The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-02
GRAVE DANGER OF GAMBLING.
"a CART ROPE INIaUITY" THE sur
JECT OF TALMAGE's SERMON.

Into Cart-R0pe of strength in
the Gambling EviI-A Disposition
to Hazard one of the First of the
Threads Taken Up in Weaving the
Cart-ROpe-A Desire TO Live BE
yond Ones Income Dangerous
Evil.
Washington, Aug. DIR. Talmage in
this sermon depicts the insidlous modes
by which evil habit gains supremacy, ana
shows how splendid men are cheated into
ruin. Text: Isaiah 5: is: Woo unto them
that sin as il were with a cart-rope.
There are some iniquities that only niO-
bic al the heart. After a lifetime OF their
work. the man suI stands upright re-
spected. and honored. These vermin have
not strength enough to gnaw through a
mans character. But there are other
transgressions that lift themselves up 10
gigantic proportions and seize hold Of
man and bind him with thongs forever.
There are some iniquities that have such
great emphasis of evil that he who com
mits them may be said to sin as with
cart-rope. ! suppose you know how they
make 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 spun into threads
any of which you could easily snap, but a
great many Of these threads are inter-
wound then you have a rope strong enough
10 bind an OK, or hold a ship in a tempest
/ speak to you of the sin of gambling. A
cart-rope in strength is that sin, and yet
/ wish more especially to draw your IT.
tention to the small threads of influence
out of which that mighty niquity is twist
ed. This crime is on the advance, so
that il is well not only that fathers, and
brothers, and sons, be interested in such
a discussion, but that wives, and moth
ers, 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
subject as this and say: 1T has no prac-
teal bearing upon my life for there may
be in a short time in your history an eX-
perience in which you will FIND that the
discussion involved three worlds-earth,
heaven, hell. There are gambling estab-
lishments by the thousands. There are
about five thousand five hundred profess
sional gamblers. out of all the gambling
establishments how many of them do
you suppose profess to Toe honest? Ten.
These ten protesting to be honest because
they are merely the ante-chamber TO
those that are acknowledged frau
dulent There are first class
establishments. You step a little way out
of Broadway, New York. You go up the
marble stairs. You ring the bell. The
Inverted servant introduces you. The walls
are lavender tinted. The mantels are of
Vermont marble. The pictures are "Jeph-
thahs Daughter" and Dore's "Dantes
and Virgil's Frozen Region of He'll"
most appropriate selection, this last for
the place. There is the roulette table the
finest, costliest, most exquisite piece of
furniture in the United States. There is
the banqueting room where, free Of charge
TO the guests. you may find the plate, and
viands, and wines, and cigars, sumptuous
beyond parallel. Then you come to the
second-class gambling establishment. To
il 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 10 see. You saw.
The low villains of that place watch you
as you come in. Does not the panther.
squat in the grass, know a calf when he
sees it? Wrangle not for your rights in
that place, or your body will be thrown
bloody into the street, or dead into the
river.
You go along a little further and find the
policy establishment. In that place you
bet on numbers. Betting on two numbers
is called a saddle" betting on three
numbers is called a gig" betting on four
numbers is called a HORSE" and there
are thousands Of our young men leaping
l.
gig" and behind that horse" riding to
perdition. There is always one kind of
sign on the door-"Exchange;" a most
appropriate title for the door, for there,
in that room, man exchanges health.
peace, and heaven for loss of health, loss
of home, loss of family, loss of immortal
Eoul. Exchange sure enough and infinite
enough.
Now you acknowledge that is a cart
rope of evil, but you want 70 know what
are the small threads out of which Il is
made. There Is, in many, a disposition to
hazard. They feel 2 delight IN walking
near a precipice because of the sense Of
danger. There are people who 20 upon
JungfTau,no for the largeness OF the pros
pect, but for the feeling that they have Of
thinking, What would happen If I should
fall OnT There are persons who have
their blood flliped and accelerated by
skating very near an air-hole There are
men VINO ma positive delight in driV-
ing within two inches of the edge Of
bridge. Il is this disposition to hazard
that finds development in gaming prac-
tices. Here are five hundred dollars. /
may stake them. II / stake them / may
lose themi but l may win five thousand
dollars. Whichever way it turns / have
the excitement. Shuttle the cards Lost!
Heart thumps Head dizzy At IL again
Just TO crafty this desire for hazard.
Then there are others who go into this
sin through sheer desire for gain IL Is
especially so with professional gamblers.
They always keep cool. They never drink
enough 10 unbalance their judgment. They
do not see the dice 50 much as they see
the dollar beyond the dice, and for that
they watch as the spider in the web. look
ing as II dead unul the fly passes. Thou
sands OF Young men IN the hope OF gain go
into these practices. They say: "Nell my
salary is not enough 20 allow this luxury.
] don't get enough from my store. office,
or shop. ! ought 60 have finer apartments.
] ought 20 have better wines. / ought 20
have more richly favored cigars. ] ought
20 be able TO entertain my friends more eX-
pensively / won't stand this any longer.
] can with one brilliant stroke make a
fortune. Now, here goes principlo or no
principle heaven OF hell Who carCs?'