The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-04-25


view held by most of us. and one Of the
conclusions he draws is that the prob.
lem is not so much to account for the
gambler in the midst of us as for the
stald and matter-of-fact man of busi-
ness.
All classes of society and the one
sex, quite as much as the other, argues
Prof. Thomas, have n deep interest in
all forms of contest involving skill and
chance and that interest mounts high
er and higher as the risk and damage
become greater and greater. And this
is but natural, for the conflict arouses
in us the instincts awakened during
the childhood of the race in the strug-
gle for food and the rivalry for mates.
An organism such as mans, dependent
on offensive and defensive movements
for food and life, could not have been
developed without having developed at
the same time an interest in dangerous
or precarious situations.
The fact that our interests and en-
thusiasms are aroused by situations of
the conflict type can be shown by
glance at the situations that arouse
them most readily. War, for instance,
is simply an organized form of fight,
and as such is most attractve-or, to
say the least, it arouses the interests
powerfully. With the accumulation of
property and the growth of intelligence
it became apparent that war was
wasteful and an unsafe process, and
political and personal considerations
led us to avoid it as much as possible.
But deprecate war as much as we may,
we still are quick to acknowledge that
it is the most exciting of games.
Recently the Rough Riders in this
country and more recently still the
young men of the aristocracy of Eng
land went to war from motives of pa
triotism, no doubt, but there are unmis-
taxable evidences they also regarded it
as the greatest sport they We're likely
to have Il chance AT in a lifetime. And
there is unmistakable evidence that the
emotional attitude of women toward
war is no less intense.
So gladltorial shows, bear batting,
bull fighting dog fighting, cock fight
ing, prize fighting and football may be
mentioned as examples of conflict that
awaken in us the emotional feelings of
the contest and give us by suggestion
the emotions similar to those endured
by the contestants, without subjecting
us to the danger of injuries that they
are obliged to undergo.
Now, as long as man was in state
of nature, following his instincts, row
ing, fighting, hunting, woolng, contriv-
ing, he was happy; and such tasks as
he imposed upon himself he found
pleasurable and not irksome. This
sort of life continued for an immense
stretch of time, and it was but as yes
terday in the history of the white race
that population became derse or game
was exhausted, and man found himself
obliged to adjust himself to changed
conditions or perish.
Instead of slaughtering the OK he fed
it, housed it in winter, bred from it,
reared the calf, yoked it to Il plow,
plowed the fields, sowed seeds, dug out
the weeds and gathered, thrashed and
ground the grain. This was Il labor,
mechanical and irksome, lacking the
constant change and the excitement
and the nervous tension that man ex-
perlenced in the state of nature.
But, while this labor itself was dis
agreeable, its products served to sat
isfy mans physical wants. The habits
of the race adjusted themselves to
what the members of it were far from
enjoying emotionally. Not all social
groups reconciled themselves to life
of labor and many individuals of our
own race failed to conform to it. Many
men whose natural opportunities or in.
telligence might have made them la.
berers in various ndustries-hewers of
wood or drawers of water-have drift.
ed instead into various occupations
where there are possibilities of excite
ment, or where at least the mechanical
or routine elements are absent. Police
men, tiremen, detectives, livery stable
men, coachmen, barkeepers and bar
bers are more or less valuable to so.
clety and many of them are very hard
workers, but their occupations differ
from hard labor in affording consider.
able opportunity for sitting about and
an occasional chance to see or join
fight or game, to talk OF play the races.
Finally, we have the extreme cases of
the tramp and the criminal, refusing to
accept the social arrangement at all.
We are now in a position to under
stand how gambling comes to exist and
why it is so fascinating. 1t is means
Of keeping up our interests In conflict
and it secures for us the sensations aud
the excltements of conflict with little
effort and no drudgery. In gambling,
too, the risk is imminent, the attention
is strained, the emotions are strong and
even where the element of skill is re.
moved entirely and the decision is left
to chance, the player has feelings akin
to that of being in a conflict himself.
From this point of view it is less diff.
ficult to account for the gambler than
for the man of business. The gaming
instinct is born In all normal persons,
1t was acquired during the earliest ex.
periences of the human race. The In
stinct is in itself right and indlspensa.
BILE, but we make a difference In the
uses to which 1t is put. 1t is valued In
war and business. 1t expresses itself
in thousand forms in the games OF
children and in college athletics. II
meets with approval in such expires
sions of the passion as golf, tennis and
billiards hut eocietv iuStlv condamnl