Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-02-22
CHILDREN AND SLOT MACHINES

The abolition of the slot machine in
Anaconda will be the slogan of the peo-
pie Of this city who are most bitterly
opposed to them, in the near future, and
if the church people take up the fight.
as they seem inclined to do, they are
likely to make thems Ives heard very
forcibly. The movement has been in the
process of disqualification for some little
time land all on account of the lax regu-
lations of allowing children to play them
with just as much freedom as grown
people. Every saloon in town has slot
machines but in such places minors are
not allowed access to them.
1t is in other institutions in the city
where the fault lies, and a few days ago
attention was called to an instance where
two small boys went into certain place;
they had IS cents between them, the
proprietor gave them checks for their
money, which were afterwards deposited
in the machine, nothing was won in the
game of chance, and the money the
young lads had was lost.
Such practices are certainly democrat
lzing to the youth.
Rev. T.. G. Cattermole, of the First
Methodist church, read of the instance
of the two boys and has responded
with the following:
Editor Intc' MOuntain:-Permit me to
say just word in endorsement of your
timely and commendable article on the
slot machines of Anaconda. 1t is GER
tainly an indication of better days for
the youth of our city and state when a
leading newspaper like the Inter Noun
tain dares to speak right out" against
Of no two,
breeders that are to be found in our
midst.
Many people whose business 1t is to
diagnose moral diseases and furnish the
best remedies possible, and who are con-
stantly coming in contact with the raw
ages of the sin plague. have long. since
learned to know the apparently innocent
and attractive slot machine as one of the
most insidious enemies of developing
manhood. 1t is as covert in it's attacks
as the villain who shoots from ambush
one whom he calls friend. The slot
machine proprietor and patron consider
it respectable" method of gambling,
and adapted to the boy with nickle as
we'll as the man with $50 to lose.
And therein lies it's gerat danger Not
many boys would be encourag ed to enter
gambling room, and play any of the
dozen or so more games with only a few
nlckles to LOSE nor would many of our
boys want to do such thing if they
could; yet here. in business places fire.
quented by men and women and chill
dren. is machine into which they need
only to drop nickle-just a machine
you know-with the expectation of
drawing out more than they put in. If
you were gOin to start a school for the
| training of gamblers, would YOU know
| of any better device than this for be-
! ginners?
one boy in Anaconda, short time ago.
started to the market with 81. 90 for veg
etables and meat 4or the home. but stop
PED at certain slot machine and lost
the last cent! Nor was that the worst
| OF 1t. He went home and lied to his
mother about what became Of the money.
This is but single instance. Thous-
ands are on record. Two young married
| women said to me recently, that their
| husbands heretofore perfectly free from
| gambling, had become habtual FREQUENT
ers of the slot machine, much to the
lessening of certain home comforts.
Do you wonder, beloved, that Carrie
Nation rises up once in genera tion ?
What other recourse have mothers and
| wives?
L feel certain that If most of those
having these machines in their places
stopped TO think of the terrible results
of starting and developing the gambling
| spirit ,these same machines would be
relegated to the DEVILS camping ground
| where they belong
! EDWARD G. CATTERMOIE