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MASON LONG,
THE
CONVERTED GAMBLER.
THE LIFE
or
MASON LONG,
TUB
(ttonuertetr (feamtler.
BEINO A RECORD OP His EXPERIENCE AS A WHITE SLAVE ; A SOLDIEB
IN THE UNION ARMY; A PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER; A KATROH
OFTHETURP; A VARIETY THEATER AND MINSTREL
MANAGER ; AND, FINALLY, A CONVERT TO THH
MCRPHY CAUSE, AND TO THE GOS-
PEL OP CHRIST.
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
WITH A PORTRAIT, AND SIX ILLUSTRATIONS.
Firm EDITION. TWKNTY-FIVB THOUSAND.
THE TRADE SUPPLIED BY
MASON LONG, FORT WAYNE, IND.
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE TEAR 188S, BT
I S. FELGER,
in THE OFFICE or THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PACK
PREFACE, 15
CHAPTER I.
My boyhood and youth Seven years of abject slavery
Hard lessons of the ways of the world I become
a Union soldier, 17
CHAPTER II.
My career as a soldier The routine of camp life
Bloody battles, forced marches and long sieges
Record of three eventful years, .... 24
CHAPTER III.
My 6rst experience in gambling Prevalence of the vice
among officers and soldiers Heavy winnings during
the war Playing under difficulties My first taste
of liquor The Fort Wayne confidence gang, . . 40
CHAPTER IV.
How I degenerated from a business man into a profes-
sional gambler Severe lessons at my new trade
My sad experience as manager of a minstrel troupe
and proprietor of a variety theater at Lafayette
Ups and downs as a gambler A faro game stopped
by a fearful oil-gas explosion, . . . . 62
12 2aM* of Content*
CHAPTER V.
FAGS
The horrors of delirium tremens Visions of the " White
Mice" Repeated captures by the police Ludi-
crous flight of a bloodthirsty sport Large winnings
invested in a palatial saloon and gambling den
Reckless dissipation and prodigality An hour in
jail Low ebb of fortune, ..... 85
CHAPTER VI.
* Following the trotters " Sights and scenes on the tnrf
Make-shifts of a broken gambler "Canada Bill's"
confidence operations Traveling on "cheek"
A fourteen weeks debauch Another horrible experi-
ence with delirium tremens, ..... 103
CHAPTER VII.
The various phases of gambling Good and bad qualities
of the genuine sporting man Prevalence of the
rice among business men The misery and ruin it
causes A few words to the sporting fraternity, . . 137
CHAPTER VIII.
How I became a convert to the Murphy cause Signing
the pledge Straggles with the demon alcohol-
Final triumph over the rum devil, . . . .158
CHAPTER IX.
My conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ Mental
sufferings while under conviction Public confession
of my sins The blessings attending a change of
heart, ......... 176
Table of Content*. 13
CHAPTER X.
MMB
My tobacco experience The twin evil How I wa*
cured . . 200
CHAPTER XL
My admission into the First Baptist Church of Fort
Wayne Immersion in the presence of a vast audi-
ence Press reports of the ceremony, . . . I2
CHAPTER XII.
Supplementary chapter, written by my pastor, Dr. J, R.
Stone, at my request, 229
CHAPTER XIIL
Extract from " The Ribbon Workers,- edited by J. M.
Hiatt, **, and published by J. W. Goodspeed,
PREFACE.
f HAVE no apology to offer for writing this little
book. I have not the assurance to claim for it any
especial literary merit, or any permanent value.
But my life, though short, has been a rather event-
ful one, and I have told it truthfully in the hope
that my readers and especially the young will
take warning from my follies and crimes, and
realize from my experience that " The way of the
Transgressor is hard/' As I look back with sorrow
and remorse upon the worse than wasted years of
my manhood, I pray that others may be spared my
suffering. If in my youth there had been placed
before me the sad tale of some unfortunate human
being, whose life had been wrecked by dissipation
and debauchery, I believe my career would have
been very different. I earnestly hope that this
unpretending little volume may be the means of
saving some young man from my bitter experience,
and causing him to realize the beauty and happi-
ness of an upright, sober and virtuous life.
I ask the reader's indulgence as to the literary
defects of my book, of which no one can be more
conscious than myself
MASON LONG.
CHAPTER I.
MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH -SEVEN YEAES OF ABJECT
SLAVEKY-HARD LESSONS OF THE WAYS OF THE WOELD
-I BECOME A UNION SOLDIEE.
The story of my life is not a pleasant one.
It will not excite the admiration or enthusiasm
of the reader. It is. not characterized would
to God it were by great deeds, noble actions,
high impulses. My career has been in no way
different from that of thousands of others,
excepting that, through the grace of God, it
was altered before I had drank the bitter cup
to the very dregs. My story is that of a bleak
and cheerless childhood, a youth of ignorance
and hardship, a manhood of intemperance and
vice.
I was born in Luray, Licking County, Ohio,
on the 10th of September, 1842. My father,
Jacob Long, died at the age of fifty-six, when
I was but six years old. After his death I
B I*
IS Mason Long:
went with my mother, Margaret Long, a noble
Christian woman, to West Salem, Ashland
County, Ohio, where my grandfather lived.
I remained there until my mother died, leaving
me all alone in the world. Although but ten
years of age, the scene at her death-bed made
an impression upon my memory which time
can never efface. After years of sinful indul-
gence, during which her dying words, though
often called to mind, had failed to awaken my
seared and deadened conscience, they came
back to me with a new and vivid meaning, and
I at last thanked God that the prayer which
my dear mother uttered with her parting breath
had been answered.
Left at this tender age an orphan, homeless,
friendless, and penniless, my boyhood was,
indeed, a bleak and cheerless one. I was bound
out to a wealthy German farmer, of Medina
County, Ohio, whose abject slave I was for
seven years. They were years of hard labor,
and cruel treatment; years which brought to
me only sadness and suffering ; years of gloom
and servitude, unrelieved by one kind word, or
one tender glance. But although deprived of
home, friends, family, of all those surroundings
which make childhood the pleasantest portion
Converted (Gambler. 19
of many lives, I never ceased to look forward
to a better day ahead. Well has the poet said:
Hope springs eternal in the human breast,
Man never is, but always to be blest.
It made no difference how severe my task,
how cruel my treatment, how dreary my life, I
never ceased to hope for a happier future.
The terms of my apprenticeship were, that I
was to labor for my employer until I reached
the age of eighteen, receiving my board and
clothes, with two months of schooling each
year ;~ I was also to have a horse and saddle.
Mr. K., my employer I may say owner
put me at work immediately in clearing land,
and for five years I was never away from the
clearings for a single day. That whole section
was a forest when I entered it, and the labor
of felling the trees and clearing the land was
very severe. A part of the time I worked
in a large sugar camp, where we made eigh-
teen hundred pounds of sugar, and six hun-
dred gallons of maple syrup, every Spring.
I remained in this slavery for it was no-
thing else for seven years, during which
time we cleared one hundred acres of land,
and my master erected a large residence and
SO Mason Long:
fine barn, besides paying for his real estate.
His treatment of me was very inhuman. No
slave-holder of the South ever treated his black
chattels as barbarously as this brute in human
form treated me, and to his harshness and
inhumanity I ascribe much of my subsequent
sinful career. I was deprived of all the usual
happy accompaniments of childhood. In seven
years I only went to school three months. I was
scarcely allowed sufficient clothing to hide my
nakedness, and was not permitted to associate
with other children ; when my relatives came
to see me, I was denied the privilege of speak-
ing to them. Once I stole out and talked to
them a few moments, and for this I was brutally
beaten with a large black-snake whip, carrying
the marks of the punishment upon my back
for several months. When I reached the age
of seventeen, I determined to be a slave no
longer, and although I had one year more to
serve, my guardian secured my freedom. I left
my brutal taskmaster in a pitiable condition.
My entire wardrobe consisted of a piece of a
straw hat, a pair of blue overalls, and two
" hickory " shirts. I had no coat and no shoes ;
I was in total ignorance of the world, could
scarcely read, had never been inside of a church
Gorwerted Gambler. 21
but three or four times, and did not know what
a Sabbath school was. As I left the scene of my
youthful hardships, wondering what the future
had in store for me, I looked back over the
preceding seven years to the day of my moth-
er's death. She died at the house of my
unfeeling master, and when her body was taken
to the grave, I, a boy of ten, was compelled to
stand some distance away and hold the horses,
being denied the poor privilege of seeing the
coffin lowered into the ground. Well do I
remember with what utter sorrow and despair
I left the cemetery, and what sad anticipations
filled my little heart, anticipations which proved
only too well founded.
I can not think kindly of the man who thus
reared me in ignorance and prepared me for a
life of wickedness and shame. His avarice and
cruelty have made him rich in this world's
goods. I would not injure him if I could, but
leave him with the Divine Ruler, who shall at
last judge us all. After gaining my freedom, I
worked for a neighboring farmer for a short
time, and obtained some clothes and a little
money. At Wellington, Ohio, I purchased a
ticket for Rock Island, 111., and then for the
first time I saw a railroad. I obtained work on
22 Mason Long:
a farm near Geneseo, 111., at sixteen dollars a
month. The next Winter I worked for my
board and went to school, and then for the first
time did I realize my pitiable ignorance.
In a short time I had another severe experi-
ence of the ways of the world. I obtained
work for which I was to receive seventeen
dollars a month, and being anxious to save
money I only drew five dollars during ten
months, at the expiration of which time my
employer sold out and decamped, leaving me
unpaid. I followed him to Chicago, but
he refused to pay me, and only laughed at my
entreaties. I returned to Geneseo a dis-
heartened boy. I then went to school for a
short time, and again obtained work on a farm.
While engaged in this occupation, I was unfor-
tunate enough to be arrested on a charge of
stealing a set of harness. Of this offense I
am glad to say that I was entirely innocent ;
indeed, the man who caused my arrest admitted,
when I was brought up for examination, that
he knew nothing about the case, and I was dis-
charged without a hearing. This was the first,
but alas ! not the last time, that I was arrested,
and the event made an ineffaceable impression
upon my mind.
Converted Gambler. 28
After this I went to work for myself. I first
purchased a yoke of oxen and worked them for
a while, then traded them for a horse, and
engaged in buying and selling cattle. I was
doing well at this, but in the, Spring of 1862,
when good Uncle Abraham was calling for more
troops to defend the Union against the assault
of its foes, I felt it was my duty to respond, and
I enrolled my name in the 112th Illinois Vol-
unteers.
The reader may think I have gone too much
into detail in relating the history of my child-
hood and youth; but I desired to show the
influences with which I was surrounded, and
the atmosphere in which I grew to manhood,
and which explain to a great extent the folly
and wickedness of my after life.
Mason Long:
CHAPTER II.
MY CAREER AS A SOLDIER-THE ROUTINE OF CAMP LIFE
-BLOODY BATTLES, FORCED MARCHES AND LONG
SIEGES-RECORD OF THREE EVENTFUL YEARS.
In the Spring of 1862, I, in company with a
number of my companions, enrolled my name
in the 112th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer
Infantry, as a private, and served in that
capacity until the war closed. Our regiment
went into camp at Peoria, and remained there
about four weeks, when we were transferred to
Covington, Ky. We were in camp near that
place for some time, when we were removed to
Lexington, Ky. There we remained in camp
till the Spring of 1863. General Granger com-
manded our division. Until that time our life
had been very monotonous, nothing but drill-
ing and camp duty having been required of us.
We were very restive, and longed for active
service, of which we soon got enough to satisfy
the most sanguinary among us.
Our first fighting was with John Morgan, the
notorious guerrilla, whom we pursued all over
Converted Gambler. 25
Central Kentucky, and with whom we had a
number of skirmishes. In the Fall of 1863,
we crossed the Cumberland Mountains into
East Tennessee, our army being then under
command of General A. E. Burnside, a most
brave and accomplished officer, at present a
United States Senator from the State of Rhode
Island, of which he was recently the governor.
Our march over the mountains was a severe
one, abounding in hardships and privations
which were very rigorous, after the prolonged
indolence of camp life. A great many of our
horses and mules died on the road, and the
stench from their carcasses was almost unen-
durable. We were on short rations, and
suffered greatly from lack of water. Imme-
diately after reaching Tennessee, fighting
commenced in good earnest. From that time
until we were mustered out of service, we had
scarcely any rest. Our first general engage-
ment in Tennessee was that of Philadelphia
(then Campbell Station), and was a bloody and
closely contested one. We were defeated with
considerable loss, and were driven by the enemy
to Knoxville. They at once laid siege to the
city, and maintained it for eighteen days. On
the 18th of November, our brigade was sta-
a
26 Mason Long:
tioned two miles from the city, for the purpose
of holding the enemy in check until the citi-
zens and negroes could throw up entrenchments
for the protection of the town. This was a
terrible day, and one which I can never forget.
The battle began at daybreak, and the bloody
work continued until nightfall. We were sta-
tioned on the brow of a hill, and had no
breastworks, our only protection being a rail
fence, of which we made good use. We piled
the rails closely together, and they were of
much service to us. The force of the minnie
balls which struck the rails was almost spent
when they reached us. > But nevertheless, the
mortality among our soldiers was very great ;
many of our brave boys were killed and
wounded that day, gladly giving up their life's
blood for their country, and nerving their com-
panions, by their heroism, to renewed exertions.
Blessed be the memory of the thousands whose
bones are bleaching on Southern battle-fields,
and whose deeds of bravery and valor call forth
the enthusiasm of the historian, and the glowing
eloquence of the poet.
The firing between the two armies was main-
tained during the entire day. We frequently
ran out of ammunition, when it became neces-
Gowoerted Gcmblor. 27
sary to go to the rear, half a mile distant, after
a new supply. This was a trying ordeal, and
taxed the nerve of our boys to the utmost. It
required not a little bravery to start back with
the ammunition, and face a scorching fire for
half a mile. Many were killed and wounded
in making the attempt, and it seemed almost
miraculous that any passed unharmed through
the shower of bullets that fell so thickly around
them.
About four o'clock in the afternoon, the
enemy brought the contest to a crisis by making
a grand charge upon us. The colonel of the
Sixth Georgia regiment rode up to the rail
fence, I have mentioned, and called upon us to
surrender. Our colonel gave the command to
fire, and the poor fellow never asked any one
to surrender again. About one-half of our
company shot at him, and his body was literally
riddled with bullets. The engagement then
waxed hotter, and when the cannon balls struck
the fence, the rails flew like so many feathers.
About this time, the brave Gen. Saunders,
who commanded our division, was killed. One
of our boys, who was wounded, was hobbling to
the rear, when Gen. Saunders took his gun
28 Mason Long:
from him, and, as he was about firing, a ball
struck him, and he never spoke again.
At this stage of the battle, a most desperate
conflict was in progress. The rebels had climbed
over the fence, and were fighting hand to hand
with our troops. The " Johnnies " were so
intermingled with our men, that it was almost
impossible to tell them apart. Our boys were
greatly demoralized by Saunders' loss, and we
did not stand our ground much longer. We
hurriedly retreated, falling back two miles,
through open fields, under a raking cross-fire
from the rebel artillery. Our losses were fright-
ful. Many of our comrades yielded their lives
upon this retreat, and many more were deprived
of arms and legs, and made physical wrecks
for life. It was with great difficulty that we
secured the bodies of our officers who had been
killed, but as true soldiers we would not leave
them on the field. The captain of Co. A, of
our regiment, had been shot all to pieces by a
shell. We saved his body, and that of Gen.
Saunders, and carried them two miles under a
sweeping fire, when we made a halt. At the
dead hour of night, the American flag was wrap-
ped around them, and both were buried in one
grave. The interment was made amidst pro-
Converted Gambler. 29
found silence, not even the roll of a muffled
drum being allowed, lest it should apprise the
enemy of our loss. These men died true
heroes, and their memories will always be
revered by those who shared their perils. The
fort at Knoxville was named for Gen. Saunders,
in honor of his bravery. Our dead and wounded
fell into the hands of the enemy. We retired
into Knoxville, and the Confederates laid siege
to us ; we were penned up in the city for
eighteen days, and were exposed to many perils
and hardships ; our situation was very critical,
and we did not know at what hour we might
have to surrender. Our losses were quite heavy,
many of our sentinels being shot by the rebel
sharpshooters, who were very skillful, killing
men with neatness and dispatch at a distance of
three-quarters of a mile. One day we ventured
to make a charge upon a beautiful residence
about a mile from our entrenchments, burning
the building, and driving the enemy back.
This was done for the purpose of saving tbo
lives of our outer guard. During the siege,
our horses suffered greatly ; we had no grain,
and, in order to afford them sustenance, we
felled large trees, and they browsed off the
branches. They literally stripped the trees,
30 Mason Long:
even eating the bark. During the last week
of the siege, we took the poorest horses across
the river, and shot them, fifty at a time ; in one
field were the dead bodies of more than fifteen
hundred horses and mules.
Never had a morning looked so lovely to us
as that of the day upon which this memorable
siege was raised. As day dawned we saw the
Union troops approaching in the distance, and
knew that we were saved at last. As the rein-
forcements approached, our brave boys gave
way to their feelings, and rent the air with
loud shouts and hearty huzzas. The enemy
hastily "pulled up stakes," and started in the
direction of Bean Station, where they made a
halt ; at that point a hard fight took place, and
we lost part of our wagon train. The Con-
federates continued their retreat from Bean
Station to Muddy Creek, where there was bloody
fighting in the woods. At the latter place our
Col. Brownlow, a son of " Parson " Brownlow,
was captured. The rebels did not know who
he was. He purchased his freedom for twenty
dollars, and was soon with us again. We pur-
sued the enemy to Dandridge, and then to
Kelley's Ford, where there was sharp fighting
for a time. Shortly after this, our troops
Corwerfato gambler. 31
were transferred to Middle Tennessee, and
thence to Georgia. In the latter State, we saw
some hard service, the severest contest being in
front of Atlanta, on the 6th of August, where
many of the brave members of the 112th sur-
rendered their lives. Atlanta fell, and the Union
army continued its victorious march southward,
fighting every day. It was in one of the en-
gagements about Atlanta, that the noble Gen.
McPherson was killed.
There was hot work before us. Sherman
soon started on his memorable march to the
sea, and our regiment became a part of the
army commanded by that brave officer, General
George H. Thomas. We left at once for Tennes-
see, and soon came in contact with the Con-
federate army, commanded by General Hood.
Here we entered upon the hardest campaign of
marching and fighting that we experienced dur-
ing our service. Hood's army pressed us
closely, and we were on the retreat for many
days, fighting at every step. When we reached
Franklin, Tennessee, only five hours in advance
of our pursuers, we made a stand and hastily
prepared for battle ; we improved our time by
throwing up breastworks. As we worked we
could see the enemy approaching for a long di-
82 Mason Long:
tance, and we knew there was going to be a
severe conflict. And so it proved. We were
stationed in the center on the Pike Road. The
rebels dashed upon us in nine lines of battle,
and we received them with a raking cross fire
from our artillery ; we poured volley after volley
into their ranks, but it did not even check their
advance. These brave soldiers kept steadily
advancing, pressing forward to our works, al-
though at every step many fell wounded and
dying under our sweeping fire. Like the Light
Brigade they literally pushed
Into the jaws of death,
Into the mouth of hell.
Here the Confederate General Pat. Claiborne
performed a deed of bravery and gallantry
which is unsurpassed in the annals of the war,
and paid his life as a forfeit. In order to gain
a foothold for his men, General Claiborne
planted spurs in his gray charger, and dashed
to the top of our earthworks. He gained the
pinnacle before a shot touched him, but just
as he reached the highest point, horse and
rider went down together in the presence of
both armies. It seemed as though a thousand
shots were fired at him. The sight was a
Converted Gambler. 33
memorable one, and, enemy though he was, we
could not but honor him for his wonderful dar-
ing. The deed was a fitting one for the poet
and painter to immortalize.
Through General Claiborne's heroism the
enemy succeeded in breaking our lines. An
Ohio regiment gave way, and three thousand
Confederates poured in upon us. This was the
crisis of the battle, and for a time it seemed as
if the annihilation of General Thomas's entire
army was inevitable ; but the gallant Twenty-
fourth Kentucky made a bold charge, closing up
the gap and saving the Union army. The heavy
firing then ceased, and there was a lull in the
roar of battle. The two armies were so close
to each other, that the " Yankees " and the
" Johnnies " could easily converse together,
only our earthworks separating the foes. The
air was laden with the groans of the wounded
and the shrieks of the dying, and the blue and
the gray mingled their prayers together as they
passed into the hereafter. Many of the poor
fellows cried piteously for water, but fate denied
them even that little boon, and with parched
lips and burning tongues they lingered until
death ended their sufferings. We remained in
this position for three hours, for the purpose of
C
84 Mason Long:
holding the enemy in check while our wagon
train was crossing the river ; we then began our
retreat, leaving our wounded in the enemy's
hands. The poor fellows pleaded and begged
to be taken with us, but it was impossible, as
we could with difficulty save ourselves. Many
of the boys wept as they started off, leaving
their wounded comrades on the field of battle.
Thus ended one of the most sanguinary battles
of the war, considering the number of men
engaged and the time occupied. We quietly
crossed the river and retreated toward Nash-
ville. The march was a hard one much of it
being made in double-quick time. We reached
Nashville but a little in advance of the enemy.
On the first day after our arrival we were
stationed at Fort Negley, but were then ordered
off to the right, were we saw more bloody
work. During the second day's fight we
charged the enemy and were repulsed with
heavy loss, leaving our wounded again on the
field. The night was a very severe one, and
many of our wounded boys perished from the
cold.
Among those killed that day was my brother.
On this day we succeeded in recapturing our
dead and wounded. They presented a horrible
Converted Gambler. 35
spectacle, and one never to be forgotten ; among
them were several hundred colored troops. At
last we had obtained a decided advantage over
Gen. Hood's troops, and forced them to retreat.
We pressed them so hard that they drowned
artillery in every stream they passed, until they
were almost disarmed. We pursued Hood to
the river at Clifton, Tennessee, and captured a
large portion of his command.
The scenes were then shifted and we were
transferred to another sphere of action. From
Clifton we were taken by the fleet to Cincinnati,
and thence by rail to Washington. We were
then hurried to Alexandria, and after a brief
delay, embarked on board the steamer Atlantic
for Fort Fisher. The Atlantic was an old hulk
which had been used many years for mail service
between New York and Liverpool, and had been
pronounced unseaworthy. The underwriters
had refused to insure her, but the government
thought she was good enough for soldiers.
Supposing she was lost, with all on board,
it would only be a few soldiers, that was all ;
none of the government officials at Washington;
could risk any thing.
The trip was a memorable one. The Atlantic
carried three thousand five hundred infantry
36 Mason Long:
and the Ohio Battery of artillery, with Major
General J. D. Cox, now member of Congress
from the Toledo district, in command. We
stopped at Fortress Monroe, and took one
million rounds of ammunition. We made no
other stops until we reached our destination.
We "land lubbers" found this voyage any
thing but a pleasant one. In going around
Cape Hatteras we experienced those peculiar
sensations which only those can appreciate who
have " been there , " our regiment was in the
" hold," about ten feet below water, and we
did not succumb as soon as those on the
hurricane deck. The boys of the 140th Indi-
ana were up there, and they began to " feed
the sea gulls" three hours ahead of us.
When I was attacked I thought my time
had come, for the sensations I experienced
were deathly. When the Atlantic climbed the
waves of Hatteras, every joint in her cracked,
and we constantly expected her to go to pieces.
We remained in sight of Fort Fisher
sometimes called Federal Point three days
before we landed. We went to shore in
little tug boats, and had at first but two miles
of a foothold. We marched up the Cape Fear
River, took Fort Anderson, and then proceeded
Converted Gambler. 37
to Wilmington, N. C. ; our path lay through the
dense pineries, first to Goldsboro and then to
Raleigh ; at this place we first heard of the as-
sassination of President Lincoln. The news
created the utmost indignation and excitement
among our troops, and they determined to burn
the beautiful city for revenge. Our commander
gave strict orders against any such proceedings,
and detached three thousand trusty veterans as
a protection against incendiarism. From Ra-
leigh we went to Greensboro, and there we
heard the glad news that Lee had surrendered ;
Johnston soon after surrendered, and now we
knew that the civil war was over, and that the
cause for which we had fought and struggled so
long was victorious. We unfurled the Ameri-
can flag from the tops of the highest trees, and
exhibited our joy and happiness in many ways.
We remained in camp at Greensboro some time,
and were then mustered out of the service.
We proceeded home via Baltimore, and reaching
Chicago on the Fourth of July, where we were
paid off, we indulged in a general jollification,
and many of us gave way to riotous excesses.
We had ended our career as soldiers, and were
civilians once again.
Brigadier General T. J. Henderson, of Prince-
38 Mown Long:
ton, 111., was our commander daring the entire
war. He now represents the Sixth Illinois
District in Congress. He was a brave officer,
and enjoyed the respect and affection of his
men in a remarkable degree. While we were
serving under him in Kentucky, he was nomi-
nated to fill the unexpired term of Lovejoy in
Congress. He was a strict disciplinarian, and
as we were unused to the rigor of military life,
we deemed him arbitrary and tyrannical, and
many of us wrote letters to his district, urging
his defeat on those grounds. These letters I
have no doubt worked his defeat upon that oc-
casion, and are deeply regretted by many of the
writers, who afterward learned to love the gen-
eral for his bravery and kindheartedness. When
the regiment was mustered out of service there
was not a boy in it who would not have fought
for General Henderson. He did his duty brave-
ly from the beginning to the end of the war,
and well merited his promotion from private to
brigadier general.
Our old regiment has held annual reunions
since the war, iour of which I have attended.
It is very pleasant for the men who shared so
many perils together to assemble and recount
the experience of their three eventful years of
Converted Gambler. 89
army life. We have resolved to hold a reunion
every year so long as twoof us survive. Gen-
eral Henderson God bless him is with us
heart and soul.
4:0 Mason Long:
CHAPTER III.
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE IN GAMBLING -PREVALENCE OF
THE VICE AMONG OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS- HEAVY
WINNINGS DURING THE WAK PLAYING UNDER DIF-
FICULTIES -MY FIRST TASTE OF LIQUOR -THE FORT
WAYNE CONFIDENCE GANG.
When I emisted in the United States Army,
in 1862, I had never tasted liquor, nor touched
a card. During the service I formed many bad
habits, among them that of gambling. I first
began playing with members of my mess, when
we were stationed at Lexington, Ky., and
proved an apt scholar. I was soon able to win
money from men who had gambled for years,
and who, one would think, would know all
about it. I formed the acquaintance of Johnny
White, an expert sport belonging to the 100th
Ohio regiment, and he taught me, for twenty-
five dollars, a trick of working cards, by means
of which I won large sums of money. In
this way I realized four hundred dollars after
the first pay-day subsequent to learning the
trick. I had never had so much money before,
at one time, and I did not know how to use it.
Converted Gambler. 4J
I spent it very freely, soon finding myself out
of funds. I then contracted habits of reck-
lessness and extravagance which adhered to me
during my entire life as a "man of the world."
I rapidly became a spendthrift and squandered
money freely with the sutlers and any one who
had any thing to sell. I indulged largely in
luxuries, regardless of expense.
I rapidly mastered the mysteries of poker,
casino, chuck-a-luck, and other games, and
soon acquired a considerable notoriety as a gam-
bler. Playing became a perfect mania among
the soldiers, and many gambled including
church members and professing Christians
who had never thought of doing so before.
Gaming afforded a relief to the monotony of
camp-life and produced excitement which with-
drew the attention of the boys from the perils
they were undergoing. Notwithstanding my
speedily acquired notoriety as a gambler, I stood
well with my officers, and for a long time they
overlooked my propensities in this direction. I
continued playing the trick I had learned, very
successfully, and wandered off into different
regiments for the purpose of reaping a harvest,
through its operation. Upon one occasion I
was absent upon an expedition of this kind for
a*
42 Mason Long:
ten successive roll-calls, and was reported as a
deserter. During my Absence I had been play-
ing some heavy games of poker. I finally
returned to my regiment with thirteen hundred
and fifty dollars winnings in my pocket. I was at
once arraigned as a deserter before a regimental
court martial, over which Lieutenant-Colonel
Bond presided. He had always seemed partial
to me, and I had little fear of the result when
the trial opened. I had a physician's certificate
of unfitness for duty in my pocket, but I felt so
confident of the result that I did not show it, fear-
ing that if I did, I would compromise the sur-
geon who gave it. I was soon adjudged guilty.
Colonel Bond, upon whom fell the duty of ad-
ministering the sentence, said, with a look and
tone of sternness, that my transgressions had
been repeated and flagrant, and that he pro-
posed to make an example of me. I trembled
at these words, fearing that I was doomed to
six months' hard labor upon the fortifications,
with a ball and chain, which was the extreme
penalty. The Colonel proceeded, however, to
sentence me to forfeit a month's pay, amount-
ing to thirteen dollars, and to three days' extra
work in digging sinks. I was overjoyed at
the lightness of the penalty. The thirteen
Converted Gambler. 48
dollars, of course, I did not miss out of my
large roll, and the three days' labor I cheerfully
performed. I feared that this proceeding would
render it impossible for me to get an honorable
discharge, at the close of the war, but such was
not the case.
So strong was the fascination which the vice
of gambling cast over the men, that they risked
their lives to indulge their passion for it.
Many games of chuck-a-luck and poker were
played on the skirmish line while the bullets
were flying thick and fast about us, and occa-
sionally taking some poor fellow to his long
home.
At night, the men congregated in the woods,
whenever possible, and played by the flicker-
ing lights of torches. I remember one night,
while we were in Georgia, that about one hun-
dred and fifty men were in a thickly-timbered
piece of woods, near Snake Creek Gap, engaged
in this pursuit, when a detachment raided them,
under orders from the brigade headquarters.
I had been sitting on a log, conducting a game
of chuck-a-luck, with a torch bearer by my
side, whom I" paid ten dollars per night for his
services. I was sitting on my winnings, which
amounted to four hundred and fifty dollars,
44 Mason Long: %
when we were surrounded ; the torch holder at
once blew out the light, and, as I rolled off the
log to secrete myself, he seized the money. I
escaped arrest, but a large number of the men
were marched up to headquarters.
"What is the charge against these men?"
asked the officer.
" Gambling," was the reply.
" Is Mace Long among them ?" was the next
question.
" No, sir, we didn't see him."
" Well, then, let the others go. It is not
right to punish any body, when the chief
offender goes free."
This illustrates the estimation in which I had
come to be held. Many of the officers them-
selves liked to gamble as well as the private
soldiers did. I played many times with officers,
and found numerous expert gamesters among
them. Immediately after the battle of Frank-
lin, we retreated to Nashville. In company
with White, whom I have before referred to, I
rode into Nashville on a freight train. Being
without passports, we were taken by the guards
to the Zollicoffer House, which had been con-
verted, temporarily, into a prison, and which
was filled with both Federals and Confederates.
Converted Gambler. 45
The building was crowded, and many of the
inmates were filthy and swarming with vermin.
The place was a decidedly uncomfortable one,
and we longed to regain our freedom as soon
as possible. White was looking through a
window upon the street, when he happened to
see an Ohio colonel, with whom he was well
acquainted. To him we related the circum-
stances, and through his exertions we were
released from our terrible confinement. In his
company, we proceeded to a hotel, and, after
supper, were introduced to a railroad conductor,
when a game of poker was agreed upon. I had
left a deck of marked cards at the office of the
hotel, and by previous arrangement, when cards
were called for, these were brought to the
room. White and I played against the colonel
and the conductor, and when we rose from the
table at two o'clock in the morning, we had
relieved them of one thousand dollars. The
reader will probably regard this as a poor
return for the officer's kindness to us, and so it
was. The next morning I joined my regiment
at Fort Negley. Despite my recklessness, I
never shirked duty to indulge in gambling,
and I at least have the satisfaction of knowing
that I was always on baud, whenever there
46 Mason Long:
was any fighting to be done. I never missed a
skirmish or general engagement in which my
regiment participated, during the entire war,
excepting when I was in the hospital, where I
spent two months.
I usually won when I played with the
officers, but not always so. Once I received a
written invitation to visit the general's head-
quarters. I went there not knowing what I was
wanted for, and upon arriving found two aids-
de-camp engaged in a game of poker, which
they requested me to join. Of course, I
complied ; I lost six or seven hundred dollars ;
I dropped one hundred dollars on my last
hand, and, finally getting out of funds, stopped
as I commenced by request. My invitation
to participate in the game was due to the
knowledge that I had a little money, but after
that experience, I viewed games where such
formalities were used with great suspicion.
Most of my large winnings were made on
chuck-a-luck. This may be briefly described as
a game, where the more you lay down, the less
you pick up. The percentage in favor of the
game against the outsider, is at least fifty per
cent., and the latter is sure to lose if he plays
any length of time. The game is a simple one.
Con/verted Ga/mJbler. 47
Upon a piece of oil-cloth are marked various
squares, numbered from one to six, inclusive,
thus:
1
2
3
4
5
6
The player places his money upon one of these
figures and the dealer throws three dice. If
the dice turn up the number bet on, the game
loses the amount wagered. If the number is
up twice, the player receives double the sum he
has risked, etc. It will readily be seen that the
manager of the game has an absolute certainty
to win, unless he falls into the hands of old
sports who are too smart for him. I will give
an illustration: Once a new recruit came
among us and attempted to conduct a game.
He had entered as a substitute, and the money
thus obtained, together with the proceeds of
his game, amounted to fourteen hundred dol-
lars. I played against him, and in thirty min-
utes had won all he had, and he owed me
seventy-five dollars. This is not contradictory
of my assertion as to the relative chances of
dealer and player, as the reader will soon per-
ceive. I won by working in a " ringer " upon
iiiin. By a "ringer ' : I mean a dice which I
48 Mason Long:
carried, and which I had altered so that it
had five five-spots and one six spot. I had cut
in holes with my knife, blackened them with a
pencil, and while making change had abstracted
one of his dice and substituted my "ringer"
for it. Of course I had a sure thing to win, as
I bet my money on the five-spot. In order to
get my " ringer " back I took the dealer's
"kit" worth perhaps five dollars, for the
seventy-five dollars which he owed me.
Chuck-a-luck was the popular game after
pay-day. Then I would spread my cloths and
reap a rich harvest. Frequently the men had
no facilities for sending their money home, and
this led them to risk it in play. I once won
seven hundred dollars on this game while wait-
ing for dinner to be cooked at a farm house,
and this was by no means a remarkable case.
Although I knew I was sure to lose, the gam-
bling spell was so strong upon me, that I some-
times played against this game, and once lost
fifteen hundred dollars in this manner in less
than half an hour.
When the first few days after, pay-day had
passed, and the amateur sports found them-
aelves broke, our playing was confined to the
Gambltr. 49
"bankers" and the officers, and upon these
games very large sums changed hands.
The reader must not imagine from what has
been related, that every soldier was addicted
to the vice of gambling. Although a great
many yielded to its influence, there were nu-
merous good men who resisted it. We had in
our company a noble, religious man named
Lauferty, from Cambridge, 111., who frequently
cautioned me against this sin, and predicted
the consequences if I continued to indulge in
it. I paid no heed to his words, and thought
him over scrupulous ; nevertheless I had great
confidence in him.
In North Carolina, in the Spring of 1865, the
men had just received six months' pay. This
fact, together with the general anticipation of a
big battle and the impossibility of remitting
money to the North, gave an unprecedented
stimulus to gambling. It is a singular fact that
the men always played more recklessly upon the
eve of a great battle than at any other time. I
won heavily about this time, and had forty-three
hundred dollars in cash. I offered Mr. Laufer-
ty eighteen hundred dollars of it to keep for
me, so that if I should be captured by the
enemy I would not lose all I had. Imagine my
3 D
60 Mason Long:
surprise when he refused to touch it, because it
was made by gambling. I thought him very
silly then, but I hold a different opinion now.
During the war my net winnings amounted
.to eleven thousand dollars, part of which I
spent, and the remainder I sent to my relatives
at Geneseo, 111.
After leaving the army in 1865, 1 proceeded
to Geneseo, and thence to. Fort Wayne, where,
in August, I opened a grocery and provision
store, in which I invested two thousand
eight hundred dollars of my gambling
spoils. I started out with fair prospects
and a determination to succeed. I introduced
a novelty in the way of free delivery of goods,
and for a time did an excellent business ; but I
came in competition with the great " Fruit
House," the proprietor of which, being a heavy
capitalist, could sell cheaper than I could buy.
This hard rivalry discouraged me, and about the
same time I was in failing health, being troubled
with an affection of the heart. I applied to a
physician for treatment and he prescribed whis-
ky as a tonic. Previous to this, in all my ex-
perience, I had never tasted a drop of liquor in
any form. I went to a drug store, purchased
the whisky, and began taking it out of a spoon,
Cbnverted Gambler. 51
as medicine only. It had a stimulating effect
upon me, and made me feel better. I was
greatly strengthened and my appetite was re-
stored. In less than three months I was drink-
ing it freely out of a jug. I soon formed an
appetite for it; an appetite which adhered to me
for many years, but which I finally, through the
grace of God, was enabled to shake off.
It was at the "Lodge" saloon, in Fort Wayne,
that I took my first glass of liquor over a bar.
Well do I remember a cold Winter day in 1866,
when John Sterling, one of the proprietors, to
whom I shall frequently refer, called me in and
rallied me upon my delicate health. He said I
ought to use liquor, and I swallowed his prescrip-
tion without hesitation. From that time until
a year ago I was addicted to the constant
use of spirits. I believe that whisky benefited
me when I first took it, but that it ever after-
ward proved a curse to me, and that, had I not
abandoned its use in the niclc of time, it would
have hurried me into a drunkard's grave.
Since leaving the army I had never touched
a card or gambled in any form. One Sabbath
I was standing in front of my store when I was
accosted by one of my best customers a prom*
inent citizen and a man of high standing who
52 Mason Long:
asked me to accompany him to the private room
of a business man on Columbia street, to wit-
ness a " gentleman's game of poker." I con-
sented and soon found myself and my compan-
ion engaged in a game. I lost all the money
I had sixty-seven dollars and my associate
was relieved of nearly one hundred dollars.
WQ left and met again on the succeeding
Tuesday evening, when I had expected
to be initiated into a Masonic lodge. I
dreaded the ordeal which I supposed awaited
me and therefore concluded not to go to the
lodge room. Instead, I went back to the "busi-
ness man's " poker game^on Columbia street,
with the friend above referred to, and that night
lost three hundred dollars more. From this
moment the old love of play was aroused in my
bosom, and soon acquired a complete mastery
over me. 1 visited the "gentleman's game"
at every opportunity, and in less than eighteen
months had lost thirty-five hundred dollars
in playing against it. By reason of my drink-
ing and gambling, together with the severe
competition I have referred to, my business was
constantly falling off, and my finances had be-
come very low. I sent to Geneseo for the
money which I had there, stating that I needed
Qomerted Qcvmbler. 58
it to enlarge my business. Of course it went
the same old way, into the pockets of the gam-
blers. I finally discovered that the crowd of
supposed " business men " who had been de-
feating me so badly at poker, were in fact ex-
pert, professional gamblers, one of them being
the veteran sport, Capt. Phillips of Toledo,
who afterwards died at Lima, Ohio.
Fort Wayne at that time was a paradise for
gamblers and confidence men. The times were
flush ; money was plenty, and the spirit of
speculation was rife. Fort Wayne, being an
important railroad point, was a natural rendez-
vous for gamblers from all directions. They
congregated here from New York, Chicago, De-
troit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleve-
land, Canada, etc., and some of the largest games
in the United States were maintained. The
" Lodge " saloon to which I have referred, was
one of the most famous resorts in the country.
It was kept by John Sterling and William Gru-
nauer, two men of extended reputation in the
sporting fraternity. Mr. Sterling was a thor-
ough gambler ; a good natured, warm-hearted
man, always ready to help the needy or " skin
a sucker." Mr. Grunauer was a cool-headed
player, and had always been very successful.
64 Mason Long:
Their faro game was in full blast, and hundreds
of dollars changed hands there nightly. Fre-
quently the game ran up into the thousands,
and during its existence, I presume at least a
million of dollars was lost and won upon it.
Another great resort was the keno-rooms of
Tim McCarthy, the noted billiardist, and cham-
pion of the State of Indiana. This game was
carried on for about three years, during which
time the proprietor netted at least twenty
thousand dollars from it. Among its patrons
were many cf cur most prominent business men.
Keno is not a gambler's game; it is played
mostly by amateurs, who do not stop to think
that it is a certainty for them to lose. When it
is considered that the banker does not wager a
cent, but upon every game takes ten per cent,
of the money invested, it will be seen that
the players have no chance to win in the long
run. The game is played with cards having
several rows of numbers across them ; corre-
sponding numbers are placed upon ivory balls,
which are deposited in a globe, from which they
are withdrawn one at a time and the number
called. As fast as the figures are called, the
player deposits a button upon the corresponding
number on his card, if it is there. The first
Converted Gambler. 55
player who gets a straight row of five buttons
wins the game. The cards usually sell for from
one dollar upwards, and the winner takes the
proceeds after the percentage of the bank is
withdrawn. At McCarthy's room these cards
frequently sold as high as twenty dollars each,
when the game was reduced to professional
gamblers, making a pool of two hundred or
three hundred dollars for the winner of a single
game.
In 1866 and 1867 Fort Wayne was noted, not
only as a gambling town, but as the headquar-
ters of as desperate and skillful a gang of three-
card monte men, pickpockets, and confidence
men as could be found in the country. This
gang was thoroughly organized, and numbered
about thirty of the most expert operators in the
United States. Their leader was Edward Ryan,
who achieved a wide notoriety as the king of
confidence men. For several years he and his
pah carried things with a high hand in Fort
Wayne. They exercised a potent influence in
local politics, being feared by the politicians ;
and through their lavish expenditures of their
ill-gotten plunder, gained a tacit support from
many merchants and business men, who profited
from their patronage.
56 Mason Long:
This organization of thieves committed their
principal depredations on the Pittsburgh, Fort
Wayne & Chicago Railway, between Valparaiso
and Lima, and the Wabash Railway, between
Fort Wayne and Peru. Near the depot, in
Fort Wayne, they carried on a saloon which
was provided with secret rooms, trap doors, etc.
In that hell many a poor fellow has been drug-
ged and robbed of his last penny. They
resorted to all kinds of expedients to raise the
wind, from the simple picking of pockets, up
to the most cleverly contrived and skillfully
executed confidence games. They realized
many thousands of dollars, which they squan-
dered very freely, in gambling and extrava-
gance. In the Fall of 1865, when the State
Fair was held in Fort Wayne, they reaped a rich
harvest. About thirty thousand people attended,
and many of them fell into the hands of these
Philistines. They operated with wonderful
boldness and cunning. When a train arrived
in the city, several of the thieves would jump
into the cars, and begin picking pockets. As
fast as they finished a man, they would chalk a
cross on his coat, so that the "boys" would
waste no time upon him. The pocket-books
would not be examined, but would be handed
Converted Garrihler. 57
to confederates, who would hasten away with
them. These accomplices would "skin the
leathers " (take the money from the wallets),
and then throw the empty purses on the roof of
a shed at the rear of the robbers' saloon. To
show liovy extensive these depredations were,
it may be stated that at the end of the Fair
week these pocket-books were gathered togeth-
er and buried by one of the understrappers, and
that they filled a bushel bashet. He examined
them and found sixty dollars in money, which
had escaped observation. During this week
the Ryan gang cleared many thousands of
dollars.
" Competition is the life of trade," as a usual
thing, but Ed. Ryan did not appreciate rivalry
in his line of business. He claimed a monopoly
of Fort Wayne and the railroads centering
there, and would not brook any competition
if he could avoid it. Once he was considerably
alarmed by the arrival of Dennis Marks, a
notorious confidence man from Chicago, who
came with a party of kindred spirits for the
purpose of harvesting in the field which he
(Ryan) claimed as peculiarly his own. Ryan
determined to drive the Marks crowd from the
city, and found it necessary to resort to strategy
58 Mason Long:
in order to carry out his purpose. So he and
an accomplice, known as " Hoosier Brown,"
perfected a scheme to disgust Marks, and it
worked most admirably. One Winter's after-
noon Ryan invited Marks to take a sleigh ride,
and the latter accepted. The pair drove toward
.the county asylum, when they met an old bat-
tered up specimen of humanity, trudging along
in the snow, carrying a satchel. " There comes
a good 'bloak,' " whispered Ryan. " Let's tackle
him," said the Chicago sharper; and stopping
the sleigh, they accosted the pedestrian :
" Hallo, stranger, where d'ye come from ? "
"Wall, I kum from out south hyar, where
I jes' sold my farm, and I kind u' thut as how
I'd go out nuth u' town a few miles, and buy
'nuther un, specially as I've got ther cash
muney right here (tapping the satchel) to pay
for it."
At this, Marks' eyes glistened. He invited
the farmer to jump into the cutter and ride to
to town. The three went to the St. Nicholas
saloon, where a drink was had all around.
Marks then attempted to swindle the supposed
greenhorn with the lock game. Ed. Ryan pre-
tended to assist him. Marks closed the lock, and
bet the stranger one thousand three hundred do\-
Gonv&rted Gambler. 59
lars that he couldn't unlock it. The latter, after
some discussion, took the bet, and the money
was placed in the hands of Hugh Doty, the bar-
tender. The intended victim readily opened
the lock, and immediately grabbed the two
thousand six hundred dollars, and started for
the door. He (the supposed intended dupe)
had been playing the lock game himself, and
was prepared to beat it when necessary.
" Stop that bloak ; he's got my sugar," cried
Marks, as he started in pursuit, whereupon
Hoosier Brown, for it was he, drew a navy
revolver, pointed it at the head of the Chicago
thief and said :
" That money's mine. I won it and propose
to keep it. D'ye hear ? "
Marks heard, and realized that he himself
was the victim of a sharp confidence operation
by Ryan and Brown. The latter walked off
with his one thousand three hundred dollars,
and Marks and his crony speedily left for
Chicago, satisfied that Fort Wayne was no
place for them.
The continued depredations of these confi-
dence men, and their immunity from punish-
ment, at last awakened public sentiment.
The railroads passing through Fort Wayne ex-
(50 Mason Long:
perienced a heavy falling of in travel, because
passengers would avoid these lines if possible.
The companies employed detectives, but they
accomplished little, but finally an incident
occurred which led to the complete overthrow
of the horde who had so long been undisturbed
in their nefarious operations. Ryan suc-
ceeded in robbing an old man named Tucker
from Columbia City, but Tucker was not made
of the stuff of which most victims are composed,
and pursued Ryan into the saloon with a re-
volver. The thief attempted to escape when
Tucker fired at him, the ball striking his collar
button and then glancing off, thus saving his
life. Ryan was captured and taken to the police
station, where a large crowd gathered that
night for the purpose of inflicting summary
justice. The desperado was well guarded,
however, and the mob, composed mainly of
shopmen, satisfied themselves with burning
down the saloon which had so long served as
headquarters of the gang. Ryan succeeded in
getting bail which he "jumped "and fled to
Canada. He was afterwards captured, but
escaped. He was re-captured and again es-
caped. He was secured a third time and
brought to Fort Wayne for trial. He secured
Converted Gambler. 1
a change of venue, and was tried at Wabash,
where he was convicted and sentenced to two
years in the penitentiary. He served his sen-
tence, after which he was a wanderer over the
earth until his death, which occurred a few
months ago in Chicago. The gang dispersed
when their leader was apprehended, and their
chosen resort was given over to the flames.
Most of them are dead, several having expired
in prison, and others having met violent ends
fitting climaxes to their desperate and lawless
careers.
From the time that the confidence men
deserted Fort Wayne, this city began to lose
its prominence as a gambling center. These
thieves had lost a large part of their booty to
the professional sports, and when they departed,
the gamblers found themselves short of victims.
The thieves robbed the greenhorns, and in turn
lost their " swag " at the faro bank or the poker
table, taking to the road as soon as they were
" broke " for the purpose of replenishing their
exchequer. Those were indeed-" lively times "
in Indiana.
Mason Long:
CHAPTER IV.
HOW I DEGENERATED FROM A BUSINESS MAN INTO A PRO-
FESSIONAL GAMBLER -SEVERE LESSONS AT MY NEW
TRADE MY SAD EXPERIENCE AS MANAGER OF A
MINSTREL TROtTPE AND PROPRIETOR OF A VARIETY
THEATRE AT LA FAYETTE-UPS AND DOWNS AS A GAM-
BLER-A FARO GAME STOPPED BY A FEARFUL OIL-OAS
EXPLOSION.
The taste I had got of playing seemed to have
aroused all my passion for this vice, which had
lain dormant for a few months. I sought every
opportunity to repair my losses, and satisfy the
fondness I had for gaming. I was an habitual
visitor to McCarthy's keuo rooms, although I
knew as well as I know now that I had a
dead certainty of losing at that game ; but I
could not resist the fascination. I also got to
visiting Sterling and Grunauer's faro bank over
the " Lodge " and there I dropped many dollars.
I finally found that I could not be a gam-
bler and a business man at the same time. As
my trade had vanished and my reputation was
clouded, I concluded to be a sport, out and out,
and disposed of my grocery store for eight
hundred and sixty-eight dollars. I then had my
Cbnverted Gambler. 63
first experience as a faro dealer. I thought I
understood the game, but in less than an hour
after I opened the "bank" I had lost eight
hundred dollars. The " sharks " as the out-
side players are called, had goosed my kit ; "
i. e., they had secured access to my tools and
iiad tampered with them in such a way that
they had a sure thing to win, while I had no
possible chance. There are many ways of
"goosing the kit," and gamblers are always
striving to invent some new method of getting
a dead sure thing on the game. If I had been
an expert if I had learned my trade, so to
speak I would have detected the scheme be-
fore putting the cards into the box. The cards
had been sandpapered, and a genuine sport
would have noticed it.
I had learned a lesson, however, and deter-
mined to profit by it. I joined the " sharks,"
or "rounders," and for some time played
against the banks. I was learning " the ropes,"
and " stood in " with many schemes for " snak-
ing the kits." Sometimes they succeeded, and
sometimes they failed. Finally I obtained a
stake, and opened a faro game, in a room over
the Occidental Billiard Hall, in Fort Wayne.
The sharks determined to " give it to me," and
64 Mason Long:
having made keys to fit the locks, bribed my
room boy to give them access to my tools. He
allowed them to do so, and they proceeded to
" doctor " my cards, by punching small holes
in them. After this was done the boy told me
what had been going on. I examined the cards,
found the holes, and filled them up with white
putty. That evening I opened the game just
as if nothing had happened. A large number
were present, and they evidently expected
a "rich haul." I gave them all a chance to
bet, and finally began dealing. Soon they all
centered to one spot, the turn was made, and
it "threw them." They looked at me and
then at each other in blank amazement. None
of them dared to speak, lest he expose the
crowd. I acted as if nothing had happened,
and did not seem to notice the quandary of
the players. The scene was a comical one. I
resumed dealing, and the next time there was
a white show on top, they " bounced it," and
lost again. Many a heavy sigh was drawn, and
some of the lighter weights drew out, being
short of funds. Their mouths were closed, but
their looks and actions spoke louder than
words The game continued, and upon the next
turn the "rounders" won. This was not surpris-
65
Ing as I had no advantage, as the case stood. The
last winning renewed the confidence of ray
antagonists. They evidently imagined that
there had been some miscalculation on their
part, but now they were certain, and they piled
up their money. I let them crowd the limits,
and upon the next turn they lost again. This
finished them ; the crowd was "broke." They
" squealed " and " kicked " terribly, and asked
to see the cards, thus exposing their own
plot. They examined the cards, and saw just
how they had been " taken in, and done for."
They " played for even," but could not make
it. The best joke of the whole transaction,
was that my partner "stood in " with the out-
side, trying to break me, and that he got a
large and bitter dose of the medicine himself.
I continued dealing without any incident
worthy of note until the Spring of 1868, when
I found myself ashore, financially, and obtained
a position to travel for J. C. Kennedy, of
Chicago, and sell soda fountains. I was thus
employed during most of the Summer, spend-
ing my leisure time and spare change at the
gambling table. In the Fall of that year,
while at Kendall ville, Ind., I made the acquaint-
ance of a man named McCoole, who was
66 Maspn Long:
traveling with a small tent show. This was
during the political campaign, and McCoole
was giving performances at the dates and places
of the joint discussions between Governors
Hendricks and Baker. He had been doing a
good business, and at his solicitation I took a
half interest in the show. The great Mason-
McCoole prize fight had just taken place, and
we named our troupe the Mason-McCoole
Minstrels. We gave two performances each
day one in the afternoon in the tent, and one
in the evening at a ball. We showed at Ken-
dallville, Waterloo, and other points. From
the latter place I went to Toledo with four
hundred and fify dollars in my pocket, to
engage " talent " for our " mammoth combina-
tion" (as we called it on the bills); but instead
of doing so, I fell against a faro bank at Toledo
and lost every cent of it. I returned and
joined the company. We played at Mishawa-
kee to a fair business, and then proceeded to
South Bend, where we rented a hall and
announced a grand musical entertainment.
The evening came, and so did the crowd. We
had a large attendance, our receipts being
about one hundred and fifty dollars. McCoole
was in the box office selling tickets, and I stood
Converted Gambler. 67
at the door. About eight o'clock, just before
time for the curtain to raise, my partner told
me he was going down stairs for a moment, and
said that I should take in money at the door
until his return. I stood there and received
about two dollars and a half in "shinnies"
(fractional currency). It was past the time
for the curtain to raise, and the audience were
becoming impatient. About this time the
owner of the hall arrived and demanded his
rent. I told him McCoole had gone out with
all of the funds, and asked him to wait until
his return. He respectfully declined, and said
the curtain should not go up until the money
was paid. I argued with him, and offered him
as security the canvas which we had purchased
from Gilbert & Grady for one hundred dollars.
He was obdurate, evidently believing that
McCoole and myself were in complicity for the
purpose of defrauding him. My position was
indeed an embarrassing one. I had only two
dollars and half in money, was an entire
stranger, and had to face an angry audience.
I finally mounted the stage, and told the crowd
the circumstances. I said that we were ready
to proceed if the owner of the hall would let
us, and concluded by throwing my scrip and
68 Mason Long:
tickets among the audience. They were very
indignant, and I feared that they would use
violence with me. They left the hall pell-mell,
with many expressions of auger and disgust.
The members of the company none of whom
had been paid for a long time were uneasy at
the turn affairs had taken, and thought that
their private property would be attached. One
of them owned a banjo which he valued at one
hundred dollars, and he was determined to save
it at all hazards. Sending a confederate to the
front of the building, he let down the banjo
from the window with a string, crying to a man
below, " Is that you, Jake ? " " Yes," was the
answer, and the instrument was let down into
the hands of the sheriff. That was the last
seen of that banjo. This incident confirmed
the belief that we were attempting a deliberate
swindle, although the only guilty party was
McCoole. He had boarded a train and left the
city, and from that day to this I have never
seen or heard of him.
I was left in South Bend with ten unpaid
performers on my hands, without money or
friends, and with a number of bills to settle.
I went to the hotel, and turned over the
canvas to the landlord as security for our
Converted Gambler. 69
bill. I presume he has the canvas yet. We
slept at the hotel, but were refused breakfast
the next morning, and left the hotel hungry
and broke. A thorough search was made of
every member of the troupe, and finally we
succeeded in discovering a dollar bill concealed
in the watch pocket of one of the players.
That was promptly confiscated and devoted to
the purchase of a lunch. The company dis-
banded, each person depending upon his wits
to get out of town.
I then formed a partnership with a fortune
teller whose acquaintance I had made, and we
proceeded to Kendallville, and then to Fort
Wayne, my fare and expenses being paid by my
new companion. At the latter place the fortune
teller located at the Hedekin House, remaining
three weeks, telling no less than two hundred
and fifty fortunes, at one dollar each, within
that time. This large business was the result
of liberal advertising, and the success with
which the past and present of the " seekers
after knowledge " were told. This seemed
remarkable, and was the subject of much
amazement among the simple-minded persons
who paid their dollars for a knowledge of the
future. There was nothing supernatural, how-
70 Mason Long:
ever, about the success with which " fortunes "
were told. I was getting half of the profits,
and, in order to earn my way, made myself an
active assistant. I knew almost all who went
to have their fortunes told, and during the
operation I was concealed behind a door, shar-
ing my knowledge with the professor of occult
mysteries. The victim was always placed with
his back toward me. Thus, if the party was
married, I nodded my head ; if single, I shook
my head ; I signified the number of children he
or she had by my fingers, and in various ways
I gave information which, when imparted by
the fortune teller, produced the greatest sur-
prise and wonderment. Such of my young
readers as may feel tempted to consult these
so-called " oracles " will see, from my narrative,
that there is no reliance to be placed in them,
and that, when they do tell the truth, it is
either the result of a lucky guess, or of knowl-
edge obtained in some manner not suspected
by the victim.
When our business became dull at Fort
Wayne, we went to Huntington, and there, for
obvious reasons, our success was not so great.
We dissolved partnership, the fortune teller
leaving for parts unknown. Sterling and
Converted Gambler. 71
Grunauer were running a faro bank at Hunt-
ington, and they employed me to deal at eight
dollars per day They were in bad luck, and,
having lost eighteen hundred dollars, closed
the faro bank and left for Fort Wayne. In
the mean time I had gambled away all my
profits from the fortune telling, and returned
home.
I then obtained the money due me for sell-
ing soda fountains, amounting to seven hun-
dred dollars. Of course the first thing I
did was to seek a gambling room, and on
Sunday night I found myself at the " Lodge."
When I arose from the faro table that
night, I did not have money enough to buy
a cigar with, and was at a loss to imagine what
to do next.
The next morning I was sitting in the
44 Lodge " trying to invent some means of " rais-
ing the wind," when I happened to think of a
man in Lafayette, to whom I had loaned one
hundred and ninety dollars, and who was about
leaving for the Far West. I determined to go
to Lafayette to see him, but how to get there
was the question. I asked Grunauer one of
the men who had won my seven hundred dol-
lars the preceding evening for a small loan,
72 , Mason Long:
but he refused unless I would put up a gold ele-
phant as security. From his partner, Sterling,
I met with better treatment. He advised me
not to get discouraged, and when I stated my
case handed me twenty dollars with which I
went to Lafayette, arriving there with sixteen
dollars. The man who owed me one hundred
and ninety dollars had departed. I was about
leaving for home, when I met one of -the former
members of the defunct " Mason-McCoole Min-
strels." He was performing at a variety theater
in Lafayette, the proprietor of which was los-
ing money and was anxious to sell out. At his
suggestion I purchased the establishment, giv-
ing my notes for three hundred and fifty
dollars at three and six months' time. I
went to Indianapolis, engaged the Reynard
sisters who were billed as "celebrated ar-
tistes," and I soon had my variety hell in full
blast. It was located at No. 54 Fourth street,
and will doubtless be remembered by many of
the citizens of Lafayette as one of the hardest
places ever kept in that city. I fitted up a bar,
a green-room and all the other adjuncts of a
place of this character, and did a thriving busi-
ness. The place was crowded every night. I
changed the company every two or three weeks
Converted Gambler. 73
and employed a large number of " gifted stars "
to cater to the tastes of my patrons. The
green-room was conducted on the most approved
principles. I bought wine at thirty-seven and
a-half cents a bottle and sold it for two dollars
and fifty cents. The "lady performers" re-
ceived fifteen dollars a week each, and board,
together with fifty cents commission for each
bottle of wine sold. Strange to say, among
the persons who paid two dollars and fifty cents
per bottle for this wine, were the men from
whom I had bought it for thirty-seven and a
half cents.
I charged an admission fee of twenty-five
cents, each check calling for a glass 01 beer.
This was done in order to avoid payment of
license.
My variety hall gradually became the ren-
dezvous of disorderly characters and a nuisance
in the eyes of decent citizens.
After I had conducted it about eight months,
a determined attempt was made to break it up.
Nearly one hundred indictments were returned
against me, but owing to legal irregularities
and a failure of proof, I had them quashed at
an expense of only five dollars, which I paid
an attorney. I concluded that it was about
4
74 Mason Long:
time for me to remove, so I decided to shut up.
Owing to a misunderstanding with the gas
company, the theater was lighted with thirty
tallow candles at the last performance, and
resembled an Irish wake in appearance. The
next day I closed the place, leaving stage,
scenery, chairs, bar, etc., turned the key over
to the owner of the building, and withdrew
from the amusement business.
I can truthfully say that among the many re-
grettable episodes in. my past life, there is none
I look back upon with more sorrow and remorse
than the one I have just related. I believe
and with my experience I certainly know
whereof I speak that of all the devil's inven-
tions for propagating vice and dissipation, and
leading young men into paths of immorality
and indulgence, there are none more success-
ful than "variety theaters" and "concert
halls." They are perfect plague spots, full of
evil and nothing but evil. The young man
who frequents them is treading the path to cer-
tain ruin, and I warn all who do not desire to
become moral wrecks, to avoid these places as
they would a pestilence. Wherever they are
established they do an amount of mischief
which no one can estimate. I regret to say
Converted Gambler. Y5
that they are frequently patronized and en-
couraged by business men who have sons and
daughters growing up, and who are to a large
extent responsible for their existence. I think
the press and the pulpit, and an enlightened
public sentiment, should unite to render the
maintainance of such places of resort impossible.
When I closed my variety theater, I had six-
teen hundred dollars in my pocket, the profits
of that enterprise. It is needless to say that
this money lasted me but a short time. I went
to Chicago, and a very few contests with faro
reduced me to pauperism. I then returned to
Fort Wayne, after an absence of nearly a year,
and rented a small room over the "Occidental."
paying sixty dollars a month rent, and having
borrowed a little money, opened a faro game on
a light scale. I opened a " fifteen dollar snap,"
(the bets being limited to that amount) and at
the first sitting won one hundred and ninety-five
dollars. I had a streak of " good luck," and
for six weeks never suffered a single loss
amounting to a hundred dollars. I had then
gathered forty-eight hundred dollars. I hired
a dealer with whom I left a " bank roll " and
two five hundred dollar bank checks, to be used
in an emergency. I then started for Indianap-
76 Mason Long:
oils, but had hardly reached there when I re-
ceived a telegram to come home. Upon my
return I discovered that my game had lost
twelve hundred dollars. The dealer whom I
had employed and trusted had played false with
me, and by complicity with outsiders, had
robbed me of the amount named. He was at
once set down by the Fort Wayne gambling
fraternity as a thief, and having lost the money
he stole from me, as a " rounder " on outside
games, he found the atmosphere very unconge-
nial, and left for parts unknown. I continued
my game over the " Occidental " until my
money had vanished, and I was compelled to
close the bank and vacate my rooms.
After this I remained on the " ragged edge,"
financially, for several months. I played on
the " outside," occasionally borrowing a small
"stake," and making small winnings, which
were lost upon the next game. Finally I bor-
rowed five hundred dollars of a friend and
opened a faro bank on Main street. I had
bad luck, and was cleaned out immediately. I
obtained two hundred and fifty dollars more of
the same man, which went after the five hun-
dred dollars, and again he advanced me two
hundred and fifty dollars, which also vanished.
Converted Gambler. 79
A fourth time I applied to him, but he could
only let me have ten dollars ; with this we
went on a spree. I remained drunk constantly
for weeks, both night and day, living on plain
whisky, and taking but little food or sleep.
Completely worn out, I finally sobered up. I
was, of course, out of funds, and my debts
amounted to about two thousand three hundred
dollars. In order to get a start, I pawned an
old watch for fifty-five dollars, and opened a
game. By some means a rumor that I had
won one thousand dollars, obtained circulation
among the sports, and I took no pains to stop
it, as I knew it would bring players against my
bank. Luck had at last turned. The first
night I dealt I won three hundred and sixty-
five dollars. I kept on winning, and in less
than three weeks I had paid all my debts and
had a "bank roll" (business capital) of eight
hundred dollars. As usual when successful I
took to drinking, and my pile began to dwindle.
Then I allowed outsiders to deal " snaps "
(limited bets) at my game, and I played against
them, usually winning, as few of them knew
how to protect themselves.
At this time I was dividing my attention
about equally between drinking and gambling.
80 Mason Long:
While on a spree, I went to Upper Sandusky,
Ohio, leaving my rooms and a bank roll of four
hundred dollars with my dealer. At Upper
Saudusky I met some boon companions, and
indulged in a frightful debauch. One day, as
I was sleeping off the effects of this indul-
gence, under a large sycamore tree at the river
side, I was handed a telegram, summoning me
home. I returned to Fort Wayne and found
my game broken up and my money gone.
I remained quiet for a few weeks, and then
re-opened my old rooms over the " Occidental."
Fortune again smiled upon me, and in about
seven weeks my net winnings amounted to over
four thousand dollars. During this time I had
remained sober, watched my game, and had not
made a single losing of any consequence. This
was entirely too much prosperity for me to
stand. I came to the conclusion that I must
have a horse, and I bought a trotter for one
hundred and ninety dollars, purchased a nobby
wagon at Detroit, and made my appearance
with a flashy turnout. I entered my horse at
the Huntington Fair, and carried off the prize
in the " general purposes " class. For a few
weeks I devoted myself entirely to my horse
and to drinking. Almost every day I became
Converted Oannbler. 81
intoxicated and drove out, scarcely ever return-
ing, unless my recklessness had caused some
accident. Frequently I landed the whole turn-
out in the ditch, and rarely went to the stable
with a whole wagon.
Laboring under the delusion that I had a fast
trotter, I matched him against a better horse
for two hundred dollars a side, and we had a
trot on the snow, near the city. I of course
came out seconcf best, and finding I was beat
did not stop, but drove straight to town, leav-
ing a crowd of disgusted sports, who had bet
on me, far in the rear. This was known as the
" Birdie " and " Flossy " race.
The large sum of money, which I had recent-
ly won, had about disappeared, and in order to
get another start, I sold my rig at a great
sacrifice, and invested the proceeds in faro.
Of course I lost, and I found myself, as I bad
so often been before penniless !
In the Spring of 1871, I obtained a sm >11
stake and opened a faro bank in the third story
of the building at the corner of Calhoun and
Wayne Streets, Fort Wayne. There was no
other game in the city at the time, and this one
was well patronized. A great many transient
sports visited Fort Wayne those days and they,
89 Mason Long:
together with merchants, bankers, saloon-keep-
ers, clerks, bartenders, railroad conductors, etc.,
composed the players. Occasionally a church
member dropped in and took a hand. Among all
of the players, passenger conductors and bar-
tenders were the hardest for us to keep broke.
Many saloon-keepers visited us once or twice a
week, and left with us, for safe keeping, all
their available cash. The game kept up remark-
ably well, hundreds of dollars changing hands
every night.
While I was conducting this bank, an incident
took place which is, I think, worth relating.
One night in June, 1871, I was dealing, and
there was an exciting game in progress for u big
money." Suddenly we discovered a bright
light in our windows, and soon became aware
that fire was raging in the adjoining building.
The steam engines were throwing water on the
fire, and we could hear the noise of the large
crowd which had assembled in the street below,
and the shrill voices of the firemen and police-
men as they moved about in the discharge of
their duties. The game was kept up as if
nothing had happened ; not a player rose from
his seat, not a man passed in his checks, so
engrossing was the sport. It was suggested that
Converted Gambkr. 88
we would not move until the walls grew hot,
and we kept on dealing and playing, with the
adjacent building in flames. It was not until
an explosion took place which shook the edifice
from foundation to roof, that some of the players
became terrified, drew out of the game and left.
I continued dealing, however, and scarcely a
word was spoken as the game progressed,
although the roar from the street below was
becoming louder and louder. In a few moments
a second violent explosion occurred, which
moved the building several inches, shattered
every window in our room to fragments, lifted
the door from its hinges and overturned the
check rack. This made the stoutest heart fail,
and the most hardened countenance blanch.
We feared that the stairway had been torn
away, and all egress cut off, and the reckless
men, who had been tempting fate, forgetting
everything, rushed for the exit. No one waited
to get his checks cashed, and I never closed a
game more suddenly. The stairways were all
right and we soon reached the street. We
found that the fire had originated in the cellar
beneath, Boltz's grocery in the adjacent build-
ing. The first shock was caused by the ex-
plosion of some oil in the cellar, which had been
84: Mnson Lrmg:
afterward flooded with water. The boiling oil
ran along the surface of the water and gener-
ated gas. When Fred. Hilsman, a torch boy,
entered the cellar, this gas exploded with a
loud report, killing him instantly and wounding
about twenty-five persons. Mr. Ferd. Boltz,
proprietor of the grocery ; Thomas Mannix, the
Chief Engineer of the Fire Department ; John
Downey and Edward Downey were among
those most frightfully burned. Their sufferings
were most intense, and they presented as hor-
rible a spectacle as I ever witnessed during the
war. We gamblers devoted the remainder of
the night to caring for the wounded, who were
removed to hospitals and private residences.
This striking episode was a great shock to all
of us, and we did not recover from its effects
for some time.
Converted Gambler. 85
CHAPTER V.
THE HORRORS OF DELIRIUM TREMENS - VISIONS OF THE
"WHITE MICE" REPEATED CAPTURES BY THE POLIOE
LUDICROCS FLIGHT OF A BLOODTHIRSTY SPORT
LARGE WINNINGS INVESTED IN A PALATIAL .SALOON
ANDGAMBLING DEN-RECKLESS DISSIPATION AND PROD-
IGALITY-AN HOUR IN JAIL-LOW EBB OF FORTUNE.
I was completely unnerved by the terrible
event which I described in the concluding
pages of the last chapter. I did not make a
single winning for at least a month. I was
extremely nervous whenever I sat down at a
card table. Becoming discouraged, I betook my-
self to my usual resort, the bottle, and indulged
in a prolonged spree. For many days I sub-
sisted almost entirely upon raw whisky, sleep-
ing but little, and eating scarcely anything. At
last I found myself suffering from my first
attack of delirium tremens. My visions assumed
the forms of white mice. They were ever
before my eyes, waking or sleeping. They
were constantly present in my deceased imagi-
nation, crawling over my bed at night, swarm-
ing about my person by day, advancing toward
86 Mason Long:
me in vast multitudes, crawling about my feet
with every step. In vain did I attempt to
shake off this dreadful vagary; with every
effort the white mice increased in numbers,
until it seemed to me that thousands of them
were about me, and that I never would be able
to free myself from them. They seemed within
my reach, but when I clutched at them they
evaded my hands, and seemed to laugh demon-
iacally at my fruitless attempts to capture them.
My physical condition was pitiable ; I was pale,
weak, nervous, exhausted, unable to collect my
thoughts, or control my fancies. I slowly re-
covered from this attack, but it was many
weeks before I regained my usual life, energy,
and buoyant spirits. Thoroughly frightened at
last, I determined to stop drinking, and for
four months did not touch a drop.
When I " got on my feet again," I opened a
faro bank in the old rooms previously occupied
by Sterling and Grunauer. The game flourished,
and for about three months I won steadily.
One night there was a big game in progress,
many prominent sporting men from abroad
being present and playing against me, when a
posse of police suddenly made their appearance,
entering through the skylight and the rear
Converted Gambler. 87
windows, which they had reached by means of
a ladder. The game was intensely exciting,
and we did not hear the approach of the
" peelers." Our first intimation that they were
in the vicinity, was when they stood before us
and told us to consider ourselves under arrest.
The countenances of the eighteen players in
the room were indeed a study, and presented a
ludicrous spectacle. This raid was the imme-
diate result of the threats made by one of the
number, who had threatened publicly to kill
the first " peeler " who should ever attempt his
arrest in a gambling room. This threat nettled
the bold chief, " Mike " Singleton, who laid his
plans carefully to "bag" this dangerous (?)
sport. The raid was cleverly executed, and, as
was to be expected, the valor of the sanguinary
individual referred to, rapidly oozed out at the
pores. In the confusion, he entered my sleep-
ing apartment and locked the door. The police
attempted to force it open, but I warned them
not to do so, as the room was a private one, not
used for gambling purposes. They allowed us
to settle up the game, and then confiscated my
tools, and marched us to the lock-up. As we
reached the hallway, the cowardly braggadocio
who had locked himself in my bedroom opened
4*
88 Mason Long:
the door and dashed through the gambling hall,
and jumped out of the back window, taking
sash and all with him. He landed in a garden,
and thus made good his escape, as the police
could not leave us to look after him.
I had won five hundred dollars before the
raid, but had to deposit one hundred and eighty
dollars to secure the release of the crowd, and
in the bargain, lost my kit of checks, valued at
one hundred dollars.
Of course, these police raids were of more
or less frequent occurrence. During my ten
years of gambling in Fort Wayne, my house
was "pulled," on- an average, two or three
times annually. I never allowed any man
caught in my place to be locked up, even if I
had to borrow money to bail him out with.
I presume I have paid into the city treasury of
Fort Wayne, in consequence of these arrests,
not less than two thousand five hundred or
three thousand dollars, not to speak of the
loss I sustained by the confiscation of many
valuable kits of tools.
The newspapers and the public generally are
in the habit of censuring police officers for the
infrequency of their raids upon gamblers, and
in many cases, without reason. It is a most
Converted Gambler. 89
difficult matter to make these arrests success-
fully. The police have no right to break into
a room upon suspicion, merely, and they do so
at their own risk. In order to work a con-
viction, it is necessary to prove the gambling,
and that is very frequently hard to do, as, in
many cases, it could .only be done through the
testimony of the players themselves, and no
one can be required to criminate himself on the
witness stand. Many skillfully planned and
cleverly executed raids have proved x ' water
hauls" merely, because the officers were unable
to show positively that gambling was being
done. The doors are always kept locked and
bolted, with a guard outside to give warning,
by an understood signal, of the approach of the
" cops." It is an easy thing to secrete and lock
up cards, tools, etc., and by the time the officers
gain admission if they do so at all they fre-
quently find only a party of gentlemen quietly
smoking cigars and reading the newspapers.
The officers have no right to break open trunks,
or closets, upon suspicion that they contain
gambling tools, and, in such cases, it is useless
to make arrests.
I have known the police to work for weeks
devising some plan of bagging a nest of sports.
00 Mason Long:
They usually choose a time when the gamblers
are supposed to be " flush," in order that the
city treasury may receive a " benefit." They
scale buildings, climb ladders, let themselves
down from the roofs through skylights, dis-
guise themselves in citizens' clothes, and, in
fact, resort to all manner of stratagems to cap-
ture the gentlemen who " buck the tiger."
Of course, there are many ludicrous inci-
dents connected with these affairs. One night,
while I was keeping a room at 74 Calhouu
Street, Fort Wayne, the "peelers" stealthily
crept up to our outside guard, who was sitting
in front of the door asleep, seized him, and
before he was fairly awake, had taken the keys
from his pocket, and entered our room, much
to our disgust and amazement ; of course, we
had to " walk up to the captain's office and
settle."
Occasionally a man who never plays drops
into a gambling room as a spectator, through
mere curiosity. When such " innocents " find
themselves in the hands of the police, their ter-
ror is very amusing to the thoroughbreds, who
are hardened to such experiences. I remember
distinctly the futile and ridiculous efforts of
two of these "spring chickens " to escape from
Converted Gambler. 91
the blue coats in one of my Fort Wayne rooms,
on West Berry Street. There was a small
dumb waiter in the room, in which drinks and
cigars were brought up from the saloon below.
This was about large enough to hold a very small
tray ; but when the officers arrived that night,
these two boys jumped into it and attempted to
run it down. It is as hard for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle as it was for these
worthies to descend through this small space ;
and as the police gently took them forth from
their ridiculous hiding-place, their countenances
presented a decidedly sheepish aspect. This
was probably their first visit to a gambling room,
and they had never played ; but like the rest
of us, they had to " plank down " ten dollars
each. It was probably the best thing that
could have happened them, as they doubtless
concluded to keep out of such places in future.
One of my sporting enterprises in Fort Wayne
was a private " club room " for gentlemen.
This place was frequented by some of the lead-
ing business men and wealthiest citizens of Fort
Wayne, who liked to play among themselves,
but did not desire to come in contact with reg-
ular sporting men. They were bankers, capi-
talists, merchants, city and county officials, and
92 Mason Long:
men of that class. Wliile I kept this room, the
mayor received an anonymous letter, to the
effect that it was resorted to by mechanics,
laboring men, and others, who were there robbed
of the money which their wives and chil-
dren needed. Upon the strength of this, he
ordered the chief of police to make an imme-
diate raid, and to refuse less than fifty dollars
bail in each case, and so we received a call
one night, and the " peelers " found six of the
leading citizens of Fort Wayne having a quiet
game of poker among themselves. They were
all put under arrest, but, of course, promptly
furnished bail. One of the police " froze " to
my check-rack, which I hated to part with. I
tried to get it from him by various devices,
which proved fruitless. Finally, as the police
were about leaving, I invited them to " take
something." The room-boy brought up a
" round of drinks," and the " peeler " laid
down my check-rack while he absorbed his
liquor ; when he had swallowed his drink, he
reached for the " rack," but it was gone safely
lodged in a clothes-press, which was locked,
and which the police dared not open. They
could get no information as to the mysterious
disappearance, and took their departure minus
Converted Gambler. 93
the trophy ; the chief, in the meantime, admin-
istering a severe reprimand to the officer whose
fondness for liquor had caused the trouble.
After our guests departed, we had another
game, in which I won four hundred and twen-
ty-five dollars from the business men, none of
whom has probably forgotten this, to them,
eventful night.
The " raid " which caused the bully to jump
from the window, frightened the owner of the
building, and he gave me. notice to vacate. I
then returned to the room which I had occu-
pied at the time of the explosion. There were
two faro banks in full blast in this building,
one kept by a noted Louisville sport named
Gregg, who afterwards died of small pox, and
the other by myself. Business was good here,
but I soon made another move to No. 60 Cal-
houn Street where I ran the largest game I ever
had. During the races of 1872, there was "big
money" lost against my game. In one night I
won over twenty-two hundred and fifty dol-
lars in two hours, of which seventeen hun-
dred dollars was lost by Jesse Winter, a
well-known gambler of Cincinnati, and four
hundred dollars by a traveling salesman for an
94 Mason Long:
Indianapolis firm, who was shortly afterward
sent to the penitentiary for embezzlement.
In the Spring of 1873, two men from Fort
Wayne and myself opened a faro game at Lo-
gansport, where we speedily lost our bank roll
of two thousand dollars. My partners returned
to Fort Wayne for money, and during their
absence, I borrowed two hundred dollars, and
opened a two hundred dollar " snap." I won
seven hundred dollars the first night, and when
my partners got back had thirty-one hun-
dred dollars. We re-opened our game with
a nine hundred dollar bank roll, which disap-
peared the first two nights, whereupon my
partners left in disgust. I remained in Logans-
port and dipped into a big game of poker at
which I lost twenty-one hundred dollars in
one week. I then resumed faro, and having
won nine hundred dollars left for Fort Wayne
with sixteen hundred dollars in my pocket.
I then determined to embark in the saloon
business, and conduct a gambling room in con-
nection therewith. I leased a building at No.
74 Calhoun Street in the Summer of 1873, and
fitted it up at an expense of thirty-five hundred
dollars, of which I paid sixteen hundred dol-
lars in cash. The saloon, when thrown open,
Converted Gfmibler. 95
was the handsomest in the city. There was
an elegant black walnut bar, a black wal-
nut sideboard, costing five hundred dollars,
mirrors, Brussels carpets, etc. The rooms were
supplied with fine billiard tables which I pur-
chased on time, giving my notes therefor, and
afterwards winning the notes from the holder
at the gaming table.
I opened to an immense business. My prede-
cessor at this place, took in only from three to
eight dollars a day ; but the first day I opened,
my bar receipts were forty dollars, and they
increased daily until they reached one hundred
and seventy-five dollars. The first month my
sales amounted to twenty-two hundred and
fifty dollars for whisky, billiards, etc. My
gambling rooms were in the second story, and
business was so brisk that I had to have two
kits and tables, and two games frequently run-
ning in one room. The first year, the entire
institution, gambling room, saloon, etc., netted
me over eight thousand dollars, and yet at its
termination, I was fifteen hundred dollars in
debt, all caused by recklessness, extravagance,
and dissipation. During the Northern Indiana
Fair of 1874, I reaped a rich harvest. I con-
ducted a bar two hundred feet long at the Fair
96 Mason Long:
grounds, and on the day of the Firemen's
Tournament, when there were said to have been
forty thousand people on the grounds, the re-
ceipts were thirteen hundred and sixty-five
dollars for beer, whisky, and cigars at this
place. On the same day, the receipts at
my saloon and gambling hall were fourteen
hundred and fifty dollars, most of which was
realized from the games. During these races,
there were three games of faro and one " red
and black table " in constant operation in my
rooms.
Another profitable time for me was the great
Soldiers Re-union of 1874, when my receipts
were very large. Many of them dropped in
to see me, and one night I won about nine hun-
dred dollars from them, for old acquaintance
sake,
These were the most profitable days, finan-
cially, I ever had, and yet they availed me
little. I was constantly in debt, and squandered
my money in all kinds of reckless dissipation
and extravagance. My establishment being
the headquarters of professional gamblers,
attracted many loafers and hangers-on. This
gradually drove away my best customers. I
drank and caroused around freely, neglected
Converted Gambler. 97
my business and let my stock run down.
Whenever I got two thousand, three thousand,
or four thousand dollars together, I left the city
to attend horse races, chicken fights, or some
other similar affair, and frequently returned
without a cent
I will describe one trip, as an illustration.
In the Spring of 1874, I left home to attend a
chicken fight, at Tolleston, Ind., the match
being between the Chappell Brothers, of
Detroit, and Jerry Monroe, of Chicago. I was
on a spree when I left home, and took a bottle
of whisky with me, from which I drank so
freely that I was carried past Tolleston, and
into Chicago, where I arrived in the morning.
I stepped into a restaurant, took a cocktail,
ordered breakfast, and while it was being
prepared, went up stairs to visit a faro game ;
while my pheasant was being broiled, I won
eight hundred and forty dollars, and when the
bell rang for breakfast, I sat down with that
amount of winnings in my pocket. I dropped
into a pawn-shop, where I paid five hundred
and twenty dollars for a watch and chain, and
one hundred and forty-five dollars for a pair of
bracelets, for neither of which I had any use,
and returned to Fort Wayne. I mention this
98 Mason Long:
simply as an illustration of the extravagance
and recklessness^of the average gambler. In
three days after purchasing this watch and
chain, I had it pawned for three hundred dol-
lars. I frequently had it in " soak " after that,
and altogether I presume I borrowed not less
than twenty-five hundred dollars upon it.
I finally sacrificed it for one hundred and
seventy dollars.
My palatial gambling room and saloon was
rapidly becoming one of the worst dens in the
city. That which I had originally intended as
a resort for gentlemen and business men,
became finally the head quarters of all the blear-
eyed bummers, whisky bloats, and dead-beats
in the city. People with any claims to respect-
ability, avoided it studiously. The newspapers
44 wrote it up," and facetiously denominated it
" Mace Long's Bazaar," and " Mace Long's
Confectionery." My game was deserted, I was
out of funds, badly entangled in debt, and I
gave myself up to the grossest intemperance.
About this time I employed an old soak
known to local fame as " Deacon " Bronson, as
my bartender. The Deacon was a " charac-
ter." Once a prominent railroad man, after-
ward the proprietor of some of the most
Converted Gambler. 99
fashionable and popular drinking resorts in the
city, the Deacon had gone down step by
step, until he had become a mere common
drunkard. His excessive use of liquor had
softened a brain which had never, to tell the
truth, been phenomenally developed ; and the
Deacon was a target for all the corner loafers
in town.
I employed the Deacon at a nominal salary,
his board and liquor being the main induce-
ments. His duties were not very arduous, but
he exerted himself quite successfully to see that
my stock of liquors did not accumulate too
fast. The customers were quite scarce, and
those who did call were usually out of funds.
One cold winter morning an event of unus-
ual interest transpired. A customer called
a real customer, with a clean shirt on, and
some money in his pocket. I had been absent
for a time on a spree. The Deacon had just
opened the saloon, and had searched in vain
for his morning bitters, the stock of liquor
being exhausted. He was standing behind the
bar, rubbing his hands and looking decidedly
uncomfortable, when the aforesaid stranger
entered.
" Give me some whisky," said he.
100 Mason Long:
" We haven't got any whisky this morning,"
drawled out the Deacon, rubbing his hands as
before.
"Well, give me some beer, then."
"We haven't got any beer," again whim-
pered the Deacon, in his usual sing-song style,
still rubbing his hands.
" Give me a cigar, then," was the next order.
" We haven't got any cigars," said the Dea-
con, as he rubbed his hands some more.
"What in h have you got?" ejaculated
the would-be customer, in disgust.
"We have some real nice claret wine,"
replied the Deacon, as he took another rub at
his hands.
" D d if I'll make an ice cream freezer out
of my stomach such a day as this," was the final
remark of the gentleman, as he passed out
the door.
Claret, as the reader is aware, is a summer
drink, and is as much out of place on a cold
winter's day as ice cream or soda water.
I arrived at the saloon shortly afterward,
learned the situation, and concluded to stock
up. I handed my able assistant ninety cents,
and with that amount he visited the Fruit
House, purchased a gallon of the " best
Converted Gainbler. 101
imported liquor," and when he returned we
were again ready for business. The Deacon
took care that the whisky should not spoil.
About this time 1 made a desperate attempt
to retrieve my failing fortunes. I sold off my
billiard tables to citizens for their private resi-
dences. I converted my establishment into a
beer saloon, with waiter girls as attractions.
This expedient revived business temporarily,
but trade soon dropped off again. My institu-
tion was more of a nuisance than ever, for
there are few greater pests in a city than these
waiter-girl saloons.
About this time some of my creditors became
impatient with me, brought suits, and obtained
judgments. Executions were issued against
me, and one night at a late hour a constable
entered my saloon for the purpose of making a
levy. I was drunk, and was sitting at a beer
table with a couple of boon companions, who
were in the same condition. The constable
was at least as drunk as I. When he served
the execution I said I would lock up and give
him the keys until the next morning, when I
would raise the money and pay the judgment.
He told me to keep open and sell, and he would
stay and take the money, to be applied in pay-
102 Mason Long:
ment. I consented, and resumed my seat at
the table, anxiously waiting for some customers.
Soon I noticed the officer behind the bar deal-
ing out the whisky and cigars to himself, and a
crowd of his dead-beat associates. Of course
I protested, whereupon he took hold of some
furniture and began moving it out. Upon this
I seized him by the neck and produced consid-
erable pressure upon his windpipe. He then
took his departure, threatening to return
shortly.
I again seated myself with my two compan-
ions, and in a little while the enraged officer
returned, entering through the back door which
I had forgotten to lock. He tried to read the
warrant, but was too drunk to do so. I con-
sented to accompany him, however, and started
out of the door with him. As we were leaving
my two pals showed their devotion to my
cause by novel demonstrations, one of them giv-
ing the constable a terrible kick in an exposed
portion of his anatomy, and the other placing
the lighted end of a cigar gently against his
neck. He uttered an exclamation of pain and
hurried me before a magistrate, where I was
ordered to give fifty dollars bonds for my ap-
pearance the next day, and being unable to do
Converted Gambler. 103
so was committed to jail. I walked over with
the constable and when we entered the building
I dealt him a vigorous blow on the head, laying
him flat upon the stone floor. The turnkey
seized me and hustled me into a cell. There
were two horse thieves in the next cell and a
murderer just above. I undressed, laid down
on my bunk, and soon fell into a drunken
slumber. In a short time I was awakened, two
friends having come over and secured my re-
lease. Thus ended the only " half hour in
jail " I ever passed.
The next day I raised the wind, paid my
fine, and in the evening re-opened my faro
bank with only seventy-five dollars on hand.
I made some small winnings, but, convinced
that it was useless to attempt longer to stem
the tide, I therefore "locked 'myself up,"
f. ., closed the saloon and disposed of it to the
best advantage for the benefit of my creditors.
The remnants of the establishment which had
originally cost thirty-five hundred dollars,
sold for only four hundred and twenty-five
dollars, and that amount I handed over to my
creditors.
Then I was afloat again. The vice of intem-
perance had kept growing upon me and I
was intoxicated most of the time. I opened a
"gentlemen's poker room," but scarcely any
one visited it, and I was generally too drunk to
attend to it; I was "going down hill " more
rapidly than ever, and every one was ready, as
usual, to give me a kick. I partially recovered
myself, however, and returned to my former
rooms at No. 60 Calhoun, where I carried on
my game with varying fortune, until my con-
version, a little more than a year after. Then
I bade farewell forever to the vice which had
kept me a slave for so many years, broke the
bonds which had held me so tightly, and found
peace and happiness in believing.
Converted Gambler. 105
CHAPTER VI.
FOLLOWING THE TROTTERS "SIGHTS AND SCENES ON
THE TURF MAKE-SHIFTS OF A BROKEN GAMBLER-
CANADA BILL'S CONFIDENCE OPERATIONS TRAVEL-
ING ON "CHEEK" A FOURTEEN MONTHS' DEBAUCH
ANOTHER HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE WITH DELIRIUM
TREMENS.
For eight years I made a practice of attend-
ing the horse-races throughout the country. I
"followed the trotters" from State to State,
partly for the sake of gambling on the races
and partly in order to participate in the large
games which were in full blast during these
meetings. I was thus engaged for the greater
pan of every season, and in the course of these
tours passed through many adventures, such
as are incident to the career of a gambler ;
some of them will perhaps be found of interest
to the reader.
My fortune in betting upon horses was al-
most invariably poor. I never was able to
"get into the ring," unless it was one intended
for my especial benefit, in order to rob me.
Once in a great while, however, I had a small
sized "atreak of luck" in this line. Among
KJO ja.ason L/ong:
the earliest meetings I attended was at Hunt-
tington, a number of years ago. Eight horses
were entered in one of the races, two of them
going in the pools as favorites and the others
selling as a " field." I did not know a horse
in the race, and concluded to buy the " field,"
which I did in a great many pools, on the
night before the race. When I arrived on the
grounds I discovered that all the horses had
been withdrawn, save three, and I loudly pro-
tested to the judges that they " couldn't make
a field out of one old gray horse." But of
course I was overruled, and the horses started.
I tried to sell my pools for five dollars, but in
vain, and held my tickets, as no one else would
have them. In the first heat, however, one of
the favorite horses was distanced for fear of a
record. In the second the other was taken
sick and drawn out, and this left the old gray
to trot the race alone. I won a handsome
amount, which I hastened to draw from the
pool box ; afterward the pools were declared
" off," and I was besieged for the money, which
I gently but firmly declined to pay over, to
tke disappointment of those who had bought
the " favorites." Some of them threatened to
" bend my nose for me ; " consulting the die-
Converted Gambler. 107
tates of prudence, I therefore hastened to
town.
That night I engaged in a game of poker with a
stranger a keen, wary, quiet individual, with a
deep, mysterious look in his small, piercing eyes
who raked in all of my winnings on the race.
I was cheating in the game but got beaten
every time. I could not understand this, until
I was informed that my adversary had a
machine in his coat sleeve by means of which
he played a "sure, thing" game. The sports
were anxious to examine it, and that evening
we got the stranger engaged in an interesting
game of billiards, at which he was an expert.
The boys made some bets, and the stranger,
getting warmed up, drew off his coat in order
to play better ; while he was engrossed in the
game, the boys purloined his coat, and took the
machine out of the sleeve. When our new
acquaintance discovered the trick which had
been played upon him, he cried bitterly, saying
he had studied three years to invent the con-
trivance, by means of which he had victimized
me so cleverly, but it had never worked suc-
cessfully until that day. It was what we called
a "sleeve hold-out," and that was the first time
it was ever played on the Wabash, although it
108 Mason Long:
afterward became very common. With my
customary bad luck I was its first dupe.
Frequently while attending the races, in In*
% diana towns, I dealt faro, which is a popular
game with those who delight in the turf. Once
while visiting a fair at Goshen, I opened a bank
in the basement of the Violett Hous, having a
cash capital of only three dollars. I took my
chances of winning, and risky ones they were.
No man who has never been " behind the box "
can realize the feelings of one who opens a
game with little or no capital and expects to be
"broke" at every turn. On the evening in
question I sold one hundred dollars worth of
checks before pulling a card, and started out
with losses of two hundred and fifty dollars ;
at any moment the players were liable to pre-
sent their checks, which I could not have
redeemed, and if by this means they had dis-
covered that they had been playing against
nothing their wrath would have been terrible.
I realized my situation, but continued deal-
ing with plenty of nerve, just as if I had
thousands of dollars behind my game. Finally
the game took a turn, and in about an hour I
was winner to the amount of three hundred
and ninety dollars. Then I was very anxious
Converted Gambler. 109
to cease playing while I could redeem the
checks and not expose myself, not knowing
at what moment the run of luck would
once more go against me. But it was early
I could invent no excuse to offer so I
kept on dealing until an incident occurred
which put a summary stop to the proceedings,
and released me from' a very embarrassing
position. A drunken man, passing along in
front of the hotel, stumbled and fell through
the window into the basement where we were
playing, carrying sash and all with him in his
sudden descent. Of course it produced a great
confusion, and the cry of " Police ! " being
raised, the boys rushed from the table, remov-
ing a large scantling which had been placed
against the door as a barrier, and making their
escape in double quick time. I picked up
money and kit and went to the office of the
hotel, where I redeemed all my checks, and
retired, about four hundred dollars ahead.
Among those who played against me that
night were a noted Chicago sport known as
" Little Casino," and a notorious Toledo char-
acter, Joe Bean, who had just won a prize
fight at Cheyenne, and who I believe, would
have murdered me if he had known that he
110 Mason Long:
had played in all his pugilistic winnings
against' my three dollars. Dealing without
capital, as I did that night, is grossly unpro-
fessional, and no genuine sport would ever do
it. I was " green " at the time, and had not
learned my trade, or I would never have taken
such a risk.
With these winnings in my pocket, I fol-
lowed a trail to a room in the upper story of
the hotel, where I was " braced " out of two
hundred and fifty dollars. A " brace " game
is, I may explain, one in which a man has no
chance to win a bet unless the dealer breaks his
finger, and that he never does.
For several years I never failed to attend
all the trotting meetings on the Indiana and
Michigan circuits. Many times I visited the
races at Jackson, where I alternately lost and
won large sums at faro, but invariably came out
behind on the horses.
One day in 1872, when I was on the Jackson
fair grounds, suffering from the effects of
whisky and heat, I sustained a sunstroke,
which laid me senseless on the ground. I
was carried from the Park to the Union Hotel,
where I remained unconscious for several days.
I was then removed to Fort Wayne, and it was
Converted Gambler. Ill
some time before I recovered from the attack,
which came very near cutting me off in the
midst of my wicked career.
The most memorable tour of the races I ever
made was in 1876. This I shall always recol-
lect as my " Centennial tour," and, as it was
indeed full of incidents and adventures, and
abounded in the ups and downs which charac-
terize a gambler's life, I shall relate it some-
what in detail, as a fair specimen of my general
experience in " following the trotters."
I began my Summer trip at Peru, Indiana,
where I opened a faro bank with a " roll " of
eight hundred dollars, which disappeared in
forty-eight hours. Meeting a Fort Wayne
acquaintance I borrowed twenty dollars, with
which I visited a faro bank, played one deal,
and drew out one hundred and twenty-five
dollars. Hitherto I had usually bought the
favorite in the pools, but had resolved to
change my tactics this season, and buy the
fields on all races, believing that was a sure
way to win. I went to the Peru fair grounds
and invested my one hundred and twenty-five
dollars in field pools on a trotting race, against
Monarch, Jr., getting odds of five to one. I
was cautioned by friends not to fcn? fco reckless,
112 Mason Long:
as they said Monarch, Jr., was sure to win.
But I adhered to my programme, and the
favorite was almost distanced in the first heat.
The field won, and after the race I drew six
hundred and twenty -five dollars from the pool-
box, less the auctioneer's percentage. A friend
of mine, a lumber dealer, who had lost four
hundred dollars on Monarch, Jr., reproached
me for not letting him into my " sure thing,"
and scarcely believed me when I told him I
had bought blindly. This was the first race
that I had beaten in three years, and the sur-
prise was a great one.
I returned to Fort Wayne, where I remained
over Sunday, and putting my room in charge of
a couple of sports, told them I was off for a
several months' tour. I then went to Jackson,
where I lost every dollar I had, on faro the first
morning before breakfast. I laid idle at Jack-
son the remainder of the week, and when I left,
my valise, well filled with clothing, remained
at the hotel as security for the board bill. I
worked my way to Saginaw as groom on the
horse train, walked over to East Saginaw in the
rain, and proceeded to the hotel. In the mean-
time I had borrowed one dollar, and purchased
a ninety-nine cent pasteboard valise, upon the
Converted Gambler. 113
strength of which I expected to secure admis-
sion to the hotel. In this, however, I was sadly
disappointed ; as I entered the hotel, and ap-
proached the desk, the landlord cast a glance
at rne, let his eyes rest for a second upon my
baggage, threw up his hands, and ejaculated :
" We're all full." This cool reception was a
decided surprise to me, but when I gazed upon
my pasteboard satchel, it was easily explained ;
it had been melted down by the rain, and the
sole contents one pair of badly soiled hose
were plainly exposed to view. The situation
was an awkward one, and without a word I
hurried away, leaving my valise behind, amidst
roars of laughter from the crowd who rilled the
office.
I succeeded in obtaining quarters at another
hotel, raised a small stake, and in a short time
had won five hundred and fifty dollars at
faro. From Saginaw I went to Detroit, thence
to Toledo, and next to Cleveland, where I wit-
nessed the great race between Goldsmith Maid
and Smuggler, which was won by the latter.
It is said Budd Doble lost five thousand dollars
on that match; it is, therefore, not strange
that Mrs. Doble fainted in the private box of
H 5*
114 Mason Long:
the amphitheatre, when Smuggler passed under
the wire leading the brave little mare.
The next place I visited was Buffalo. Since
leaving home I had made several winnings, but
upon departing from Buffalo my cash capital
had diminished to six dollars. In company
with an old friend. Joe Hull, of Toledo, I went
to Niagara Falls to spend the Sabbath. We
registered at the Cataract House, and proceed-
ed to visit Goat Island and the other points of
interest. This exhausted our funds and we
returned to the hotel in a penniless condition.
I had obtained my valise from Jackson, and by
means of a clever stratagem we got it out of
the Cataract House, and boarded the train for
Rochester. Hull obtained passage by means
of his remarkable cheek, while I was carried on
the strength of a letter ** To all Passenger Con-
ductors," indorsing me as an old railroad man.
This letter was written for me by a notorious
safe -blower, and by its aid I traveled hundreds
of miles on Eastern railroads. I never learned
the price of board per day at the Cataract
House.
Arriving at Rochester, I borrowed five dol-
lars, which was promptly invested in cocktails.
While in that city I was "staked," and made
Converted Gambler. 11$
a winning of three hundred and twenty-five
dollars on faro. I went on a terrible spree
during which time my money was taken from
me for safe keeping and left for Utica, but
was so " tired '' that I could not be awakened at
that point, and was therefore carried through to
Albany. Arriving at the latter place I found
myself in my stocking-feet, without funds, my
valise gone, and one shoe in one car and one in
another, with an empty whisky bottle in each.
With much difficulty I gathered myself together,
left the train, and entered the eating house,
where I got into conversation with a pleasant
old gentleman, who talked to me kindly, and
gave me some seasonable warnings against gam-
blers and three-card-monte men. I wondered
how they could take any advantage of me in
my impecunious condition, and hastily ate my
breakfast, and in passing from the hall was ac-
costed by a clerk, who demanded a dollar for
the meal ; pointing to the old gentleman, I said,
" Father will settle that," and hurried away.
I have often wondered how " dad " got out.
I went back to Utica, and remained there
several days ; soon after my arrival I got drunk,
and my prolonged dissipation and exposure led
116 Mason Long:
to an attack of illness, which, though brief, was-
very severe.
During my stay in Utica I was so " ligh',,"
financially, that I was unable most of the time
to attend the races.
The city was crowded with people, and there
was much gambling and robbing going on. The
confidence men and monte players were in
clover, and counted their gains by the thou-
sands. Among them was the most notorious
and successful thief who ever operated in this
country, " Canada Bill," whose name is familiar
to every newspaper reader. He had rented
for the week, at an exorbitant figure, a saloon
on one of the principal streets of the city. Here
he made his headquarters, and he had scores
of "ropers " and " decoy ducks " on the streets,
in the saloons, at the track, and, in fact, every
where capturing " suckers." To these " cap-
pers" he paid fifty per cent, of the amount
realized from the " bloaks " they brought in.
At the rear of the saloon there was a little
room, carefully guarded, in which the robberies
were committed. Only one party was allowed
in this place at one time, so that the game
might not be exposed to prospective dupes.
On the afternoon of the great races at Utica,
Converted Gambler. 117
a well-known Fort Wayne sport, whom I will
call " Dan," and myself, found ourselves with-
out sufficient means to attend. Our cash was
limited to a small supply of "shinnies," and
we concluded to pass away the time in playing
dominoes for the beer. While thus engaged,
an elderly, well dressed, intelligent looking
gentleman entered the saloon and called for a
glass of beer. He watched us play for a
moment, and asked us to join him in his
refreshments, which, it is needless to say, we
promptly did. We drank two or three times
together, and, getting into conversation, we
learned that the stranger was a leading attor-
ney from Albany, who was in Utica trying an
important canal case. The old gentleman,
being somewhat overcome with the heat, step-
ped into a barber-shop near by and asked per-
mission to sit in one of the chairs and cool
himself off until the arrival of a customer.
He sat down and soon fell asleep. I suggested
to "Dan " that if we took him to Canada Bill's
place, he might drop some money, and we would
thus make a raise, " Dan " scouted the idea,
saying he was too smart a man to be caught on
three-card monte. But I thought not, and we
determined at all events to make the effort.
118 Mason Long:
How to get the old gentleman out of the bar-
ber's chair was the first problem that presented
itself. Just then I saw a poor demoralized
looking tramp wandering aimlessly about, and
as he evidently needed a dose of the razor, I
handed him money enough to get shaved,
instructing him to go into the barber-shop and
demand the chair occupied by our Albany
friend. He did so, and the lawyer stepped out
of the shop. Meeting us, he suggested another
glass of beer, whereupon I remarked that the
best beer I had found in Utica was at a saloon
in the next block, and asked if we should not
go there. All were agreed, and we proceeded
to " Canada Bill's." While en route there the
attorney spoke of the large number of confi-
dence men in the city, and the rich harvest
they were reaping. "Dan" and myself ex-
changed significant glances. This rather dis-
couraged us, but we continue^, on our way.
Arrived at Bill's establishment, we stepped
into the back room, and I motioned for " Dutch
Charley," of Chicago, the principal "capper,"
to come in and work the case, as I didn't
understand it. We sat down at the table and
were enjoying a glass of beer, when a rustic
looking creature entered the room, munching a
THE DEMORALIZED TRAMP.
Converted Gambler. 121
huge piece of pie, which he ate with palpable
relish. He was a large man, dressed in coarse
clothes, with a sunburnt countenance, a nose
highly illuminated by the joint action of
whisky and heat, and an expression of inde-
scribable greenness and " freshness " about him.
He at first seemed to notice no one, but sat
down quietly at our table, and devoted himself
strictly to his pie, until it had disappeared into
his capacious stomach.
This strange looking creature naturally at-
tracted our attention. The Albany man was
particularly startled by the apparition, and after
a careful survey of the new comer, ejaculated,
** My God, see what we're coming to."
"Yes," responded I, "and we haven't got
far to go unless we stop drinking."
The subject of our remarks, who seemed to
be in blissful ignorance of the fact that we were
discussing him, at this juncture, looked at us
and said : " Gentlemen, wont ye'z huv a drink
of suthin' with me?" We all declined the in-
vitation, but continued to study the appearance
and actions of the supposed " Hoosier," with
much interest and amusement. He took no
offense at our refusal, but quietly produced
from the recesses of his great-coat pocket, a
6
122 Mason Long:
large roll of money, with a five hundred dollar
bill for a wrapper. He noticed that we were
watching him closely, and said :
"I done better with this 'ere druv of cattle
than I done on t'other trip. This time I cleared
five thousand dollars from my druv, but last
time afore this them New York chaps skinned
me, confound 'em." After a pause he contin-
ued : " But I had a little streak o' bad luck
comin' down on the train from New York this
mornin.' I met some strangers, and we had a
little game with tickets like, and they bet me I
couldn't turn the ticket, and won thirty-five
dollars from me, durn their buttons."
" Why, man, you've been playing three-card
monte," said our legal friend. " Don't you know
better than that ? "
" Thar, thar, that's what they called it ; three-
card monte, that's it. Wai, if they did get my
thirty-five dollars, I took their tickets away
from 'em, plague on 'em. I am goin' to larn
that 'ere game myself, so I kin git my thirty-
five dollars back."
With this remark, Canada Bill (for it was
he) produced the cards, or tickets, as he called
them, and began throwing them on the table in
a very awkward manner. His clumsiness
Converted Gambler. 1SS
amused the party, and finally he said, "Wai, I
want to get even, and I'll bet any man ten dol-
lars he can't turn that 'ere ticket."
" Dutch Charley " was on hand, and prompt-
ly took the bet. After winning he said, " I'll
bet you twenty, now."
" O, you're too lucky," said Bill, " I won't
throw 'em agin for you no how ; but I'll try
you for twenty dollars," continued he, turning
to me, " and see how your luck is."
Charley slipped me a twenty dollar bill, and
I won the bet. I offered to bet again, but Bill
said:
" Thar, thar, I lost again. Wai, did you
ever see sich luck. I'm out now nearly one
hundred dollars on these durned tickets. I
won't bet yer twenty dollars, but I'll just put
up five hundered dollars agin any ov ye'z."
With this he turned the cards to win, the
old gent from Albany meanwhile watching
every movement closely, and evidently wholly
engrossed in Bill's words and actions.
" I have only eight dollars, or I'd bet you,"
remarked he.
" Wai," said BUI, " I'll go yer two hundred
dollars agin yer watch and chain."
124: Mason Long:
" How do you know my watch and chain are
worth two hundred dollars ?"
"Wai, I didn't allow that a man o* yer
standing wud war one that cost much less ; of '
course I'd have to luk at it afore I'd bet that
much agin it." ..
"It didn't cost me that much, ' said the gen-
tleman, as Bill examined it.
" I coulda't go yez no more'n one hundred
and ninety dollars, stranger, on that 'ere watch
and chain."
The cards in the mean time had been lying
on the table, and the attorney's eyes had never
been removed from them. The bet was taken.
Bill put his one hundred and ninety dollars in
my hands, and the lawyer covered it with the
watch, retaining the chain about his neck. In
his excitement and haste to make the winning,
which he considered a certainty, he reached to
turn the card, when Bill covered the " ticket"
with his hands, remarking : " Stranger, yer
stake isn't all up yet."
Thereupon the gentleman removed the chain
from his neck, handed it to me and then turned
a card. Of course he lost, and as quick as a
flash of lightning, a complete understanding of
the situation dawned upon his mind. He leaned
Converted Gambler. 125
back in his chair, rubbed his eyes, took a care-
ful survey of the gang by which he was sur-
rounded, and propounded the following co-
nundrum :
" Is it possible that I've been beat at three-
card monte at last ! "
" Yes, you've got beat," quickly answered
the shark as I handed him the watch.
" Well boys," said the victim, who cared lit-
tle for the pecuniary loss, but seemed humili-
ated at the fact that he had swallowed the bait,
" I don't want to part with that watch and
chain, because it was a present to me ; how
much will you take for it ? "
" I've taken more than half a bushel of
watches this week, and I don't know what to
do with them, so I'll return this to you for one
hundred dollars," said Bill, as quietly as if he
were discussing the most legitimate business
transaction.
" I don't think my fun has been worth over
fifty dollars to me," responded the attorney,
'* but I will give you that amount."
" Well, I'll take it, as I didn't have a great
deal of trouble with you."
A check was produced, the attorney filled it
out for fifty dollars, signed it, and recovered hii
126 Mason Long:
watch and chain. Bill sent a messenger with
him to a business house to get the money. Ar-
riving at the door of the establishment, the gen-
tleman said he was well known there and de-
sired to enter alone to avoid any suspicion. He
asked his companion for the check, saying he
would go in, get it cashed, and bring out the
money. The fellow handed the check over, the
lawyer hastily tore it into fragments and dis-
missed the young man with a kind message to
his master. Upon reporting the facts he found
himself out of a situation. " Bill," after all,
lost his swag, and "Dan" and I failed to get our
percentage. This was my first and last experi-
ence as *' capper " for a confidence man. Can-
ada Bill made many thousands of dollars that
year during the races. He was a most expert
operator and among his victims were many per-
sons of intelligence and experience. The only
way to avoid such sharks is not to bet on any-
thing, and I have described this game in detail,
for the purpose of exposing the modus operandi
of the sharpers who go about in search of
victims, thus placing my readers upon their
guard. "Bill" squandered his money very
lavishly and drank himself to death in about a
Converted Gambler. 129
year after the incident I have related. He died
a pauper.
From Utica I went to Saratoga where I re-
mained about ten days, during which I witnessed
the great steeple-chase race which caused so
much excitement and upon which half a million
dollars is said to have changed hands. Vast
sums were invested upon Osage. This horse was
in the lead and had cleared nine of the twelve
hurdles, when he fell and broke his neck, killing
his rider at the same time. It was generally
believed that the accident was caused by an
attempt to pull him. After this my financial con-
dition was such that I was compelled to walk to
town. Repairing to the Grand Union Hotel
where I had been sojourning, I explained my
position to the "clerk.
" I bet on Osage," said I.
"So did I," said the clerk.
" But I'm busted and a thousand miles from
home," said I.
" Well, among twenty-five hundred guests
we can afford to have one gentleman," said he
as he marked my bill paid.
" When do you leave," continued he.
*' When do you want me to leave ?" asked I.
" Just as soon as you conveniently can," was
I
130 Mason Long:
the polite answer, and I was one of the passen-
gers on the next train for the West.
I traveled on the railroad lettjer before re-.
ferred to. Only once did I have any difficulty
with a conductor; that was between Syracuse
and Buffalo. He looked at my letter and said,
"all right, get off," when I rose to go, sorrow-
fully remarking :
" Is it possible that I have been a slave to
railroad corporations all my life only to be
treated in this way at last ! "
This touched the conductor's heart and he
carried me to Buffalo, where I arrived with
eighty cents on hand.
I had then been absent from home fourteen
weeks, which had been passed in the most
reckless dissipation. I had abused myself in
every way, had deprived myself of food and
sleep, and lived on whisky for days at a time.
I now began to feel the inevitable effects of
this course, and at Cleveland I found myself
suffering from delirium, the horrors of which
no pen can adequately portray. I imagined
myself pursued by a vast drove of cattle, which
swarmed about me, and followed me wherever
I went ; they were continually on my trail, and
by no efforts of the will could I avoid the dread
Converted Gambler. 131
apparition. I crossed the street, only to find
them there before me ; I turned a corner only
to see them coming toward me. I treaded on
my tip-toes, trying to steal away from them,
but it was useless ; I fully realized my terrible
condition, and, fearing that I was about to die,
I took the train for home. When I entered the
cars, the herd of steers went in the door with
me ; when I looked out the window there they
were, keeping pace with the train, and increased
an hundred fold ; waking or sleeping, they were
ever before me. When I reached Fort Wayne,
I thought to avoid them by hurriedly leaving
the train, and going stealthily and quietly to
my room, but I had taken only a few steps,
when the entire herd, that had followed me
from Cleveland, seemed to have concentrated
into one huge ox, with piercing eyes and swell-
ing nostrils, and a great horn in front. This
prodigious animal, which stood ever in my
path, seemed coming toward me, and I stepped
into the gutter to avoid him. There he was,
also, and, in my despair, I reached forth to
seize him by the horn, but he eluded my grasp.
I passed several nights, which were filled with
the most fearful horrors, at my room. So
ungovernable was I in my terrible suffering,
132 Mason Long:
that I could induce no one to sleep with me
through an entire night. Those dreadful cat-
tle were still with me ; waking or sleeping, they
were ever before my eyes. In the vain hope
of relief, I left the city, and went to Waterloo,
where I remained several days and nights,
undergoing the most severe physical and men-
tal torment. In my room was a nail head pro-
truding from the wall, which, when I reclined
upbn the bed, appeared, to my distorted vision,
in all kinds of grotesque and horrid shapes. It
assumed the outlines of a wild animal, seeming
.about to plunge at me and tear me to pieces,
then it resumed its natural form, and seemed to
swell to the size of half a bushel ; and, anon, it
took some other strange and forbidding aspect.
I left my bed, perhaps, a score of times that
night to feel of this nail head, in the endeavor
to convince myself that it was not what it
seemed to be ; but it was useless.
Very slowly I recovered from the effects of
my terrible debauch, and from my severe and
prolonged attack of delirium tremens,, which
had well-nigh proved fatal. Strange to say,
the fearful warning I received had but little
effect upon me. For a time, I was compara-
tively temperate, but before long I was again
Converted Gambler. 135
indulging the degraded appetite, which had so
long held me in its power.
In 1877, 1 visited the races at Grand Rapids,
Jackson, Detroit, Cleveland, and other points.
I reached Detroit in company with a seedy
looking gang of sports, and we all registered
at the Gaffnet House ; I was then in funds, and
paid five dollars, in advance, for board. The
most of my companions, however, were penni-
less, and the landlord, whose name the hotel
bore, took one look at them, went up stairs, and
died. It was said that he died of apoplexy,
but I always imagined that the shabby appear-
ance of his new guests was the main cause of
his sudden taking off.
The races proved a failure on account of the
restrictions placed upon gambling, and the
sports failed to make a raise. Upon the day of
Mr. Gaffnet's funeral they followed his remains
out of the hotel, valises in hand, being the prin-
cipal mourners, and taking the first boat, hastily
crossed into Canada. I also went into Her
Majesty's dominions, and passed a few days
with a congenial party, at a small place called
Brandenburg, where we indulged freely in
white wheat whisky. I then proceeded to
.Cleveland, and feeling the premonitory symp-
136 Mason Long:
toms of delirium, I sobered up, and swore a
solemn oath to drink no more. But, notwith-
standing this vow, in less than twenty-four
hours after my arrival in Cleveland, I was
beastly drunk. I made a winning of one hun-
dred and twenty-five dollars, and remained
there two weeks, waiting for he races, during
which time I drank freely. When I arrived
home, in August, 1877, 1 was exhausted, penni-
less, discouraged, and again on the verge of
delirium tremens. That was my last experience
in "following the trotters."
Converted Gambler. 137
CHAPTER VII.
THE VARIOUS PHASES OF GAMBLING-GOOD AND BAD QUAL-
ITIES OF THE GENUINE SPORTING MAN-PREVALENCE
OF THE VICE AMONG BUSINESS MEIt-THE MISERY AND
RUIN IT CAUSES A FEW WORDS TO THE SPORTING
FRATERNITY.
My fifteen years experience as a gambler
gave me, I think, a pretty thorough knowledge
of sporting men, and a clear insight into their
characters, habits, and modes of life. The
world at large really knows very little about
the men who gain a livelihood by " bucking the
tiger," and a few words concerning them will
not, I fancy, prove either uninteresting or
superfluous.
Gambling is, I have somewhere said, A trade
which can only be mastered by careful study,
long practice, and keen observation. In this,
as in everything else, experience is the best,
if at the same time the' dearest, teacher. The
young gambler finds no one to instruct him in
the mysteries of the calling which he has
chosen. He learns his lessons one by one, as I
learned mine, at the cost of many severe losses ;
6*
138 Mason Long:
and however long he may follow the seductive
but evil pursuit which he has embraced, he
will never be able to truthfully say that he
understands it thorough!} 7 .
Let me present, for the entertainment of the
reader, a picture of the typical gambler. He
finds, upon entering the fraternity, that it has
its own code of morals, to which he must
adhere rigorously, if he would enjoy the respect
and confidence of the members. Sporting men
are, in a certain sense, detached from the out-
side world. They follow A vocation which the
public very properly holds to be immoral, and
which the laws of all civilized States forbid,
but which, by its professors, is believed to be
entirely legitimate and honorable. They demand
of each other a strict adherence to a certain
standard, which, however false and pernicious
it may be, is by them regarded as an infallible
test of manhood and decency. A gambler, to
be successful, and well regarded by his asso-
ciates, must be possessed of iron nerve ; must
accept the successes and reverses of fortune
with equal imperturbability ; must be generous
and extravagant to an excessive degree ; and
must above all, keep his word beyond suspicion.
These requirements are imperative, and the
Converted Gambler. 139
so-called gambler who fails to comply with
them is without standing or influence among
his fellows. A miser, a liar, and a man without
nerve and grit, who " kicks " at every reverse
of fortune, is but poorly regarded among sport-
ing men, and is treated by them with the
utmost coldness and indifference.
There are perhaps other essentials in the
character of a successful and popular gambler,
but the ones I have named are the most impor-
tant. This will be the testimony of every man
who knows anything whatever of the subject.
The gambler who has no nerve is a pro-
nounced failure from the beginning. He will
never accomplish anything, and might as well
recognize it from the start. The experienced
sporting man will sit down at the table and win
or lose thousands of dollars without changing
expression or uttering a single exclamation.
The very heaviest games those in which
large fortunes are risked upon the turn of a
card, and in which men are enriched or beggared
in a single evening are conducted with the
utmost decorum and amidst the most profound
silence. A man enters the room, seats himself
at a table, and mayhap places all his worldly
wealth upon a card. The turn is made ; he
140 Mason Long:
loses, and withdraws from the game as quietly,
and apparently as unconcerned, as if he had
been but a disinterested spectator.
Again, he lays down an insignificant sum,
and rises in a short time the possessor of thou-
sands ; his demeanor is as impassive, his
countenance as imperturbable, as before. The
gambler, however deeply he may feel his loss,
or however much elated he may be with his
winning, must not in any way give vent to his
emotions in a gaming room, or he will speedily
lose caste and be pronounced a " dogan."
This so-called nerve leads to a certain reck-
lessness or foolhardiness, which always charac-
terizes a genuine sporting man. I have already
illustrated this quality by several marked
instances, among them that of the men who
played with such coolness and passiveness
while on the skirmish line, with bullets whist-
ling past their ears, and occasionally killing or
wounding a comrade ; and also that of the
indomitable players who, with an adjoining
building in flames, and terrific explosions
taking place in their immediate vicinity, sat at
the faro table with as much calmness as they
would ( eat their dinner. Of course such
instances are, in a large degree, to be attributed
Converted Gambler. . 141
to the terrible fascination which gaming has
for its votaries, of the strength of which no one
who has not fallen within its power can form
the most feeble conception ; but it is also par-
ticularly to be ascribed to the quality of nerve
which is so characteristic of a genuine sport,
and which his avocation naturally inspires.
The recklessness which makes a gambler
"lose his pile " without whimpering, or coolly
" buck the tiger " in a burning building, also
makes him improvident, careless of the future,
and lavishly extravagant with his money, when
he has any. There is no class of men in the
world who spend money so freely and so fool-
ishly as sporting men. They stop at the most
expensive hotels ; travel in the most princely
style ; wear the finest clothing and most valua-
ble jewelry; drive the fastest horses; smoke
the most costly cigars, and drink the rarest of
wines. There is no luxury which a gambler
will not enjoy, if he has, or can get, the money
to pay for it. He will spend his last dollar for
a superfluous article as freely and thoughtlessly
as if he had a million of them in bank ; and
his motto see.ms to be, "Eat, drink, and be
merry, for to-morrow ye die."
The gambler becomes a spendthrift, not only
142 Mason Long:
from inclination, but also because of the habits
of those with whom he associates, and because
they demand that he should be. It matters*
not how saving or frugal he may naturally be, he
must squander his money recklessly, or his rep-
utation will fall below par. Therefore, in
order to get the name, he will spend his money
in a silly way and in the most ostentatious man-
ner, however hard it may be for him to do.
In order to maintain his reputation, the av-
erage sport will do many extremely silly things.
I remember pawning my overcoat in the dead of
winter for less than one-third of its value, and
out of the proceeds paying one dollar and fifty
cents for a dinner, and topping off with a
twenty-five cent cigar. The sport thinks noth-
ing of spending several dollars over a bar
" treating " a crowd, in order to "keep up his
'rep.' "when he has to step out shortly afterward
and borrow a few cents with which to buy a
beefsteak for his family that is, if they get
any, which is very doubtful.
In cities where there is much gambling and
many sports, retail trade is always brisk, in
many departments. The gamesters scatter
their money lavishly about, and their patron-
age puts thousands of dollars into the pockets
Converted Gambler. 143
of tradesmen. Among the institutions which
invariably flourish where gamblers abound, are
saloons and pawnbroker shops. Of course they
are liberal patrons of the former, and a very
large proportion of their winnings finds its way
over the bar. Of the pawnbroker's shops, they
are regular customers, and in them they are
fleeced most unmercifully. They rarely obtain
one-third the value of the article which they
pledge. In a majority of instances, they are
unable to redeem them at the specified time,
and thus for a small sum, they lose a watch or a
diamond which cost them a handsome amount.
Even if they make redemption, they have to
pay from one hundred to one hundred and
twenty per cent, interest, and in either case
they are thoroughly " done for."
A large majority of sporting men, although
apparently callous and hardened, are, in truth,
kind hearted and charitable to a remarkable
degree. They rarely refuse to extend relief in
a case of distress, if they have any means, and
I have seen many sports give up their last dol-
lar to help some poor unfortunate person out
of difficulty. They are also liberal donors to
benevolent and charitable institutions. I my-
self, when in the midst of ILV depraved career,
144 Mason Long:
have given goodly sums to churches which 1
never expected to enter, and a great .many of
my associates did likewise. I do not ascribe
these acts altogether to goodness of heart.
They are performed from a variety of motives.
The gambler being careless of money, is apt to
give it away as freely as. he would expend it
for some superfluous article. He frequently
contributes to benevolent objects in order to
gain friends and acquaintances among busi-
ness men, some of whom he hopes may visit
his establishment. These investments, may,
he hopes, tend to remove the prejudice existing
against him and his calling, and save him from
prosecution. Sometimes I think these acts are
performed as a kind of conscience offering, and
that the sporting man believes such deeds may
atone in some way for his wicked life.
There is a certain code of honor so-called
which prevails among the gambling fraternity,
and to which every member must adhere,
under penalty of losing his popularity and
standing. This code is based upon a false
standard, and I couldn't recommend it to so-
ciety or the world at large, but such as it is, it
is strictly observed by every man who is recog-
nized as a genuine sport. It requires the most
[Converted GamMer. U5
rigid adherence to one's word in every instance.
All a gambler has to rely* upon is his word, and
when he becomes known as a liar or a betrayer
of confidence, he is regarded, not as a gambler,
but as a common thief. Wherever he may go,
he will find that his reputation has preceded
him. He is a " marked man " and will obtain
no recognition or confidence at the hands of
professionals. I can truthfully say, after all
my experience among this class of people, that
I would as readily take the word of a regular
sporting man on a business transaction as that
of any person in the community. I know men
in this business who stand so well that they
receive a salary of twenty to forty dollars per
day, and are trusted with the possession of
many thousand of dollars.
The gambler looks upon his occupation as
perfectly legitimate, and believes it is con-
ducted as honorably as are most branches of
business which the law recognizes. There is
some truth in this theory. I believe there is as
much gambling done in our boards of trade and
produce exchanges as at faro banks and poker
rooms, and I fail to see the distinction between
.betting on the price of corn or on the turn of a
card. That one is wrong, does not, however,
7 K
Hfl Mason Long:
excuse the other. I believe that neither is
right, and that Christian people should con-
demn them both.
Gamblers regard it as perfectly legitimate to
take advantage of each other at play in any pos-
sible way, unless it involves a betrayal of confi-
dence. This is held to be a part of the trade,
and the sports believe that no man has any
business to play unless he has mastered his
trade. This is the work of a lifetime, and the
veterans in the craft not infrequently find
themselves beaten by schemes and devices
which are intended for amateurs. This being
the case, it can readily be seen that the busi-
ness man, or the occasional player, has a poor
chance to win in the majority of games. If I
were to advise this class of men to play at all,
I would say: Enter some game with the most
thorough and skillful gamblers men who know
enough to protect themselves and the chances
are that the game will be on the square, and
that you will stand an even chance of winning
if you use the necessary amount of judgment.
There are plenty of such games played, but the
difficulty for amateurs is to know where they
are to be found.
I have, I think, done full justice to the char-
Converted Gambler. 147
acter of the true sporting man. I have given
due weight to the good qualities by which he
is usually characterized, and which are not
properly appreciated by the world at large.
The reason for this is, that there are many men-
who claim to be sports when they have no right
to the appellation.
The public classes gamblers in the same cate-
gory as thieves and murderers, .principally
because so many of the riff-raff and scum of
humanity advertise themselves as sporting men.
They do this mainly in order to shield them-
selves from the penalties of the law, which
would otherwise be visited upon them ; and by
their actions they compel gamblers to bear a
greater weight of odium than is their due.
These fellows, in many instances, have started
out as gamblers, but by reason of their dishon-
esty, falsehood, and betrayals of confidence,
have been dropped from the ranks and become
ordinary thieves and loafers. They hang
around gambling rooms as much as possible,
and are always ready to do anything low or
mean. They rarely have money enough to sit
in a gambler's game, and when they do are
easily beaten. They give their word when they
know they can not keep it good ; they " rope in"
148 Mason Long:
business men and strangers, and for a small
sum profess to give them " points," which fre-
quently makes them suspicious, and drives
them from the room. They finally become
"crabbers," that is, men who steal a stake
from the table when the owner's back is turned,
and who would not hesitate to pick a pocket,
or commit any crime whatever. These fellows
claim to be gamblers, and are so classed by the
press and the public, and the genuine sports
are held responsible for their shortcomings.
Truth compels me to say that there are a hun-
dred of this class of men in the country where
there are ten true sports ; that the proportion
is increasing every year, and that the business
of gambling is becoming more and more de-
graded, and rapidly being shorn of its few
redeeming features. These thieves are ruining
the sport at horse races, as well as at the
gaming rooms, ind through their conduct the
sporting profession is becoming more disrepu-
table than ever.
Probably few of my readers have any idea
how many business men are addicted to gam-
bling. The heads of large mercantile houses,
the jobber, the merchant, the importer, and the
banker, as well as the small tradesman, and the
Converted Gambler. 149
employe, are frequently to be found sitting
around the gaming table. Gamblers use their
utmost efforts to secure visits from this class of
men ; for sports realize that they can not earn
a living from each other, but that they must draw
from producers, and those who amass money
by legitimate means. It is scarcely necessary
to say that, with hardly an exception, the busi-
ness man gets the worst of it, in "bucking the
tiger." I can truthfully say that in all my
experience, I never have known one of this
class who was not worse off, by reason of play-
ing, while I have known scores or" them to be
ruined financially, morally, and physically, by an
indulgence of their gambling propensities. It
is obvious that such should be the case. When
men who devote their whole time and atten-
tion to sporting can not master its details, how
can the man do so who plays in his leisure
hours for amusement? It is singular to me
that men of fine business capacity, sound judg-
ment, good common sense, high social stand-
ing, and frequently, I regret to say, of religious
professions, will allow themselves to be so
deeply fascinated by the allurements of the
card table, that they will sacrifice time, money,
150 Mason Long:
health, position, character, everything, to its
never-ceasing demands.
I can look back to the year 1865, and recall
many men who were then in prosperous circum-
stances, doing a lucrative business, occupying
a fine social position, who have since gone to
their ruin by reason of gambling. Many once
happy and comfortable families have been
reduced to want and beggary, because he who
should have made provision for them, has sac-
rificed their future welfare, as well as his own
position and prospects, to his insane and sense-
less passion for the card table.
The business man who seeks the gaming
room for recreation, often falls into the hands
of the class of thieves to whom I have referred,
and who undertake to post him for a " consid-
eration." After a course of instruction the
amateur imagines that he knows all the mys-
teries of fare and poker ; but a few heavy los-
ings convince him to the contrary. He
attempts to recover what he has sacrificed, and
in so doing he loses what he has left. He is
speedily reduced from affluence to poverty, and
from poverty to absolute want and beggary. In
the meantime, he has neglected his business,
lost his trade, allowed his notes to be protested,
Converted Gambler. 151
his creditors have closed him up, his name
figures in the bankruptcy lists, and his friends
ascribe his failure to " hard times " and " scar-
city of money." Reduced to this point, he
hovers around the place which has proved his
ruin, and vainly endeavors to retrieve his for-
tune, where he has wasted it. His late hours,
evil associates, and reverses, lead him to drink-
ing. He descends the ladder, step by step,
loses the friends of former years, becomes an
outcast, and a vagrant, and finally dies a
drunkard, and fills a pauper's grave.
This is no fancy sketch ; I have known many
such cases as the above, and they are more
numerous than the public imagines. I believe
more business failures result from gambling,
than from any other one cause, and I hold that
the business man who plays, expecting to win
in the long run, is an idiot who should be sent
to an asylum. The experiences of those who
have trod this path, and observation of the sad
examples all about him, arising from play, not
to speak of the dictates of good common sense,
should teach him that gambling can result in
nothing but loss and disappointment and ulti-
mately, if persisted in, complete and irretriev-
able ruin.
152 Mason Long:
But if it is folly for a business or professional
man to gamble, it is equally so for any person
to adopt sporting as a means of gaining a liveli-
hood. The life of a gambler is a hard one. I
know it has a kind of fascination for thought-
less and reckless young men who desire to live
without work, to enjoy a career of " pleasure,"
and to see the world," but they will find in
due time that there is no genuine pleasure con-
nected with a sporting life.
The gambler is really a hard worker. He
lives in defiance, not only of human, but also of
divine laws. He violates, in his daily life, the
precepts of nature, which all mankind should
follow. He reverses the established order and
turns his nights into days, and his days into
nights. When more favored men are passing the
evenings at their happy homes with their wives
and little ones, or in social pleasures or literary
pursuits, the gambler sits in his heated room, un-
der the blazing gas jet, breathing a foul and pol-
luted atmosphere, hearing occasionally a ribald
jest or a blasphemous expression, his nerves
strained to their utmost tension, despite the
unchanging expression of his countenance, and
his whole nature, moral, mental, and physical,
tainted by his evil surroundings. And after
Converted Gambler. 153
the world has gone to rest, and tired humanity
is seeking " nature's sweet restorer, sleep," the
gambler is still at his table, dealing his cards
with the steady monotony of a machine, his
head throbbing, his eyelids heavy, his body fe-
verish, his strength exhausted. And at last,
when the first streaks of dawn are seen upon the
eastern horizon, and the pale, dim light of early
moring heralds the approach of day, he goes
to his couch and seeks rest at a time when all
about him are awakening from their slumbers.
Call you this pleasure ? I call it hardship and
misery. I solemnly affirm that in all the years
of my sporting life, I never enjoyed one mo-
ment of real, genuine happiness. I would not
exchange one hour of my existence since my
conversion, for all the years of my sinful life.
The gambler varies the monotony of his life
with riotous excesses and extravagant indul-
gence. His amusements, like his business, are
degrading morally and injurious physically.
His varying fortunes render his life a feverish
and unsatisfactory one. He is ostracized from
society, debarred from the enjoyments of do-
mestic pleasures, and incapacitated for literary
entertainment. He wears out his existence in
a few years, undermines his constitution by ex-
154 Mason Lang:
posure and dissipation, ia shabbily treated by
the goddess of fortune whom he has wooed so
long, and dies a pauper in the prime of life. But
one gambler in a hundred lives to old age ; and
not one in a hundred dies the possessor of any
property. The career which to many looks
so inviting, ends at last in shame and penury,
and the " man of pleasure," falsely so called,
is only a creature of misery and sorrow.
Where are the gamblers who flourished ten
or twelve years ago, during the flush times? I
can recall the names of many who, since that
time, have gone over the precipice ; dying
in beggary, without a thought or hope for the
future. Kind-hearted, genial, whole-souled
Tim McCarthy, the champion billiardist of In-
diana, won thousands of dollars at his
keno bank, and other games, and squandered
it all in dissipation, and after a few years of
reckless drinking, stood up before a mirror in
a Chicago saloon, and in a fit of despair blew
out his brains. Billy Grunauer, ten years ago,
was the leading sporting man of Northern In-
diana. He dressed in the extreme of fashion,
wore the costliest clothing, and the rarest dia-
monds, smoked imported cigars, drank the
most expensive wines, and drove a thousand
Converted Gambler. 155
dollar team. But this could not last, and poor
Billy was borne to his grave a few months ago
from the St. Joseph's hospital, where he had
been suffering from a hopeless disease for
months.
For several years before his death he had
been a sorrowful object in our midst ; broken
in health, downcast in spirits, and without a
penny out of all the thousands he had won at
gaming, he saw his end rapidly approaching
without any care for his future state, or any hope
of happiness beyond the grave. The last time he
was on the streets he took dinner with me, and
I asked him " if he ever thought of his eternal
state?"
** Yes," said he, " I guess they will come
three-a-side over there ; I have tried it here a
long time, but it won't work."
He referred, in his expression, to his favorite
system of playing the bank. In a few days he
died, and but for the kindness of relatives his
burial would have been that of a pauper.
I could name many other men who have been
regarded as prosperous and successful gamblers,
who died penniless and friendless. Captain
Phillips, of Toledo, who played poker for thirty
yeart, and whose winnings on the game aggre-
156 Mason Long:
gated a vast sum, died in Lima, Ohio, without
enough to bury him. Joe Bean, of Toledo, the
prize fighter and gambler, died in early manhood
under similar circumstances, and I might enu-
merate such instances indefinitely. I have
never known a sporting man to die rich, and
the most of them have passed away without
leaving enough assets to pay their funeral
expenses. Even John Morrisey, who handled
millions of dollars, and conducted the largest
games in the world, died insolvent ; and when
he failed, who can hope to succeed ?
It does not pay to be a gambler. The life is a
hard one, but the death is still harder. The
years of the gambler are few and they are not
happy ones. I can conceive of no inducement
for a man to enter this occupation. Sporting
men are drones ; what the world wants is
workers. There are too many men who want
to live without labor. Gaming no longer offers
the attractions that it once did. There is less
money in the country than there was ten years
ago, but the ranks of the gamblers are over-
crowded. The most of them can not make a
living unless they steal, and hence it is that
the fraternity is becoming more corrupt and
degraded every year. The times have changed
Converted Gambler. 157
and we must change with them. The man who
seeks to live off the earnings of others is an
enemy to society and must be treated as such.
I earnestly advise every sporting man who reads
these pages, to give up his nefarious business,
pull up his sleeves and go to work as I have
done. It is no disgrace to work ; it is credita-
ble and honorable. If they don't do so, the State
will finally take steps to compel them ; it is
only a question of time. The large number of
sporting men now in the country are a burden to
society, which will and must be thrown off. I
speak these words frankly and soberly, but in
all kindness. I realize, as I never did before,
the sinfulness of this vice, and the wrong which
a man does himself, his fellow man, and his
God by wasting his existence in its practice.
I can see that its inevitable end is a miserable
death, amidst poverty and despair, and a future
of suffering and remorse. I shudder when I
think of the fate I have so narrowly escaped,
I would that my words could reach every sport-
ing man in America, and that they could be
led to comprehend the folly, wickedness, and
unprofitableness of the careers they are leading.
158 Mason Long:
CHAPTER VIII.
HOW I BECAME A CONVERT TO THE MCRPHY CAUSE-SIGN-
ING THE PLEDGE - STRUGGLES WITH THE DEMON AL-
COHOL-FINAL TRIUMPH OVER THE RUM DEVIL
In the latter part of July, 1877, I arrived
home, after a tour of the races, in a de-
plorable condition. I had lost all of my money
and was suffering from the effects of a pro-
longed spree. My personal debts amounted to
at least fifteen hundred dollars, and I had no
means of paying any portion of them. Upon my
return I found my game had run down very
badly, and the outlook was certainly a discour-
aging one. The " boys " failed to visit my
rooms as was their wont, and when I inquired
the reason, they replied, " O, we go to the Rink
every evening ; all the fun is over there now."
I knew there was a temperance movement in
progress in Fort Wayne, but had not realized
what proportions it had assumed. Night after
night my rooms were deserted and it was im-
possible to get up a game. Finally I concluded
to attend one of the meetings, partly to gratify
Converted Gambler. 159
some of my old associates, but principally from
curiosity. The Rink holds sixteen hundred
people, and when I entered it, I found, greatly
to my surprise, that it was crowded to its ut-
most capacity. I remained until the close of
the meeting and in spite of myself was greatly
interested in the proceedings. At the conclu-
sion of the exercises I returned to my room in
a thoughtful mood. I found a few "regulars"
gathered there. I said, "It's no wonder that
we have no game any more, everybody is at
the Rink. If this thing keeps on I don't know
what will become of us." "Neither do I,'*
spoke up a saloon keeper, who seemed greatly
depressed at the outlook. "I am not doing
one-third of the business I did a year ago. If
the Murphys don't stop pretty soon, I for one
shall be ruined."
I thought seriously over the situation and
finally came to the conclusion that perhaps the
movement would help the gambling business.
I reasoned that if men stopped drinking they
would have more money to gamble with, al-
though the experience I was having with my
game did not sustain the argument. I failed
then to realize that the two vices go together
and lead to one another ; that the gambler is
160 Mason Long:
almost invariably a drinker, and the drinker very
frequently a gambler. A man who is addicted
to drinking is almost certain to get to playing,
and he who gambles will, sooner or later, be-
come a drunkard.
The next evening my room was again empty,
and impelled by some power I did not compre-
hend, but could not resist, I again joined the
crowd, and wended my way to the " Old Ark,"
as'the Rink was called. I found another large
meeting in progress, although this was the
fifth week of the series. The greatest enthu-
siasm prevailed, and almost everybody in the
house looked cheerful and happy. The gentle-
man who conducted the meeting spoke in a
very encouraging strain of the results. "Dur-
ing the past week," he said, " twelve hundred
persons have signed the pledge and donned the
blue ribbon, making thirty-five hundred sign-
ers in all since we began our campaign." This
opened my eyes still wider, and again I found
myself inquiring, " What will the result be ? "
Every night my room was empty and my
game closed, and I drifted into the meetings at
the Rink. The movement was being conducted
by Rusk and Reddick, two energetic young
workers from Pittsburgh, and they had already
Converted Gambler. 161
been the agents, under God, of reclaiming many
of the most dissipated men in the city from
lives of intemperance and debauchery. My
frequent attendance upon the meetings had
attracted much attention, and my motives
were generally discussed among the temper-
ance people. One night Mr. Rusk addressed
me, saying:
"I want you to sign the pledge." To say
that I was amazed, but feebly describes my
feelings I was dumbfounded. I looked at him
closely, for I had a curiosity to see any man
who had the effrontery to ask me to sign a tem-
perance pledge. I made fun of him, and re-
marked that if the government had sent me
out after pirates I would have "tackled him
the first man." He laughed, taking my abuse
in the best of humor. Finally, he asked my
business.
"Business? Well, you just make your col-
lection and go with me to my room, and if I
can beat aces up for you you'll know what my
business is."
At this Mr. Rusk smiled, and said "I've
been there, my boy. I've gambled and know all
about it, as well as many other vices. If you
169 Mason Long:
don't give it up you'll find out in the long run
that there is no money in it."
I laughed and continued to chaff him, when
he left me, saying, "I'll see you again." He
did see me again j every time I met him he
chatted, with me in a pleasant, good-natured
way, and I soon learned to like him. Finally I
invited him to my rooms, and he accepted. He
found them gorgeously furnished, with hand-
some Brussels carpet, elegant sideboards, and
all of the appurtenances of a first-class " gam-
bling hell." Mr. Rusk did not play with me,
but he evidently understood the business, and
used his knowledge to good advantage in his
argument with me. He asked me if I would
not be a much more successful gambler if I did
not drink, and if I had not lost hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of dollars because of my fondness
for liquor. Of course I had, and I frankly ad-
mitted it ; I had just returned from a prolonged
spree, having wasted large winnings in drink.
I related a number of my experiences, and Mr.
Rusk said his had been similar, although on a
smaller scale. We both agreed that if I were
to stop drinking, I would prosper and make
plenty of money.
It was evident that Mr. Rusk understood my
Converted Gambler. 163
case perfectly. He did not try to force me to
sign the pledge against my will, but he contin-
ued to meet me every day and exchange a few
words with me. He frequently referred to the
mistakes of his past life, all of which had a per-
sonal application I could not fail to make. 1
told him " his life had been something like mine,
but that I had drifted farther out into the cur-
rent than he, and that it would be useless for
me to sign the pledge, because it would be im-
possible for me to keep it." I added that " to
take the pledge and then dishonor it would be
ten times worse than never to sign it at all."
He agreed with me in this, and said he could
not respect a man who "signed for fun," not
intending to keep his word ; he was sure, how-
ever, I could take the pledge and keep it, and
he urged me to come forward at the next meet-
ing, take a bold stand, and don the blue ribbon ;
he had no doubt that I would honor the pledge
if I signed it. Again I refused ; I told him that I
would not attempt an impossibility ; I couldn't
stop drinking, and wouldn't try. He left me,
for the first time appearing discouraged. The
next meeting, however, found me present, as
usual. I went with a friend of mine, Mr.
Charles Reed, a young man whom I respected for
164 Mason Long:
his good habits ; although he never drank or
gambled, he had joined the "Murphys," and
urged me to do likewise. I told him as I told
Mr. Rusk, that it was no use, I could not give
up drink. That evening the signers came thick
and fast, and the enthusiasm was unbounded.
After the exercises were over, we remained
while the noble workers solicited signatures,
and urged the poor inebriates to emancipate
themselves from their slavery. For some rea-
son I couldn't leave, and soon I found myself
surrounded by a bevy of ladies. This was evi-
dently a piece of strategy on the part of Mr.
Reed, for I noticed him standing at a distance,
greatly amused at my predicament. The ladies
made a combined assault upon me, and insisted
upon my signing the pledge. I repeated to
them what I had said to so many others, that I
could not keep it ; one of them said I must
sign it if I had to stay all night ; I told her that if
I did as she asked I would certainly dishonor the
pledge, and that I was determined not to do.
Meanwhile the crowd about me was getting
larger all the time, and I noticed I was becom-
ing the cynosure of all eyes. My situation was
novel and embarrassing, and I began to think
of some method of escape. I had seen three
Converted Gambler. 165
years of hard service in the army, and had been
through many battles, but this seemed to me
the most trying engagement of my life. I had
determined not to surrender, but to beat a mas-
terly retreat, and inwardly resolved that if I
ever got out of the Rink I would never enter it
again until the meetings commenced. But the
ladies had resolved to capture me for the Mur-
phy army, and would not take " no" for an an-
swer ; they entreated me to embrace the good
cause, and plied me with arguments which were
well nigh irresistible. My position was becom-
ing momentarily more desperate, and as a final
resource, I said: "Ladies, let me go to-night,
and I promise by all that is good and holy that
I will come back to-morrow night and sign the
pledge, and I will live up to it." But the
ladies didn't believe me, and really they had
no reason to ; I had no intention of keeping my
promise, my only idea being to get out of the
Rink ; my firm determination was never to at-
tend another Murphy meeting. The ladies
didn't want to take my promise, but a little
lady who was in the group spoke up and said,
in her childish way, " Let him go, Mamma, he
is speaking the truth ; he will come back to-
morrow night and sign the pledge. You will,
166 Mason Long:
won't you ? " added the little one, appealing
to me. " Of course I will," said I, seeing at
last a chance of escape. The girl's simple faith
in my word outweighed the doubts of the ladies,
and they opened a way for me to pass out. I
left the Rink with a settled purpose never to
visit it again while the meetings continued.
I hastened to my room, thinking over the
incidents of the evening and congratulating
myself upon my fortunate escape. Thoughts
of the little girl who had rescued me, came to
my mind. I asked myself, " Why did she
believe me, when in fact I was telling a lie."
I tried to forget the evening's experience, but
I could not do so. I endeavored to divert my
mind by a game of poker, but I was abstracted
and careless, and in a few moments had lost
forty dollars. I arose and walked restlessly
about the room. The angel face of that child
was ever before my eyes, and her words were
constantly sounding in my ears : " He is telling
the truth, Mamma. You will come back, won't
you, and sign the pledge ?"
I put on my hat, left my room, and sought a
saloon, where I tried to solace myself with bil-
liards. The attempt was a failure; I could not
fix my attention on the game. I laid down my
Converted Gambler. 167
cue and walked out into the street ; I could not
by any artifice withdraw my thoughts from the
one subject which burdened them, nor shut out
the sound of the little lady's simple words.
Slowly I walked toward my rooms, vainly
struggling to compose my mind. When I
arrived at the club room, the game was over
and the room deserted. I entered my chamber,
adjoining the gambling hall, and prepared for
bed. I laid down, but sleep did not come to
my eyelids. I tossed about feverishly, strug-
gling to overcome my restlessness, but without
result. I attempted to argue with myself, but
the effort was in vain. I arose from my bed
and tried to relieve the strain upon my mind
by reading. It was no avail. I read all the
newspapers in the room, but did not compre-
hend one word in them. When I laid them
down I did not remember any thing they con-
tained. Again I sought my bed, but my men-
tal unrest continued. I rolled about in my
agony, but no peace came to me. The hours
dragged wearily along, and one subject con-
tinued uppermost in my mind. I gave up the
effort to banish it. Morning at last came, and
I rejoiced over the termination of the longest
night I had ever passed. But daylight brought
168 Mason Long:
no calm to my troubled brain. It was still in
a chaotic state, and the same words were ever
present : " You will come back to-morrow night
and sign the pledge, won't you ? "
I went to my hotel, but scarcely tasted break-
fast. Then I wandered aimlessly about the
streets, and found the day I had so longed for
to be even more dismal than the dreary night
whose minutes had seemed hours. My condi-
tion was, in brief, one of mental torture, and I
felt as though, if relief did not soon come, I
should go crazy. That night I involuntarily
sought the Rink, arriving there almost as soon
as it was lighted up. I was among the first
arrivals, and upon meeting Mr. Rusk, I told
him I would sign the pledge at once if he would
assure me that the newspapers would say
nothing about it. The press had, for many
years, devoted a great deal of attention to me,
and I feared that, if the city journals should
publish me as a Murphy convert, I would
become a butt for the ridicule of all the sports
and bummers in the city. I was among the
first that evening to step forward and sign the
pledge. As I affixed my name, the old building
fairly shook with the cheers of sixteen hundred
people. In a moment I was surrounded by a
Converted Gambler. 169
host of ladies and gentlemen who shook me
warmly by the hand, and congratulated me
heartily upon the step I had taken. Many spoke
to me who had never before exchanged a word
with me, but who had always regarded me as
the concentrated essence of wickedness.
As soon as I had signed the pledge I felt
relieved. A great weight seemed to be lifted
from my soul, and I left for my rooms after the
meeting in a much happier frame of mind than
on the preceding evening.
The only thing I dreaded was newspaper
publicity. The journals of the city had devoted
many columns to me in connection with gam-
bling, horse-racing, and arrests for various mis-
demeanors, and I disliked to have my name
published in connection with any thing so good
and holy as the temperance cause. But I called
to mind Mr. Rusk's assurance on this score,
and retired without any misgivings. The next
morning, upon arising, I picked up the Gazette
and discovered to my amazement a column
report of my surrender to the Murphys. At
this I was greatly disgusted, and I at once
decided to go and get drunk. I left the room
with that intention, but I soon began to think
of the many good people who had taken me so
170 Mason Long:
warmly by the hand the night before, and bade
me God speed. What would they think of me,
should I thus deliberately and openly violate
my solemn pledge ? This was something strange
for me, for T had never before cared for the
opinion of the sober, and temperate, and reli-
gious community. I passed along the streets,
and the first persons I met were saloon keepers.
They refused to speak to me, and I admit that
I felt the slight. But by this time I was set-
tled in my purpose to stick to the pledge.
My old companions enjoyed themselves great-
ly at my expense, and they subjected me to all
kinds of ridicule. Many bets were made upon
the length of time I would abstain from drink-
ing, the limits ranging from six hours to ten
days. One saloon keeper predicted that I
would hold out three weeks, and no longer.
He said that he had gauged my stomach, and
that at the end of three weeks on cold water
diet I would be ripe for a big drunk. An
attempt was made to sell pools on me, but no
one would bet on my "sticking" more than
three weeks. I could have won every dollar
owned by the Fort Wayne sports; but I admit
that I had so little confidence in myself that I
would not have bet on thirty days' adherence
Converted Gambler. 1Y1
to the Murphys. My associations were all
with saloon keepers and gamblers. One of the
former promised that if I kept the pledge one
year, he would buy me a hat. The year is now
nearly expired, and before this book is reatj 1
will be wearing a new hat at Jay Phillips'
expense.
For the first few days I found my new life a
hard one. I spent much of my time in saloons,
playing cards for the drinks. When my
companions took beer, I took a cigar ; but the
sight of the cool, foaming beverage which I
ioved so well, was a severe temptation, espe-
cially during those sultry days in August. Many
times I found the pressure ver}" strong, and was
on the point of surrendering, but something
within kept me on the track, and a still, small
voice said to me, "Stick to it, Mace."
I soon came to the conclusion that if I
remained in Fort Wayne, whisky would con-
quer. I could not in safety frequent my old
places of resort, and therefore determined to
attend the races at Geneseo, 111., and at the
same time visit some relatives living there, who
are temperance and religious people. They
were overjoyed to learn of the step I had taken,
and gave me a hearty welcome. I remained at
172 Mason. Long:
Geneseo ten days, during which time scarcely
any temptation was thrown in my path. But I
felt the old appetite tugging away at me, and
the ungratified longing for liquor caused me
much physical and mental distress. From
Geneseo I* went to Chicago, and there I met a
number of my old companions, who were start-
ing out to "make a night of it." Of course
they insisted that I must go with them, and I
consented to join the party. I knew I was
taking a fearful risk, but I could not resist the
invitation of my former chums. Few of my
readers, perhaps, know what " making a night
of it" in Chicago is. The term conveys a good
deal. It means a night of dissipation and
indulgence ; it means hours spent in the heated
atmosphere of the gilded palaces of vice, or
the luxuriant abodes of sin ; it means a
gratification of the grossest appetites, and an
indulgence in the basest pleasures ; it means
the robbing of sleep, the sacrifice of time, the
waste of money, the injury to health, and the
surrender of good name. '* Making a night of
it" has shattered some of the greatest intel-
lects the world has ever known ; has blighted
the most promising careers ; has wasted the
most ample fortunes; has destroyed the happi-
Converted Gambler. 173
ness of the most affectionate families, and led
to misery, and shame, and death, and eternal
woe. There are thousands of young men who
think it is manly to " make a night of it," but
could they draw the lesson from the shattered
remnants of manhood all over the land, could
they see the depths of shame and remorse into
which the devotee of the wine cup is finally
plunged, could they know the misery caused
by the fearful, insatiable craving for alcohol,
could they hear the lamentations of the lost
souls, sacrificed through the infernal love for
spirits, not all the lights, and songs, and music,
and good fellowship which surround vice with so
many attractions, could lure them from the only
path which leads to happiness, both in this
world and in the world to come.
Well, we made a " night of it " in Chicago. 1
stayed with the "boys" until they reeled to
their beds in drunken unconsciousness. I had
not violated my pledge, having alternated
between cigars and lemonade. At everj?
*' treat " I had taken one or the other ; I had
smoked several cigars, and given a numbei
away, but when I reached my room I found
that I had fifty-seven in my pocket. This will
give the reader an idea of the liquor that was
174 Mason Long:
drank, and the sum of money we squandered
when we " made a night of it " in Chicago.
I was greatly pleased to think I had passed
through this ordeal without breaking my pledge,
and concluded that I was safe for the future.
The next morning I avoided my associates of
the previous night, for I found it no amusement
to be with them unless I drank, and that I was
determined not to do. I bought a few pools on
the base ball games, lost as usual, and then
started for Fort Wayne. Upon my return, I
was besieged with questions, the most frequent
, one being, " Well, Mace, how many times were
you drunk while you were gone?" Few were
ready to believe me when I said that I had not
tasted a drop since I left home. Some, how-
ever, cheered me with expressions of confidence,
which encouraged me greatly ; others mostly
gamblers and saloon keepers asserted that I
was playing a deep confidence game, my inten-
tions being to worm myself into the confidence
of the religious people of the city, and then
borrow all the money I could and swindle them
out of it. A gambler, who had for years been
my "partner," made a charge of this kind quite
publicly, and was rebuked by one of the Mur-
phy leaders, who said, "I would lend
Converted Gambler. 175
Long two hundred dollars for a year, without
security, but I wouldn't lend you ten cents."
This gentleman had never spoken to me,
and when I heard of his kind expression I was
greatly encouraged. The good people of the
city aided me by many tokens of confidence
and expressions of faith in my sincerity. Each
day I found my resolutions stronger. I was
still keeping a gambling room, and had as yet
no higher ambition than to abstain from drink-
ing, so as to make money at my illegitimate
business. How I came to abandon my old call-
ing and leave the paths I had so long trod for
pleasanter and purer ones, I shall endeavor to
tell in the next chapter.
176 Mason Long:
CHAPTER IX..
MY CONVERSION TO THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST-MEN-
TAL SUFFERINGS WHILE UNDER CONVICTION PUBLIC
CONFESSION OF MY SINS THE BLESSINGS ATTENDING
A CHANGE OF HEART.
Upon returning to Fort Wayne, I found that
the temperance meetings, which were still in
progress at the Rink, had a stronger attraction
than ever for me. I discovered that the fasci-
nations of the gambling table were losing their
power, and I could take no interest in the games
at my room. On the first night I went to the
Rink, and the managers insisted that I should
address the meeting ; about fifteen hundred
people were present, and the ordeal was a most
trying one. I pleaded my " freshness," and
had no idea that I could face that vast crowd
without breaking down. But they kept calling
for me, and I finally rose in my place and
stated that I was unprepared to speak, but
would make a few remarks upon some other
occasion. Mr. Rusk then took the liberty of
announcing that I would speak on the next
Converted Gambler. 177
evening, and at the same time stated that the
number of signers had just reached six thousand.
This created much enthusiasm, and there was
more signing and singing. I concluded not to
attend the next evening, but was very lone-
some, and my resolution failed me. I remained
at my room until nine o'clock, but then almost
involuntarily sought the " Old Ark." Hardly
had I entered its portals when I heard my name
shouted from all parts of the house, and in a
moment I found myself standing upon the
platform, with fifteen hundred upturned faces
before me, and fifteen hundred pairs of eyes
gazing intently upon me. I shook like an aspen
leaf ; my head fairly swam ; a cold perspiration
burst out all over me, and I could scarcely
control my voice. I certainly suffered all the
tortures of stage fright, and passed through an
experience I never desire to repeat. But my
self-possession soon returned, and after I had
spoken a few words I was comparatively at
ease. I told them, first of all, that I had been
faithful to my pledge, taken several weeks
before, and that I intended to adhere to it
through life. I also related how I began
drinking whisky ; and how it had led me down
from one depth to another, drawing me into
M
178 Mason Long:
other vices, until I had become a moral wreck,
the mere plaything of a diabolical appetite.
The next day my speech was printed in full in
the papers. The press took more interest in
me than ever, and chronicled my every move-
ment. I knew that, under the circumstances,
if I took a single misstep, it would be heralded
to the world, and this made me more careful,
perhaps, than I otherwise would have been, to
adhere to my promises.
Having broken the ice, I spoke at the meet-
ings nearly every night. I entered into the
work with enthusiasm, and endeavored to gain
recruits for the Murphy army. On the first
afternoon I secured sixteen signers, among
them a veteran whisky seller and whisky
drinker, Mr. Arthur Dodge. I was greatly
encouraged with my success. Mr. Dodge took
hold of the work with much energy, and we
canvassed together, inducing many old slaves
of alcohol to don the blue ribbon, and emanci-
pate themselves from the curse under which
they had so long staggered.
For six weeks we labored night and day,
with unvarying success. Then Messrs. Rusk
and Reddick left us, and the whisky sellers
concluded that the storm was about over, and
Converted Gambler. 181
that the meetings would soon "fizzle out."
But we did not allow them to "fizzle." For
four weeks we carried them on ourselves.
Every man who took an interest in the cause
came to the front, and we kept the enthusiasm
constantly up to the boiling point. Oui* army
was constantly increasing, and it looked as if
we were to capture the entire city.
At this stage of the movement, Messrs. Hal-
lenbeck and Cassady, who had been converted
during the Moody-Sankey revival at Chicago,
came among us, and took charge of the meet-
ings, conducting them on the gospel temperance
plan. Up to this date the Murphy movement
had been carried on as a purely moral effort ;
now the religious element was with it, and the
effect was good. The Churches, many of which
had held aloof, joined in with us. Hallenbeck and
Cassady remained five weeks, and were the
means of accomplishing a vast amount of good.
After their departure the meetings continued
as usual, under the management of a board
consisting of several of our best citizens. The
Hon. Newton Burwell, a worthy Christian gen-
tlemen who has since entered the ministry, took
the leadership.
Among tke reformed men were a few who
Ibis Mason Lony:
objected to the religious cast the movement
had assumed. They organized a " Reformed
Men's Club," and took control of the meetings,
Mr. Burwell and the ministers retiring, but still
giving the " boys" their sympathy and co-
operation. An arrangement was then made by
which strictly temperance meetings were held
during the week, and a grand union prayer
meeting every Sunday night. The interest
deepened. Those who attended the Murphy
meetings were sure to find their way to the
"Old Ark" on Sunday nights. By this means
hundreds were brought within reach of the
gospel, who had not heard it preached for years.
A deep feeling pervaded the community. A
great change was taking place in many of our
reformed men.
They were beginning to inquire anxiously,
" What shall we do to be saved ?" They were
thinking deeoly of their future state, many of
them for the first time, and recalling the les-
sons of childhood they had neglected for so
many years. The long-forgotten Bible was
hunted up, and its precious words were studied
by men who had long been strangers to them ;
some who had objected most strenuously to the
gospel work, now urged the propriety oi a
Convwted Gambler. 183
monster revival. We, therefore, sent for Dr.
Earl, of Boston, a most successful evangelist.
He came and conducted a series of meetings
for three weeks, with grand results. The Rink
was crowded every night ; Dr. Earl expounded
the Scriptures with singular power and elo-
quence, and led many poor sorrowing mortals
into the way of salvation, He was assisted by
the city pastors, and the religious people of
Fort Wayne, and a most glorious harvest was
reaped. Scores of converts were made. There
was a grand awakening throughout the city.
There was a most gracious outpouring of God's
spirit, and many wayward hearts found peace
in believing. As many as one hundred and
eighty persons rose for prayer in a single meet-
ing. Some of the most depraved men in the
city tasted of the Bread of Life, and often
" those who came to scoff remained to pray."
This revival terminated the movement proper
in Fort Wayne. The meetings had been held
over three hundred consecutive nights, and ten
thousand and seventeen persons had signed
the pledge. A very small number of those
who took the pledge violated it. A grand, no-
ble work had been accomplished ; those who had
been but a short year before in the gutters, or in
184 Mason Long:
the jails, their existence a curse to themselves
and their families, were now "clothed, and in
their right mind." Employment was obtained for
them, and they became industrious and esteem-
ed members of the community. Their families
found peace and happiness in homes long aban-
doned to misery and despair, and thanked God
that alcohol no longer claimed their protectors
among its victims. A year ago, many of
them looked forward only to the penitentiary,
or the poor-house ; now, not a few cherish
hopes of a happy future, and have their names
enrolled on the books of the churches, of which
they are attentive and consistent members.
They have tasted the " pleasures " of this
world, and know that they are all vanity. They
mourn over their wasted year?, and realize
what is charged against them in the book of
judgment. They are working now to balance
their accounts for the Last Great Day, and well
know that the consecration of the remainder
of their lives to purity and righteousness will
not atone for the sinfulness and folly of their
past. I sometimes think that these men, who
have been redeemed after careers of wicked-
ness and crime, enjoy the love of God better
than the old followers of the Cross, who have
Converted Gambler. 185
never tasted the bitter experience which is sure
to follow indulgence in the so-called "pleas-
ures" of this world. Those of us who have
been saved, as if by fire, and "plucked like
brands from the burning," should strive to live
very near to God, for the change is- so great, that
it will require all of our efforts to keep in the
straight and narrow path, which leads to eter-
nal bliss. I shudder when I think where I and
so many others, who had drifted far out into
the currents of sin, would be now, but for
the glorious temperance movement which has
swept over the laud, and snatched us up just
in time to save us from the abyss toward
which we were hastening. I can recall the
names of many poor fellows my former com-
panions who have gone beyond our reach to
everlasting ruin, without a taste of the blessed
peace and happiness which have been so gra-
ciously vouchsafed to me. I feel deeply that
there is a great field for work among those
whom the world considers outcasts. I know
that in every human being, however depraved,
there is the germ of some good, which may be
reached and developed by prayer and striving,
and I have solemnly vowed to consecrate the
rest of my life to the work of rescuing these
iStt Mason Long:
poor unfortunate creatures from the evil which
surrounds them. I am endeavoring every day
to speak the word which shall reveal to some
wandering soul the light that I have found, and
so long as God gives me life and strength, I
shall persevere in my chosen work. I date my
reformation from the hour I signed the tem-
perance pledge. Previous to that time, I was
greatly addicted to profanity, but since then
an oath has never escaped my lips. I had
always mingled with the dissipated, the de-
praved, and the vicious ; but the Murphys
brought me in contact with another and a
better class of people. I formed the acquaint-
ance of noble Christian men and women, who
were endeavoring to illustrate, by their daily
lives and conversation, the precepts of their
blessed Master, and from them, I imbibed new
conceptions of life, its duties and its realities.
When I ceased to drink, and to swear, I found
it comparatively easy to discard my numerous
other vices one by one. I enjoyed daily a
visible increase in my self respect. I began to
feel as if I were a "man among men." The
evil habits which had become a part of my
very being, soon left me, all but gambling.
That vice had an irresistible fascination for me.
Converted Gambler. 187
I loved the game above everything else ; I did
not think I could ever give it up. Besides, my
moral faculties were so blunted, that I did not
think it was wrong to gamble, provided it was
done "on the square." I thought a man could
be a professional gambler, and a respectable
citizen at the same time, but I found out my
mistake they are incompatible.
My nightly attendance at the temperance
meetings continued. I enjoyed them very
much in fact above everything else in the
world ; I listened to the experiences of the re-
formed men frequently related with a remark-
able simplicity and pathos ; I repeatedly found
myself in tears, as I heard their sad stories of
sin and suffering ; I often sat in the Rink and
reflected upon my past life until I was so
choked with emotion as not to be able to re-
spond when called upon to speak.
This feeling was new to me and I could not
comprehend it. There was a change taking place
in myself which it puzzled me greatly to under-
stand. For weeks I was in this condition. My
only real enjoyment was during the temperance
meetings. I could find no pleasure at the gam-
ing-table, and, winner or loser, I always left it
in disgust. The reader can realize the alters*
188 Mason, Long:
tion in me when he remembers that for years
the game of faro had cast a perfect spell over
me j that I had repeatedly played it for many
hours at a time, unable to leave it for food or
sleep, and only withdrawing when I could no
longer bear the physical strain. But now the
temperance meetings drew me from my game
every evening, and the gambling-room had be-
come the most repulsive place on earth to me.
Sunday is always the liveliest day for gam-
blers, for it is then they do their best business.
It was so with me, but since my moral awaken-
ing I found Sunday the longest and dullest day
of the week. One Sunday morning I resolved
to attend divine service, and found my way to
the First Baptist church. The sight of a
notorious professional gambler in that sacred
place startled the congregation, and every eye
was turned upon me as the usher showed me to
a seat. The pastor, Rev. Dr. J. R. Stone,
preached a most beautiful and effective sermon,
which seemed intended especially for me. I
eagerly drank in every word, and as the good man
continued, I found myself shedding tears of sor-
row and remorse for my misspent life. After the
sermon the choir sang " What shall the harvest
be?" and as I listened to the beautiful music,
Converted Gambler. 189
all the sins of my past life seemed to pass in
review before me. I had sown the crop, and I
wondered what my harvest would be. As I
was leaving the church my eyes rested upon the
little lady, through whose kind words I had
been led to sign the pledge. I thought this a
happy omen. She handed me a Bible, saying
that she had marked a lesson for me to study
during the coming week, and asked if I would
do so. I gladly promised her, and with the
good book in my hand, I left the church and
hastened to my room. There I found a big
game of faro in progress, but I passed the
players and went into my chamber, where I
began to study the Bible which had been given
me. Occasionally one of the gamblers would
come into the room, and then I would secrete
the book, as I feared ridicule. I spent many
hours every day studying the word of God.
and especially those pages which had been
marked for me. I was constantly interrupted,
and always hid the book. One day I was
caught fairly and squarely by one of the gam-
blers. He was greatly surprised, and his re-
mark ran about like this :
" Hallo, what is that ? a Bible ? well I de-
clare, old boy, you're gone, sure. You're no
190 Mason Long:
longer the same man that you was before you
signed the Murphy pledge than anything in
the world. There's no more fun in you any
more ; a fellow might just as well talk to a
cigar sign as to try to get a word out of you.
You've Bible on the brain. You'll be crazy as
a bed-bug in less than a month. Drop your
d d nonsense, Mace, and I'll show you a new
tiling in card playing. I'm playing colors now,
and it will win sure, and no one shall stand in
with this but you."
These words made no impression upon my
mind. I was greatly troubled, but not about
faro. I read and re-read my Bible lesson, and
the more I pondered it the greater became my
mental anxiety. In despair I laid down the
book, went to the gambling table, and tried
to interest myself at faro. It was useless ;
the old charm had vanished ; the old spell was
broken. I left the table in disgust and re-
sumed my Bible reading, but could find no
peace. Night and day my torture increased.
Sleep was a stranger to my eyelids and the
food, at every meal, remained untasted before
me. I began to think the gambler was right
when he told me that I would go crazy, for my
faculties seemed to be shaken. I left the city,
Converted Gambler. 191
but after a day's absence I returned. I felt an
insatiable craving for something, 1 knew not
what, a want which I could not define nor
comprehend, but which was ever present.
My condition physically was almost as bad as
it was mentally. I was weak, restless, and
feverish, and therefore consulted a physician,
who told me that I was threatened with serious
illness, and prescribed for me. But his med-
icine did not reach the vital spot. Under its
effects I slept, but I had troubled dreams, and
when I rose I was neither rested nor refreshed.
For several days and nights I had neither slept
nor eaten. I was under conviction, and felt
that my sins, which were as scarlet, could never
be forgiven. I looked forward to a life of woe,
and anxiously inquired of those I met what I
should do.
" Put your trust in God," they would say.
" But I do trust Him. I have given up
everything, and tried to be a Christian ; but I
can't. I can find no peace ; I feel as if my
God had forsaken me, and that there is no sal-
vation for such as I."
My mental condition was worse than ever.
I longed to get away from myself to fly to
some distant solitude, some trackless forest to
193 Mason Long:
any place that I could find peace. I frequently
tried to pray, but the words seemed to mock
me. Discouraged and hopeless, I sought my
old companions, and sought to be one of them
again. It was useless. Their profane words
grated on my ears ; their coarse jokes and jests
were intensely painful to me. The club room
and saloons were abominable in my sight, and
I avoided them as much as possible.
And so my life wore on. If my sins had
been great, so had my sufferings. It would
take a genius to portray my mental torments.
I realized that no human being could success-
fully "minister to a mind diseased," and the
Great Physician seemed to have forsaken me.
Sometimes I would rise from my knees after a
long season of prayer, with a happier feeling
and with tears streaming from my eyes. Then
I would think that the Lord had forgiven me,
and granted me His blessing ; but when I went
to my club room, the old feeling of despair
came back to me with redoubled force.
Sabbath came again, and in company with
Brother Hallenbeck I attended the Wayne
Street Methodist-Episcopal church, and heard
the pastor, Rev. R. N. McKaig, deliver a ser-
mon to reformed men. The discourse was an
Converted Gambler. 193
able one, and I enjoyed it very much, but did
not get the relief I craved.
After leaving the church, I told my troubles
to Brother Hallenbeck. I told him the mental
anguish and physical exhaustion I was suffer-
ing ; how hard I was trying to become a Chris-
tian, and how useless the effort seemed ; how I
had prayed God for hours at a time to forgive
my sins and grant me a new heart, but He had
denied me the blessing I asked ; how for seven
days I had neither eaten nor slept, but had
passed through the most fearful experience of
my life.
Brother Hallenbeck listened attentively to
me, and expressed deep sympathy with me.
He tried to encourage me, and said there was
evidently something I had left undone. He
did not know what it was, but he thought if I
would go to the Rink that evening, publicly
confess before the audience that I was a great
sinner, and declare my faith in Christ, I would
find peace.
I told him I would take his advice, and
hoped it would bring me consolation I spent
the afternoon in my room, trying to think what
I would say at the Rink. When I left for the
meeting, I thought I knew exactly what I
N 9
194 Mason Long:
would say, but I changed my mind a dozen
times ere I reached the building v
I. entered and took a seat beside the speak-
ers Hon. Wm. McConnell and Mrs. Jesse
M. Gale, of Angola. There were about fif-,
teen hundred people present, and two grand
speeches were made. I could, however, take
little interest in them, for I felt the old gnaw-
ing at my soul, and the old burden upon my
mind.
When the speakers had concluded and the
audience was about to disperse, Mr. Hallenbeck
announced that I, at my own request, would
speak a few words. The people looked sur-
prised, and, as many were tired, I felt as if they
regarded me in the light of an interloper.
However, I hastened to the rostrum, anxious
not to delay the audience, and longing to un-
burden myself. When I faced the vast assem-
blage, I could nofe remember a word that I had
intended to say. However, I found language
I think God gave it to me and this is what
I said, as reported in the newspapers next day :
"A few months ago I stood upon this rostrum
and confessed that I was a drunkard. Now I
want to make another confession, which is, that
I am a great sinner. For the past ten days and
Converted Gambler. 195
nights I have not enjoyed one hour's natural
sleep, so deep is my conviction, and my burden
of sin is so great that I can live this way no
longer. So I have come to you for help. Oh!
I want to beg the Christian people of Fort
Wayne to pray for me, that I may find rest. I
have been praying all this time, but my prayers
are not answered. I have been constantly
reading my Bible, and the more I study it the
greater is my distress. In it I have found a
passage which troubles me greatly. It is this :
* For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, that every one may receive the
things done in the body, according to that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad.'
(2 Corinthians x: 5.) These words continu-
ally sounded in my ears, and led me to sum up
my case as it would be on the Last Great Day.
I wondered what good I had done in this
world, and tried to balance it against the evil,
but the latter sent it up to the beam ; the ac-
count would not balance. I consulted the
Revs. Stone, Moffatt, McKaig, McFarland and
others, and they kindly advised me. I told
them I was guilty, and I now plead guilty
before the Great Judge and these witnesses. I
am a poor, miserable sinner, but hope for God's
196 Mason Long:
mercy, and I feel that my dear sainted mother
is interceding in my behalf. "
When I sat down I was in tears, but I felt
greatly relieved. Many were weeping in the
audience ; for indeed the scene was an
affecting one. I, who had been a professional
gambler, saloon keeper, and drunkard ; who
had for years violated not only divine but
human laws ; who had been regarded by all as
a reckless, degraded character ; who had run
the gauntlet of sin stood up before fifteen
hundred Christian people, and asked their
prayers for my salvation. The spectacle was
certainly an extraordinary one.
After my remarks, Dr. Stone was called upon
to pray for me. He said if there were others
who, like me, were seeking the way to Christ,
and desired to be remembered in the prayer,
they should stand up. All over the house
strong men rose to their feet, many in tears,
and the seal of conviction upon their faces. Dr.
Stone prayed for me and the other stricken
souls with an unction and fervor which were
wonderful.
The prayer was a marvel and every word of
it sank deep into my heart. It was a thrilling
and powerful appeal for mercy, and I shall re-
Converted Gambler. 197
member it to my dying day. I believe God
heard and answered it.
I returned to my room, fell on my knees and
implored God to hear me in my distress. Then
I retired and laid awake, thinking of the same
old subject until two o'clock, when I arose,
turned on the gas, and looked about me. I
stepped into the club room and looked at the
gambling tables, the sideboard, and all the ap-
purtenances, and then asked myself, "Why
should God forgive me while I remain in this
place, where I have never done aught but sin
against Him." Gambling was my favorite vice,
and I had never yet determined to abandon it.
But then a sudden resolution was formed; I
took one last look at the gambling room, at the
faro table, where I had played so often at the
sideboard from which I had repeatedly dealt out
whisky to my fellow men and then quit the
place forever. It was then and there that I
made the complete surrender to Christ as
every one must do, who desires to be saved.
I went to a hotel, took a room, and again
sought my Maker. In less than an hour I felt
that the blessing had come which I had striven
for so long. I went to bed and the pillow was
soon wet with tears which were streaming from
198 Mason Liy:
my ej'es tears, not of sorrow and remorse, but
of joy and gladness. I at once fell asleep and
enjoyed unbroken slumber. The next morning
I awoke with a light heart. The sun was
shining brightly into my room and it seemed
as if I had never seen such a beautiful morning
before. I looked out of the window and saw a
clear, cloudless sky, a fit image of the condi-
tion of my soul after so many days of anguish
and torture.
I hurried from the room to tell my Christian
friends that their prayers had been answered,
and the verdict had come. I was so happy that
I wanted all the world to share my joy.
I had at last found peace, and truly it was the
peace that passeth all understanding. I was
hopeful of a bright future and an eternity of
bliss. None who have not passed through the
same blessed experience that I have, can real-
ize what a great change there was in my life
and feelings, and thoughts. I found a new
charm in living, a new beauty in nature, a new
light in the world. I was cheerful and was
greeted with an encouraging smile by all who
met me. I consecrated myself to Christ and
solemnly vowed to devote Hie remainder of my
Converted Gambler. 199
life to His service. I now bless God every day
and every hour for His infinite mercy and good-
ness to me. I am striving constantly to bring
other wandering souls to Him, that they may,
like me, find peace in believing.
200 Mason Long:
CHAPTER X.
MY TOBACCO EXPERIENCE-THE TWIN EVIL-HOW I WAS
CUBED.
I can not bring this volume to a close with-
out a word on my experience with tobacco, an
evil that is proven by the shattered nervous
systems, stunted bodies, dwarfed intellects and
pale faces seen on every hand, to be second
only in its insidious ruinations of mind and
health, and drain upon the purse, to whisky it-
self.
In 1862, as related in Chapter II., I left the
farm and enlisted in the United States Army.
Up to this time I had never tasted tobacco.
The idleness of camp soon led me to playing
cards, and nine men out of every ten that play
cards chew tobacco, consequently the "plug"
(for that was the kind the soldiers used) was
constantly being passed around, and just here
is another of the strong proofs to me that asso-
ciation has everything to do with a man's every
day walk in life. Not many weeks had rolled
around until I had tasted it, as the free hearted
Converted Gambler. 201
soldier boys were constantly offering it to me.
Like every other new beginner, it made me
very sick. I soon got over that, and then I
fondly imagined I loved the smell of the plug.
I would pick it up and smell of it again and
again. In less than three months I could chew
tobacco with the oldest of them. Not long
after I commenced smoking, and in a short time
became an inveterate smoker. At the close of
the war I returned to my old home with all the
vices of the camp, except drinking. At this
time I valued a five-dollar bill as a mere trifle,
and many a day my cigar bill would amount to
from two to five dollars. I had, like all gam-
blers, made the money easy, and did not value
it as I should had it been gained by hard
labor.
While in the grocery and provision business
I had sold the " weed," and I am sure that the
tobacco and cigars I constantly' took from the
show case and shelves for my own use absorbed
more than all the profits. But the vice had
hold of me, and I was too weak to resist, and
I closed out the grocery by request (of the
sheriff). Here I first commenced to realize
the real cost of the use of tobacco. I had no
means of support, and I loved tobacco and
202 Mason Long:
cigars just as well as when I had thousands of
dollars at ray command. It was entirely out of
the question for me to do without it. I was
fast becoming a slave to strong drink and the
two vices go together. I have never, in all my
experience, known but one man that drank
whisky to excess but what used tobacco, while
there are very many who chew tobacco that do
not drink. There is not a vice that flesh is heir
to but what will cling to intemperance. The
only remedy sad experience has taught is to
keep out of the way of temptation. This pe-
riod was the first in my life that I was forced
to ask for credit in order to indulge my appe-
tite for tobacco. I made all kinds of promises
to the tobacconist, and kept none of them. My
will and intentions were good enough, but I
had no income, and I loved to smoke just as
well as when I had plenty of money. Before
I was aware of it I was in debt fifty dollars for
tobacco, and could get trusted for no more.
But the appetite that was within me was fierce,
and drove me to another store. I was now
having a nice time, sitting around on store
boxes, spitting tobacco juice across the side-
walk, and insulting every respectable woman
that came along. The effect of the tobacco
Converted Gambler. 203
made me stupid. I would sit for days and days
in idleness, without energy enough to go to
my meals. I had sense enough left, how-
ever, to know that a life of this kind would
not do. I went then into the saloon business,
and having the " weed" again at my command
in any quantities, would smoke from five to
thirty cigars a day. I connected a gambling
room with the saloon, where I spent a great
deal of my time, and could never be found
without a cigar or a chew of tobacco in my
mouth. I have been in the gambling room for
forty-eight hours without sleep, and the con-
stant use of tobacco at such times utterly im-
paired my memory. .
After I reformed I soon found out that I
could not spare the money that my cigar bill
would amount to. People are not willing to
pay a man for preaching good morals and have
him spend a dollar or two a day indulging the
vice of tobacco. I went into the State of
Michigan to work one hundred nights under
the auspices of the Women's Christian Tem-
perance Union, and soon found out that they
did not indorse any one that used tobacco. At
this time it seemed that the strength of all the
vices I had ever had centered on this tobacco
204: Mason Long:
habit, and for an excuse to use it I have fre-
quently bought a newspaper just at bedtime,
and then sat up and read it as an excuse to
chew. We have many young men in the cities
and small towns to-day that receive thirty dol-
lars a month and more for their labor, and they
wear old clothes and go shabby simply because
of the excessive use of tobacco. To show the
reader that it is a vice, and one hard to quit, I
will give my experience in quitting it, for of
all the vices that ever had a hold on me, the
tobacco habit was the worst.
After speaking to an audience of one thous-
and people at Grand Rapids, Michigan, I was
comfortably seated in the office of the Rathburn
House, when a reformed man entered, saying,
" Long, we had ought to be clean men."
"What do you mean, sir ? " I replied. "I am
trying to be a clean man."
** That don't look well," he rejoined, point-
ing to a spittoon I had pulled up to my chair
for use while enjoying a large cud of plug to-
bacco. I wanted to reply about not giving it
up and use the word " can't," but I knew that
did not belong to the word reform, so I became
anxious to change the subject, but he would
not hear to it, and began to reason with me
Converted Gambler. 205
like this: "Do you believe in the story of
Christ, and do you think he ever convinced a
sinner that he was the Son of God by chewing
tobacco and spitting the juice around them ? "
This argument was too strong for me to bear,
so I excused myself and went up to my room.
I believe in prayers, and as I retired I asked
God to help me with this vice, when the
thought came to me that God would help no
one that could help themselves, and there I
was on bended knee, with a big plug of tobacco
in my pocket. I gave it a thought for a single
moment, then rising, lifted the window and out
went the plug, and I have never taken a chew
from that day to this, and by the help of Al
mighty God, I never will again. But every
day for seventeen days I was in a state of teis
rible unrest and craving. I wanted something,
and would chew the ends of matches, and eve-
ry thing I could think of, but nothing would
give me relief. On the seventeenth day I went
to bed with a burning fever, and every bone in
my body ached. This was at Ionia, Michigan,
where I was holding a meeting, and in the even-
ing the committee called, saying the church was
crowded to hear me speak, and that no one
could satisfy their curiosity but me. T told
206 Mason Long:
them my condition. " But we will get you
medicine ; what do you want ?" they asked in
chorus. I thought a moment and frankly told
them that a chew of tobacco would cure every
ache in my body. In an instant all three of
my callers had handed me a box or a plug of
the fragrant "weed." I told them to keep it
that I should never chew again. I went to the
church and made a speech as best I could, and
then telegraphed my secretary to cancel all my
engagements, as I was coming home sick. My
nerves were all unstrung, and the doctor told
me to rest at least an entire week, and take a
thorough course of treatment, and I took his
advice, and placed myself under his care.
During that time he gave me two Turkish
baths, and the blankets that I was rolled up in
during the sweating process were as yellow as
saffron. This, the doctor said, was caused by
nothing but the tobacco juice oozing out of my
system. Now this satisfies me that I am a
cleaner man than I was. If you think I am
fanatical on this question, why I can cite you
to two cases where " boys" have smoked them-
selves into the penitentiary, and vices of this
kind do not take hold of the sluggard or the
dull boy, but generally the very brightest boy
Converted Gambler. 207
" in the class," as I shall show the reader. One
boy was a book-keeper, getting nine dollars per
week, and handling thousands of dollars of his
employer's money, but his every day associates
were of the "fast" young men of the town,
and in order to keep up with them he would
have to " treat" whenever it came his turn.
He, nor did all his associates, drink, they were
perhaps too respectable for that, but they all
smoked. His cigar bill amounted to six dollars
a week, and the boy could not live on three,
and from that time on he was living beyond his
means, and this is just where men always stand
on dangerous ground. He commenced making
false entries, and to show how thoroughly he
understood his business, and how bright he was
in a business way, he carried these false entries
from one ledger to another for three years,
when he was arrested for embezzlement, and
was a defaulter in the sum of thirty-six hund-
red dollars. During the trial the court-room
was crowded with his comrades, and when the
end came, and the judge was ready to pro-
nounce the sentence of three years in prison at
hard labor, and asked the usual question if he
had any thing to say, he stepped down from
the prisoner's dock, and said : " Boys, there it
208 Mason Long:
not a thief 's hair in my head. I never expected
to steal a dollar in my life; (pointing over to a
tobacconist) he got the first ten dollars I ever
took, and the last one. Now I understand my
position in life as well as you can tell me. I
will go and work out my sentence, and when I
return I will be no associate of yours." And
as the sheriff led him out of the court-room
many a boy threw away his stump of a cigar
and has never smoked since.
I can remember the time, young men, when
credentials from some prominent citizen of your
town would help you to a situation, but that
time is past. Your every day walk is your best
introduction now. You go to the city looking
for a situation with the very best men's names
to your letters that live in your county, and
you walk into a first class business house with
a stub of a cigar in your mouth, a chew of to-
bacco or an old stinking pipe, and pretty gen-
erally you will have to go back home without a
situation. I am glad it is this way, for this
gives reformed men a chance, and should be
most encouraging to those that have been pun-
ished with the tobacco curse.
I know of clerks that think nothing of tak-
ing ten cents out of their employer's money
Converted Gambler. 209
drawer and going next door to buy a cigar,,
yet at the same time you could not hire them
to steal ten cents they do not seem to realize
that it amounts to the same thing with the pro-
prietor. I claim that vices like smoking have
forced many a boy to live beyond his income,
and finally " fetch up " a thief. We have a
case of this kind in my next subject. This boy
had a good situation in a post-office. His love
for tobacco was so great that it forced him to
take the small end of a pen-holder and open
registered letters, take out the contents, seal up
the letter and send it on to its destination.
The government soon found there was a leak,
but so skillfully was the thieving done, that no
clue could for a long time be found. Detect-
ives were sent in from every quarter, who
shadowed every one of the seven clerks, and
cut peep-holes in the ceiling, through which
they could look down and see everything going
on below. It was not the dull boy at work,
for months had rolled round and he could not
be detected. Decoy letters, one after another,
passed through the office to no purpose. But
finally he opened one of the decoys, took the
money it contained and hastened over to a ci-
gar store, followed by the detective, and while
O 9*
210 Mason Long:
in the act of paying for cigars with one of the
marked bills the decoy letter had contained,
was arrested, the officer remarking, " I will
pay for these cigars ; give me that bill, and,
young man, I will take you for my pay." " I
know what it is for," said the boy. " How
much am I short ?" "Over sixteen hundred
dollars," said the detective. "I never took
half of that," said the now pale and cowering
boy. In a few minutes the officer confronted
him with overwhelming proofs of his guilt and
he wrote out a full confession, and, under prom-
ises from the detective that his sentence would
be lighter, the boy's father and relatives refund-
ed the whole amount. He was sentenced to a
short term of two years in the State Prison,
and had been there but a short time when he
wrote home to one of his comrades that he had
not only smoked himself into the State Prison,
but he had sent his poor old father down to the
grave without a dollar and broken-hearted.
Who would ever think that such a little vice
as smoking appears to be could lead to this !
My advice to all boys is to never take the first
chew or bite the end off the first cigar ; for of
all the vices that flesh is heir to, none punished
me more than the tobacco habit did when I
Converted OambUr. Sll
had to quit it. I claim there is not a man on
this earth but can quit it if he will only use the
will power that Almighty God has given him.
Finally, smoking is a very expensive habit ; it
cost me at least one dollar for every day that I
smoked. This finally muddled my brain so
that the slightest task on my memory could
not be performed. I would commit a verse to
memory and smoke a cigar and I could not re-
call a word of it. It has now been more than
four years since I have smoked a cigar, and I do
not believe that a man who has been an invet-
erate smoker can ever forget it. To this day
when I see a man bite the end off a good cigar
my mouth waters, and 1 just spit and walk on.
2U Mason Long:
CHAPTER XI.
MY ADMISSION INTO THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF
FORT WAYNE-IMMERSION IN THE PRESENCE OF A
VAST AUDIENCE-PRESS REPORTS OF THE CEREMONY.
It is utterly impossible for me to describe the
vast change that had taken place in me since my
conversion. My entire being seemed to have
undergone a transformation, and my life, feel-
ings, thoughts, impulses, and ambitions had been
completely altered. I no longer felt the slight-
est desire to tread the paths I had so long
traveled ; the so-called pleasures of this world
had lost all their charms for me. My only
desire was to do that which should be pleasing
in the sight of the Lord and bring down upon
me His blessings, and approval.
The question of identifying myself with some
church, early presented itself to my mind, and
I deliberated over it carefully. I felt deeply
my own unworthiness, and it seemed to me that
it would involve an undue degree of assurance
for me to present myself as a candidate for pub-
lic admission into the ranks of God's professed
disciples. In so doing I would take upon myself
Converted Gambler. 213
vows, the force and sacredness of which I fully
recognized. What church, thought I, will care
to welcome me to its folds, until I bring forth
" fruits meet for repentance," and prove by my
daily life and conversation, that I am entirely
sincere in my professions, and earnest in my
declared intentions of leading a purer and
nobler life ? What church will have confidence
enough in me to take the risk of my future being
such as, not only to honor myself, but to not
cast a stigma upon its name, and bring reproach
upon the cause of our Blessed Master ? These
doubts were continually arising and I remained
undecided for some time as to what course to
pursue.
On the other hand 1 felt a strong yearning
to enroll my name upon the books of some
congregation, and become entirely affiliated
with God's people. I longed to sit at the
communion table, and in company with old
followers of the Cross partake of the blessed
sacrament which the Savior ordained. I felt
that if I obtained a recognized place in the
Christian community, I could enjoy the mani-
fold blessings of religion, as I could never do
if I remained outside the pale of the church,
and I finally determined despite the doubt*
<14 Mason Long:
to which I have referred and to whieh I gav6
full weight to apply for admission to the
membership of some religious organization.
This conclusion was only arrived at after
repeated consultations with my trusted and
beloved spiritual adviser, Dr. Stone. He advised
me to join some church promptly, believing it
to be not only my duty, but a glorious privilege
of which I should not hesitate to avail myself.
The serious step I had resolved upon for I
.fully comprehended its solemnity and import-
ance was taken with prayerful deliberation
and earnest reflection. I realized that there were
hundreds of eyes upon me ; that I was made
the subject of much unfriendly comment, carp-
ing criticism, and unfavorable prediction ; and
that I must act with due circumspection and
discretion. I studied my Bible with great care,
and aimed to inform myself as to the duties and
obligations of a professing Christian, in order
to make sure that I could faithfully discharge
them. I was also in doubt as to what denomi-
nation I should select, until I had read the
third chapter of St. Matthew and the first
chapter of St. Mark, including the following
passages :
"And it came to pass in tho day*
Converted Gambler. 215
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and wa
baptized of John in Jordan.
"And straightway coming up out of the
water, He saw the heavens opened, and the
Spirit like a dove descending upon Him.
"And there came a voice from the heavens
saying, ' Thou art my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased.' " MARK i : 9. 10, 11.
Besides I found the Apostle Paul in his Epistle
to the Romans (ch. vi : 4) speaking of baptism
as " a burial with Christ into death," and a
" rising with Him" to newness of life and this
seemed to settle the question as to what the
ordinance was, in those days, as to its outward
form.
These passages left no doubt in my mind as
to the course I should pursue. I decided to
unite with the Baptist Church, believing that
as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, had
been baptized in the river Jordan, and had
thereby called out a blessing from heaven, His
disciple could not do better than to follow in
His footsteps. I think that Jesus, by under-
going immersion exhibited a preference for that
form of baptism, and that He is well pleased
when His followers imitate His example in this
as in other respects. I believe that were He on
216 Mason Long:
earth to-day, He would be a Baptist; and
although that is my conviction, I have the deep-
est love and sympathy with professing Christians
of all denominations, and am ready at all times
to extend the right hand of fellowship to every
human being, who may be striving, under any
name, to advance the cause of righteousness and
bring men to a saving knowledge of the gospel
of Christ Jesus.
I communicated to Dr. Stone my desire to
unite with his church (the First Baptist), at
which he seemed highly gratified, although he
said he desired me to act solely upon my own
free will and my conviction of right and duty,
and not through any partiality toward him or
by reason of any undue influence he might
possess over me. I satisfied him that my desire
was the result of study and reflection, and on
Friday evening, January 4, 1878, I offered
myself as a candidate for Christian baptism and
membership in the First Baptist Church of
Fort Wayne at their regular covenant meeting.
I related my Christian experience, told how
I had been led, as I firmly believed, by the
Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ
as my Savior; how the change of heart for
which I had prayed came to me in the night,
Converted Gambler. 217
only after I had made a complete surren-
der of my worldly vices, and bade farewell to
the gambling table forever ; how I had drawn
the bolt of the door of my soul, where the Mas-
ter had been rapping for admission so many
years but in vain ; how with the change of heart
had come the feeling of peace and rest to which
I had ever been a stranger, and how I had new
and warm impulses of kindness and compassion
for my fellow men to whose salvation I had
vowed to devote the remainder of my life.
After these remarks, I was requested to
retire, and in a few moments my pastor joined
me and told me I had been unanimously chosen
to membership.
Nine or ten days elapsed before my immer-
sion. Several unauthorized announcements of
the ceremony appeared in the daily papers,
which had the effect of filling the church on
each occasion. It was hardly necessary to say
that the publications were not made for this
purpose, as falsely claimed b^ some. The
eventful evening finally came, and the cere-
mony was performed in the presence of a vast
assemblage. I append extracts from the ac-
counts printed in two of the daily papers of
Fort Wayne.
xo
218 Mason Long:
[From The News, Jan. 14, 1878.]
" BTTEIED IN BAPTISM. MASOU LONG TAKES
UPON HIMSELF A NEW LIFE.
" Last evening, long before the usual hours
for service, the First Baptist Church on West
Jefferson street was thronged with an earnest
and interested assemblage, that had come to-
gether to witness the solemn ordinances of
baptism. The candidates consisted of one lady
and three gentlemen, among the latter, Mr.
Mason Long, so well and favorably known as
one of the best hearted and most generous men
in the community, who has lately turned from
a life of pure and unadulterated cussedness to a
higher and nobler existence, and whose sincere
and honest profession can not but be fruitful
of lasting good in the community. Mr.
Long's example may safely be imitated by
hundreds of his former companions in worldly
life and pleasures. His address to the congre-
gation was a manly confession of a stricken and
contrite heart, and his words sank deep into
the souls of the immense assemblage. Moist-
ened eyes, many of them unused to weeping,
were observed on all sides, and silent prayers
from hundreds of sympathetic hearts were sent
Converted Gambler. 219
upward for the new converts' continued faith
and final glorious exchange of the church
militant for the church triumphant. The re-
marks of Rev. Dr. Stone were peculiarly appro-
priate to the occasion, his welcome to the can-
didates was cordial; and the impression made
upon the vast audience was deeply impressive."
[From the Sentinel, same day.]
" BORN AGAIN THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM
ADMINISTERED TO MASON LONG AND
OTHERS LAST EVENING.
"The Sentinel, on Saturday last, having
given notice that the rite of Baptism would be
administered last evening at the First Baptist
Church, a large congregation greeted the can-
didates ; in fact as early as seven o'clock, the
large auditorium of this beautiful church was
filled, and every foot of available standing room
was crowded. The sensation of the hour was
the baptism of the well-known temperance ora-
tor, Mr. Mason Long, who ;e remarkable con-
version from a life of more concentrated cussed-
fcees to the square foot, than perhaps any other
member of the community, to an entirely new,
and, it is to be hoped, holier existence, has
caused such a profound sensation. That hit
220 . Mason Long:
changed life and his concomitant professions
are sincere, no real friend and well wisher hesi-
tates to believe ; the skeptical are found in the
ranks of those who miss his presence and pat-
ronage, and remember him as their former friend
and boon companion. Mr. Long connected him-
self with the temperance movement last August,
and, having thus evinced a desire to reform, be-
came the subject of much solicitude and the tar-
get of many heartfelt invocations to God, that
he might be endowed with strength and cour-
age to overcome the habits that seemed to have
completely, and it was feared irrevocably, fas-
tened upon him. Kind counsels, Christian
arguments prevailed ; and from good to better
Mace has gone on until he finds himself within
the folds of a Christian Church, with vows reg-
istered aloft to well and truly live so that when
he is called to exchange worlds he can die in
full hopes of a blessed immortality.
"After the usual preliminary services, the
Rev. J. R. Stone, pastor, called upon Mr. Long
to say a few words, that the immense auditory
could see that he understood the ordinance so
soon to be administered, and that he had, after
much prayerful meditation and mature delibera-
tion, voluntarily accepted it with all its kindred
Converted Gambltr. 221
obligations. The assemblage was hushed to
complete silence as he spoke the following words:
** * How thankful I am that I have been
spared to help make this scene. I am thank-
ful that I can stand before you and claim Christ
as my Savior. Only a few months ago I came
to this house with a bleeding heart, and with
tears of remorse and sorrow for my past wicked
life. I listened to a sermon, every word of
which seemed especially intended for me, and
I eagerly drank in the sweet music, which
made my heart beat as it never had before.
After the service one of the Sabbath-school
scholars of the church came to me with a Bible,
with many passages marked for me as my les-
son ; why she gave me this book God only
knows. I went to my room and studied my
lesson. I was convicted and one month there-
after went to the Rink, stood up before hun-
dreds of people, confessed my sins, and asked
God to forgive them. Then I went to my room
seeking rest, but found none. Looking at the
gambling apparatus for the last time, I left the
room at two o'clock at night, went to a hotel,
and found rest.
" ' I again asked God's forgiveness, and then
recalled the promise to my dying mother, that
822 Mason Long:
I would be a good boy and meet her in heaven.
How well I remember her last words, " God
have mercy on my boy." Those are sweet
words to me, and I am very thankful that they
are yet fresh in my memory. I have one request
to make of the Christian people ; that is, to pray
for me earnestly, as I go down into the pool,
that the dark past may be. washed away forever,
and that I may come up praising the Lord for-
ever and forever.
" ' May I say one word to my pastor : You
have watched over me for years. I have
shunned you time and again. When under the
influence of liquor I have frequently met you
in the streets, when my guilty conscience would
drive me into an alley or saloon, where I knew
you would not follow, and for this I now a^k
your forgiveness. I have prayed for God to
allow you to remain with us for many years to
come, as our pastor, and should it be your lot
to be called from us, when you are standing
with the angels above you will not forget your
little flock on earth.'
"There were few dry eyes among the audience
upon the conclusion of the address, which was
delivered in a feeling manner that appealed
directly to the consciences of all present."
I have never regretted for one moment the
Converted GwmUer. 223
step I took upon that memorable evening. As
I emerged from the pool, I felt all my good
purposes strengthened and my determination
never to bring dishonor or disgrace upon the
cause of Christ was more fixed than ever. The
solemn and beautiful rite of baptism seemed to
bring a blessing with it, and to inspire me with
new courage and increased confidence, in the
great conflict I had undertaken. I have suc-
ceeded in fulfilling my solemn pledges, and in
leading a consistent, upright,Christian life. I have
prayerfully sought by word and action, to glo-
rify the Lord, who hath done such great things
for me, and I believe that by His blessing, I
have been the humble instrument of accom-
plishing some good. I am ready and willing to
do whatsoever my hands can find, and I esteem
it an especial comfort and privilege that I am
able to labor in the Lord's vineyard. I feel
deeply my own unworthiness, but have an
abiding faith in the grace of God, that it will
remain with me to the end. I am active in the
church, and in the temperance cause, and my
only regret is that it is not in my power to do
all that I would like to, bringing perishing
aouls to a knowledge of Christ Jesus, and
inducing poor sinful human beings to embrace
the glorious salvation which is free to all
224 Mason Long:
TESTIMONIALS FROM CLERGYMEN.
From Rev. J. R. Stone, D.D., Pastor First
Baptist Church, Fort Wayne, Ind.
FORT WAYNE, July 5, 1878.
TO WHOMSOEVER THIS MAT COME :
This is to Certify, That Mr. Mason Long is a
member of the First Baptist Church, Fort
Wayne, Indiana, in good and regular standing,
and that he has the full confidence and fellow-
ship of our entire membership. We regard him
as a truly reformed, honest, worthy man, and
a sincere Christian, as he is also an earnest,
effective worker in the temperance cause. As
such we recommend him. J. R. STONE,
Pastor First Baptist Church.
From Rev. Samuel Haskell, D.D., Pastor First
Baptist Church, Ann Arbor.
ANN ARBOR, May 30, 1878.
MR. MASON LONG My Dear Brother:
Absence from home, and illness, have pre-
Converted Gambler. 225
vented my writing sooner, to say what I have
desired to, since your labors in our city and
vicinity. It is due to you, and to the cause at
large, that we bear our testimony to the excel-
lent effect of your addresses, and personal
bearing among us. While all Christian people
have taken you to their hearts in liveliest sym-
pathy, and continued prayerful remembrance,
many others, who had distrusted or feared the
Christian element in our reform, have been
brought to a wiser thoughtfulness. If an
experience of the religion of Christ can do
that of which you are a witness, hardened and
prejudiced men must feel that they should
think again before rejecting it, or disavowing
its power in recovering the lost.
May God keep and strengthen you, making
you a still brighter and everlasting "epistle
written in the heart, known and read of all
men."
Your audience here was the best of any
weekly assembly which our year of remarkable
meetings and eminent speakers had witnessed.
Most sincerely yours,
SAMUEL HASKELL.
P
236 Mason Long:
From Rev. ff. A. G-olin, D.D., Pastor First
Methodist Church, Lafayette, Ind.
LAFAYETTE, May 13,
MB. MACE LONG Dear Brother : I was not
permitted to hear you on your former visit to
Lafayette, but as I listened to you last night, I
was not surprised at the wonderful sensation
and blessed influence pervading our city on the
occasion of your first address in our temperance
meetings. The recital of your experience is
one of the most pathetic and satisfying testi-
monies to the value of Christianity that I ever
heard. May God bless you, my brother. You
ought to spend your whole time in telling the
story of your eventful life. Your zeal in sin
almost ruined you, but your zeal in righteous-
ness will not only bless your own heart, but by
the blessing of God you can save thousands
from the gulf of misery to which you were,
hastening.
Several of our most intelligent citizens have
remarked to me that your address was the most
impressive appeal for temperance and religion
they ever heard. For years and years you will
be gratefully remembered in Lafayette. May
you never do a thing to cast a shadow on our
Cmverted Gambler. 227
esteem and love for you. We all say, may God
bless Mace Long. Cordially your brother,
H. A. GOBIN.
From Rev. Robert MacKemie, D.D., Pastor First
Presbyterian Church, Lafayette, Indiana.
LAFAYETTE, April 30, 1878.
MASON LONG, ESQ. My Christian Brother :
Let me assure you of the great good your
words have done in our midst in awakening
more of the spirit of the gospel in our temper-
ance work in Lafayette. All the workers have
been encouraged and refreshed by your visit.
As for myself I can only repeat words I said to
my congregation on the subject, " I have sat
at the feet of seven professors for seven years,
to fit myself to stand in the pulpit, but in the
experiences of the human heart, in the spirit
necessary to reach those who have wandered
far from God, in the subduing, sweetening influ-
ence of the gospel upon such hearts, I learned
something from the related experience of Mace
Long which I never learned from a professor,
and which has greatly helped me to follow the
Master in saving the outcast and the prodigal.
And he was all the better teacher because he
228 Mason Lvng:
*
did not know he was instructing us who sat at
his back on the platform."
May God bless you, my brother, and keep
you humble and near the Cross. May God
bless the Blue Ribbon movement that caught
you in your downward way. Be faithful to the
end if only for the dear mother's sake whose
last pulse was a prayer for her boy.
Yours in Christian temperance,
ROBERT MACKENZIE.
Converted Gambler. 229
CHAPTER XII.
A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER WRITTEN BY MY PASTOR, AT
MY REQUEST.
My acquaintance with Mr. Long began in
1869. I had noticed in my congregation, soon
after entering upon my pastorate in Fort Wayne,
a gentleman of pleasing countenance and gen-
teel appearance, who seemed to be a stranger
to my people, and yet not a little interested in
the services. He came again and again. I soon
learned that he was known in town as "a sport-
ing man,"and was a skillful manipulator of cards,
and regarded as a lucky, plucky, jolly good fel-
low. I would sometimes miss him from church
for awhile, and was told that he was away on
business; perhaps at "the Races," which he
followed from New Orleans to Saratoga ; or at
some county or State fair, plying his " profes-
sion ;" but if in the city, which he called his
home and made his headquarters, he was pretty
sure to be in our assembly, and apparently an
attentive listener. I used to wonder at this,
and on day I sought an interview with him,
230 Mason Long:
that I might become acquainted with him more
fully, and perhaps urge upon him personally,
the claims of religion, reach his conscience,
win his confidence, and, by the grace of God,
bring him to Christ. He seemed a little sur-
prised, at first, by my language and manner,
but at once met me courteously, with cheerful
good nature, and gentlemanly frankness. Upon
my seeking, without undue abruptness, and as
pleasantly, yet as faithfully as I could, to reach
his heart and his conscience, I found him in-
trenched behind his notions of morality and
personal honesty, his ideas of manliness and the
proprieties of business, his natural good nature
and kindly disposition toward the poor, the
unfortunate and the suffering, and his cheerful
readiness to help the needy and the distressed
wherever he might see them, and I subsequent-
ly learned that his claims to be "a square deal-
er," and " honorable" in all his professional
ways, high-minded and gentlemanly, according
to the code of fast and worldly men, were very
generally accorded to him by . his associates
and acquaintances. Nor were his frequent and
habitual kindnesses to persons in distress un-
known or questioned. He was proverbially
good-natured, kind-hearted and generous, and
Converted Gambler. 231
his word of honor was, up to this time, undis-
puted. He had just before failed in business,
yet scarcely one of liis creditors ever doubted his
honesty of purpose or heart. I learned, also,
afterward, that he could, at almost any time,
even when " dead broke," at the Races or at
home, borrow any sums he asked, upon his own
word of honor. He was in many respects an
exceptional person and character. It was there-
fore not altogether vain boasting, as a man
among men, when he put himself behind such
intrenchments that he might seek to escape or
parry the force of my friendly but earnest and
faithful attack. He listened, however, upon
the occasion I am speaking of, to my kindly
words, and to my attempted presentation of the
claims of religion, the demands of Heaven's
highest laws, and " the chief end of man," and
as I spoke to him of the noblest possible living,
the awards of the " Great Day," and the Har-
vests of Eternity ! The interview was brief,
and my subsequent recollections of it far from
satisfactory, but it served a double purpose
it gave me fuller insight and better knowledge
of human nature in some of its more unprom-
ising aspects and surroundings, so that I learned
how better to reach gay and sportive young
232 Mason Long:
men, and it evidently attached Mr. Long to me
by a cord that has never since been altogether
severed. True, it afterward sank out of sight
for a long time, as a whaleman's harpoon-line
may sometimes run down and disappear, many
fathoms deep, and seem for a long time to be
clean gone and lost ; but patient waiting, care-
ful watching and rowing about, as on deep-sea
fishing grounds, have not been, even in this in-
stance, labor in vain.
After a while Mr. Long opened a saloon for
billiards and " liquor samples," in connection
with his private parlors and card tables, where
one could count the leopard " spots" and try
his hand with " the tiger," amid gorgeous sur-
roundings and trappings, in gay and sportive
halls. This enlargement of his business, and
especially its new features, produced their in-
evitable corresponding results upon his own
nature, character and outward appearances, and
served so to stifle or strangle the voice of con-
science so to paralyze his. better nature and
kill down to the ground its upspringing shoots
so compelled him to shut his eyes and close
his ears, and rush on, blindly, madly, in his sin-
ful and godless career, that from this time he
ceased coming to the house of God altogether.
Converted Gambler. 233
Indeed, he determinedly turned away from the
Light, " lest his deeds should be reproved."
Nor could I now reach him at all, unless I
were to go to his "den." From that I was
deterred and kept back, perhaps unwisely, be-
cause it seemed to promise, not only an unwel-
come reception, but a scattering and loss of
pearls that might but serve to provoke the tiger
to fiercer rage. Besides, Mr. Long evidently
avoided meeting me ; he shunned me when he
could, lest, as he has since told me, I should
talk to him of other and better things and ways
than those he was then resolved upon pursuing,
and should faithfully warn him of " the wrath
to come ! "
Thus, conscience makes cowards of us all.
Three or four years thus passed away, and
Mr. Long was making for himself a sad and
sorrowful record for habits of " sporting," gam-
bling, dissipation, dissoluteness, deeper, grosser,
lower. He won and he lost ; he recovered and
he broke down, again and again. His money
losses were rapidly regained, yet often squan-
dered in a week. His " bank" would often be
quickly and largely flushed after a long and
hard run, and soon he would find himself "dead
xo*
234 Mason Long:
broke." But all the while he was approaching
complete bankruptcy o^ character, of manli-
ness, of personal worth and of hope, even.
His ventures were all afloat, on a stormy sea,
amid sunken rocks and perilous shoals. The
breakers were ofttimes in sight, yet he would
shut his eyes. He would now and then hear
the dashing surf, the mad billows' roar, and,
above the din, above the thunder-crash, he
seemed to hear demon voices and fiendish yells,
and through his fast shut eyelids he could see
awful, terrible forms after him!
Thus, full of unrest and wretchedness, and
almost despairing of any thing better than
financial and social ruin, that stared him in the
face thinking little of the eternal future, and
caring less Mr. Long one evening found his
way into " the Rink," partly from curiosity, and
partly in hopes of finding " lots of fun." For
several months there had been, every night, in
this immense building, crowds of people drawn
together by earnest, zealous, effective workers
in the temperance cause. These meetings had
become the talk of the town, and scenes of won-
drous and mighty marvel were occurring night-
ly. Hopeless and death-marked sots, abandoned
and hitherto self-desponding, self-despairing
Converted Gambler. 235
men, not a few and many young men, fast,
gay, sportive, had been induced to sign " the
Murphy Pledge " and put on " the Blue Rib-
bon." That first, stealthy visit of Mr. Long to
the Rink, was for him most fortunate, as some
would say. It proved to be to him, as now we
see, the result of a divinely given impulse of
a heavenward-drawing force, as mighty as it was
gentle, and unrecognized at the time.
I saw him in the outer edge of the surging
throng, as if he were stirred by mingled emo-
tions of contempt, facetiousness, and rollicking
jollity.
The next night he was there again, and
several earnest workers sought to win his name
and influence for " the Murphy movement" and
reform. At first they were repelled, but their
zeal, their kindness of manner, their forceful
arguments, their persistent and importunate
appeals, and their trust in God, were soon
rewarded, and Mason Long donned the Blue Rib-
bon, and signed the Pledge, to the joy of a
thousand people ! The walls of the Rink rang
out jubilant echoes from full hearts and burst-
ing throats that night, and they sang
Ring the bells of heaven ! There is joy to day,
Fr a soul returning from the wild 1
236 Mason Long:
It awakened, also, in not a few hearts, the
long slumbering hope that this was but an
earnest of something better. It was regarded
the sure leverage for a still higher uplifting,
and a thorough radical change of life and of
character. Nor was this a strange thought to
Mr. Long himself ; for very shortly he ex-
pressed, not only privately, but publicly also,
the yearning of his innermost nature for some-
thing higher and better than he had ever
known, though he hardly knew or conceived of
even as yet the outlines of what his soul's long-
ings would have had built up within him, or for
him. It was somo time before his thoughts or
desires dropped out and fell away from his rul-
ing passion for tempting the wheel of fortune,
or trying the chances of the possible combina-
tions of luck and the future. As yet he saw no
inherent evil, no essential and'absolute wrong,
in gaming, if there were no fraud practiced, no
cheating, no dishonesty allowed ; and therefore
for awhile his plans of life were not essentially
onanged, though his business fell off very con-
siderably, in proportion as fast young men be-
came sober and abstemious and habitual fre-
quenters at the Rink, where the Gospel Tern-
Converted Gambler. 237
perance meetings were still nightly held with
great and growing enthusiasm.
At length, the utterances of the Rink speak-
ers, the earnest words and kindly appeals of
the temperance workers, some of them zealous
Christian ladies, and some of them young Chris-
tian converts from among the reformed men,
began to stir his heart, and recall the almost
long-forgotten prayers and entreaties of his
sainted mother, and the promises he made to
her upon her death-bed. And now, once more
he turned his feet into the house of God, where
years before he was accustomed to sit so often
of Sabbath mornings.
The sermon for the day was such as to arrest
his attention, and compel his careful listening.
It was blessed to the deepening of his religious
convictions, to the intensifying of his desires
for a nobler and a holy life, and to the heaven-
ward direction of his thoughts, his wishes, and
his prayerful yearnings of soul.
To all this, at the close of the public service,
added force and power was given by an unex-
pected and unlooked-for personal appeal, with
an opened Bible, marked for just such reading
as an awakened thoughtful sinner needs, to
make his apprehension of God's truth and of his
238 Mason Long:
own condition clearer, fuller, stronger, and inef-
faceable ; and to point out to him the only
ground of hope, the only way of escape from
death and perdition, the only method or plan,
or possibility, of salvation from the curse and
condemnation of sin ; as also from its bondage,
its power, its terrible and assured end ever-
lasting woe !
He was urged to read it for himself, and to
seek the pardoning, the renewing, the saving
grace of God, at once with all his heart, by
prayer and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was told that all his help was in God alone ;
that in Jesus the Savior of penitent sinners,
was all his hope ; and that the Bible was his
only safe, his only authoritative and infallible
guide, as the Holy Spirit should make it lumin-
ous to his apprehension ; and that the Divine
assurance is for all and " upon all them that be-
lieve," "to every one that believeth." These
earnest words were also specially blessed of God
to him.
That same night, or shortly after, an immense
throng at the Rink were astounded at Mr.
Long's open and full confession of exceeding
great sin fulness, in the sight of God, and in the
light and condemnation of his own quick-
Converted Gambler. 239
ened conscience ! His manner was intensely
earnest, and broken hearted. His agony of
soul was obviously deep and unutterable, as
he begged the prayers of Christian peo-
ple for the grace and pardoning mercy
of God toward him. Prayer, of course,
fervent and importunate, was offered at once,
and repeated at many a family and private
altar that night ; as also by himself, till mercy
came and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
filled his heart with peace and rest, and grate-
ful, joyous love ; and with the comfort in the
Holy Ghost !
In a few days he told us in the Rink, of the
relief that had come to his soul of the trust in
God, the prayerfulness and thankfulness of his
spirit of his new desires and thoughts and
purposes of heart, and, also, of his unreserved
consecration and devotement to the service of
God, and a new, a holy, a Christian life !
The crisis was passed, so far as we could see,
" the life hid with Christ in God," was for him
graciously begun. The language of his heart
was:
Here on Thy altar, Lord, I lay
My soul, my life, my all :
To follow where Thou lead'st the way ;
To obey Thy every call !
240 Mason Long:
This great change occurred in October last
nine or ten months ago. Since then Mr.
Long has maintained a consistent Christian life,
and continues to be an earnest, effective work-
er for the Temperance Cause, and for the up-
lifting and salvation of men from all sin and
the power of all evil. He is an esteemed member
of the First Baptist Church in Port Wayne,
having been " buried with Christ in baptism "
upon profession of his faith early in January
last. He has been ofttimes sorely tried by evil
reports and malicious stories circulated against
him, both abroad and at home, but he has
always sought to maintain, I believe, a good
conscience in the sight of God, and a consistent
walk among men, as an honest, sincere, Chris-
tian gentleman. He does not glory in his past
shrewdness, gaiety, follies, or wickedness, but
speaks of them, if at all, only to warn the
tempted and the unwary, and if possible to save
them from his sad experiences, and from his
former evil ways.
We hope for him in the future, the Divine
care, guidance, and grace ; that " God will work
in him both to will and to do of His good
pleasure ; " keeping him humble, faithful,
manly, godly ; and we pray, we expect of him
Converted Gambler. 241
and for him, all this : that the grace of God
may be magnified.
He feels that his reform, and his new course
in life, are the result and work of Divine grace
in Jesus Christ, through faith in Him. His as-
sured trust and abiding confidence that this
new life shall be a continuous career of sobri-
ety and virtue, of useful industry and worthi-
ness, of true manliness and godliness, is, as well
he says with all apparent sincerity, not
in his own strength of purpose and personal
might of will ; but in the help and power of
God, inwardlly strengthening him. His heart
seems to be fixed, and determined " to walk
henceforth in newness of life," (Romans vi :
7.) "yielding himself unto God, as one alive
from the dead ; and his members as instruments
of righteousness, unto God." The language of
one who called himself the chief of sinners,"
he makes his own and says : " By the grace of
G-od I am what I am."
"Not as though I had already attained;
either were already perfect ; but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I
tm pprheKde^ of Christ Jesus ! "
242 Mason Long:
I waste no more in idle dreams my life, my soul away ;
I wake to know my better self I wake to watch and pray;
Thought, feeling, time, on idojs vain I've lavished all too
long.
Henceforth to holier purposes I pledge myself, my song !
MASOM LOWO AT HIS MOTHIR'8 GRAYB.
Converted GatMer. 245
CHAPTER XIII.*
SPEECH DELIVERED BY MASON LONG IN THE OPERA HOUSE
AT LAFAYETTE. INDIANA, MAY 12, 1878.
" For we can not but speak that which we have seen and
heard." Acts, chapter iv, verse 20.
The wonderful efficacy of the gospel teraper-
aace work done in Fort Wayne, Ind., during
the last two years is admirably illustrated in
the case of Mason Long.
This energetic man is well known through-
out the length and breadth of the Wabash
Valley as having been, a few years ago, one of
the most noted gamblers in that region of
country.
His life has been a varied one, highly colored
with romance. It would be difficult to find
any where a man in whom the element of self-
hood is more visible. Left in early boyhood
without a relative or a friend in the world to
care for him, he was compelled to hew out his
own road as best he could. From the farm to
*This chapter is taken from the " Ribbon Workers," edited
by James M. Hiatt, Esq., and published by J. W. Goodspeed,
Chicago.
246 Mason Long:
the store ; from the store to the army ; from
the army back to merchandise ; thence to the
whisky saloon and the gambling hell, and from
there to the glorious field of moral reform, in
which he has proven himself one of the most
successful workers all the way along this
changeful line there is manifest a Divine
guardianship at every step and in every move-
ment.
Mr. Long is prominent in the Blue Ribbon
Association in Fort Wayne, Indiana an organ-
ization which comprises a membership of over
ten thousand at present.
The following speech, delivered by him in
the Opera House at Lafayette, before an im-
mense audience, on the evening of May 12,
1878, is here presented as his own account of
his career :
" LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I come not as
a speech-maker only as one who has a sad
story to tell of a once wrecked, but now re-
deemed life. I do not tell this that T am proud
of it. I want to show you where I stood a
few short months ago ; what I am doing to-
night, and my hopes for the future.
"A portion of this experience I love to
repeat. A portion of it is very dear to me.
Concerted Gambler. 247
Let the remainder be humiliating as it may, I
will repeat it, thinking I may arrest some one
on a mad and downward career. When I think
of my past life, it don't seem to me that it is
altogether my fault. I never had the oppor-
tunity of becoming a good man, as many of you
have -had. At the age of six, my father died,
and at the age of ten I was called to the bed-
side of my dying mother. There, with my
right hand placed upon her cold forehead, I
promised her that I would be a good man, and
that I would meet her in Heaven. Oh, how
many years have passed that I have neglected
that promise ! How many years have passed
since I saw that cold, pale face, and heard those
quivering lips uttering that prayer the prayer
with which she breathed out her precious life
the last words of which were : 'God have
mercy on my boy 1 '
"Then I was alone with my sacred dead,
and with nothing but a wide and wicked world
like this before me, without even a sister's
love. After my mother's death I became a
farmer's boy, in which capacity seven years of
my life were spent, as a white slave.
" I had no schooling, and no friends. After
leaving a farm I became a soldier; then a
248 Mason Long:
merchant ; then a drunken gambler ; then
last and worst of all a saloon-keeper.
"In 1862,1 enlisted in the army of the
United States. My command was ordered to
Lexington, Kentucky. There I saw my first
deck of cards, and, as many soldiers did, I soon
learned to play. And, to show you that I was
an apt scholar, in less than three years from
the time I learned to play I won eleven thou-
sand dollars. We had many hardships during
the three years' service. I was in thirteen
general engagements and sixty skirmishes, and
never got a scratch. At the second day's fight
at Nashville my brother was killed ; and the
only satisfaction I have is to know that he died
a brave, sober man.
"At the close of the war I came to Fort
Wayne, Indiana, and engaged in the grocery
and provision business, in which I did very
well until my health began to fail me. Then,
through a physician's prescription, I took my
first drink of whisky. It was given as a tonic.
And, to show you that I was an apt scholar,
again, in three weeks' time I could drink it out
of a jug; and in five years from that time I
was a poor, reeling drunkard on the streets of
Fort Wayne, without a dollar in the world.
Converted Gambler. 249
After that I rallied and opened a gambling
room, in which thousands of dollars would
change hands every month. Financially, I did
very well with the gambling room ; but, not
being satisfied, I opened a saloon in connec-
tion with it. I made a very fine place. I cov-
ered the floor with Brussels carpet, provided
the finest of billiard tables, with a bar and a
side-board that cost me five hundred dollars.
My pool tables were on the second floor. The
club room was in the rear. This house, in this
condition, netted me $8,000 in one year, and at
the end of the same year I had squandered the
whole of that amount and was fifteen hundred
dollars in debt all through drink and reck-
lessness.
" I have been a great lover of fast horses in
my time. In the Spring of the year I would
follow the trotters all over this country. I
have been very unlucky as a horse-shark.
I am satisfied that horse racing has cost me
$10,000. Since the war I have seen all the
principal races of this country. I saw Gold-
smith Maid make her best time. I saw the
great race at Cleveland, Ohio, in which the
famous trotting stallion, Smuggler, beat the
Maid. I went, the same Summer, to Saratoga,
250 Mason L<mg:
and saw the great steeple-chase race, in which
Osage, the famous American runner, fell and
broke his neck. They claim that half a million
of dollars changed hands in that race. On
those trips many funny incidents occurred.
I started, once, to Jackson, Michigan, to attend
the races, and got broke and left my baggage
for board at the hotel. I started out to go
through the entire circuit of the season's races,
and I was ashamed to go home the first week.
So, I got me a ninety-cent valise and took the
horse train for East Saginaw, Michigan. On
arriving I had no money with which to pay bus
fare ; so, I took it a foot to a hotel. On the
way I was caught in a shower. When I got to
the hotel, having, as I supposed, a respectable
showing of baggage, I started at once for the
register. As I neared the office counter the
landlord threw up both hands and exclaimed,
' I'm full !' I saw that he had his eyes on my
valise. I looked at it, and to my surprise 1
saw that it was a pasteboard affair, and that
the rain in which I had been caught,* had
melted one side of it down. All I had in it
was a pair of 'stand up' 'socks which I had
worn the week before, and which, on my enter-
ing the hotel office, had dropped out on the
Converted Gambler. 251
floor. I did not blame the hotel man for saying
he was full. I took in the situation at a
glance, and dropping my baggage, I told him
that I was full too, and left the house. From
East Saginaw I went to Detroit ; then to
Cleveland, O.; then to Buffalo and to Roch-
ester, N.Y. Going from the last named city to
Utica, N.Y., I was on a spree and was too tired
to get off the train. So I was carried on to
Albany, N.Y. Here the gong for breakfast
awoke me. I found one of my shoes in one
car, the other in another car, and an empty
whisky bottle in each shoe. I felt in my
pockets and found that I had no money. On
these sprees I would forget to eat for days and
days. That was the case en this one. I was
very hungry. So, I drifted into the large
dining-room and took a seat by the side of an
old Yankee. He asked me where I was from.
I told him I was from the West.
" * What are you doing down here ?' he
asked.
"'I am following the trotters around,' I re-
plied.
" ' Well, my boy, let me give you a piece of
advice. Look well to your money. This
country is flooded with thieves and pick-
252 Mason Long:
pockets ; and the first thing you know you
won't have a cent.'
" Let them come, I answered, ' they will
make a water-haul on me, for I hain't got a
cent.'
" By this time I had finished my breakfast.
Now, the great question was, how I should get
out. I went to the desk, picked up a tooth-
pick, and started out at the door. A big
fellow tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'A
dollar, please.' I turned and pointed to the
old gent with whom I had conversed at the
table, and said, * Father, over there, will settle.'
I have often wondered, since, how 'dad ' got
out, but I didn't stay to see, at that time, I
assure you.
" I went from Albany to Utica. I had a rail-
road letter that did not belong to me. I would
show this to the conductors. It read as
follows :
To BROTHER CONDUCTORS:
The bearer has been a hrakeman on my train for the past
two years. Any favors shown him will be appreciated by me.
Yours, etc.
" This letter would take very well. I never
had any trouble with it but once. That was
Converted Gambler. 253
on the Central road coming from Syracuse. A
little, peaked-nosed, Yankee conductor entered
the car in which I had taken passage, came up
to me and asked me for my fare in that sharp,
half-feminine voice so common to a certain
class of down-easters. I showed him my letter
and asked him if he would recognize it. He
took it, looked it over critically and said, ' I
can't carry you on that letter.' ' What ?' said
I. * I can't carry you,' he answered. ' Well,'
I said, * I have been a slave to the railroads all
my life, and now, here, many miles from home,
and it dark and raining, I suppose I will have
to get off and walk.' This touched the tender
spot in that razor-faced Yankee. He looked
me in the eye for a moment and then told me
to go and sit down.
" This trip brought me to Buffalo, from which
city I went back to Cleveland. In the latter
place I staid three weeks and did nothing all
that while but drink whisky. I was under the
influence of liquor every hour that I was there.
" The last two days of my sojourn in that
city, and the day following my departure were
among the most remarkable in my drinking
career. I had steeped my brain in whisky till its
power of natural action was* for the time
254 Mason Long:
destroyed till it was cooked into that distem-
pered condition which plunges its possessor into
the hell of delirium tremens. Sensations such
as I had never had the slightest conception of
before came over me like a fearful stoim-cloud
and threw my whole nervous system into horri-
ble discord, and my mind, what little I had,
into insanity.
" All at once by some sort of magic, I was
converted from a poor, broken gambler into a
wealthy dealer in live stock. I owned an
immense herd of cattle, which for two days I
vainly tried to sell. Never did anything stick
to a man like that drove of steers stuck to me.
On the streets, at table, in the saloons I entered,
in the sleeping apartments in which I found
no rest every where they crowded around
me and tormented my soul beyond measure by
their ceaseless lowing, bellowing, and fighting.
I spent forty -eight hours trying to sell them.
But Cleveland had no market for me elfish
Texan long-horns. They became so unruly that
I determined to leave them, seeing they would
not leave me. I took the cars for home. They
followed me, and on fantastic, bovine wings
kept pace with one of the fastest lightning
express trains that ever turned a wheel. Every
Converted Gambler. 255
time a car-window was raised, the head of a
wild steer was thrust through it, poking his
bayonet pointed horns right at me. When I got
home I thought I would leave the train as quietly
as possible, thinking they would go on down the
Wabash. I had not got three squares from the
Fort Wayne depot when I looked back, and
behold ! the whole drove was concentrated into
one big ox, and he had a horn ten feet long, and
was coming full tilt right at me. I was five
days getting out of the way of that horn.
" I would say that if any farmer in this county
could have seen that steer, looking as healthy
as he did to me, he would never try to raise
another short-horn.
" Now, boys I give you this bit of experience,
not for the fun there is in it, but to warn you
against the path in which I have trod.
44 1 want to compare my feelings of to-night
with those of the awful night on which I left
Cleveland, Ohio. No artist in the world can
paint a picture half so horrible as that drove of
cattle was to me. On the other hand, no knight
of the brush can paint a picture half so beauti-
ful as the one which now thrills my soul.
Everything in which I knew there was sin I
have given up. I am perfectly happy. My
256 Mamn Long:
present life is to me, like an enchanting dream.
The change of associations and the enrapturing
change of heart make everything bright, and
fill me with the bliss of heaven itself at this
moment.
" But, then, I have dark days. O, I have hours
so full of the gloom of regret ! hours in which
I see rising before me the images of my fallen
victims. And ' who are they,' do you ask ?
Why, the men whom in former years I sent
reeling from my saloon out into the black mid-
night, and who were locked in the horrible
embrace of a drunkard's death before they
reached their homes. Often, O, too often ! have
I heard the bell toll for these poor creatures.
Then would come the hearse and one or two
conveyances, with the widow and her little
ones, clothed in faded dresses. Wicked as I
was in those days, my conscience never failed
to smite me at the sight of such scenes of the
woe which I was causing. More than once, on
occasions of this sort, sick with the contempla-
tion of the fearful fruits of my trade, I have
turned from the front door of my richly
furnished slaughter-pen, and, retiring within its
fatal walls, have met the heartless consolation,
' Why need you care for that old drunkard ?
Converted Gambler. 257
You had a right to kill him. You have got your
license on the wall. The law of the State of
Indiana protects you,' Think of the degraded
beinj who could thus pander to one whose
business was sweeping that being into the same
vortex which had engulfed the ' old drunkard
whom he assumed to regard with such contempt.
"The law of Indiana did protect me, and it
still protects every liquor-seller. But when we
shall appear before the judgment seat, that law
will there be stricken out, and every saloon-keeper
icho dies without having repented the crimes of
his traffic will stand before the Q-od of the universe
a convicted murderer, while the State of Indiana
will be held particeps criminis.
" Can you blame me for giving every hour
allotted to me from this day forward to the
cause of temperance ? I feel that there is a
great deal for me to do to balance the account
against me in God's Book of remembrance. In
this work I am cheered by His presence and the
hope of the glorious life which is to come.
" An artist has presented me with a picture
showing the past, the present, and the future
of a reformed drunkard. The past is a scene
of woe over-hung with the clouds of despair.
The present shows a bright running stream,
R x
258 Mason Lmvg:
with its fountain-head springing directly from
heaven. The future is the sweet land of Eden,
illumined by the eternal sunshine of the Father
of mercies. Gazing upon the dark scene, we
see two little stepping stones that are intended
to lead the drunkard out to the solid rock in
the clear, rippling present. Yonder you behold
the poor inebriate, wrapped from head to foot
with the serpent of intemperance. Hands beckon
to him ; strong voices hail him and urge him to
leave the miry marshes of dissipation and walk
out on the pillar of salvation. With trembling
limbs he strides forward, places his feet on the
sure foundation ; the reptile, scorched by the
rays of the Sun of Righteousness, falls writhing
at his feet, and he stands a free man rejoicing
in his liberty.
" In my case it was a little different. When
I took my first step forward, while I felt that I
could not retreat, it seemed impossible for me
to make any further advance ; for I could not
get my eyes off the miseries of the past. But
while I was in this critical condition the good
people of the old Ark of Safety came to my res-
cue, and, taking me by the arm, led me to the
Rock that is higher than I, on which, thank
God, I am this night firmly planted.
Converted Gambler. 259
"O, praise His Holy Name, I am now,
through no merit of mine, but through the
alone merits of a crucified but victorious Savior,
redeemed from the dismal swamp of alcoholic
damnation, and this moment stand before you
one of the most amazing examples of the
Father's goodness on whom the sun ever shone.
" I am here, thank the Lord, a reformed man,
not resting in my own freedom, but anxious to
go with you, temperance people, in the life-
boat of the gospel out among the ragged rocks
of the maddened breakers of the dark ocean of
debauchery, which is flooding the world, to
snatch from the jaws of death the helpless vic-
tims of rum, and having brought them safely
to the shores of peace, to join you in letting the
winds kiss the heavens with the news to God
that we have done His will.
" I can look at the scenes of the past, in the
picture to which I have alluded, and see Judge
Hammond's distillery, which many of you will
remember as cutting a ^romiajmt figure in the
play of 'Ten Nights in a Da* lioom.' I see
the dark waters of corruption cozing out of that
establishment and blackening the earth near
the beautiful stream of the present of the saved
drunkard, but it cannot mingle with the waters
260 Mason Long:
of this bright river, for they flow directly from
heaven. I cau see the director of that distil-
lery (the devil) perched upon its top, looking
down at a poor wretch whose gaze is riveted up-
on him. The victim, like a bird charmed by
the fatal glare of a snake's eyes, can turn his
head neither to the right nor to the left. The
only light by which the horrid picture is re-
lieved is that of the lightning of God's wrath,
which, flashing through the dark clouds that
envelope the whisky mill, presents one of the
most appalling tableaux ever beheld by man.
" In this scene I can see hundreds of wrecks
in my past life. Simon Slade, the once bappy
miller, built a tavern in the village in which
this distillery was located, and connected a
.Jbar-room with it. He was one of the few men
who drift into the liquor traffic innocently. He
was beloved by the whole community, and all
the first people of the place patronized him.
Such men as Hammond would call and see him.
Hammond's son, Willie, the brightest boy of
the village, followed in his father's footsteps.
In les than ten years, Hammond died in the
alms-house. Willie had control of the estate.
He became a gambler, and was eventually killed
by the gambler) Green, in his father's house.
Converted Gambler. 261
While his life's blood was oozing from his
wounds, his broken-hearted mother fell a corpse
across him. Thus ended the Hammond family.
Joe Morgan, Slade's former partner, had now
become a drunkard. He was one of the fight-
ing kind, and no one could do anything with
him when he wasjdrunk but his little daughter,
Mary. She would go to the bar-room for him
night after night. On one occasion, while he
and Slade were quarreling, Slade hurled a
glass at him, and, missing him, struck Mary
just as she was entering the saloon door to take
her father away. She was carried home, and
on her death-bed drew from her father the
promise that he would never drink again, after
which she passed sweetly to her rest. Joe
Morgan never took another drop of liquor dur-
ing his life, and became a wealthy merchant.
Mrs. Slade, the once happy miller's wife, after
the death of Mary Morgan, lost her reason, and
was taken to the mad-house, where she died.
Slade had become a drunkard, and in a row
with his own son, was murdered by the latter,
who knocked out his brains with a -.whisky
bottle in Slade's own bar-room. So ends the
tragedy of Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. The
man, Slade, made more drunkards in ten years
262 Mason Long:
than all the other rum-sellers of his village did
in forty years. You ask ho\v. I will tell you.
He was one of those rare specimens who go
into the whisky traffic with clean reputations,
and he therefore caught a class of men that the
ordinary dram-vendor cannot reach that noble
class of generous hearts who are the ones that
invariably sink down to the lowest stratum of
debauchery.
" Now do you know that Slade's career as a
retail dealer in liquid damnation was very like
my own in many particulars. When I opened
my place on Calhoun street, in Fort Wayne,
Ind., I do not know that I had an enemy in
the world. I bought out a man who was
taking in only from three to eight dollars a
day. On the very first night of my proprietor-
ship, I took in forty dollars, and my trade kept
increasing till it looked like a county fair
around the bar, and my customers were all of
the higher class. When I quit the place, I did
not have a friend on earth, unless it was some
poor drunkard, like myself, who had no me.ins
of support. Thus will any man who drinks
whisky wind up.
"Now, then, let us as Christian people do
our duty. I am ready to go with you back
Converted Gambler. 263
among the ruins which mark the course of the
black-winged destroyer, in search of those who
are yet groping around in the bogs of intem-
perance.
" Let me say a word to praying people. Re-
member your duty when you meet a poor
drunken man on the street. Don't pass him
by with an air of scorn. Stop and speak a kind
word to him. Perchance it may go down into
his heart, and there finding a resting-place,
produce a smiling harvest of good in the future.
If your kindness succeeds, you will, nine times
in ten, save a noble hearted man. Never, in
all my life, have I known a mean, penurious
man with a pawn-broker's soul, to become a
drunkard. It is nearly always the best man
who gets down the deepest.
"Here I am reminded of the lady who dropped
her diamond ring in a mud-hole. Looking
vainly up and down the street for some one to
recover that ring for her, she rolled up her
sleeve, thrust her hand down into the muddy
water, and finding her jewel, rinsed it, held it
up to the sun and exclaimed, ' It is a diamond
still ! '
" You will find many ' gems of purest ray
serene' at the very bottom of the filthy pool of
264 Mason Long:
intemperance ; and it is your duty to roll up
your sleeves and reach down, though you may
get your hands dirty, -and clutching them in
the strong grasp of love, bring them out into
the sunlight of God. Great will be your re-
ward if you are found faithful in the discharge
of this duty. Why, it was only a little Sunday-
school scholar that God used in saving me.
"During the Blue Ribbon movement in Fort
Wayne, I drifted one night into the old Rink in
which the meetings were then being held.
Soon I was surrounded by a band of the pray-
ing mothers who were such efficient workers in
that mighty temperance revival.
" ' We want you to sign the pledge,' said
they to me.
" * What is the use of my signing it ? ' I
answered ; ' I would have to break it to-mor-
row.'
*' * No you won't ; and we will not let you
go home till you sign.'
" Well, I saw there was no chance of getting
out of the thing. So I made them a promise,
which I didn't intend to fulfill, that I would
come back the next night and sign the pledge.
This did not satisfy them, until a sweet little
girl, whose face beamed with heavenly light,
Converted Gambler. 265
stepped up, and, gently accosting one of the
ladies, said in dulcet tones that thrilled me
through and through :
" ' Mamma ! let him go home. He is telling
the truth. He will come and sign to-morrow
night.' Then raising her angelic eyes till they
met mine, she said to me :
" * You WILL, WON'T YOU ?'
" The aisle was now open, and I went to my
room and tried to gamble, but I could not. I
went out and tried to play billiards, but could
not roll a ball. Wherever I went I could hear
nothing but those cherubic words, 'You will,
won't you T All night long they rang like par-
adisic chimes in my ears. On the following
morning, at the breakfast table, every dish I
touched echoed back the inspiring strain, ' You
will, won't you? And throughout that most
memorable of all the days of my life, the air
was everywhere resonant with the spell-binding
appeal, ' You will, won't you T
" Those words of the Holy Spirit from the
honeyed tongue of an earthly seraph were the
first that ever pierced my calloused heart, and
roused to a quickening sense of my needs my
long-slumbering conscience.
"As the evening shades drew on I could
266 Mason Long:
scarcely wait for the rink to open. One of
the dear Lord's messengers had resurrected my
dead manhood by an expression of unclouded
faith in my promise, and, at the cost of my life,
I would have shown myself worthy of that
faith.
44 When the hour came, I was the first man
to walk down the aisle of the old skating tem-
ple and sign the pledge, which, I am glad to
say, I have honored up to the present moment,
and, God helping me, I will never break it.
44 The power, for good, of kindness and of
confidence in humanity can never be measured.
On the other hand, the chilling effects of disre-
gard and of cold neglect can never be known
this side of eternity.
44 1 once knew a man of great wealth and
respectability one who possessed the noblest
qualities as a neighbor, and whom everybody
who knew him respected. He had a down-fall
in business, and, to drown his sorrow, took to
drinking. Soon it was noised around that he
was in the habit of getting drunk ; and finally,
when he was seen reeling on the streets, his
creditors closed in on him, and he was left pen-
niless and friendless none seeiumg to desire
to be known as having any thing to do with
Cwvuerted Gambler. 267
him. In two years from that time he was a
gutter drunkard.
" The famous little horse, Red Cloud, started
out a few years ago and won every race that
was in his class for several seasons. His repu-
tation became such that his owner was offered
a very large sum of money for him on condition
of his beating his former record. On the day
appointed for the trial, he started, and went to
the three-quarter pole a second sooner than he
had ever done it before ; he was swinging into
the stretch, and was coming home like a bird
cutting the wind, when, all at once, he stepped
on a little pebble, went lame and failed. From
that very moment he was not wortli within
eighty per cent, of his former value. But since
that time his owner has had him at numerous
horse fairs, at every one of which he has drawn
large crowds of people who, though they knew
he was spoiled as a racer, were anxious to see
and honor him for the laurels he had won.
" But all the good the poor man, of whom I
told you a minute ago, had done, was forgot-
ten so soon as it was known that discourage-
ment had driven him to dissipation. Strange,
is it not, that we cannot treat our fellows
268 Mason Lang:
and the noblest souled of them at that as well
as we do dumb brutes ?
" I will now compare myself to a horse. There
used to be an old gray in Ohio that was a good
one, but he was badly handled. HeHuroke his
owner up, arid was more in debt to the National
Association than any other horse I ever knew.
His master used to have to pay $4,000 before
he could start him in a race. Finally, he was
taken off the track and put in the barn. But
last Spring a neighbor of his owner went and
told that owner that if he would give him a ten
years' lease on old gray, he would pay the back
entrance money. The offer was accepted. In
a short time the horse, in the hands of his new
proprietor, went into the race at Pittsburgh and
won the second money. Remember, the horse
had a change of handling. He went next to
Grand Rapids and took a heat, and would have
won the race had it not been for the jockeying ;
but he took the second money again. Next he
went to Detroit, and won the race, his lessee
taking out of the pool box $1,850.
" In 1865, I had plenty of money and was
doing a paying business. It was ' Mr. Long,'
then. After a while I became a drunkard and
gambler. Then they called me 4 Mace.' I
Converted Gambler. 269
soon lost all my money, and then my friends
left me. I rallied, did well again and found
men who would endorse me for $1,000 at a time.
But I could not stand prosperity. I soon got
to reeling again. Then everybody dropped me
as though I had been a hot potato. I finally
got in debt $1,500, and waited two years for
some neighbor to take me out of the barn and
put me on the turf again, but he never came.
But when that darling child of Heaven took
that twenty-four hour lease upon my honor, I
began, under my improved handling, to realize
my manhood once more. That night I matched
the old gray horse when he was at Pittsburgh.
The next night when I signed the pledge, I
tied him when he was at Grand Rapids, and
the night I gave my heart to God I won a race
that no horse can win. All the money you
have in Lafayette would not buy it, yet it cost
me but the asking.
" A great many people say they don't want
to sign the pledge ; that nobody but drunkards
and children join our church. I know better.
Since my reformation I have received letters
from several of our best statesmen, who highly
praise the great Ribbon movements, and some
of these men are personally identified with
270 Mason Long:
these movements. On the other hand, I have
never received a line or heard a word from any
man of eminence backing up the liquor traffic,
or recommending the use of liquor. Even Bob
Ingersoll says that ' whisky demoralizes the man
who makes it, corrupts the man who sells it,
and sends a speedy damnation to the man who
drinks it.'
" And ye who speak contemptuously of chil-
dren joining this movement have ye ever tried
to measure the power for good exerted in this
world by little ones ? What have I just told
you about my own conversion ? And am I the
only full-grown man whose heart has been
stormed and captured by the love and confi-
dence of a child ? By no means. The world's
record of redeemed men, if it could be seen,
would show tens of thousands who have been
raised from the dead just as I was. God bless
the children! Suffer them to come to the
pledge table, and hinder them not ; for of such
is the Kingdom of Heaven. They may do good,
yea, they are doing good, often when you least
expect it. I would rejoice to have every child
in Lafayette join me in this grand work to-
night.
" Now I have a word for the men who drink
Converted Oambl&r. 271
and gamble. I have been with you all through
life. I have soldiered with you ; I have drank
with you ; I have gambled with you. But with
you in the path of sin and death, I can no
longer travel. I love you as men, but no
longer do I love your ways. I am here to-night
to reason with you, and to show you the light
that I have found. Don't you remember how,
in 1861 and 1862, you tore yourselves away
from everything that was dear to you in this
world ? Don't you remember how you left
your feeble fathers, your praying mothers, your
weeping sisters, your heart-broken wives and
children, who vainly clung to your necks to
hold you back, and rushed to the nearest rally-
ing point, to place your names on the grand roll
of the country's defenders? You said, * I must
go. My honor is at stake ; my government is
in danger.' You marched on and on till you
stood a living target before the enemy. Why
did you make this great sacrifice? To save
your nation and vindicate your nation's flag.
Now, we are here to enlist you again, and in a
cause that lies as near the hearts of all good
people, and involves to as great an extent the
highest interests of the country, as the matters
which were in issue in the memorable year of
272 Mason Long:
1861 a cause in which you and yours are di-
rectly concerned. Your dear ones at home will
be filled wilh joy unspeakable to hear that you
are going with us in this grand army, battling
for the right. Do you remember 1865? when
you came home from the war ? You were then
America's bright and shining stars. Look at
yourselves to-night ! Are you what you then
were ? If you are not, you can lay your fall to
that thief of the world that has stolen our land,
and ruined so many of our brave boys. I am
here as a recruiting officer. It will cost you
nothing to go with us. We do not subject you
to an examination, but take you just as you are.
You will not see the examining surgeon till the
war is over ; and O, how I do pray that you,
boys, as well as myself, may be ready to meet
Him when you are mustered out of this service.
" I know I have much to do to keep myself
straight, and I am trying so hard to do it. But
thank God, I have a Mighty Helper. But I
should not have that Helper if I had not turned
and taken the first steps toward Him. How
well I remember the night of the sixth of
August, 1877, when the Christian ladies of
Port Wayne pointed out to me the temperance
star, and that little angel of Jesus fixed my
Converted Gambler. 273
gaze upon it. Can I ever forget how those
golden words, ' You will, won't you f ' awoke in
my heart the long silent voice of my mother,
and how her last words, 'God have mercy on
my loy!' chimed in with those of the sweet
messenger at my side.
"I followed that temperance star till it
merged itself into the star of Bethlehem. I'll
tell you how it was, boys.
" In a few weeks after I signed the pledge I
wandered one Sunday into Dr. Stone's church,
in Fort Wayne, and listened to a sermon every
word of which exactly fitted me. Then the
choir sang, * What shall the harvest be ? ' and I
wondered what my harvest would be from the
seeds I had sowed. As I was leaving the
church the same little girl who revived my
lifeless conscience with her transfixing ' You
will, won't you?' came to me with a book. It
was the Bible. Handing it to me, she said, ' I
have marked a lesson there for you. Will you
study it?' Of course I answered, 'Yes.'
Could I answer anything else ? I went to my
room with that book. I soon found my marked
passage. It read, * For we must all appear be-
fore the judgment seat of Christ, that every
one may receive the things done in the body,
S
274: Mason Long:
according to that he hath done,' etc. I could
read no further. My whole case lay in that
verse. I wondered what good I ever had done.
I tried to strike a balance sheet, and I found
that all the good I had ever done wouldn't
balance one day's sin. I wondered in what
condition I should appear before the judgment
seat of Christ. I then took spiritual counsel
of Dr. Stone, Dr. Moffitt, and others. I told
them I was guilty, and that I knew of nothing
better than to lay my case before the Great
Judge, and trust to His decision. My coun-
selors indorsed my views and told me go ahead.
" I presented my case to God, and in the
silent hours of the night, awaited alone in my
room the result. My soul was miserable in the
contemplation of the wickedness of the past.
I had not slept for several nights. I went
down on my knees and asked God to give me
just one hour's sleep. But no rest came to my
weary eyes. I rose and turned on my gas,
whose light revealed to me the sight of my
gambling tables and my splendid side-board, the
latter still supplied with the finest liquors.
Instantly I asked myself, ' Why should God
bless me in such a place as this ? ' Remember,
of all my habits, gambling was the dearest. I
Converted Gambler. 275
loved to gamble, as I loved to eat when very
hungry. So much was I enamored of it that I
had not thought of giving it up as I had given
up the use and sale of whisky. My demijohns
and bottles were corked and stowed away in
my side-board, but my gambling tables were
still in use. I thought I could be a temperance
man and a gambler at the same time. Yes,
strange as it may seem to many, I even thought
I could be a Christian and a gambler. My
passion for games of chance wholly blinded me
to their evils. But when I rose from my knees
that night, a new light lit up the one still dark-
ened chamber of my conscience, and I saw my
great mistake. Right then and there I made a
full surrender. I walked to the door and bade
my gambling room an eternal adieu. I went to
a hotel and retired to bed, bedewing my pillow
with hot, scalding tears. Completely exhausted,
I soon fell asleep. When I awoke the next
morning my heart was as light as a feather, and
as full of joy as it could be. God, O, hallowed
be His name ! had changed it in the stilly hours
of slumber. I arose and hurried down street
to tell the good news. My heart was clean ;
my soul was happy, and I wanted to tell it
to the world. I am here to-night to tell it to
276 Mason Long:
you, gambling and drinking boys, and to lead
you, if possible, by way of the temperance
pledge, to the same solid rock on which I stand
and rejoice in the glory of God.
" But, boys, I would have you to know that I
have my dark hours hours in which I am
tempted and sorely tried. The monster which,
by God's help, I overcame on the night of the
sixth of August, 1877, trails me wherever I go.
He is here to-night, ready to spring upon me if
I would give him an opportunity. But he
shall never again fasten his fangs upon me. I
don't fear him now, for God is my friend, my
unfailing support.
" For twenty-five years I wandered through
this world with no guide but my dying mother's
prayers ; and during many of those years that
guide was neglected, forgotten. But I want
to promise you now, as I do her, that, God
helping me, I will never forget her prayers
again.
"And here I will say k> her, have patience,
dear mother ; when my work on earth is done,
I will stand with you on the right hand of
God!
" May He bless you all. Good-night ! Good-
night I " I
Converted Gambler. .277
The speech given above should be read by
everybody. To unreformed men it is a power-
ful exhortation. To reformed men, it is an
almost unexampled piece of inspiration. To
staid Christians and religious teachers it is wor-
thy of all study as an exposition of practical
theology and of the true method of labor among
those whom Jesus boldly declared He came to
save. To all that class of moral people who
adopt the miserable policy of freezing sinful
souls into repentance ; of driving men away
from their errors by turning to them the cold
shoulder, Mr. Long's recital of the influence
that led him to sign the pledge of total absti-
nence, will prove eminently instructive. The
sweet confidence and the unselfish love of that
little girl, whose magic appeal, " You WILL,
WON'T YOU ?" literally turned the poor, inebri-
ated gambler's darkness into day, accomplished
what all the advice and all the lecturing he
ever received had utterly failed to accomplish.
Those divine words were flashes of light from
the Eternal Throne. From the great heart of
God Himself, passing through the pure, confid-
ing heart of an innocent child, they quickened
the dead affections of that hardened man,
opened his eyes to his wretched condition, and
278 Mason Long:
breathed a saving vitality into his long-asphyx-
iated conscience. Those four potent monosyl-
lables were worth more to his gloomy spirit
than all the set discourses to which he had ever
listened.
Praise the Lord for the tender darlings who
amid the stifling smoke of the soulless logo-
machies, in which the ambitious pulpits of the
nineteenth century are butchering Christianity,
driving the humble away from the church, and
putting the Savior to an open shame before the
skeptical world raise their tiny fingers and,
under that divine inspiration which has always
preferred sympathy to talent, love to learning,
point directly and so charmingly to the all-
atoning Lamb, who, while with man, held them
up as the earthly type of His Father's dwelling
place.
All other important facts are so fully given
iii his speech that I refer the reader to that for
them, and proceed to close this chapter with a
description of him as a speaker and with some
account of his temperance labors.
Mason Long is a very earnest but never a
very loud talker. He rarely rises above his
monotone, which is remarkably musical, pa-
thetic and impressive. To few orators will an
Converted Gambler. 279
audience lend a more eager attention. His
touch is exceedingly delicate, and his appeals
are unusually tender, wonderfully effective.
When he closes his speech with that prayer to
his mother, with which the preceding speech
concludes, there can be seen scarcely one dry
eye in the audience. In expression he is ready
and fluent. In manner he is graceful and dig-
nified. His diction is rich and florid. His
rhetoric, though open to criticism, is faultless
to the masses, whom he invariably charms.
To do the work among unreformed drunkards
and gamblers, there is not, perhaps, a more ef-
fective speaker in the country, while at the same
time, the most refined love to hear him. He is
clearer of provincialisms and slang phrases than
the great majority of the reformed men, who
are now on the platform. This commends him
in an especial manner to those people who are
highly sensitive in regard to the use of such
expressions.
Since his reformation he has been keeping a
model temperance coffee house in Fort Wayne,
Ind., but has, nevertheless, been almost con-
stantly in the field as a Blue Ribbon evangelist,
and has done a vast deal of good in Northern
Indiana, and throughout a considerable portion
280 Mason Long:
of Ohio. He has induced thousands to sign
the pledge, and has been the means of reform-
ing hundreds of gamblers. His integrity, hu-
mility, and deep sincerity, added to his energy
and his fine natural abilities, render him a
mighty power for good in the land.
And when they shall come from the east and
the west, and from the north and the south, and
shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
Mason Long will sit down with the rest of
them.
Handsomely Illustrated. " Well written and deeply Inter-
esting." *' DiscugNe* question* of great moment."
"Correcting a popular error."
SAVE THE GIRLS.
BY
MASON LONG,
Author of "The Converted Gambler"
ILLUSTRATED. PRICE, CLOTH, $1.50.
This is one of the most remarkable, as well as timely,
books of the day. It grapples boldly and confidently with one
of the most difficult problems of philanthropy and reform, and
treats it in a manner wonderfully satisfactory. Overcoming,
with surprising tact, the inherent difficulties by which the
subject is surrounded, the author has torn the mask from the
face of the libertine, and exposed him and his methods to the
execrations of society, The story is a narrative of thrilling
interest. It contains several incidents from real life, which
will be readily recognized by large numbers of readers. But
the author does not leave his work half done ; he shows how
society, philanthropy and the church can solve the difficult and
perplexing problem of the reclamation of the fallen and the
protection of the innocent. There can be no doubt of the
great good the book has accomplished and will continue to
accomplish. " It is more than opportune ; it is imperative."
(I)
OPINIONS AND COMMENTS.
"DISCUSSES QUESTIONS OF GREAT MOMENT."
" This book is written with honest purpose, and discusses
questions of great moment. There may be some who doubt
the propriety of putting in print all that is here said, but there
is a prudery which would hide the ulcer that is eating away
the life. Mr. Long has the fullest confidence and the strong-
est indorsement of his pastor, Rev. Dr. J. R. Stone, as also
of the other pastors, and the Christian people of Fort Wayne.
In this book he discusses questions of great delicacy in a deco-
rous manner, saying nothing adapted to promote impurity of
thought, and at the same time presenting the subject in such a
way as to excite abhorrence for a life of sin, and a spirit of
Christian tenderness in dealing with the fallen. We think the
book one of very great value, one which should be read by
fathers and mothers, and judiciously placed in the hands of
many daughters." Rtv. J, W. Lasher, D.D., Editor of the
" Journal and Messenger."
"WELL WRITTEN AND DEEPLY INTERESTING."
" The tone of the book is good, and the moral drawn from
its lessons is healthy. As to what may be the effect of putting
such a work into general circulation, there will be a great
diversity of sentiment. Many will hold that it is not best to
have the young to become familiar with the social evil. The
News believes there is such a thing as being over prudish in
this respect. Is it not better for young girls to know the
methods of their worst enemy, than to remain unsophisticated,
so that their ruin is more speedily accomplished ? Mr. Long's
book is well written, deeply interesting, and we feel confident
will have a remarkably wide sale. We sincerely hope it may
accomplish the work for which it WM published." Ftrt Wuyne
ts, Sept. 13, 188*.
"RECOMMEND IT TO ALL LOVERS OF MORAL REFORM."
" I have carefully perused your last book, 'Save the Girls,'
and can frankly say I am highly pleased with it, and most
cheerfully recommend it to all lovers of moral reform. It at
once goes directly to one of the greatest and saddest evils of
the age, and shows the cause of and remedy for the evil. Did
the young hut know the dark shadows of a life of shame, and
its sorrow, they would never seek the seeming sunshine and
false pleasures that lure them. Your book shows the whirlpool
before they reach the fall." J. A. I/ouser,M.D., Arcadia, Ind.
"To PROTECT THE INNOCENT AND REDEEM THE FALLEN."
" An unpopular subject it may be, but none the less an
important one. The prodigious efforts made to save fallen
men, while fallen women are passed by unheeded or'despised,
do not indicate a healthy Christian sentiment. The author of
this work attempts to show, in language as delicate as possible,
the means by which innocent girls are led to ruin, and to
awaken an interest in their behalf, alike to protect the inno-
cent and to redeem the fallen. It is a praiseworthy object.
The sentiment that prevails on this question is unchristian, and
ought to be revolutionized." Christian Standard, Cincinnati,
Ohio.
" THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE PROBLEM."
"I am interested in your book, because I am so anxious to
help on the good cause it is intended to promote. My heart
has bled for them so often, and society being as it is, the task
of saving them seems so hopeless, that I am only too glad t_
help on so practical a measure as your book." Auretta ffoyt,
Indianapolis, Ind.
" WRITTEN WITH EARNESTNESS AND FORCE."
" Dear Sir :\ thank you for the book sent. It is written
witfc Arneetoess and force, and without violation of delicacy.
(3)
I concur in most of its sentiments. We ought to try to re-
deem the fallen, and to reclaim those who are just beginning
to go fatally astray, but we must, of course, be very careful not
to make the tempted think they may yield and then readily
find forgiveness. Yours truly, JOHN A. BROADUS," Professor
of the Theological Seminary of Louisville, Ky.
"OF MORE THAN ORDINARY INTEREST."
" A book of more than ordinary interest, and one in which
the author has handled a very delicate subject in a most able
and satisfactory manner. A bold and striking production,
devoid of every thing objectionable, this work becomes a
valuable contribution to literature, and should have a wide
circulation, as it is destined to awaken an interest in the
subject on which it treats." Fort Wayne Daily Gazette.
"WRITTEN FOR A GOOD PURPOSE."
" The author of this work has indeed a delicate, and hence
a difficult subject. Yet he has written chastely and well.
The book aims at two things first, to save the fallen women,
victims of lechery, and to guard the path to ruin so that the
young may be prevented from entering. The author has
written for a good purpose. It tells a sad story." Religious
Telescope, Dayton, Ohio.
"SAVE THE GIRLS," 260 pages, with 13 illustra-
tions. Price, postpaid, Cloth $1.50.
Liberal discount to the trade. Agents wanted. Address,
MASON LONG,
FORT WAYNE, IND.
(4)
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SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
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