Milford chronicle., 1904-09-16
-. q =. -
Danee Cost LIfe Of a SAND.

Sc 3,sSE..'..f q - - 'ssss~77es
Dance Cost Life of n SAINT.
John the Baptist lost his life on a,
count Of that dance. But many a MAJ
not, like John, in prison, but in orches
ira chair. has lost his head, both mora
" and spiritually, as the result OF a
immoral show on the theater boards
There may be good theaters. l know
that some people whom l respect at
tend the theater. But 1 know ther
are also vile theaters. 1 also know
some of these vile theaters are attend
ed regularly by some SO called gooC
people. And l also know that thes,
vile shows are the haunts Of spiritua
and physical death.
When wrote this sermen there lay
upon my study desk a powerful edi-
tOrial upon stage Abominations." II
lately appeared in eRe Of the greatest
secular newspapers of the present day.
This editorial was not written by a
minister, but by a layman who per-
haps never enters a charch. 1t said
1T does not seem possible that the
public will much longer tolerate the
denominations that are constantly be-
ing inflicted upon it from behind the
fOotlights Of the theaters of the pres
ent day. Surely the vulgarities and
indecencies of actors and actresses of
the present day who substitute filth
and vie insinuatiOns for wit and hu-
NOR are not so licensed that they can
be allowed to go on forever without re-
buke. The nasty and offensive jokes,
the immoral action and the language
of the slums and the vile resort are aA
too frequently forced upon the ear and
seen in the streets and public places
Of the town without being faunted In
our faces when we pay good money for
a seat in the theateF. If the stage has
become so impoverished that il must
resort to dirtiness and suggestive vice
to maintain itself it were better to
abolish it entirely as an institution"
Then this editorial goes more into de-
tail to denounce the trend Of the mod |
ern theater which blasts the lives Of |
is audiences by what they see as well
Is hear. Does any man in the face Of
iuch a powerful philippe declare that
thousands and tens Of thousands Of
men and women every year are not
morally contaminated by the filthy
streams Of conversation which play
yrights and actors and actresses roll
ver them in the theaters in the long
7inter nights? The streams Of boiling
ava and the showers of burning ashes
which fell on POmpeu and Hercu-
lneum on that terrible night in 70
;. D., overwhelming the pleasure seek
lg people, were not so mach to be
readed as this torrent Of moral Alth
-hich is descending almost every
ight on the audiences in the theaters {
our great cities and is bringing them '
} spiritual destruction.
What the Watchman Sees.
But as a watchman 1 must not al. =
" my eyes to follow only one class \
people. While the theater audi :,
ICES are moving through the streets .
witness these distorted and often =
lpossible plays, through the open :.
ors of the saloons I can see the .
ages on which are being enacted =
ores and hundreds and thousands Of
lgedies in real life. Each one Of
ese tragedies is as pathetic as that
a Hamlet, an Othello, Merchant i" "
Venice. Each one has more of pa -
IS within it than could ever be found ~ -
the misery and woe Of Dickens -, ~
ale Of Two Cities" OF a Seton -
ompson's Autobiography Of a Griz- ~ ~
Bear" In these tragedies Of real ~ y,
: enacted upon the stage Of the :"
oOn we do not always find the ~ ~
ing men and women led as lambs to - -
slaughter. But we sometimes find ~
m as wild tigers fighting for their 70 20
IS when their fore feet have been u
ght in the street traps, or as stays w.
bay, for little while holding of =" a.
hounds, yet, like mad dogs at the % %
ut Of water, they become absolutely ~
pless at the sight and smell OF rum. VI, u
h, the tragedies of the saloons! As ".
-atchman on Gods watchtower who 'el
ever refrain from sympathizing m mnie
b them and shedding tears of deep 10y 10y
sorrow for them? "Oh. no." ex- GU GU
ms some cynical man, II have no Ni
lpathy for the drunkard. II a man
Its to stop drinking he can stop. ~
only reason why the drunkards do ~ ~
stop is because they do not want lila
top" Ah, my cynical friend, you ~
wrong. have no sympathy for Du'
egotistic and self inflated young eH'
/ who to be smart loafs about a sa- lue
and deliberately cultivates a taste IN
drink. But there are thousands of ele
who do not want to drink. They tne
not know how to stop drinking. oe,
have never yet heard OF the elu
e Of God which will save them if asy
would only let him save them. Ave. you
further than that. 1 believe there a =
thousands Of drunkards tonight las'
would be willing to take an az on
with it cut of their right hands If emu
could only be freed from the curse eei
rink. They are fighting drink ev- Sau
lay Of their lives, but in their own
lgth they cannot stop. And so to- -
as a watchman on Gods tower / nigi
housands Of the finest Drained men ign
women going to destruction Flct