The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-11-02
ASH sARREL IIMMY.s
The First Convert of the Salvation Arm!
In America.

| The First Convert of the Salvation Army
In America.
| Oar first convert II America IS still
| living and serving the army IN Boston.
| The history Of his reform - 4 remarka-
| BE one.
| The conversion q the first OF mighty
multitude was brought about by Com
/ missioner Railton, then in command Of
| the American forces OF the army, and
| Superintendent Thomas ByTnes Of the
/ Kew York police. Mr.. Byrues was an
| Inspector of police AZ the time, early il
| 1880.
Il IS safe 10 say that IN Salvation Army
| tircles there are -. few who DO not
know Jimmy, by reputation at least.
Jimmy was thief and drunkard when
| converted in New York in March, 1850
| His name is James Kemp.
Three times Jimmy narrowly escaped
| losing his life. On one occasion he was
| nearly frozen to death outside Billy Nc
| Glory's notorious dive. On another &C.
| casion he was so brutally beaten in =
| Water street dive that lie was supposed
! 10 be dead. The morgue wagon was
| called by the police, and the bruised and
| battered body, apparently dead, was car
| ried TO the morgue. When il, or rather
1 he. arrived there some of the doctors
made the discovery that Jimmy still
| lived, and so he was taken to the hos
| pital, where he remained four months.
| His last narrow escape from death was
| when he drank quantity of spirits CT
wine which he found in n cellar. jim
| my drank so much he went raving mad
and tried to hang himself. He was sent
| to prison for three months for attempt
| ing suicide.
The first Saturday afternoon in March,
| 1880, Jimmy started out to have some
| amusement, and hearing that the Saliva
ton Army, which had just arrived from
England, was going Ito show" at Harry
Hills notorious resort he concluded to
| go there and see what kind of people the
| soldiers were. When lie arrived at HIS.
| he found that there was an admission
| fee, and he, with n drunkard's economy,
| determined to spend the price of admis-
| sion in n different manner. Toward
night he strolled into a dive in Water
street, where his Whyo friends painted
| his back and served his face the same
way and wound up the performance by
rolling the unfortunate man in the saw
dust OF the dive floor. Jimmy, after sub
uniting to their treatment, thought they
would let him stay there all night; but.
alas, they kicked him out on the street.
Just as Jimmy reached the sidewalk
his cap blew off and fell into an ash bar
| rel which was standing near the door of
the den. Jimmy tried to recover it, but
IN doing so lost his balance and fell head
first into the barrel. He struggled to
Ill l.. IN
He seemed to be there to stay.
a short time after Jimmy's acrobatic
feat a policeman came along, and seeing
q mans legs in the barrel set to work to
discover who was the owner of them
and why he had them in such position
He took out his club and struck the in
verted man on the soles of his feet
These means are sometimes resorted to
by policemen to arouse drunken men.
From the depths of the barrel came a
voice which the policeman at once recog-
nized. He raped for assistance, and
when another officer appeared on the
scene an effort was made to get Jimmy
from his novel but painful position.
They pulled at the protruding feet, but
Jimmy failed to respond, his clothes hay
ing been caught on the nails which had
been driven through the barrel. They
pulled until the old rotten shoes gave
way and were left in their hands. The
policemen then threw the barrel down
on its side, and laying hold of the unfor
tunate mans feet they dragged the bar
rel and its bowling occupant toward the
police station.
A pitiful sight was poor Jimmy when
he reached the station. His face, which
had been blackened by the toughs in the
dive, was all battered and bruised, and
the paint on his face, mingled with
blood, was strongly suggestive of a
scalped Indian. His clothes were all
torn and his shoes gone. How complete
the rain! How perfect the wreck
Superintendent Byrnes suggested that
the Salvation Army be allowed to try
its hand on the man, and the result was
his conversion, since which time he has
served faithfully in its ranks.-Boston
Herald.