Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-05-23

philosopher. The very first idea in gam
ing is at war with all the industries of
society. Any trade or occupation that is
of use is enrolling The street sweeper
advances the interests of society by the
cleanliness effected. The cat pays for
the fragments it eats by cleaning the
house of vcrmin. The fly that takes the
sweetness from the dregs of the cup
compensates by purifying the air and
keeping back the pestilence. But the
gambler gives not anything for that
which he takes. I recall that sentence.
He does make return, but it is dis
grace to the man he feeces, despair to
his heart, ruin to his business, anguish
to his wife, shame to his children and
eternal wasting away to his soul. He
pays in tears, and blood, and agony,
and darkness, and woe. What dull
work is blowing to the farmer when in
the village saloon III one night he
makes and loses the value Of summer
harvest Who will want to sell tape,
and measure nankeen, and cut gar
ments, and weigh sugars, when in a
nights game he makes and loses, and
makes again and loses again, profits of a
season. John Borack was, sent as mer-
camille agent from Bremen to England
and this country. After two years his
employers mistrusted that all was not
right He was defaulter for SS7, 900.
It was found that he had lost in Lom-
bard street. London, 500, 600; in Fulton
street, New York, $40, 900, and in New
Orleans So, coo. He was imprisoned,
but afterward escaped and went into
the gambling profession. He died in a
lunatic asylum. This crime is getting
its lever under many mercantile house
in our cities and before long down will
como the great establishment, crushing
reputation, home comfort and immortal
souls.
Games of Chance.
The whole world is robbed. What is
most sad, there are no consultations fol
the loss and suffering entailed by gam
ing. If men fail in lawful business,
God pities and society commiserates,
but where in the Bible or society is
there any consolation for the gambler!
From what tree of the forest oozes there
balm that can soothe the gamester's
heart? In that bottle where God keeps
the tears of his children are there any
tears of the gambler? Do the winds that
come to kiss the faded cheek of sickness
and to cool the heated brow of the Ia
borer whisper hope and cheer to the
emaciated victim of the game of haz-
ard? When an honest mail is in trouble,
he has sympathy Poor fellow!" they
say. But do gamblers come to weep at
the agonies of the gambler? In North
cumberland was one of the finest estates
i'll England. Mr. Porter owned it and
in a year gambled it all away. Having
lost the last acre of the estate, he came
down from the saloon and got into his
carriage, went back, put up his horses
and carriage and town house and play
ed He threw and lost. He started for
home and OIL side alley met friend,
from whom he borrowed ten guineas.
He went back to the saloon, and before
o great while had Won ego, 900. He
died at last beggar in / Giles. How
many gamblers felt sorry for Mr.. Por-
ter? Who consoled him on the loss of
his estate? What gambler subscribed to
put stone over the poor mans grave?
Not one. Furthermore, this sin is the
source of uncounted dishonesty. The
game Of hazard itself is often a cheat
How many tricks and receptions in the
dealing OF the cards! The opponents
hand is ofttimes found out by fraud.
Cards are marked so that they may be
designated from tho back. Expert game
sters have their accomplices, and one
wink may decide the game. The dice
have been found loaded with platina,
so that doublets come up every time.
These dice are introduced by the gam
blers unobserved by the honest men
who have come into the play, and this &C
counts for the fact that ninety-nine out
of a hundred who gamble, however
wealthy when they began, at the end
are found to be poor, miserable, haggard
wretches, that would not now be allowed
to sit on the doorstep of the house that
they once owned.
In gaming house in San Francisco a
young man having just come from the
mines deposited large sum upon the
ace and wen $4,000. But the tide
turns. Intense anxiety comes upon the
countenanccs of all. Slowly the cards
went forth. Every eye is fixed. Not a
sound is heard until the ace is revealed,
favorable to the bank. There are shouts
of "Foull Foul!' but the keepers Of the
table produce their pistols, and the up
roar is silenced, and the bank has won
Cos, 900. Do you call this e game of
chance? There is no chance about it.
But these dishonesties III the carrying
OH of the game are nothing when COM
pared with the frauds that are commit
ted in order to get money to go on with
the nefarious work. Gambling, with its
needy hand, has snatched away the
widows mite and the portion of the or
phans; has sold the daughters virtue to
get the means to continue the game, has
written the counterfeit's signature,
emptied the bankers money vault and
welded the assassin's dagger. There is
no depth Of meanness to which it will
not stoop. There is no cruelty at which
it is appalled, There is no warning OF
God that it will not dare. Merciless,
indispensable, fercer and wilder, it
blinds, it hardens, it rends, it blasts, it
brushes, it damns Have nothing to do
with gamblers whether they gamble On
large scale or small scale.
Cast out these men from your compa-
ny. Do not be intimate with them. AL
ways be polite There is no demand
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