Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-01-01
A NOVEL WATCH NIGHT.
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The PRocesDNes Az AN AFRICAN
CHURCH IN NEW JERSEY.

A Clock That Had Beea Tempered with Il
would Noe Strike the wItehins Hour.
The Story Of the PrOdiEaI Son in Mod
srn Form.
The annual watch meeting Of the MEM i
bers Of the African Baptist church at
Timbuctoo, Nj, q year or two ago was
In many respects novel one. III
For many years the sable residents Of :.
the little settlement In the woods near
Burlington have been in the habit Of 4
holding watch meeting on New Years !;
eve. These meetings are always wen 1
attended by old and young, and have
often developed great revival Of re-
hgion in that section. d
A year ago the watch meeting was a
failure because the preachers watch /;
stopped at half past II O'Clock, and the
fact was not discovered until daylight. ]
To prevent recurrence of that mistake |
it was decided last year to have q big !
eight day clock, owned by "King" Lewis |
Armstrong, who has long enjoyed the
honor Of ruling tne destinies of Timbuc- |
too, repaired in proper shape and taken !
to the church to mark the passage of !!
time. This was done, and the clock was
put in the church just back of the pull /;
pit where every one could see it. And,
to keep the clock in time, Elder Jordan I!
and Elder Congo were instructed to
have their watches wound up and set !
by railroad time to avoid any possibility
Of mistake. This they agreed to do
Promptly at 8 o'clock the services be-
gan and the church was filed. "King" !
Lewis Armstrong sat in the pulpit with
Preacher Quann, and occasionally de-
voted few minutes to keeping the stove
red hot. q 1eA
"Dis yer watch meeting" said Preach !
er Guam, ''will begin wild o hymn, !
Tine goin' over Jerding by and by /.
You all knows de tune; hits bin sung
yer good many years-and hit means
JUS as much now as hit ever did. And
when you am a singin' it, brethering, |
doan forgit to think what de words
mean. De tune alone won't save yer
souls. Oar am plenty Of good singers
dat amt got no more 'ligion than a
skunk. Singin' am like prayin'. You
has got to mean de words you is usin' or
you amt no good"
The choir, which was stationed just
back of the stove, thereupon raised the
tune. After two or three verses had
been sung the entire congregation began
to enter into the spirit of the occasion,
swaying their bodies to and fro in time
with the music and keeping a peculiar
sort Of double time with their feet on
the floor. AS the verses were exhausted
the preacher would yell, ''Swing de tune
ag'in! swing her ag'inF' This always
had the desired effect Finally they be-
came weary and q halt was ordered.
"King" Lewis Armstrong next said o
few words, in which he strongly advised
the young men of Timbuctoo to change
their ways before it was too late.
"Dar amt no better time n now" he
said. "Dis present time you orter quit
| yer ornery ways, forsake de exampul of
de wicked Herod and get into de ark of
glory, wot am lighted wild electric light
and full of groceries for de winter. We
am jes' about gettin' into another year,
and all Of us orter to make up our mines
to do better. Git away from de sins dat
has kivered you up, and if you die next
year you will be comfortabul in Aber-
hams buzzurn. What Tine tellin' you is
facts. faint no guess work. Eff you
doan believe it look at dat prodigal son
| what de good book tells us about.
"Dar was man dat was mitey well
fixed. He had good job on his fod-
der's farm, had hoss and wagon to use
whenever he wanted it and no Sunday
milkin' to do. But his heart wasn't sat
isfed. He thought de old man wasn't
farmin' de place right He lowed he
could do heap better wukkin for his
self, cos de ole man was behind de times.
De proderigal he had been readin' de
'tisements in de papers bout men want.
ed to take big jobs and nuthin' much to
do. So he says; Guess I'll quit, ole
man. Gimme what's comm to me, an
I'll try my luck sommer else De
old man TUX him at his word guy
him the money and chased him out. But
he didn't make no money. He jes, fool
it away on farm 1torgiges out west and
hoss racin' in the east till he blowed il
all in. Den he come back on de farm,
and de ole man TUX pity on him, furguv
him what no done and give him a home
ag'in. And dat's what de Lord II do for
you eff you doan put it off too long"
The effect of this on the congregation
was marked, and soon there were many
sinners on the mourners' bench. From
that time until midnight there was sing.
ing and prayer until "King" Lewis
eight day clock struck o instead Of 10,
This raised q commotion and the clock
was soundly denounced. "King" Lewis
said:
sHit doan make no difference whut
de clock strikes; look at de hams and
deyn tell you de time. Fact is, Ibleeve
dat ar young willyum, Lord Garrison,
has been monkeyin' wild de striking
tools in dat clock anyhow"
This was denied by the accused, and
it was finally decided to refer the matter
of the time to Elders Jordan and Congo
There was just two minutes difference
in their watches, SO q compromise wal
struck by Congo setting his watch Q
minute fast. Then, as both watches
pointed to the hour of 10, the preacher
blew a long blast on tin horn, the wor
shippers shouted and sang and the new