New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-15
THE ARMY IN MELBOURNE.
cGENERAL" BOOTHS EXTRAORDINARY RE-
CEPTION IN AUSTRALIA


say that the wind did seem to grow very weary, for
Il died out altogether and the rain came down In the
most monotonous Of perpendicular drizzles and drps
The morning. IL Is true, had been fine, coudtess Drill
liant. So every one ont ia holiday attire ana
the whole world seemed sblaze with bunting. red
yellow and blue. But the morning was only the tune
OF waiting and preparation Not until afternoon was
the conQuering hero to arrive. And ut noon there
came change over the weather Of the day. II was no
sudden shower that would be ended In an hour II was
one Of those deliberate malice pTepense affairs OF DARK
seafog and solid lesden Clouds and ftfui gusts OF VIM
presently Yielding TO dead calm and steady oo"h-
pour, that seemed good for thirty days rom da,e'
without defalcation discount. And because the
morning had been fine, there was not waterproof
coat nor an umbrella-no, not even n poiro"eu o'o-
the whole vast multitude.
What came they forth for TO sec-and $1,000
patiently in that marrow-chilhng ana soursoaS
ing rain for TO sect prophet OF picturesque
and variegated honor in his own country, whose
coming hither had been much heralded, so that
Il far transcribed I'm contemporary human i"'er-
est the advent of the American baseball teams or
even that Of Sullivan the slugser 1t was none Other
indeed than General" Booth, or salvation Booth
az the commonalty have It, And Tor the nonce all
Australia seemed to be recruited into the salvation
Army and to be tossing tambourines and shouting
Blood and Fire" Not that there Is really any con
siderable contingent OF that strange army here, al
though its numbers are not altogether Insignificant
But the advance agents had done their work we'll
Every possible means OF arousing curiosity had been
employed. And then, Australia is so far away from
the rest OF the world and is comparatively so HUE
visited by sensational pcrsonages, that when one does
come ont here the people are morally cer'aih u
make the most Of him.
General Booth had landed at Hobart and was coming
nm here by special conveyance and in the shortest time
known No ordinary steamer, running on schedule
time would do for great man. A viceroy or
prima donna might travel in the ordinary way, Dut
not the General Of the salvation Army lie must
have special service and break the record. 30 Il
special railroad train took him from Hobart TO
Iannceston a special steamer from Launceston to
Low Heads, and another special steamer from there
To Wlliamstown special steamer was chartered
here 60 down and meet his incoming steamer at the
Heads and escort him to Melbourne. On 1t was an
excursion party OF more than 900 persons. every
enc of them carrying and waving banner or nag. or
wearing scarf red. yellow and blue, While The
steamer was literally swathed in bunting from stem
10 stern. This was all well enough In the bright
morning sunlight But after noon, when all were
dripping wet and the bunting was soaked, and the
decks a-hood, 1t not an inspiring scene The
loyal multitude remained on deck, however,
oblivous or regardless OF the weather Doubtless the
rain was all for the glory OF the General so they
waved their dripping banners. and "amid the storm
they sang" and the rain heard and the mist. They
shouted "Halleauiah ~ and Glory!" They kept re-
Winding each other that the General" God bless him
was coming and they happy. praise the LORD
It Is to be noticed by the way that they never men,
ten the General" without adding as though 1t were
q part Of his name. " God bless hm!"
Think Of It Here were 600 people standing on
the deck packed together closely that they cohd
hardly breathe and all drenched to the skin BY the cold
rain Their actual physical discomfort and suffering
must have been enormous would have been under
normal circumstances But they were constantly shouV
Ing and singing in ecsaces Of Joy. They held PRAYER
meetings right there the streaming deck kneehng IN
water almost ankle deep. They held praise meeuhes
and voclferousy proclaimed the baptism OF fire. such
was their spiritual exaaton or intoxicaton frenzy.
or whatever II was, that really believe they were
unconscious Of the distressing physical condition they
were I'm. The bodily were In a state OF sus-
pension.
Tho most amazing individual Of them all was the
bassdrummer. Now rain as rule Is the great bahe
NJ tho drum. But this waterproof, or shared
the splritual mania Of the drummer SO that the rain
did not affect It, And the performance OF That drum
mer, II was at once astounding exhibition OF
athletic energy and q marvel OF complex ana intricate
movement With body thrown well back and the great
drum supported on his swelling chest, TINS drummer
did fearful and wonderful things with the SUCKS lie
evolved them apparently out OF the small OF his oach
and brought them down both together with crash that
made every one jump; he twisted thcn uhoer Ills
shoulder blades and around his neck, and eveied teh
first on one side and then on the other. ana then DON
together with deadly certainty; he marked time IN De-
widerng series Of circles and semi circles ana heeS
Of eight until he seemed TO be surrounded py
halo Of 1ying drumticks finally concentrating all his
energy he united their force In mighty blow and
stopped perspiring, palptating but triumphant MOI
once or twice, but perhaps twenty times was TINS e1
traordinary performance repeated. And wheh the
band was silent the drummer shouted and sang ana
testified rs vigorously any Of his comrades. NO
lasted
the drummer in the evening fresh and full OF
energy as he had been ten hours before But the sal
vaonists are not ordinary men, and literally carry OUT
the precept whatever thou doest, do IL WIN my
might General" Booth claims that the salvation
fsts are the only sect who really carry religion into
every action Of their daily life. We do nothing lie
saws "except what is religious" and the drummer I'M
doubleday regarded hi, performance as an intensely
religious act. Indeed the Army drum Is looked AT by
general Booths followers with peculiar reverence.
Ono OF their favore choruses, included In the selected
songs for use during the Generals visit runs as fol
lows:
"weu make the devil tremble with the army drum
We'll make him in a rage with It's loud boom, BOOM
Yes respectables may sneer and the roughest at US
jeer,
But we'll mako it very clear that Wen stl march on
So this strange excursion kept on down the bay,
hour after hour. The Generals" steamer was not
met as soon as they expected But at last, through
the dusk of the oncoming evening, it was sighted.
Then there from these excursion people, VINO Tor
hours had been standing, cramped and drenclel ana
had for hours been singing and shouting at the top OF
their voices-tere from them such an uproar as
would have seemed prodgious coming from an equal
body OF entirely fresh and unwearied people. Com
pared with IL the songs and shoutngs OF The voyage
down were as a mere whisper. thousand voices
raised the chorus, God bless our Genera!" the band
numbered out welcome, and high above all rose the
hoarse roar of the steam horn 1t was as though
cvery man. woman and child on board had suddenly
conc mad They embraced each other, they danced
on the dock they laughed aud wept at the same time
e. rsrv fov some one-a wOman-struck up in a
piercing treble the song
"Hurrah for the blood and fire,
The loyal. brave and true;