Connecticut western news., 1898-04-07

he would cry: "Here goes One more
 game, my boys. On this one throw l
 stake my crown of heaven"
 | A young man ill London, on coming
 of age, received a fortune of $120, 900,
 and through gambling in three years
 was thrown on his mother for support. An only son went to New Orleans. He
 was rich, intellectual and elegant in
 manners. His parents gave him, on his
 departure from home, their last bless
 ing. The sharpers got hold of him.
 They fattered him. They lured him to
 the gaming table and let him win al
 most every time for a good while, and patted him on the back and said, First
 rate player" But, fully in their grasp,
 they feeced him, and his $50, 900 were
 lost. Last of all, he put up his watch | and lost that. Then he began to think
 of bis home and of his old father and
 mother and wrote thus:
 My beloved parents, you will doubt | less feel momentary joy at the recep-
 tion of this letter from the child of your bosom, on whom you have lavish ed all the favors of your declining years. | But should feeling of joy for mo-
 ment spring up in your hearts, when
 you should have received this from me, | cherish it not. have fallen deep, never | to rise. Those gray hairs, that l should have honored and protected, l shall bring down in sorrow to the grave. l | will not curse my destroyer, but, oh, | may God avenge the wrongs and impo- sitions practiced upon the unwary in a way that shall best please him This, | my dear parents, is the last letter you | will ever receive from me. l humbly pray your forgiveness. It is my dying prayer. Long before you will have re- ceived this from me the cold grave will have closed upon me forever. Life to
 me is insupportable. l cannot, nay, l | will not, suffer the shame of having | ruined you. Forget and forgive is the dying prayer of your unfortunate son." The old father came to the postoffice, got the letter and fell to the floor. They thought he was dead at first, but they
 brushed back the white hair from his brow and famed him. He had only fainted. "Aceldama, the field of blood"
 When things go wrong at a gaming
 
 all the gaming tables of the world cry out: Foul, foul! Infinitely foulr' Gift Enterprises.
 Gift stores' are abundant through out the country. With book or knife or sewing machine or coat or carriage, there goes prize. At these stores peo- pie get something thrown in with their purchase. It may be gold watch, or set of silver, ring or farm. Sharp way to get off unstable goods. It has filled the land with fictitious articles and covered up our population with brass finger rings, and despoiled the moral sense of the community, and is fast making us a nation of gamblers. The church Of God has not seemed willing to allow the world to have all the advantage of these games of chance. A church bazaar opens, and toward the close it is found that some of the more valuable articles are unstable. Forth with, the conductors of the enterprise conclude that they will raff1e for some of the valuable articles, and, under pre- tense of anxiety to make their minister present or please some popular mem- Der of the church, fascinating persons are dispatched through the room, pencil in hand, to "solioit shares" or perhaps each draws for his own advantage and scores of people go home with their trophies, thinking that it is all right, for Christian ladies did the embroidery and Christian men did the railing, and the proceeds went toward a new con- munion set. But you may depend on it, that as far as morality is concerned, you might as we'll have won by the crack of the billiard ball or the turn of the dice box. Do you wonder that churches built, lighted or upholstered by such processes as that come to great financial and spir- itual decrepitude? The devil says, "'I helped to build that house of worship and have as much right there as you have," and for once the devil is right.
 We do not read that they had lottery for building the church at Corinth, or at Antioch, or for getting up an em- broidered surplice for St. Paul. All this I style ecclesiastical gambling. More than one man who is destroyed can say that his first step on the wrong road was when he won something at church fair.
 The gambling spirit has not stopped for any indecency. There transpired in Maryland a lottery in which people drew for lots in a burying ground. The modern habit of betting about every thing is productive of immense mis- chief. The most healthful and innocent amusements of yachting and baseball playing have been the occasion of put ting up excited and extravagant wagers.
 That which to many has been advan- tageous to body and mind has been to others the means of financial and moral loss. The custom is pernicious in the extreme, where scores of men in respect able life give themselves up to betting, now on this boat, now on that; now on this ball club, now on that. Betting that once was chiefly the aocompani- | ment of the race course is fast becoming | a national habit, and in some circles any opinion advanced on finance or pol itics Is accosted with the interrogation,
 "How much will you bet on that, sir?"
 This custom may make no appeal to slow, lethargic temperaments, but there are in the country tens of thousands of quick, nervous, sanguine, excitable temperaments, ready to be acted upon, and their feet will soon take hold on death. For some months, and perhaps for years, they will finger in the more polite and elegant circle of gamesters
 but after awhile their pathway will come to the fatal plunge.
 Career of the Gambler.
 Shall I sketch the history of the gambler? Lured by bad company, he finds his way into place where honest men ought never to go. He sits down to his first game, but only for pastime | and the desire of being thought socia-
 ble. The players deal out the cards
 They unconsoiously play into satan's hands, who takes all the tricks and both
 the players souls for trumps-he being sharper at any game. A slight stake is put up, just to add interest to the
 play. Game after game is played. Larger foIyo o,,l 1+;1 L 41