Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-02-03
THE REVIVAL MEETINGS.
Mr.. Wilson Mops the Floor With
the Tobacco Worms
And the Luke-Warm Church Members
Come in For Their Share Of Gen.
tie Censure.

l. ne revival meetings COubiuuSS WIN uii
bated interest. In the afternoon meeting
yesterday Mr.. Wilson turned his attention
to what he considered two powerful opDo-
nentS of the christian religion, tobacco and
ardent spirits. He trotted the tobacco
fiend out in good shape. Up and down be-
fore the audience Mr.. Wilson paraded the
man who sometimes sits calmly and pulls
the smoke from the fragrant weed while
the blood is sent whirling through his
brain, and paints castles and harvest fields,
and groves with singing birds, and ripping
rills, and winged nymphs on the ms and
and out of the curling smoke, that unlike
the smoke from Gains sacrifice ascends
heavenward. He held up tie calm servant
of the weed that soothes but
does not inebriate, and cried
unclean! unclean, unclean, thou human
human hogs. Mr.. Wilson thought the use
of tobacco defiled the body, and he urged
his hearers to keep clean. His remarks
were strong argument that the christian
religion is advancing, because most Bible
readers know that the apostles failed to
discover that man was detiled by what
went into his mouth. The great apostle
Peter held to that idea for time but the
Lord knocked that out of him before He
sent him out to preach. The sermon, how
ever, seemed to have good effect and sew
eral old ''soakers" on the back seat looked
as though they would like to crawl into a
hole and pull the hole in after them.
A number of the brethren wiped their
mouths, and the reporter took a cigar from
his vest pocket and slipped it into the
pocket of Brother Rutan's overcoat Mr..
Wilson's sermon in the evening was from
the 18th verse of the 30th chapter Of
Mathew. The remarks of the evangelist
were directed at church members. 1t was
noticed that some of the fellows who en-
loyed the afternoon service the most and
laughted when the tobacco worms were
catching, it did not seem to be so ubilant
at night. They We're turning their heads
round AS if to direct the attention away
from themselves. They sat low down in
their seats. and their collars came up
couple of inches higher on the back of
their necks than in the afternoon, and there
was only a few weak amens uttered during
the sermon. There was, however, many
demonstrations of approval from the
crowd in the gallery. One young lady
and gentleman who seemed delighted
when the preacher said some of the mem
bers in this church are of no more account
than gang of hoodlooms, after the ser
mon stood up to testify that they were go
TO seek salvation at whatever cost.
The sermon was calculated to enthuse
the brethren to a very high key. He said
church member who would come here
and on this altar pledge himself to live for
God and then go off and go to theaters and
horse races and dances, and play billiards
and keep euchre table in his house was
a fraud, and he would not trust him with
his pocket book, for if he did
such a man would euchre
him out of it. This remark caused much
meriment among the fellows who 90 not
know how to play euchre and billiards,
and are noted for always guessing wrong
on horse races. Mr.. Wilson told the mem
bers that some of them were afraid to take
much part in the meeting for fear they
would get holiness He said, ''you need
not be afraid of that there is no danger of
you getting holiness. You don't believe in
holiness. Now of course you don't"
These remarks were intended for luke
warm members who do not help in these
revival meetings But the way in which
they all went to work indicated that the
sermon did not apply to any one present
AT the close of the sermon, Mr.. Wilson
asked all who had made up their minds to
seek salvation to stand up About sixty
persons arose, goodly number of which
went forward and knelt at the altar.
1t does not seem to make much differ
ence how these meetings are conducted:
and whether Mr. Wilson's sermons make
the people laugh or make them mad, the
result seems to be always the samoa great
of conversions.