Semi-weekly herald., 1909-09-27

your pigs corn III nome 30 tnAf they
wouldn't eat cot n when they got over
into the neighh ors' pastures. had
just as soon seu d my boy to the sa-
loon to teach HIT IN temperance, or my
girl to den Of harlots to teach her
purity as to teGch my boy to phy
cards and then hope that he would not
turn out q gambler.
DIR. Talmage could not be ac ,used
OF being bigot or a crank. yet lie
said: Cards are. in my mind. so as
soeiated with the temporal and etef
nal damration OF splendid young men
that | should no sooner say to NY
family come. let ms have game nj
cards, Than ] would go into menar-
erie ana say. come let us have a game
OF rattlesnakes,"
Bot says the wife, II play cards
win my husband al home so that ne
| won't want to go off u the saloon
CT bling rooms" My only answer
to tnat is. What did you marry that
old hog for. anyway"
these things are not proper for Chris
i:ans and IL certainly kills their In
fluence for good. Durire revival
meeting in a certain town a lady wac
Every man of the world knows thar
was a member of the church came and
knelt at the altar with the penitents.
, The pastor with surprised look, asked
her why she had come. and she said:
, We'll, yesterday I asked my husband
to come with me to church and he
said, mo. thank you, am not ac-
customed TO going to church with gam
blers He knew had been playing
whist for prizes. His answer startled
me, and have made up my mind that
IL | ever see my husband converted
/ must get right myself" And what
that woman did, Is just what many of
If you ever expect to lead your loved
ones to Jesus Christ. You say what
shall we do II we give up cards? Well,
that is hard question. for you have
so emptied your brain OF all serious
thoughts and crippled yourself for
higher and better things 1t Is really
a fard question to know what TO do
with you, as the late Sam Jones said.
"lhere is less brains to the square
inch In high 'sassiety.' than any where
else outside the lupatic asylums."
The Theater.
Patronize the theater- and reap a
crop OF corrupted morals. The his
tory of the theater has always been
: the same-from its very beginning II
has been corrupting to morals. The
> old Greek and Roman writer's con
demLed 1t as being antagonistic to
. morals In Athens where the theater
law. And what about the theater OF
today2 Certainly II is not growing
better when one Of the leading Chi
cago papers comes out with the state
ment. that If twenty-five years ago
such exhibitions as are now nightly
made, In the most matter of fact way,
had been brought on the stages OF
= that city, II would haye come nigl.
landing the whole party In the police
station. The Christian Standard says
. THE facts are the theater is steadily
growing worse. There has never
: been time in this country when the
average play was so low as 1t is to-
day" The past and present record
of the stage has proven that few who
enter 1t as actors or actresses come
: away without moral corruption.
How could 1t be otherwise? How
can they mingle together as they do
men and women. and make public ex-
= hibitions of themselves as they do. In
: such circumstances. with such sur
roupdings and with such speech as
y must often be on their lip to play
positions as they must assume-how
= can they do this without moral con
tamination? That some few do come
from the stage without loss of virtue
and purity does not disprove the law
of dsgeneracy. II the theater is a
school Of morals why is it that the
:, teachers SO seldom learn their own
lessons? The theater claims to be a
school of morals. but to multitudes it
has been the door OF perdltion.
Hear the following testimony of
seventeen years experience on the
stage of this country In conversa
: ton with DR.. Peifer of Denver, Colo,
he said: "You good people may know
/, what play is but you know nothing
about the conditions of the stage or
about the private inner life of the
players The rule is. said he, virtue
Is not and cannot be kept unsoiled on
the stage The players are huddled
together behind the scenes In little
dressing rooms in dress or undress
with costumes or without between the
acts. A few well built theaters have
private dressing rooms separately for
men and women. But these are ex-
ceptions. One dressing room for all
is common and often Just the corner
is the dressing room. No actor or
L..