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Show AN INSIDIOUS VICE. Gambling Id Worse Than Drunkenness t Business Integrity. "Gambling is the skulking, poisonous poison-ous foe to business integrity," said an experienced business man. "You can Bee the signs of drunkenness," ho said, "and guard against being damaged by a drinking partner or employee, but more often than not you know nothing of the gambler's downward progress until your losses tell the tale. I have 6eldom seen a case in which the babit of gambling did not have the companion compan-ion babit of lying. The lying gets worse as the gambling becomes confirmed. Your gambling associate comes along with such a cheerful mask of falsehood that you are indignant when somebody intimates that he is treading the dangerous dan-gerous path of dalliance with cards or horses. "Some years ago I had a little experience expe-rience which I've no doubt many merchants mer-chants can duplicate. I was a managing manag-ing partner in a branch cf on9 of the most extensive houses in St. Louis. We had" a salesman whom we valued highly. high-ly. It came to our knowledge that he was falling in love with poker. I said that he must be warned. The other partner thought he was all right, but cuuB t? tr tii3 -varnirtg. In a few mor4. the man collected a Mil an' lostie money at poker. I tnen insisted on reporting a discharge to the main firm, but my partner stuck to his faith in the man's promises. Finally we compromised com-promised by retaining the delinquent on condition that my partner notify the firm that he would be personally responsible re-sponsible for losses caused by a repetition repeti-tion of the occurrence. We also sent to every customer a notice that all bills should be paid directly to our head quarters. "Before six months had passed the salesman managed to collect a bill of $1,500 and lost every dollar. "My partner took the money out of his pocket and reimbursed the firm. It is not necessary to tell anybody who knows gamblers that he never received a cent from the man he had befriended. "The preacher and the lawmaker may grade other vices as more heinous, but the merchant and the banker who know what is good for them are mor-afraid mor-afraid of gamblers than of anything else." St. Louis Globe-Democrat. |