The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-02
Statement Made by Dr.
 Torrey. IHEAIRE-GOERS OBJECT s / TO SEE MAN CARESS WIFE Bridge Whist Denounced as More Harmful Than Whiskey. Paints . Vivid Picture of the Mothers Playing Bridge Whist While ;.
 They Hold Babies In
 Their Arms. -.; 

 would go to a theatrical performance. Some of you Montgomery people got caught last week by going to show in which scenes were reproduced that would make any woman blush, IT one of your own newspapers, which sup ports the theatre, Is to be believed. People start In by going to good shows and wind up >by going to any old kind of a show"
 That is< only a small part of what Dr. Torrey had to say about the the- atre in his sermon last night. He told how a great actor, writing in mag azine two years ago. said that one of the greatest sorrows of his profession. was that 1t compelled him to be sep arated from his wife so much. The public didn't want to see him act in the same show with his own wife.
 And the reason for that" declared pr. Torrey. Ties in the fact that the theatre going public isn't particularly interested in seeing a man embrace his own wife, but 1t is very much interest ed in watching man embrace a wo- man who Is not his wife. That actor was recently divorced from the wife whom he was so' sorry to be parted from so much It looks as if he hated to be parted from her. doesn't 1t? Well, you Montgomery people have been 
 tres yours are. You have seen what sort of a spectacle you are liable to see in them at any time. You are sen- sible men and women and you know, at heart, that you do not believe Tn the theatre. You only go, a good many of you, because you are afraid of what somebody else might say about you"
 pr. Torrey also denounced bridge whist He asserted that 1t is doing more harm than whiskey in Montgom- cry. He said that mothers were so wrapped up in the game that they can't live without 1t. He said that some of them started playing bridge right after breakfast. and he quoted one woman as saying to friend over the teleph one in the early morning, Come right over to my house and we'll play bridge. I just couldn't live another minute unless l played a game of bridge" He painted a pie ture of mothers playing bridge whist while they hold their babies in their arms. He said:
 ''The quiet game of cards at home Is the Kindergarten for the gambling hell. The thirst for gambling is harder to overcome than the thirst foi strong drink. Card games are fit only for children, from an intellectual stand point--unless you play for money then they are fit only for dishonesi persons"
 The congregation which crowded the auditorium last night augurs well for the last week of the revival. The sing ing was by far the best yet. For the past few meetings, some of the min isters have been saying, 'I think to- night marks the high-tide of the revi- val" They said It Friday night, Sun. day night. and again last night, which was dull Monday" night. They were right each time, for the revival was at It's high water mark every one of those nights--only 1t made a new mark the next day-a way tides have.
 Before his evening sermon, Dr. Tor rey talked for few minutes to the au- dience, saying that he believed that God has been working in Montgomery for the past few days with especial power. He said that never in any other town could he recollect when so many people in trouble had called up- on him personally or over the tele- phone for aid. Me had prayed that God might make this power He Is showing in Montgomery felt through out the world, and he said that he be- lieved God was~answering his prayer. Whether 1t Is that power or not, there Is such a new spirit in the singing. that folk who have remarked that Southern congregations never sing as well as they do In other parts of tn e country, have. reversed their opinions, anyway, as far as Montgomery congre- gations are concerned.
 Tells Of Dance Experience.
 At the close of the evening sermon, Dr. Torrey related the story of how he went to a dance in Ballarat. A dancing club in that city invited him to attend one of their dances, because, as they put 1t. he had evidently never seen a decent dance." In passing. Dr. seen a decent dance," and confessed that he would like to see one that was decent"
 WelL Dr. Torrey accepted the invi- tation to the confusion of the dancing club. They tried to stop him, but Dr. Torrey went. As he expressed 1t, 'They were trying to blum me, and called their bluff. They only held two small pairs, while held royal flush" For expressing himself in terms of poker in this wise. he asked the pardon of every one present who couldn't grasp the strict technicalities of his explanation. But from the number of wise smiles in his audience, 1t is prob- ably that others of those present caught faint glimmering of his mean ing.
 A crowd followed him to the dance where he found that they had invent ed a special species of waltz for his special benefit. When. as an ex- waltzer of considerable ability, he re- fused to be fooled, the dance broke up and Dr. Torrey preached a sermon as his contribution to the pleasures of the evening. He warned his audience -