The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-04-07
western waters snd seen gambling at

every waking moment from the COM
mencement to the termination Of the
Journey" The southwest OF this coun-
try reeks with this sin. IN some of
those cities every third or fourth house
place. and II may be truthfully averred
that each of our cities Is cursed with
this evil.
Men wishing to gamble will find
places JUST suited TO their capacity not
only IL the underground oyster cellar
or at the table back OF the curtain.
covered with greasy cards, or in the
steamboat smoking cabin, where the
bloated wretch with rings in his ears
deals out his pack and winks in the un-
suspecting traveller, providing free
drinks adj around, but in gilded parlors
and amid gorgeous surroundings. This
sin works ruin first by providing an
unhealthy stimulant. Excitement ie
pleasurable. Under every sky and in
every age men have sought 1t. We
must at times have excitement. a
thousand voices in our nature demand
it. II is right. 1t Is healthful. 1t is
inspiriting. 1t is q desire God given.
But anything that first gratlfies this
appetite and hurls 1t back in a terrific
reaction is deplorable and wicked.
Any trade or occupation that is of
use is ennobling. The street sweeper
advances 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 the pestilence. But
the gambler gives not anything for
that which he takes. | recall that SEN
tence. He does make a return, but it
Is disgrace to the man that he fieeces,
despair to his heart, ruin to his busi-
ness, anguish 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 woe.
What duh work is plowing to the
farmer when dn the village saloon in
one night he makes and loses the value
of a 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?
John Borack was sent as a mercan-
tile agent from Bremen to England and
I, l,,, II.
ployers mistrusted that all was not
right He was a defaulter for $S7,
1t was found that he had lost in Lom-
bard street, London, s29, 900: in Fulton
street, New York, $4,000, and in New
Orleans, $4,000. He was imprisoned,
but afterward escaped and went into
the gambling profession. He died in
q lunatic asylum. This crime is getting
it's lever under many a mercantile
house in our cities, and before long
down will come the great es-
Establishment, crushing reputation. home
comfort and immortal souls. How 1t
diverts and sinks capital may be in
ferred from some authentic statement
before us. The ten gaming houses that
once were authorized in Paris passed
through the banks yearly 325 900, 900
francs.
Furthermore, this sin Is the source
Of dishonesty. The game of hazard it.
self is often cheat. How many tricks
and deceptions in the dealing of the
cards! The opponents hand is ofttimes
found out by fraud. cards are marked
80 that they may be designated from
the back. Expert gamesters have their
a game. The dice have been found
loaded with platina so that doublets
come up every time. These dice are
introduced by the gamblers unobserved
by the honest men who have come into
the play, and this accounts for the fact
that 80 out of 100 who gamble, however
wealthy when they begin, at the end
are found to be poor, miserable, hag-
gard wretches, that would not now be
allowed to sit in the doorstep of the
house that they once owned.
a young man in London on coming
OF age received a fortune of $l20,0OO,
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 flattered him. They lured him to
the gaming table and let him win al
most every time for good while and
patted him on the back and said, First
rate player" But, fully in their grasp,
they fecced him, and his $4,000 was
lost. Last Of all, he put up his watch,
and lost that. Then he began to think
of his home, and of his old father and
mother, and wrote thus:
My beloved parents, you will doubt
less feel a momentary joy at the re-
ceptton of this letter from the child OF
your BOSOM on whom you have lavish
edall 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 I