Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-04-09
Abnndanoo. of opportunlrlcs.

| only III the Underground oyster collar,
or at the table back of tho curtain COW
cred with greasy cards, or i'll tho steam
boat smoking cabin, where the bloated
wretch with rings in his cars deals out
his pack and winlls i'll the unsuspecting
traveler-providing free drinks all
around-but i'll gilded parlors and amid
gorgeous surroundings This sin works
ruin, first, by providing an unhealthful
stimulant Excitement is pleasurablo.
Under every sky and in every age men
have sought it. We must at times have
excitement. A thousand voices in our
nature demand it. 1t is right. 1t is
healthful 1t is inspiriting 1t is a de-
sire God given. But anything that first
gratifies this appetite and hurls it back
in terrific reaction is deplorable and
wicked. Look out for the agitation
that, like rough musician, in bringing
out tho tune plays SO hard he breaks
down the instrument. God never made
man strong enough to endure the wear
and tear of gambling excilements
A young man having suddenly inner
tied large property sits at the hazard
! tables and takes up in dice box the es-
tate won by fathers lifetimes sweat
and shakes it and losses it away. In
temperance soon stigmatizes its victim,
kicking him out, slavoring fool, into the
ditch, or sending him, with the drunk
ard hiccough, staggering up the street
where his family lives. But gambling
does not in that way expose its victims.
Tho gambler may be eaten up by the
| gamblers passion yet you only discover
it by the greed in his eyes, the hardness
Of his features, the nervous restlessness,
the thrcadbare coat and his embarrassed
business. Yet no is on the road to ruin
and no preachers voice or startling
warning or wife's entreaty can make
him stay for moment his headlong Ca
reer.
The Internal spell is on him. A giant
is aroused within, and though you bind
him with cables, they would part like
thread, and though you fasten him seven
times around with chains, they would
snap like rusted wire, and though you
piled up in his path heaven high Bibles,
tracts and sermons, and Oh the top
should set the cross of the Son OF God,
over them all the gambler would leap
like roe over the rocks on bis way to
rerdition. "Aceldama, tho field of
blood
Again, this sin works ruin by killing
industry. A man used to reaping scores
or hundreds of dollars from the gaming
table will not be content with slow
work He will say, "What is the use OF
trying to mako this $50 in my store
when l eau make five times that in half
an hour by the dice I" You never knew
confirmed gambler who was industri-
GUS. The men given to this vice spend
their time not actively Employed i'll the
game in idleness or intoxication or
sleep or in corrupting new victims
This sin has dulled the carpenters saw,
and cut the band of the factory wheel,
sunk the cargo, broken the teeth of the
farmers harrow, and sent strange
Tightening to shatter the battery Of the
philosopher. The very first idea in gam
ing is at war with all the industries of
society.
Any trade or occupation that is of use
is ennobling. The street sweeper ad-
vances the interests of society by the
cleanliness effected The cat pays for
the fragments it eats by clearing the
house of vermin. The fly that takes the
sweetness from the dregs Of the cup
compensates by purifying the air and
keeping back tho pestilence. But the
gambler gives not anything for that
which he takes. recall that sentence.
He does make return, but it is dis
grace to the man that he 1lceces, despair
to his heart, ruin to his business, an
guish to his wife, shame to his children
and eternal wasting away to his soul.
He pays in tears and blood and agony
and darkness and wee.
What dull work is blowing to the
farmer when in the village saloon i'll
one night he makes and loses the value
of summer harvest! Who will want
to sell tapes and measure nankeen and
cut garments and weigh sugar when IN
nights game he makes and loses and
makes again and loses again the profits
of a season?
An Example.
John Borack was sent as mercantile
agent from Bremen to England and this
country. After two years his employers
mistrusted that all was net right. He
was defaulter for $4,000. 1t was
found that he had lost in Lombard
street, London, $4,000; in Fulton
street, New York, $4,000, and in New
Orleans, $1,000. He was imprisoned,
but afterward escaped, and went into
the gambling profession. He died in a
lunatic asylum. This crime is getting
it's lever under many mercantile house
in our cities and before long down will
come the great establishment, crushing
reputation, home comfort and immortal
souls. How it diyerts aud sinks capital
may be inferred from some authentic
statement before US. The ten gaming
houses that once were authorized III
Paris passed through the banks yearly
, 325, 900, 900 francs.
Furthermore, this sin is the source of
dishonesty The game of hazard itself
is often cheat How many tricks and
receptions in the dealing OF the cards II
The opponents hand is ofttimes found
out by fraud Cards arc marked so that
they may be designated from the back.
Expert gamesters have their accom-
plices, and one wink may decide the
game. The dice have been found loaded
with platina SO that doublets come up
every time. These dice are introduced
by she gam piers unoDserved by the non
est men who have come into the play,
and this accounts for the fact that ~
out of 100 who gamble, however
-roo1t,,1, ,ybon thev hnpan at the end