Daily Republican., 1881-08-16

AOOO01 10, loOl.
BLATANT BIBI E BANGE.
CAPTAIH AMOS OssBsRLEY'S CMAI
" AUTHENTICATED.
. 0oenAs ~ . Aalvatsoa DsPvlss-l
J Man. IN Aceerde0D, . ORowa
II and Collier len.
Here comes his nobs now."
Such was the sn,all-boy cry tina
greeted Captain" Amos Shirley. tn,
alleged christian evangelist, as h
crowded through q yelling throng 81
Ninth and Bennett strests last night
with an accordion in one hand and 8
huge "night-hawk" lantern in tht
other, and prepared to hold one Of his
characteristic meetings. The crowd
was an interesting one. It was COM
posed Of people Of all ages and condi.
ti0ns, from the shrill- voiced urchin,
who trumpeted the first appearance OF
"his n0bs," to the -whiskered
grandfather. The crowd, too, was
Igathered right in the GENRE OF the
smallpox district, and it was packed
densely together, a solid sea Of curious
faces surrounding the Captain"
1t was some me before he got his
consumptive accordion in working or
der. During the delay the small boy
tumbled about around the hastily
improvfsed pulpit, and half = dozen
young men in front chewed and smoked
and looked at the Captain" with wide
eyed wonder. BY the time the accor.
dion struck up the first tune two hun
dred people had gathered around.
When he was ready to open the
meeting and had adjusted the instru-
ment Of melody in his hands, some one
cried, "What If it would 90 off," The
crowd laughed, but the Captain"
looked hurt. He had grieved express
sion on his face and an iDjur tone a.
he bridled and remarked: II 'ope non
hof you ave come to- see benny hactOr
performance. That you win not see.
| come here to do good, despite the
sneers and jeers OF certain news
papers. The truth will stand while
lies will fall"
As he ceased speaking he suddenly
started to play and sing familiar
church melody with the chorus COM
menoing:
"We'll wait till Jesus comss."
"The "Captain" played and sang in
this way for several minutes. Under
the influence Of the strains of the melo.
dious accordion and the drlect cadence
or the Evangelists vOice the crowd be-
came quiet, and exhibited an air of open
inouthed astonishment. Still the Won
derful music came from the accordion,
and the voice Of the singer rose
aud fell upon the signing eveningbreeze
while the echoes chased their selves |
over the vacant lots and around the |
street corners. Suddenly the soft toned |
singing ceased and .he accordion STOP |
ped as short as if it had been SET down
on A nurmer of deep. dra wn pleasure
went through the crowd and the talk
vas alont to begin when the Captains
voice attracted attention. Why he had
stopped the music became evident. He
leaned over toward the circle of upturn-
ed faces around him, and glowering at
a small-sized youngster, who Was puff.
ing "two-fer," cried out. "Will that
little bye there stop smokil'.' The
smoking stopped.
The singing was resumed. Order
once more reigned, and here is the re-
frain, a. the "Captain sang it in the |
North Of England dialect
H0, you must be lover hof the Lsrd,
Or you can't 81 to 'eaven when you die,
Yes HI ham lover hOf the Lord,
Hand Hin sure 70 20 to 'saven whom Hi
die.
eyes," said the "Captain," after
singing this several times; "we're sure
to go there. But the reporters, who
hare ere tonight, (glancing at two
newspaper men who stood near, they
won't 20. They will continue to lie
about good christians, hand has they
20 down we will go hup The reporters
will be last while we will be first" The
crowd seemed to enjoy this abuse of the
reporters. The fact that the newspaper
men we're not "sure to 60 to heaven
when they died" was looked upon as
good tidings, and it took So well that
the "Captain" gave his audience some
more Of it.
''The reporters don't like me, hand
Hi don't care. They lie habout me
but Iii mean to get halong hall right"
he went on.
Then the "Captain" branched off on
another melody, tho chorus of which
was to this effect
"I'll never give up my shield
TIL every foe SHALL yield
And the Devil shall leave the field"
"Now we come to an important part
Of our meeting" said the captain. "Hi
must live and Hi can't live on wind.
Hi don't want to be rich and don't ex-
pect to 20 through Scotch free. We must
take hup u collection, Won'tsome one
90 around with the basket while Hi
sing a solo Ct my own writtin'."
"Here's a man as will do IT," said a
wag in the crowd, indicating a kEpUB-
LICAN reporter.
"Wish the reporters would doit Hi
guess they won't do much against me
when they see what l mean. Who'll
take around the basket? Hi don't
want much money. It's too 'eavy to
carry around"
Finally Brother King of Epworth
and he passed the basket
around, and under the influence of the
solo of the Captains" own writing, 45
pennies and button ratified into it.
The "Cap ain" then preached for a q
few minutes about Salvation. 1t was a s
DISCOURSE OF Indifferent English and
many gestures. He made no attempt O
% defend himself against the charges t
which have been made against him of
and immortality in Philadel-
,hia. He closed by saying meetings
viii be held on the lot every evening of a
his and next week.
state Of the Thermometer Z
i the REPUBLICAN Office, in the shade,
,v,nrutuns l.,