The Progress., 1898-04-16
SPIRIT OF HAZARD.
Rev. DR.. Ta1mage Arraigns tho
Gambling Habit.
One OF the Most stupendous of Evils
Whether In Church or Gambling
Hell Its Influence II Equal
ly Pernicious.

In the following sermon the spirit OF
hazard is severely arraigned by Rev. L.
De Witt TalmaRe, and the path to per-
dition of the gamester clearly pointed
ont. The text Is: :,
Aceldama that is to say, tho neld OF blood.
| Acts t., 10.
The money that Judas gave for sur
rem dering Christ was used to purchase
q graveyard. AS the money was blood
money, the ground bought by 1t was
called in the Syriac tongue, "Acel-
dama," meaning 1.-THE field of blood.
Well, there is one word want to write
to-day over every race-course where
wagers are staked, and every pool
room, and every gambling saloon, and
every table, public or private, where.
men and women bet for sums OF money,
large or small, and that is word In
carnadined with the life of innumer-
able NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ',
- The gambling spirit, which Is at oil
times q stupendous evil, ever and anon
sweeps over the country like an cpl"
demic, prostrating uncounted' thou
sands. There has never been a worse
attack than that from which all the
villages, towns and cities are now SUI
icring.
era are those who have passed ON into
the afternoon of life, and the shadows
are lengthening, and the sky crimsons
with the glow of the setting sun, Q
large number Of them are In early life,
and the morning is coming down out
Of the clear sky upon them, and the
bright air Is redolent with spring bios
SONS, and the stream of life, cleaning
and glancing, rushes on between flow
cry banks, making music as it goes.
some Of You are engaged in mercantile
lconcerns, rs clerks and bOokkopers,
and your whole life is to be passed in
tho exciting world Of traffic. The
sound of buay life stirs you a. the
drum stirs the fiery war horse. 9th
srs are in the mechanical arts, to han-
msr and ohishel your way through life,
and success awaits YOU Some are pre-
pairing for professional life, and grand
opportunities are before you; nay,
some Of you already have buokled On
the armor. But, whatever your age
and calling, the subject OF gambling.
about which I speak to-day, is perth
nent.
Some years ago, when IN association
Tor the suppression Of gsmbling was
organized, an agent of tho association
came to . prominent citizen and asked
him to patronixe the society. He said:
mo, can have no interest in such an
Organization. I am In no wise affected
by the evil" At that very time his
son, who was his partner in business,
was one of the heaviest players In .
famous gambling establishment. An
other refused his patronage on the
same ground. not knowing that his
Rrst bookkeeper, though receiving
salary Of only - 600, was losing from
$50 to 500 per night. The president Of
railroad company refused to patron
ixe the institution, saying: "That So
ciety is good for the defense of mer-
chants, but we railroad people are not
injured by this evil" not knowing that
at that very time two of his conductors
were spending three nights Of each
week at faro tables in New York. Di-
rectly or indirectly this evil strikes at
the whole world.
Gambling is the risking of something
moro or less valuable in the hone of