Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-01-28


perils that await him, he goes straight
on to physical and mental and moral
assassination. In proportion as any style
of alcoholism is pleasant 70 your taste
and stimulating TO your nerves. and for
a time delightful to all your physical
and mental constitution, is the peril
awful. Remember Jonathan and the
forbidden honey in the woods at Beth
aven.
Furthermore, the gamester's indul-
gence must be put in the list Of tempta-
tions delicious, but destructive. You
who have crossed the ocean many times
have noticed that always one Of the best
rooms has from morning until late at
night been given up to gambling prao-
tices. | heard Of men who went on
board with enough for European ex-
cursion who landed without money 10
get their baggage up to the hotel or
railroad station. To many there Is a
complete fascination in games Of hazard
or the risking Of money on possibilities.
1t seems as natural for them to bet as
TO eat Indeed. the hunger for food Is
often overpowered by the hunger for
wagers. 1t is absurd for those Of US who
have never felt the fascination Of the
wager to speak slightingly OF the temp
tation. Il has slain multitude Of intel
lectual and moral giants, men and wo-
men stronger than you or |. Down un-
der its power went glorious Oliver
Goldsmith and Gibbon. the famous his
torian, and Charles Fox, the renowned
statesman. and in olden times senator's
Of the United States. who used to be as
regularly at the gambling house all
night as they were in the halls Of legis-
lation by day Oh, the tragedies OF the
faro tablet | know persons who began
with slight stake in ladies parlor
and ended with the suicides pistol at
Monte Carlo They played with the
square pieces Of bone with black marks
on them, not knowing that satan was
playing for their bones at the same
time and was sure to sweep all the
stakes off on his side Of the table. State
legislatures have again and again sane
toned the mighty evil by passing laws
in defense Of race tracks, and many
young men have lost all their wages at
such so called meetings" " Every man
who voted for such infamous bills has
on his hands and forehead the blood OF
these souls
Eternal Catastrophe.
But in this connection some young
converts say to me: "Is IL right to play
cardsg Is there any harm in game OF
whist or euchrs?" Well, know good
men who play whist and euchre and
other styles of games without any
wagera | had a friend who played
cards with his wife and children, and
then at the close said, Come, now, let
us have prayers " | will not judge 9TH
er mems consciences, but tell you that
cards are in my mind so associated with
the temporal and spiritual ruin Of splen-
did Young men that | would as soon
say to my family, Come, let US have
game Of cards. as | would 90 into
menagerie aud say, Come let US have
a game Of rattlesnakes" or into ceme-
tery and. sitting down by a marble
slab, say to the grayediggers, Come,
let US have a game at skulls. ~ Consclen'
tious young ladies are silently saying,
"Do you think card playing will do US
any harm:" Perhaps not, but how will
YOU feel il in the great day Of eternity.
when we are asked to give an account
of our influence, some man should say,
"I was introduced to games Of chance
in the year 1898, at your house, and L
went on from that sport to something
more exciting and went on down until
l lost my business and lost my morals
and lost my soul, and these chains that
you see on my wrists and feet are the
chains Of a gamester's doom, and am
on nv way to a gamblers hell. " Hon
ey at the start, eternal catastrophe at
the last.
Stock gambling comes into the same
catalogue. It must be very exhilaratlng
70 90 into the stock market and, depos-
iting a small sum Of money, run the
chance Of taking out fortune. Many
men are doing an honest and safe busi-
ness in the stock market, and you are
an ignoramus if you do not know that
il is lust as legitimate TO deal IN stocks
as it is to deal in coffee or sugar OF
-four. But nearly all the outsiders who
90 there on a financial excursion lose
all. The old spiders eat up the unsus'
Meeting flies. had friend who put
his hand on his hip pocket and said IN
substance, II have there the value oi
$3.50, OOo." His home is today penni'
less. What was the matter? Stock gam
bling OF the vast majority who are
yictimized you hear not one word One
great stock firm goes down, and whole
columns Of newspapers discuss theli
fraud OF their disaster, and we are pre-
sented with their features and their bi
oQraphy. But where one such famous
firm sinks 500 unknown men sink with
them. The great steamer goes down
and all the little boats are swallowed
in the same engulfment.
GamDllnB Is banOAiHef "NNN -
stocks or breadstuffs or dice or rac'
horse betting Exhilaration at the start
hut a raving brain and a shattered nery
aus system and a sacrificed property
and destroyed soul at the last. Y,unI
men, buy no lottery tickets, purchas
no prize packages, bet on no baseball
games or yacht racing. have no faith Il
luck, answer no mysterious circular
proposing great income for small invest
ment. Drive away the buzzards tina
hover around our hotels trying to entra
strangers. Go out and make an homes
living. Have God on your side and be
candidate for heaven. Remember all tn
paths Of sin are banked with flowers a
the start, and there are plenty OF helI
full hands to fetch the gay charger
, your door and hold the stirrup Will
you mount. But farther on the hors
plunges to the bit in slough inextrics
{ BILE.
The Truth OF God.
4 rha hast honax, ie NOT lika that Uhic