The evening times., 1895-12-12
SAVER G::sOULs 1T TEN
cIeretta Neis Avery, the Child
Preacher, Is Coming.
TWO BOY sEiVfAiNGL1sTs Il HERE
The Girl Was Ephverted When Eight
cen Months Oh-She Has Wonder
ful Eyes and n Fervid Tongue.
Bnnta and Eobbs Have Been Hold
ing Services at HamIine.

| Juvenile soul savers, or child preachers,
are heading for Washington.
| 1t may or ma $ not be ior the reason that
Congress is in session.
| The fact remains, however, that two
Masters William Fobbs, aged twelve, and
| Henry Bantn, ged sixteen-rrc now in the
city. and cleretta Nora Avery, the wonder
| full ten-ycar-old culorcd girl, is to come
\ Christmas week.
| Clerctta is the most famous OF all, and
was born In this city. Her father was an
ordained clergyman, but gave up his
| church to lecture upon the HE of Christ
She looks like an average little colored
girl. except that her eyes are different from
| any eyes in any face. white or black. She
il very dark. but not quite black. Her
blood is probably three-quarters African.
| II Is a typical African face. but it is lighted
| up and made startling by the wonderful
eyes.
The eyes lock almost as big as silver dol
lars. The iashes are long. heavy,an nj black.
| The eyes are "a deep brown, and as bright
as the eyes OF "A colored baby. They are
| Spanish eyes. The chld's gra ndfather was
| a Spaniard. and those eyes come straight
| from him. They look as strange lighting up
| the little colored face as the eyes of roar-
| ing lion would look in the face of a white
lamb.
The infant preachers forehead is high
and her hair. more than curly, is tied up
| and stretched back with great skill ana
courage. 1t makes Two pretty Puifs on
| top or her head, and around the sides and
AT the back il shapes itself into innumcrable
| little twisty> tails and knots.
| HER BUSY BzAIN.
The child las a wcll-shaped head. Her
| hands are long, slender and delicate. Her
infant brain works all the time. When
allowed to enjoy life in her
own way she plays with dolls, some
black and some white, But she is
ready at moments notice to break off
into prayer or preaching. She breaches
and prays with fluency and some intel
ligence, although her utterances sug-
gest the words OF n conventional grown
preacher rather than the inspiration Of
an emotional child. 1t is impossible for
u common man ordinarily deficient in
| faith to doubt that her sermons are pre-
! pared for her and learned pra cticaliys by
heart. Fs- ---
\ Speaking ef;.hersclf. rtbe child ss8ys: II
| anu Cleretta Nora Avery. the child preacher.
l was converted to God when was one yeE.c
and half old. Il Iemeinher IT oh. so weh.
| | felt myself filled with love for everybody.
| as every other Christian feels / felt my
self full of "a bopror OF sin. ! have preached
to 1000 people at once. / preached to
| | 900 the other day. / never prepare nay
| sermons. am O years old. / have been
preaching for twoy.N-s. It's no trouble to
| preach" -
HOW sHEw sCONVERTED.
or her conversion she says:
.My father Vas preaching. He was
preacher like myself. Suddenly | knew
that was converted. l straight
ened myself up III my mothers arms
as we'll as could. She did not know
what was the matter with me. But
did A great light broke in on ne, and
l said in voice as loud as possible: L
want every one here 10 help me praise
God You can imagine the surprise OF
| my mother and OF every one else. They
| had never seen such young convert,
and l do not think any one else ever saw
| such young one in modern times
| "Of course you know that Samuel and
John the Baptist were converted as in
fants. but / suppose that / was then the
youngest protesting Christian living. l
was very happy about being converted and
| free from sin.
.OrcoJrsc. / know that at that time had
Committed no sin that would be considered
serious by the average sinner. But that is
because we are all hardened to sin. God is
so pure and so free from sin that in his eyes
the sweetest child. say two days old, is i'm
pure and sinful. 1t is all a matter of COM
parison. At that early age, in the eyes of
the Lord. / was sinner, and ii was well
for me that my young mind was able so soon
to realize my awful condition"
THE BOY EvANGELIsTs.
Henry Banta. the older of the boy evan
gelists, arrived In Washington Wednesday,
and is sent out by the Red Cruss Missionary
Society. He is IN his second evangelical
tour through the South, and stopped in
this city last night, and assisted william
Fobbs, thdAothcr boy preacher, in the ex-
ercjscs at Hamline NJ. E. Church.
Banta is the son af Rev. J. W Buata of
the Bible House in New York. Three years
ago Mr.. Banta started ON au evangelical
trip, and was accompanied by Henry, who
was not yet converted. MIR. Banta did not
preach in the cities, but visited the little
churches in the mountains OF the South
and frequently talked in country school
houses.
It was in one of the latter in a school.
house iu Ohio that Henry professed con.
version, and Immediately began TO assist
his father, who later visited the mountains
OF North Carolina, and it was there the boy
preacher began his first real work. Father
and son separated, and, as the lad tells
himself, his first sermon was preached in a
log cabin in the mountains, his host being
| "a man IA years old.
| The boy continued his work and returned
10 New York aud Brooklyn, where he has
been preaching for the last year. Recently
he received the offer OF a church at Shall
lotte, N. c., but says he does not think he
| win accept.
Tomorrow he will leave for Dumfries, a
| station on the Manassas line, and later he
will preach at Stafford Court House. His
route is mapped out as far as Wilmington,
N. c.
| william Fobbs is from Baltimore, and is
| nI1 hoo f,ao
a year since he was converted. and he has
already created a stir by his active re-
| ligious efforts. He will preach his con-
| ciuding sermon in this city tomorrow night.
| where Caimries Come From.
| great many OF our finest singers have
come from Italy and France, but until we
read it in an Engifsirnewspaper some days
| ago we never knew that Germany carries