The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-05-27

to decoy you off. They will want
YOU to break out in the midst Of your
busy day to take ride with them.
They will tell you of some people you
must see, OF some excursion that you
must take, of some Sabbath day that
YOU ought to dishouor They will
tell you of exquisite wines that you
must taste, OF costly operas that yon
must hear, Of wonderful dancers that
YOU mus: see, but before you accept
their convoy or their companionshlp
rememb Der that while at the end of a
useful life you may be able to look
back to kindnesses done, to honorable
work accomplished, to poverty helped,
to a good name earned, to Christian
influence exerted, to Saviour's cause
advanced, these pleasure seekers on
their deathbeds having uo.hing better
to review than torn playbill, ticket
for the races, an empty tankard and
the cast out rinds of carousal and as
in the delirium of their awful death
they clutch the goblet and press it to
their lips the dregs Of the cup falling
upon their tongue will begin to hiss
| and upcoil with the adders OF an eter-
nal poison.
Again, avoid as you would avoid
the death Of your body, mind and soul
any one who has in him the gambling
spirit. Men who want to gamble will
find places just suited to their capacity,
not only in the underground oyster
cellar, or at the table back of the cur
tain, covered with greasy cards, or in
the steamboat smoking cabin, where
the bloated wretch with rings in his
ears deals out his pack and winks at
the unsuspecting traveler-provldlng
free drinks all around-but in gilded
parlors and amid gorgeous surround
lngS.
This sin works ruin first by unhealth-
ful stimularts. Excitement is pleas
| urable. Under every sky and in ev
cry age have sought it. The China
man getsit by smoking his opium, the
Persian by chewing hashesh, the trap
per ina buffalo hunt, the sailor IN
squall, the inebriate in the bottle and
the avaficious at the gaming table.
We must at times have excitement.
A thousand voices in our nature de-
mand it. 1t is right. It is healthful.
It is inspiring. It is desire God Civ
en-. But anything that first gratlhes
this appetite and hurls it back in a ter
ritfic reaction is deplorable and wick
ed. Look out for the agitation that
like rough musician, in bringing out
the tune plays so hard he breaks down
the instrument. God never made
man strong enough to endure the
wear and tear of gambling excitement.
No wonder if, after having failed in
the game, men have begun to sweep
off imaginary gold from the side OF
the table. The man was sharp enough
| when he started at the game, but
maniac at the close. At every gam
ing table sit on one side, ectasy, en-.
thusiasm, romance-the frenzy OF
iov; on the other side, ferceness, rage,
tumult. The professional gamester
schools himself into apparent quiet
ness. The keepers of gambling rooms
are generally fat, rollicking and obese,
but thorough and professional gam,
blers, in nine cases out of ten, are
pale, thin, wheezy, tremulous and
exhausted.
\ young man having suddenly in
herited large property sits at the
hazard tables and takes up the dice
cup the estate won by fathers life
time sweat and shakes it and tosses 1t
away. Intemperance soon stlgmatlzes
its victim-kicking him out, SLAYER
log fool, into TIE ditch, or sending
him, with the drunkard's hiccough,
staggering up the street where his
family lives, But gambling does
not in that way expose its victims.
The gambler may be eaten up by the
gamblers passion, yet you only dis
cover it by the greed in his eyes, the
hardness of his features, the nervous
restlessness, the threadbare coat and
his embarrassed business. Yet he is
on the road to hell, and no preachers
voice, or startling warning, or wlfe's
entreaty, can make him stay for a
moment his headlong career. The infer
nal spell is on him; giant is aroused
within, and though you may bind
him with cables they would part like
thread, and though you fasten him
seven times round with chains they
would snap like rusted wire, and
though you piled up in his path heav-
en- high Bibles, tracts and sermons
and on the top should set the cross of
the Son of God, over them all the
gambler would leap like roe over the
rocks on his way to perdition.
A man used to reaping scores or
hundreds of dollars from the gaming
table will not be content with slow
work. He will say. what is the use
of my trying to make these $50 in my
store when I can get FIVE times that in
half an hour down at BiIlys" You
never knew confirmed gambler who
was industrious. The men given to
this vice spend their time, not actively
engaged in the game, in idleness or
intoxication or sleep or in corruptlng
new victims. This sin has dulled the
carpenters saw and cut the band Of
the factory wheel, sunk the cargo,
broken the teeth of the far
mers harrow and sent a
strange llghLnlng 10 snaCLer lle oatIe-
ry of the philosopher. The very first
idea in gaming is at war with all the
industries of society. Any trade or
occupation that is of use is ennobling.
The street sweeper advances the inter.
ests of society by the cleanliness effect
ed. The cat pays for the fragments it
eats by cleaning the house of vermin.
The f " that takes the sweetness from
the dregs OF the cup compeasates 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
a return, but is disgrace to the man
he heeces, despair 10 his heart, ruin to
his business, anguish to his wife,
shame to his children and eternal
wasting away to his soul. He pays in |
i