The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-26
"FAIR BANK, DENOUNCED.
Pastor of Memorial Church Talks ON
the POpuInr Amusement.

the Popular Amusement.
At Memorial Presbyterian Church yester-
day morning Rev. Frank Otis Ballard, the
pastor, in the course of his remarks made
reference to the resort known as Fair
bank" He chose for the text of his dis
course the words from Prov. xiv, u: There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man.
but the end thereof are the ways of death"
Mr. Ballard spoke of mere sincerity as no
sufficient guarantee of safety, and then dis
cussed the dangers which compass us in
this mortal state. The insidious character
of sin was described and the assurance and
conceit which pre- ent men from realizing
their true condition. From this the sermon
passed to a description of the wiles and
lures that destroy men. In his reference to
"Fairbank" the pastor used the following
language: These remarks apply in full
force to an establishment lately built upon
one of the principal thoroughfares of this
city, and called by the euphonious name of
'Fairbank' The object of this establish
ment is to capture and to train up a new
generation of consumers of wine beer and
other intoxicants. 1t is a clear-headed
cool, deliberate and systematic endeavor. to
extend the influence of the saloon over
class of citizens hitherto not only superior
to it, but opposed unalterably to it. 1t I'M
dertakes by flank movement to bring I'M
der the power of strong drink thousands
of young men and young women who would
never surrender directly to the saloon itself.
The liquor traffic has two important
branches; first to produce intoxicants; sec
ond, to produce an appetite for them, that
is, as drunkards die off and are buried, to
rear up new generation OF drinkers TO
take their place. If the traffic is to spread
n he MAJ 70 broaden ~
Sary to do missionary work among the
young. Everybody wants the young. Pa
trotisnl wants them, art wants them, bust
ness wants them, the church wants them
and the saloon wants them. They are to
be, to the saloon, the victims of the next
twenty years: their savings must go into
the till of the bartender, Accordingly, a
beautiful spot is selected, on the margin
of riVer-fOr young people love beauty
a quantity of money is expended in creating
a scene of natural loVelinesS-hoWers and
lights, walks and groves, vines, fountains
and trees are all marshaled to make the
spot attractive, and by minister1ng to the
aesthetic faculty to Iull the conscience to
sleep. A great many never can see thing
to be wrong so long as it is beautiful out
wardly Sweet odors and fair colors are to
them guarantees of immunity from faint
and harm. Thus the web is carefully spun
and skillfully hung just where the innocent
victims pass on their mission Of pleasure.
THE bicycle it is that has made Fair
bank possible. Ihat machlne IS a marvel pa Irs5
GUS contribution to human life II is good
| for pleasure, it is good for health, it eX-
| tends the individuals horizon. 1t does for
| him. in a measure, what railroads did for
| the country. 1t has been a boon to the
| invalid, and even the middle-aged slave to
! business has renewed his youth. But there
! is nothing so wholesome that the devil can
| not twist it to some purpose of mischief
| Where the wheels spin thickeSt he Will
| spin his internal web the tinest-he will set
! his snare the most skillfully. The plea
| some citizens have made for Fairbank is
| that it is respectable They say that if
| the men who conduct this place draw away
| trade from low GORgeriGS and dives the
! latter may be starved out and close up
and ultimately ltheb drinking habits of men
! gument; it is a 'deuson and a snare. If
| Fairbank is espectable-although / deny it
Its very respect2bllity IS its deadIiest
| power Do you tell me that we are be-
| holden to a man who will make vice re-
| spectacle? That has been the devils en-
deaVor for the last 5000 years, as well
! know. Vice has no chance except as you
! garnish it. you get the Endorsement of
| good people to sustain it. / aver that the
| spruce young libertine, with a fashionable
| tailor, fast horse, a long purse and the
| prettiest girl in town eXerts an influence
| the blear-eyed and burnt-out roue, whose
| very miserieS adVeItises to the young that
| they are not to travel the path he has trod.
| A respectable saloon or a respectable beer
| garden. patronized by respectable people,
| does more to blunt the sense of public eau
| ton and to allay public Indignation than
! the lowest grogshop in the worst quarter.
ITO make the dangerous social vices re-
| spectacle is a crime of itself. To climb up
| INTO the grade or responsibility is precisely
| what the liquor traffic would give anything
| to do. 1t yearns for recognition by good
society. AS the Banderiog-the monkey
| people-many evil, dirty and shameless. try
| to awaken the interest of the noble beasts
| in the jungle, and when noticed are wild
! with JOY and cry, They have noticed us;
| the jungle people have noticed us, so the
| saloon keeper is transported with Joy when
| good society turns to him with look of
| recognition and q smile of praise The
| gracious keeper of this resort. pleased
! with the good society of Indianapolis, is
commonly reported to have offered out of
! sheer gratitude to sell nothing but soft
| uIlnKs TWO nights in the week as a penance
| for dispensing Intoxicating liquors the
| other five. And this has seemed to some of
| our citizens like the very summit OF candor
| and tremendous concession to the claims
! OF virtue. 1t is the gentleman pugiiSt who
! sets all the boys to practicing fighting in
| their fathers barns. 1t is the gentleman
! gambler who sets all the children to throw
| ing dice in the back alley. 1t is the gentle
| man wine drinker who causes young hope
| fui in his long coats TO wish TO toss off mis-
| cognac in response to a toast. 1t is the
| gentleman ScOffer who succeeds in break
| ing down in all his troop of admirers the
| holy reVerences of religion. The more re-
| specta bic bad man OF bad place is the
more harm they will do.
What all respectable citizens should do
| is to let 'Fairbank' alone. Keep yourselves
| and your carriages out of it. Do not let
| your curiosity lure you into it. Let neither
| its name nor fits fame entice you Call it
'Foulbank and let it go. Many young
man who takes his first hibuOus liberties
there, and many maid whose dallance
on the sweet terraces were the beginning
of bitter and burning tears WILL in the
days of their ruin and decay after life is
compromised and virtue lost, look back In
bitterness and say. as they remember the
lights long since eXtinguished and the mu-
sic long since extinct: Fall river. indeed
innocence and hope. 1t was a pretty place
and it seemed right but the end of it has