Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-04-02

| they that desire to be rich fall INTO
temptation and snare and many fool
ish and hurtful lusts, such as drown
men in destruction and perdition. For
the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil"
The evil of this gaming spirit is that
1t tends to corrupt the whole social
body 1t leads to vicious desires de-
struction of morals, abandonment of
industry and honest work, loss of
self -control and respect, n ruin of for
tunes.
We have just had an object lesson
| of the disastrous effects of the gam
bling mania. st. Louis has been the
scene of great mental suffering, and
the anguish experienced by our neigh
bors has been felt by others in hun
dreds, perhaps thousands, of cities and
towns throughout the United States.
We have seen crowds of men and
women with babes in their arms,
standing in line on the st. Louis
streets-the line extending for half
a city block-all waiting to gain en-
trance to one of the office buildings in
which, during the last year, certain
gambling concerns have flourished by
means of alluring inducements offered
depositors in the matter of eXorbltant
rates of interest on their money.
In these throngs were men about
town, and a few women, who knew,
| w riS al hot
they were embarking in a gambling
proposition. For them no sympathy
can be wasted. They went into the
speculation with their eyes open. They
knew that the larger the interest Of
fered them, the greater risk they ran
of parting with their money. Confirmed
gamblers, they have staked and lost
No one can commiserate them.
But the others-and they are in the
majority-the men and the women Of
the poorer class, the poorly educated,
and those whose education though
qualifying them for the ordinary bust
ness of life, did not give them an in
/ sight into such financial methods as
have recently been exploited these
were the sufferers, and for them the
greatest compassion must be felt.
, 1t was an interesting but pathetic
thing to study the faces of those whose
= little fortune, drawn perhaps from the
savings bank and invested in these
fraudulent concerns, was now lost for
ever.
We smiled as we read the "get-rich-
quick" advertisements, but these igno-
rant persons did not. No They be-
lieved What they read in their family
newspaper to be true. On one page
they saw the advertisement of large
dry goods house, in which certain ar
ticles were marked down as bargain
sale. A visit to the store demon
strated the truth of the notice. Pre-
? vious visits had proved to them the
truth of previous notices.
On another page, finely set up, they
saw an advertisement that certain
, corporation, with so much capital stock
and in offices owned and controlled
! by bank or by men whose names
I are among the highest in the commune
. ty would pay them five per cent a
t week on their money and let them
withdraw their capital whenever they
: desired
I OF course many of them believed
p what they saw. We could not under
stand at the time how anyone could be
= so taken in, but we do now. The rea-
i son in many cases is plain. And that
: 10 WIN I an
: ~ rests with somebody; let me say II
o in all kindness, it rests with the news.
j papers and other periodicals that pub.
: fish the alluring, seductive advertise.
e ments of these swindling institutions
: And now, for a moral for ourselves
The pulpit has erred in not calling the
attention of the people to these ne
fariouS concerns and warning them
l. against all gambling methods. | have
e sinned. But one doesn't like to be al
y ways appearing in the role of a critic
q And TO speak out now seems like lock
o ing the stable door after the horse has
o been stolen
u Nevertheless, l want with all earnest
: ness to warn you against quick meth
- DDS of getting money. They invariably
- end, sooner or later, in failure.
= Industry, economy, enterprise, LEI
!, this be your rallying cry. Spend less
- than you earn. Put the balance into
a good savings bank until the sum ac
cumulated warrants q better invest
ment Then you are capitalist, an(
y the result is that he who began life
Y as common labOrer drives about il
y his own carriage before its close
H. Do not let the great fortunes, spring
L. ing up like mushroom in night
1r tempt you into some "get-rich- quick
S. scheme. The property which is rapid
n. ly gained is often quite as rapidly dis
ne sipated, Come to your climax slower
IT il will be more impressive and lasting
at Shun all forms of gambling, Thei
RS gains like apples Of Sodom, will turf
re to ashes in the grasping. Be alert, b,
honest, he truthful, be dligent anC