The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1893-02-11
TALKS WITH
An EccENrRic OLD EVANGELIST or
WESTMINSTER, n. "

Il
Winter ssd eammsr He WANDER Aisas
the Roads Painting scriptsrs Texts q
Bevidsrs--Nsthiss Dstsrs Hin-Pas.
sivs whss Violence IL Ussa.
Who 10 the mysterious paint brush
evangelist OF Westchester county, Up
and down the beautiful bills and along
the rugged, rocky roads Of Wsstchestsr
TOR mile after mile his work can b.
seen. The wsyfarer cannot escape It.
At every fresh turn in the road the
painted words Of warning confront him.
Even the most ungodly sinner In all
New York. after walking q mile from
the little village Of White Plains, would
think he was surely ON the rocky road
70 the New Jerusalem.
Up in Westminster they call the mys.
FERROUS evangelist the Scripture Sling.
Or" and they say "hs slings It powerful
thick" 80 he does, and with discrimi.
nation rare, In paint Of the hue Of heav.
ems own blue, mixed In oil.
All along those rocky roads the fences
are made Of huge bowlders, out OF
which rough walls are made, separat-
Ing the pastures and bounding the road
sides. Besides there arc still other
bowlders jutting out Of tho soil along
tho roadway. On these, and on the
stone fences. the mysterious evangelist
unfolds his warnings. He 10 little
man. but energetic. He 10 silent man,
nv~ov,t nth hia S,v,,sh o., 4 4. <,.,S - L -
plucked from the necks Of oxen. With
It he speaks. His only name u George.
He marches, Salvation Army Of one
man, carrying bugle to announce his
coming. His sandy mustachs bristles,
and the lines Of his face show sixty
years. There hangs upon his head an
old straw hat. summer and winter, and
on tho hat is broad ribbon, bearing the
legend. Jesus Is mighty to save" A
cane. carved with innumerable inscrip-
tons. helps him over the hills a. he
marches on. carrying the battered hand.
bag in which repose his restless brush,
his pot Of paint. his Bible and other little
things. such as q comb and cake Of soap,
through the use Of which he keeps him
self only seminomsd. They say there
is no vanity in him. nor any glass with
squicksiIver back in that battered bag
A. he marches he spies . rock. biz
and brown. half hidden behind . clump
Of weeds. and on which he left no lnes-
sage when Last along that way. In .
moment the weeds arc uprooted, ana
kneeling by the rock he paints. letter by
letter. "o-b-e-y tho Lord" Then be
marches on reading the Bible. On .
smooth worn bowlder in the stone fence,
he prints. Repent! Believe! And sin no
more" Across tho road he leaves the
warning, You must repent or 60 to
hell" A little farther on he kneels
again. and under his brush grow tho
words. The wages for sinners is hell
Ere
There are painted words, though
along the roads more worldly than lie
ones he leave there. One Of them says,
"Spend your Sundays at Manhattan
beach" On finding this It is said b.
bowed his head a moment Then in 4
deeper shade Of blue than usual, mixed
on the spot. he painted RICH, alongside
tho words. Where will you spend
etcrnityY'
Many Of the farmers up in Westches.er
take summer boardcrs, and on q big tree
In the front yard each Of them nails M
. sign which reads; pheasant summer
home. Board by the day or week. -
Across the road from such as these the
paint brush says. Think Of that beauti.
ful home above
So the strange evangelist goes on.
fighting the world with blue paint, meas
ure for measure. and covering the sur.
plus space with admonition, exhortation
and advice.
To him all things arc Of the world
worldly. and therefore he knows naught
Of politics.
This strange man sleeps by the road
side, in . stable or where he NAV. and
for months eats only what 10 given
him Money Is nothing to him. For
. little while each year he works on
the Sound View stock farm, owned by
William A. Sammis. and It 10 then be
pulls tho hair from the necks Of oxen
and makes his stock Of brushes. His
paint IL given him and he mixes il him.
self.
He has been told TO stop the task Of
covering the rocks Of Westchcster with
blue paint. but he keeps on. By his &C
ton he says. "Shall man not make his
fellow man reflecty'
Township trustees threaten end re-
solve In vain. The notices multiply.
Assaults do not terrify him. Once no
was met by two men near the West
chester fair grounds and commanded
TO stop painting a sentence he had begun.
He turned his back to them and kept on
without reply. When he had finished
he began q new sentence. Then the
men rushed at him and struck him down
with cluba The unfinished
sentence read: