Connecticut western news., 1880-03-24
A Crusaders Story.

A Crusader's Story.
 In an address by Mrs. s. K. Leavitt, before the National Woman's Temper ance Convention, she gave the follow ing account of crusading in Cincinnati, Ohio, as reported by Mrs. M. B. Wins low, for The Morning:
 People at the East have little idea of what the Crusade really was. One of our local papers described it's opening in these terms "Hell on earth The devil woke up /! The women on their kneesw
 One day I led 8 band of eighty or & hundred to the Esplanade. . The au. thorities had said, "This must be put down." and the mayor had privately given orders to the police to be scarce where the women were. We did not know that, and after visiting fourteen saloons, we marched towards the Es- planade, where we found dense mass of several thousand men awaiting us. l heard man say:
 "Jaok, 8 wonan's foot shan't touch the Esplanade to-day!" and I said, Lord, give us the Esplanade P
 One great brutal looking fellow stood in my way, debauched and degraded, yet with look which told there was a heart somewhere, and I took it for granted this was "Jack." Bless God for woman's intuition. I walked right up to him and said, "Jack, we are 8 band of broken-hearted mothers and wives, weeping and praying because you are all going to hell as fast as you can go. We want to pray here, right by this fountain, and I want you to make way for us and keep the men still till we get through our service."' First he looked like thunder; then he looked foolish then smiled sweetly at him always smile at man if you want him to do what he don't want to-and he said, with fearful oath, "I'll do it Make way for the Crusaders 1" and ss he forced his great brawny shoulders through the crowd many voices shouted, "God bless the Crusaders P
 I never asked the Lord for police man again. I'd rather have "Jack." At last we stood close to that central fountain which is the glory of Cincin- nati, and sang,
 "Jesus the water of life will give,
 Freely, freely, freely"
 and I think there must have been joy among the angels of God at the chorus that rang through the square. Then we sang, "Rock of Ages," and then I talked to the crowd. I forgot all about the liquor saloons, and thought only of Jesus Christ upon the cross. l then called upon all who wanted to be saved and have us pray for them to kneel down, and two thousand men, mostly rocking with tho fumes of ~rnm and to- bacco, knelt there upen the pavement seeking Christ, with tears and sobs.
 The next day our church was so full that we must have some place to hold the overflow, and we telegraphed to Rev. MT. Beecher that we must have his church in ten minutes. "Ten minutes, do you say You shall have it in five," was the answer, and in ten 1t was packed to overAow1ng; and afterwards we held two daily meetings.
 By th1s time there was such falling eff in the liquor trade that the M syor and Common Council, twenty-three of whose members were in the liquor trade, said the Crusade must be stopped; so they raked up an old sidewalk ordinance which said that no group of more than three should occupy the sidewalk at any one place and time. But we knew noth- ing of it, and we went to saloon where we were denied admittanoe, so we knelt outside. The pavement WAS eighteen feet wide, of which we occupied about thirty inches. I was leader that day and gave out
 "Rock of Ages, cleft for me-" when policeman laid his hand on my shoulder and said,
 "Mrs. Leavitt, you are under arrest. "
 "All right" said I.
 "Let me hide myself in thee."
 And then we prayed for that police man, and for the others, and for the crowd. We tried the patience of that policeman little, for our service lasted sixty minutes. Some shouted, some cried, but all were happy; and then we rose and walked ln an orderly manner, two and two, about two miles, to the station house. As soon as we got here we kneeled down and prayed again, and then they asked our names, nativity and ages. They took mine first, and while they were taking the others thought may be the Lord had something for me to do there; so went round to the cells and talked with the inmates. In one I found boy of eighteen, who said,
 "I wouldn't have my mother know I am here for all the world. came here under an assumed name; did you?" So I visited every cell, and poi inted every prisoner to Christ. tried to guess conundrum. I never guessed one in my life, and will give it to you |: "How is it that every one I spoke to was put in for drunkenness, and we forty three women were brought there for trying to put it down?"
 We expected to be sent to the work house for thirty days.
 Then the Mayor came in. You have heard of the man who drew the elephant in lottery, and then did not know what to do with it. The Mayor looked just