The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-26


/ down, and never distilled another drop.
But he had already trained up his sons
to think they might drink whenever
| they pleased, provided they were mod
crate, and though he himself was So
Der, one of those boys, trained to drink
! by his fathers example, became a
drunkard and a moral reprobate The
only perfectly safe way, said Mr.. Nc
/ Corkle, is to regard alcohol as a drug
/ to be used like any other poisonous
drug, with extreme caution. and only
when it is necessary.
Fifty-twO Pieces of Cardboard.
He next referred to gambling: at
seems innocent" he said. Nobody can
! say there is a necessary partnership
! between the devil and any fifty-two
! pieces of card board. 1t is hard to say
! that it is right to play with one pack
| of cards upon which are printed let
| ters OF the alphabet, game called log
| omachy, or with another on which are
the names of popular authors and their
works, game called authors, while
1t is wrong to play with a pack upon
which are printed pictures of kings,
! queens, etc, a game called whist. I'm
questionably, one game is in itself as
innocent as the other. And if two peo-
! pie choose to play for a stake, they do
not appear TO be doing any harm. One
has right to risk his money. men
would think. And then, it is often urg-
ed that gambling is no more wrong
than any other business. Many strong
minded men, said a recent editorial
in one of our newspapers, ARE of opin-
ion that gambling is no more wrong
than any other business that, in fact,
all business is gambling This, of
course, must be understood as an init
nation that the writer himself was one
or those strong minded people, or else
we must consider him weak minded
for expressing himself in such a doubt
full fashion.
The fallacy of this argument that all
business is sort of gambling, lies in
the assumption that risk is the only
element in gambling. The falIacy of
this assumption was shown, first, by
the fact that in legitimate business
tnere was mutual benefit conferred by
the buyer and seller. One exchanges
Tor money what the other needs for his
use. The householder cannot eat his
money, nor wear 1T. He must exchange
1t for food, or clothing, or hardware.
The merchant thus confers a benefit
upon his customer, and this benefit ex-
TENDS not only to the purchaser, but to
the manufacturer, and to the laborer
VINO gave the raw material it's value
by his labor.
Loses Ii All.
In gambling, on the other hand, the
loser has had nothing in exchange for
MS money, but the excitement of his
game. He has exchanged his money for
disappointment and vexation. But the
evil lies in the tendency of gambling.
The excitement is unwholesome. 1t
may develop into a craze. And if a
poor man CANDLES, he is robbing his
family oftentimes of food and clothing.
in order that he may crafty his pas
sion for play. Gambling leads to vi
cious companionship. Abandoned men
and women frequent the gambling
hells, which are usually to be found in
close partnership with the bagnios.
Drinking goes with gambling, and few
men can acquire a passion for play
without acquiring, in the same circles,
the fearful thirst for intoxicants. The
loser, again, is tempted to recoup his
losses by stalking money that is not
his own; and from this has resulted a
long array of embellishments and rob-
berries, not a few committed in your
own city, and to the knowledge of men
in this congregation. And in how
many instances has discovery and dis
| grace led to suicide
"Now ii may be said" continued the
| speaker, that these things are not true
of card-playing in fashionable circles.
But the games are the same euchre,
| poker and the rest; the implements
the cards-are of the same sort: the
accompaniment in the way of in
ducements TO drink, are even more Sc
ductive, and the stakes are similar in
value, if not worth in actual money.
The moral effect must be in large
measure the same. Progressive euchre
and progressive whist as played in
fashionable society in our day, are but
forms of progressive damnation. Every
woman who lends her influence toward
the popularizing of such games, or pre-
sides over a punch bowl at a fashion,
able card party, is a recruiting agent
for the devil. Young men begin thus
to gamble in fashionable parlors, TAX
ing the cards, and accepting the drink
from fair hands and they graduate
in the company of buns and cut
throats in back alleys.
There is danger even in card-playing
in families, when the utmost caution is
used to prevent the young people from
| becoming gamblers" He illustrated
this by telling of one family of which
he had known, in which a father play
ed with his sons. One of these sons is
now the most noted gambler, the most
skilful poker player. in his state. He
| WIS anu loses MS lOOuSdnuS, ana the
vice holds him with a grip of steel.
Can we say that father was altogether
blameless? There is a way which
seemeth right unto man, but the end
thereof are the ways of DEATH
Traditions of the Church.
Concluding, Mr.. McCorkle urged his
members to be true to the traditions
of their own church. This First
Church." ne said. has stood hereto
| fore for integrity, for decorum of be-
havior, for all that makes for high
Christian character. / am glad that
am not the pastor of a fashionable
church. l have too much respect for
| the gospel of Christ ever to accept such
| a position. If ever this church coun-
tenances in its members such sins as
have pointed out. and they become
! common amongst us, l will resign my
| charge. So long as l remain your pas
tor 1 will, in love and faithfulness TO
your souls, reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all long-suffering and doctrine AS
you would be true to your traditions
as a people. as you would honor the
memory of those memorials about you
as you would be loyal to church, l beg
you to carry home this message Avoid
evil, no matter how innocent it's APP
pearance may be; avoid things OF
hurtful tendency; for there is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. -
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