The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-08-06
THE SIN OF GAMBLING,


DIR. TALMAGE SAYS IT Is OF CART
ROPE STRENGTH.
Once the Habit II Contracted II q Hard 10
Break Away-ThsFe IL but One Way to
BE Cured and that Il by the 0r.es Of
0od-Hops For the ProAigaL
DR.. Talmage in his sermon depicts
the insiduous modes by which evil
habit gains supremacy and shows how
Text, Isaih v, Is, Woe unto them that
sin, as 1t were with a cart rope"
There are some iniquities that only
nibble at the heart. After a lifetime OF
their wOrk the man still and upright.
respected and honored. These vermin
have not strength enough to gnaw
through a mans character. But there
are other transgressions hat lift thenl-
selves up to gigantic proportions and
seize hold of a man and bind him with
thongs forever. There are some in
EQUITIES that ave such great emphasis
of evil that he who commits them may
be said to sin as with a cart rope. l
suppose you know how they make a
great rope. The stuff out of which it
is fashioned is nothing but tow which
you pull apart without any exertion of
your fingers. This is spur into threads
any OF which you could easily NAP, but
a great many Of these threads are
interwound-then you have a rope
strong enough to bind an OK or hold a
ship in a tempest.
/ speak to you of the sin of gamb-
ling. A cart rope in strength is that
sin, and yet l wish more especially TO
draw your attention to the small
bread Of influence out of which that
mighty %iniquity is twisted. This crime
is on the advance, so that it is we'll not
only that fathers and brothers and sons
be interested in such a discussion, but
that wives and mothers and sisters and
daughters look out lest their present
home be sacrificed or their intended
home be blasted. No man, no woman,
can stand aloOf from such a subject as
this and say, 1T has no practical bear
ing Upon my life," for there may be in
a short time in your history an expert
ence in which you will find that the
discussion involved three worlds
earth, heaven, hell. There are gamb-
ling establishments by the thousands.
THOUSANDS OF GAMBLERS.
There are about $500 professional
gamblers. Out of all the gambling es-
adjustments o many of them do you
profess to be honest? Ten
e - VIC OAAS NC
cause they are merely the antechamber
to those that are acknowledged fraudu-
lent. There are first class establish
ments. You step a little way out of
Broadway, New York. You go up the
marble stairs. You ring the bell. The
liveried servant introduces you The
walls are lavender tinted. The nan
tells are of Vermont marble. The pic
lures are "Jephthah's Daughter" and
Doro'c SDonfosS or1 Xiv0i1'o SEEyro1on
Region of He'll" a most appropriate
selection, his last, for the place. There
is the roulette table, the finest, the
cOstliest, most exquisite piece Of furni-
ture in the United States. There is the
b%anqueting room, where, free of charge
to the guests, you may find the plate
and viandS n wines and cigars
sumptuous beyond parallel. Then you
come to the second class gambling es-
adjustment. To it you are introduced
by a card through some "roper in"
Having entered you must either gamble
or fight. Sanded cards, dice loaded with
quicksilver, poor drinks mixed with
more poor drinks will soon help you to
get rid of all your money to a tune in
short meter with staccato passages.
You wanted to see. You saw. The low
villains Of that place watch you come
in. Does not the panther, squat in the
S1oSo, hIIOSr q SoII "1lCI SIC SCCS II.
Wrangle not for your rights in that
place, or your body will be thrown
bloody into the street or dead into the
river.
AN APPROPRIATE DOOR.
You go along Il little farther and
find the policy establishment. In that
place you bet on numbers. Betting on
two numbers is called a "saddle;" bet
ting on three numbers is called a
"gig" and betting on four numbers
is called a horse and there are thou
sands of our young men leaping into
that saddle" and mounting that gig"
and behind that "horse" riding to per-
ditiOn. There is always one kind of
sign on the door, Exchange" a most
appropriate title for the door, for there
in that room a man exchanges health,
peace and heaven for loss of health,
loss Of home, loss Of family, loss of
immortal soul. Exchange sure enough
and infinite enough.
Now you acknowledge that is a cart
rope of evil, but you want to know
what are the small threads out of
which it is made. There is in many
a disposition to hazard. They feel a
delight in walking near a precipice be-
cause of the sense Of danger. There
are people who go upon Jungfrau, not
for the largeness Of the prospect, but
for the feeling that they have of think
ing. What would happen if I should
fall OFF," There are persons who hav
their blood filliped and accelerated by
skating very neal an irhole. There
are men who find a positive delight in
driving within two inches Of the edge
Of a bridge. It is this disposition to
hazard hat find development in
gaming practices. Here are $500. I
may stake them. If I stake them, I
may lose them. but I may win S., 900.
Whichever way it turns l have the ex-
element. Shuttle the cards. Lost!
Heart thumps. Head dizzy. At it again
Just to crafty this desire for hazard.
THE DESIRE FOR GAIN.
Then there are others who go into
this sin of through shree desire for
! gain. It is especially so with profess
siOnal gamblers. They always keep
cool. They never drink enough to I'M
balance their Judgment. They do not
see the dice SO much as they see