The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-08-05

as when Bullock, the coSnier OF inc OcuSroi
Railroad OF Georgia, was found to have
on gambling practice5, as when young
man In one Of the savings banks OF Brook
lyn many years ago was found to have
stolen s40, 900 to carry on gaming practices;
as when man connected witha Wall street
insurance company was found to have
stolen el0s 900 to carry on his gaming prac-
tices. But that Is exceptional.
Generally the money leaks silently from
the merchants till into the gamester's wal
let. believe that one OF the main pipes
leading to this sewer OF iniquity Is the ex-
element OF business life. Is it not Q sig-
niflcant fact that the majority OF the day
gambling houses in New York are in prox-
Unity to Wall street? Men go into the ex-
citement OF stock gambling. and from that
they plunge into the gambling houses, as,
when men are intoxicated, they go into a
liquor saloon to get more drink. The agi-
tation that Is witnessed in the stock market
when the chair announced the word
Northwestern" or Fort Wayne" or
and the rat, tat, tat, of the auctioneer's 8
hammer, and the excitement Of making
Corners" and getting up ''pools," and
carrying stock, and a"break" from eighty
to seventy, and the excitement of rushing
around in curbstone brokerage, and the
sudden cries of "Buyer threer' Buyer
ten!" Take 'em!'' "How many?'' and the
making or losing of $4,000 by one opera
tion, units man to go home, and so he
goes up the flight OF stairs, amid business
offices, to the darkly curtained, wooden
shuttered room, gayly furnished inside,
and takes his place at the roulette or the
faro table. But l cannot tell all the pro-
cess by which men get into this evil. A
man went to New York. He was Western
merchant He went into gaming
house on Park place. Before morning he
had lost all his money save 81, and he
moved around about with that dollar in his
hand. and after awhile. caught still moro
powerfully under the Internal infatuation.
he came up and put down the dollar and
cried out until they heard him through the
saloon, zone thousand miles from home,
and my last dollar on the gaming table"
Many years ago for sermonic purposes
and in company with the chief OF police OF
New York / visited one of the most brilliant
gambling houses in that city. 1t was
night, and as we came up in front all
seemed dark The blinds were down, the
door was guarded. but after whispering
of the officer with the guard at the door we
were admitted into the hail. and thence into
the parlors, around one table finding eight
or ten men in midlife, well dressed-all the
work going on in silence, save the noise of
the rattling "chips' on the gaming table
in one parlor and the revolving ball Of the
roulette table in the other parlor. Some OF
these men, we were told, had served terms
in prison, some were shipwrecked bankers
and brokers and money dealers, and some
were going their first rounds of vice-but
all intent W on the table as large or small
fortunes moved up and down before them.
Oh, there was something awfully solemn in
the silence-the intense gaze, the sup
pressed emotions of the players. No one
looked up. They all had money in the
rapids, and / have no doubt some saw,
as they sat there, horses and car
riages, and houses and lands,
down into the vortex. mans life would
not have been worth farthing in that pres
ence had he not been accompanied by the
police II he had been supposed to be on n
Christian errand OF observation. Some of
these men went by private key, some went
in by careful introduction some were
taken in by the patrons of the establish
ment. The officer of the law told me,
"None gets in here except by police man
date or by some letter of a patron" While
we were there young man came in, put
his money down on the roulette table and
lost; put more money down on the roulette
the roulette table and lost; then feeling in
his pockets for more money, finding none,
in severe silence he turned his back upon
the scene and passed out. While we stood
there men lost their property and lost their
souls. Oh, merciless place Not once in
all the history Of that gaming house has
there been one word of sympathy uttered
for tho losers at the game.
Sometimes these gift enterprises are car
ried ON in the name of charity, and some OF
you remember at the close Of our civil war
how many gift enterprises were on foot.
the proceeds to go to the orphans and
widows Of the soldiers and sailors. What
did the men who had charge of those gift
enterprises care for the orphans and
widows? Why, they would have allowed
them to freeze to death upon their steps.
l have no faith in a charity which for the
sake OF relieving present suffering opens u
gaping jaw that has swallowed down so
much of the virtue and good principle Of
the community. Young man, have nothing
to do with these things. They only sharpen
your appetite for games of chance. Doone
of two things-be honest or die.
have accomplished my object If put
you ON the lookout. 1t is u great deal
easier to fall than it is to get up again
The trouble is that when men begin to go
astray from the path Of duty they are apt
to say: "There's no use of my trying to get
back. I've sacrificed my responsibility,
can't return" And they go on until they
are utterly destroyed. / tell you, my
friends, that God this moment, by His
Holy Spirit, can change your entire nature
SO that you will be u different man in a
minute. Your great want-what Is itP
More salary9 Higher social position2 No,
no. will tell you the great want OF every
man II he has not already obtained it..
1t is the grace Of God. Are there any who
have fallen victims to the sin that | have
been reprehending' You are in a prison.
You rush against the wall of this prison
and try to get out and you fail, and you
turn around and dash against the other
wall until there Is blood on the CRATES and
blood on your soul. You will never get
out in this way There is only one way Of
getting out. There is Il key that can uL-
lock that prison house. 1t is the key of
the house of David. It is the key that
Christ wears at His girdle. II you will
allow him to put that key to the lock, the
bolt will shoot back, and tho door will
swing open, and you will be u free man in
Christ Jesus. Oh, prodigal, what busi-
ness this is for you, feeding swine, when
your father stands in the front door, strain
ing his eyesight to catch the first glimpse
Of your return, and the calf is rs fat as It
will be, and the harps OF heaven are all
strung, and the feet free.
There are converted gamblers in heaven.
The light of eternity flashed upon the green
m iza af thpir billiurl gnlnpr. N fbn Iavar