The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-11-02
Moody . Career ASA Car Driver His
Former Habits.

Special Dispatch 10 the Chicago Times.
Ii seems that the great rryyali-t,
Moody, was not always the same good
man that he is at present, but bis virtue
j, now all the more deserving Oi praise,
a. from what now comes 10 light, once
upun time Mr.. Moody seems 10 have
overcome one Of the worst Of human
cnr,rs, that Of drunkenness. Th" story
goes, and il appears ~ be corroborated
bv those who raw him at the time, that
l.. wear. a.o Mr. Moody Wa driver
uunn tie line oi the Jersey City and
Bergen horse railroad but that after
serving short time his continual lnesrle-
" WAS finally the cause of hls beng dis
charged. He was known by car conduc-
tors along the line for the almost hcl Ples,
condition he would get in nj times, and
the hubituslly bOoIy nature of his life.
4 reporter called to-day at the stable
o! the company to ascertain what facts
there were in this singular story the
regeneration of the great evangelical re-
ligioni.t. The superintendent OF the
company is not tue same as ne who act
I'd al the time ot the alleged moral tur-
pitudc of Moody, but i! hr were th- same,
there would not be much possibility" a.
hi remembering one name or one lace
among tho Thousand, who have passed
before him in the meanwhile.
The assistant said he had heard tho
subject spoken Of among III" conductors
and drivers, and some OF them had
talked OF picture of the present Mr.
Moody as being identical with that OF
the man who was employed OF tho line
and discharged for inebriety.
In tho conversation the name OF
man named Carney, an old driver on
the road, from whom the story seems TO
have sprung, was several times mem
toned. This man was subsequently,
found. He alleges tina. T. years ago he
wa, driver on this line, and that
Moody was there also. He could not
mistake him. 1t was the same face and
beard, and the same stout body. He re-
mem mbcrcd, also, that Moody came from
Connecticut. 1t WAS during the winter
OF 1868 that he knew him, and he remem-
bcrcd it, because il was so cold that
Moody used to BE- continually complain
ing OF freezing, and used to drink 10
keep himself warm. Liquor had Won
deriul effect upon him and
affected him Immediately, 50
that he became a. drunk as if he We're
struck Jy lightning. He used TO say he
had never drunk any before, but that il
WAS impossible to resist under the cir
cumstances, He used to get 50 that he
would leave the car and would sit down
in the stables and goto sleep. He WAS
warned several times and seemed very
penitent, but he would fall INTO the same
ways again, until he god discharged
Carney believed that he was taken back
once, and discharged again, but he is not
certain OF this; but that it was James
Moody, who is now the great evangelist
Carney is certain. He remembered that
after he left the company Moody loafed
around the place, perhaps hoping to get
back, and then suddenly maic up his
mind to 20 West. He did So. and DRIFT
ed 10 Chicago, where hs hccam" n hotel
porter.
Carney remembers that when he would
be under the influence Of liquor he would
become very taIkativr and religious, and
dcploro his manner oi' life He used to
get people around him who would listen
and laugh ut what wn> then only tn" "l"-
quence of drink.
However extraordinary this story may
appear, it seems to be implicitly believed
by those who work and 1--we around Ber-
gen Hill. No written record Is unfor-
tunately kept ofthe drivers, 20 that it Is
impossible to get at this kind OF proof,
but those on the line At the time sre GER
tain Of these fact, and they are given ,"r
what they are worth.