to fight the battles OF
righteousness in a practical way.
A D%ETECTIvE AGENCY.
sNow we propose to take the public into
our confidence and tell you exactly what we
have done the past week and how we have
done it. A state OF moral rottenness exlsts
in this community which few are aware OF.
Clerks, railroad employees and business men
frequent these poker dens night after night,
and if I would tell you the na1nes OF some OF
them your eyes would open very wide. Dur
ing the past week my study has been a sort
of detective headquarters. Certain young
men in our Peoples Palace ave rendered
invaluable assistance in securing the neces-
sary evidence. They were new at the bust
ness, but they had good backbones and did
better than regular detectives could have
done, for the regulars are well known, but
our Young men were taken for suckers that
that we're worth plucking. Their work was
- III Z v LIN 0OlAAO W AtAS
hazardous, and l honor them for their self
sacrifice. Every wife and mother in Jersey
City will say God bless you, boys, for clos
ing these lens of iniquity.' The men who
did the detective work for US are Mr.. A. IL.
Christie and Harry E. Ramsay, both of
whom LAY grown up among us and are
members of this church. They are not
callew youths who might be tempted by
such contact with evil. We secured men OF
established character, who are proof against
the allurements of gambling. So our meth
DDS are above criticism.
"Our method was to send these two men
into a poker den between the hours of 10and
12: one bought chips, played the game, and
cashed checks when he got through. Under
no circumstances did he win anything. We
told him not to He did not know enough
about poker to win had ne wanted to. Inc
other mar watched him and is ready to cor
roborate his testimony. Evidence was Sc
cured against four prominent poker houses
-Hoboken Johnny's, III Newark avenue;
Storey's, 2S Newark avenue; Bon Ton Pool
Parlor, 81 Newark avenue, and Hutton's, A
Montgomery street. In one place the young
men brought away checks; in another the
manager gave them private keys to his den of
~iniqufty, and in all of them they got evidence
enough to convict the propTietors. We have
a strong hand, what poker players call four
of a kind, which is hard to beat. Against
the proprietors we have no ill-wiH whatever.
If | should meet one of them on the street |
should not know him from a member Of the
late Presbyterian General Assembly. Some
of these gamblers are very slick-looking fell
lows. What we hate is not the men, but the
contemplate practices in which they are en-
gagged. If there is anything that makes me
sad. it is to see a noble young man, full of
good spirits and generous ~sympath1es, abso-
lutely throw himself away and ruin his pros
poets for life by catching this gambling
fever. And if there are any men tonight on
the outer edges of this awful whirlpool, will
Won not make an extra effort aud swim out?
Won't YOU quit your folly and make men Of
yourselves.
A CATHOLIC LADY BEGAN H RAID
s.While the proprietors are being pulled
10, it is a good time for you to pull out and
stay out.
.iAnd now, one word with respect to the
future. AS long as | stay in this city |
pledge myself to assist any one who feels the
heel of these damnable evils about US. So
help me God, I'll fight them as long as l
live. / don't care a copper whether the 20
lice Department is Democratic or Republic
can, nor whether the aggrieved person is a
Protestant or a Catholic. AS a matter OF
fact. the present crusade against gambling
was occasloned by a Catholic lady, whose
husband has lost hundreds of dollars by
gambling.
Regarding the outcome Of our inovement
it is too early as yet to speak. We ~thoughtat
first of going to the Grand Jury. but as that
would have been a reflection upon our Pollce
Department. | vent to Chief Murphy and
asked him to raid these dens He assured
me he would do his best to capture the law
L,ooI-o-e aod ba hos ruccaadad in a meas