The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-07-21

Company
Copyright, Louis Klopsch, 1899
Home life versus hotel life is the
theme of DR.. Talmage's sermon for To-
day, the disadvantages of a life spent
at more o less temporary stopping
places being sharply contrasted with
the blessings that are found in the
real home, however humble. The text
is Luke x, "a, 35: And brought him to
an inn and took care of him. And on
the morrow when he departed, he took
out two pence and ave them to the
o and said unto him, Take care Of
him; n whatsoever thou spendest
more, when I come again / will epa
thee"
This is the good Samaritan paying
the hotel bill Of a man who had been
robbed and almost killed by bandits.
The good Samaritan had found the I'M
fortunate on a lonely, rocky road,
where to this very day depredations
are sometimes committed upon travel
ers, and had put the injured man into
the saddle, while this merciful and
we'll to do man had walked till they
got to the hotel, and the wounded man
was put to bed n cared for. 1t must
have been a very superior hotel in it's
accommodations, for, though in the
country, the lanlord was paid at the
rate of what in our country would be
81 or S. a day, a penny being then a
days wages and the 2 pennies paid
in this case about two days wages.
Moreover, it was one of those kind
hanrtn6 10 ND 1nrlc uyhn nro vyrn D~n1 ~
in the happiness Of their guests, be-
cause the good Samaritan leaves the
poor, wounded fellow to his entire care.
promising that when he came that way
again he would pay all the bills Until
the invalid got well.
Hotels and boarding houses are ne
cesSitieS. In very ~ancient times they
were unknown, because the world had
comparatively few inhabitants, and
those were not much given to travel,
and private hospitality met all the
wants of SOjournerS, as when Abra-
had rushed out at Mamre to invite
the three men ito sit down to a dinner
of veal, as when the people were posi-
lively commanded to be given to hos
pitality, as in many places in the east
these ancient customs are practiced to-
day. But we have nov hotels presided
over by good landlords and boarding
ouses presided over by excellent host
or hostess in all neighbOrhoodS, viii
lagos and cities, and it is our congratu-
latiOn hat those of our land surpass
all other lands. They rightly become
the permanent residences of many peo-
pie, such as those who are without
families. such as those whose business
keeps them migratory, such as those
who ought not, for various reasons Of
health or popularity of circumstances,
to take upon themselves the cares of
housekeeping.
A PRESENT EVIL.
Many a man falling sick in one Of
these boarding louise or hotels has
been kindly watched and nursed, and
by the memoir of her own sufferings
and losses the lady at the head of such
a house has done all that a mother
could do for a sick child, an( the slum-
berless eye of God sees and appreciates
her sacrifices in behalf of the stranger.
Among h most marvellous cases Of
patience and Christian fidelity are
many of those who keep boarding
houses, enduring without resentment
the unreasonable demands of their
guests for expensive food and atten-
lions for which they are not willing to
pay IN eq~uivalent-a lot of cranky
men and women who are not worthy
to tie the shoe of heir queenly cater
err. The outrageous way in which
bOarders sometimes act to their land
lords and landladies shows that these
critical guests had bad early rearing
and that in the making up of their ma
lures all that constitutes the gentle
man and lady was left out. Some of
the most princely men and some Of the
most elegant women that | know of to-
day keep hotels and boarding houses.
But one of the great evils of this day
is found in the fact that a large pOpu-
lation of our towns and cities are CIV
Too 1~l @ryD Diyn r1n Ehnt~ 0,,n
and taken apartments, that they may
have more freedom from domestic du-
ties and more time for social life and
because h like the whirl of publicity
better than the quiet and privacy of a
residence they a call their own. The
lawful use Of these hotels and board
ing OuseS is for most people while
they are in transitu; but as a terminus
they are in many cases decentralization,
utter and complete. That is the point
at which families ~innurNerable have
begun to disintegrate. There never has
been a time when 80 many Families,
healthy and abundantly able to sup
port and direct homes of their own,
have struck tent and taken permanent
abode in these public establishments.
1t is an evil wide as Christendom, and
by voice and through the newspaper
press / utter warning and burning pro-
test and ask Almighty God to bless the
"OIO, 1SlIicI ~ Tx lCdI Ing u CCu
ing.
PANDEMONIUM OF GOSSIP.
In these public c~aravansaries, the
demon of gossip is apt to get full sway.
All the boarders run daily the gauntlet
of general inspection-how they look
when they come dOwn in the morning
and when they get in at night, and
what they do for a living, and who
they receive as guests in their rooms,
and what they wear, and That they
do not wear, and how they eat, and
what they eat, and how much they eat,
and how little they eat. If a man pro
poses in such a place to be isolated
and reticent and alone, they will begin
to guess about him: Who is he? Where
did he come from? How long is he go
ing to stay? Has he paid his board?
How much does he pay? Perhaps he
has committed some crime n does
no want to be known. There must DE
something wrong o him or he
would speak. The whole house goes
into the detective business. They mus
find out about him. They must hnd
.Otrf n ho,,A I;-o vxinht AWAY IF he leave