Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-09
INSANE FANATICS AND RELIGIOUS Ex-
CITEHEFT.

A fanatical crowd Of ''mesmeric revival
lists" holding tent meetings in Oakland,
caused e semi-tragic scene in that city on
Tuesday evening. A woman was leading
in tie revival, and the half-crazed fanatics
were il the midst of one of their delirums
of religious frenzy. A young girl, not
more than fourteen years of age, lay upon
the platform in front of the speaker in a
hypnotic state, trance-like condition,
cold, rigid and apparently dead And
there she had been, unconscious, since three
in the afternoon, though the day was cold
and raw, and the evening more so. In the
midst Of shouting and prayer, and appeals
to the people to come forward and see what
an angel had done for the girl, who it was
claimed was then communing with the
saints, by reason of her so-called nesmeric
condition, man forced his way through
the crowd and attempted to carry the girl
away. He lifted her tenderly, declaring
that she was the child of his brother. a
member of his family; that he was her
legal guardian, and he proposed to remove
her to his home. He was thereupon beset
by the believers, denounced as sacrile-
gious irtermeddler, AZ having defiled an
angel by touching the girl, and was finally
knocked down, overpowered and cast out
of the tent. He called in the assistance
OF the Chief of Police, and finally rescued
his niece and removed her TO his home
The craze that leads any set of men and
women to defy the laws of nature and ex
pose 4 mere child for hours to inelement
weather under the plea that God will
care for her, and see to it that she takes
no harm, IS SO little short Of insanity that
its victims ought to be put under the sur
VIGILANCE of the law. The Almighty has
not constituted these fanatics His agents
to set at defiance the natural laws that
demand reasonable care of the body, or for
any other purpose Had the girl died
from the exposure of hours in the tent
while ia that singular tr3nce-like condi-
ton, The revivalists who consented to it
and permitted the exposure, would have
been morally if not legally guilty of man
slaughter. Such fanat;oisul has free way
to shout Itself hoarse, and 10 one will in
teriiere with it; it may win converts as
best it can, but until it exhibits creden-
tials from Heaven for such cruelty as was
inflicted on the Oakland girl, the officers
of the law should interfere for the protec-
ton Of the weaslings who fail under the
influence Of the fanatieql crew.
We talk of voodooiem and the frenzy
and narderous excitement Of the Africsns
being manifestations of bratalisin and in
sane ezcitation of the nerves, but let Us
compare the orgies of the half-crazed and
terrorized negroes with such scenes as are
described in the following report of what
wa seen in the oakland tent after the re.
Inoval Of she young girl TO whose case we
have referred. and ask ourselves how much
better are the performances of the mes
merle iaGatrs, who claim to be intelligent
and civilized?
IN less than IA hour afterw1rI eight women
and girls and three men were stretched outright
uFon tae ela5 irm and straw covering the
beard floor of the tent. The women were mo-
tiouless and to all appearances were dead save
wcel culver would coavu Sc their frames
Two lay GU the right hand side of the platform,
oae was a young girl about sixteen and the
other cb0ui twenty Thei, eyes were rolled
bsck ia their heads ana for an hour neither
moved g muscle. Every outline OF their fo.ms
Wrapped tightly IN saawis, were exposed to the
yciSa, eyes Of all who cared 10 crowd ar9uad
and .a2
On the other side OF the platform lay young
map. His mouth wa ilecked with white fr9th
auS IT intervals ne shreked in sgouiZ ag tones
TIE lal-le OF the Savior. Tue other six women
Were s.retched out on the straw in all SORTS OF
positions, while around them kualt Mrs Wood
Wort1's followers, waving their hands wildly
and CT. Ing aloud. This performance was kept
NJ ,Or tso hours, when the sense,eSs persons
wee revived with difficulty and the lights ex-
tinse.shed.