The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-04
BLOOD ON THE GREEN BAIZE.
TALMAGE breaches on THE EVILS
OF GAMBLING.

Enabling, But Nothing But Degree
dotion i'm store for the Gamester-
washington, April S.-The spirit OF haz-
ard in this sermon is arraigned py d.
Talmage. and the downward path OF the
eamester is plainly pointed out: Text:
Acts 1:19: Aceldama, that is to say, the
field of blood.
The money that Judas gave for sur
rendering Christ was used to purchase a
graveyard. AS the money was blood
money. the ground bought by it was call
ed in the Syriac tongue, "Aeeldama
meaning 1.-THE field of blood" Well, there
Is one word want to write to-day over
Avery race-course where wagers are stalk
ID. and every pool-room, and every gam
bling saloon, and every table, public or
,rivate. where men and women bet for
ums of money, large or small and that
word incarnadined with the life of
nnumerable victims-Aceldama-
The gambling spirit which is at all
ines a stupendous evil, ever and anon
,weeps over the country like an epidemic,
uostrating uncounted thousands. There
las never been a worse attack than that
rom which all the villages, towns, and
hties are now suffering.
While among my hearers AID readers
ire those who have passed on into the
afternoon of life and the shadows are
engthening and the sky crimsOns with
The glow of the setting sun, large num-
ser 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 blossoms, and the
stream of life, cleaning and glancing,
rushes on between fiowery banks, making
music as it goes. Some of you are engag-
ed in mercantile concerns, as clerks and
bookkeepers, and your whole life is to be
passed in the exciting world of traffic.
The sound of busy life stirs you as the
drum stirs the fiery war horse Others
are in the mechanical arts, TO hammer
and chisel your way through life, and
success awaits you. Some are preparing
for professional life, and grand opportu-
mites are before you; nay, some of you
already have buckled on the armor But,
whatever your age and calling, the sub
ject of gambling about which l speak to-
day is pertinent.
Some years ago, when an association
for the suppression of gambling was or
eanIzed, an agent of the association came
10 prominent citizen and asked him to
patronize the society. He said: mo, I
can have no interest in such an organiza-
ton. l 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 a famous gambling
establishment. Another refused his pat
ronage on the same ground, not knowing
that his first bookkeeper, though recelv-
ing salary of only four thousand dollars,
was losing from fifty to one hundred dol
lars per night The president of a rail-
road company refused to patronize the
institution, saying: THAT society is good
Tor the defense of merchants, but we rail-
road 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. Directly or indirectly this evil
strikes at the whole world.
Gambling is the risking of something
more or less valuable in the hope of win
ming more than you hazard. The instru-
ments of gaming may differ, but the
principle is the same. The shutting and
dealing cards, however full of tempta-
ton, is not gambling unless stakes are
put up; while, on the other hand, gambling
may be carried on without cards. or dice.
or billiards, or a ten-pin alley The man
VINO bets on horses, or elections, on bat
ties, the man who deals in fancy stocks.
or conducts a business which hazards
extra capital or goes into transactions
without foundation but dependent upon
what men call luck" is a gambler
Whatever you expect to get from vour
nelghbor without Offering an equivalent
IN money or time, or skill is either the
product of theft or gaming. Lottery tick.
cts and lottery policies come into the Same
category. Bazaars for the founding n,
hospitals, schools, and churches, con.
quoted on the rafting system come under
me same denomination. Do not. there.
fore, associate gambling necessarily witt
any instrument, or game, or time, or place
or think the principle depends uDor
whether you play for a glass of wine OF
one hundred shares of railroad stock
whether you patronize auction pools
French mutuals," or "book-makiny
whether you employ faro or billiards
rondo and keno, cards or bagatelle. tn,
very idea of the thing is dishonest; for /
processes to bestow upon you a good fo
which you give no equivalent.
This crime is no newborn sprite. but ,
haggard transgression that comes stag
gering down under a mantle of curse
through many centuries. All nations
barbarious and civilized, have been ad
Gicted to it.
But now the laws of the whole civilize,
world denounce the system. Enactment
have been passed but only partially en-
forced, and at times not enforced at oil
The men interested in gaming houses, an,
al Jockey clubs, WELD such influence 10,
their numbers and affluence, that tn
judge. the jury. and the police force mus
be bold indeed who would array themselve
against these Infamous establishments
The House of Commons of England act
ually adjourns on Derby day that mem
bers may attend the races; and in the hes
circles of society in this country to-ia,
are many hundreds of professedly respec
table men who are acknowledged gamb
lers.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in thi
land are every day being won and los
through sheer gambling. Says a travele
through the West, Il have Travelled
thousand miles at time upon the West
ern waters, and seen gambling at ever
waking moment from the commencement
10 the termination Of the Journey" Tn
southwest of this country reeks with thi
sin. In some of those cities every third O
fourth house in many of the streets is
gaming place, and ii may be truthful
a. Of orrr fs.