The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-01-07
Mrs. Van Colts Latest Exploit,

Mrs Van COtt has been spending a
portion of the last month in earnest eff
forts for the ChritianiZing of sundry
towns and villages in Pennsylvania.
Among these places is the village of
Freedom, in York county, where she
met with marked success, and held en-
thusiastic meetings. One evening,
while canvassing the house for repent
ant sinners, she noticed a middle-aged
man, the stolid expression Ofwhose face
attracted her attention and excited her
feminine curiosity; so, in her usual
magnetic manner, she approached him
and asked him if he would not like to
follow in the path of the righteous. No
answer could she gain, and, with an au-
dible prayer of "May God drive the
dumb devil out of you, my BROTHER"
she passed on to interview more i'm
pressible subjects.
Two nights passed, and the stranger
again appeared at the church; but this
time his eyes were lighted up with an
almost maniacal glitter, and his features
seemed the playground of the liveliest
emotions. Quickly approaching the
altar, he knelt among the sobbing and
shouting ones, and as the religious shep-
herdess drew near he asked her if she
knew him. "Why, you're the man
that had the dumb devil the other
night" she replied. He then begged
her the privilege of saying few words,
and the request being granted, he arose,
and deliberately drawing a revolver
| from his breast, held it aioft in thrill
| ing, dramatic manner, while he told the
history of his life to the eager listeners.
| He was a resident of Chicago, where he
had for many years followed his profess
sion of photographer. For the last four
years he had strayed far from the path
of right and virtuous living, and as q
consequence of his dissipation and de-
bauchery, his wife had deserted him
and returned to his friends in Pennsyl-
vania, taking his three children with
! her. Driven to frenzy by this, he sank
still lower and lower, until, as if the
! fiendishness of hell itself possessed him,
! he had purchased this weapon of death
and started for the East, determined to
murder his wife and children, and then
put an end to his own miserable exist
ence. Only two nights before he sat in
that church looking for his wife, and
gloating over the fiendish plot. The
words then spoken to him aroused his
almost lost manhood, and falling again
on his knees he begged Mrs. Van Cott to
pray for him. She spoke at once, eX-
tending her hand toward him, "Child,
give me that" and with the Geekness
of a child he handed her the weapon,
and then feeling in his pockets produced
a box of cartridges, which he also
placed in her hand. The strange sight
was then presented of the woman re-
vivalist holding in one hand a seven
shooter, and in the other a bOXof DEATH
dealing missiles, while she offered to
Heaven an earnest prayer for the saw
ing of this brand from the burning. As
Mrs. Van COtt finished telling the incl
dent, she said {: "Never in my life did
I feel so much power in prayer, and
never before did offer up a petition to
my Heavenly Father under such strange
circumstances" The next day, the
man, clothed in his right mind, and
happy in heart, sought the injured wife,
effected a reconciliation, and another
will soon be added to the list of happy
homes in Chieago.-CticngO Post and
Mail