Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-05-12
.1ne NINETY AND NINE"

fhs cha,ee Bexinniag Of sankey's
Fam0us Song.
rhe other day Ira d. Sankey told
reporter how his famous. soul-winning
! sonx. .'rhe Ninety and Nine" came In
to the world. 1t was In 1873. and
Moody and Sankey. who had been to-
sether but q couple Of months. were
travelling through Scotland and hold
Ing meetings everywhere. On q train
one day, while Moody was busy In his
corner Of the railway compartment,
| Sankey picked up . paper. Tucked
AWAY in the bottom Of a column were
some verses which met bis eye
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter Of the fold.
SO 1t began, and Mr.. Sankey followed
down the lines. while the express for
NdiuburRh rushed on at sixty miles aD
hour.
-Hurrahr' cried Mr. Sankey. bring
ing his hand down on his knee In char
acteristic enthusiasm. i've found the
hymn I've been looking for for years. :"
Yes" said Moody. what is it?'
feeling into his words. for the beauty
Of the verses impressed him. but when
he looked up he saw that Mr.. Moody
had heard nothing Of the reading. be
ing lost In his letters.
"An right" thought Mr.. Sankey.
hell hear that hymn later on" and
cutting out the verses from the paper
he put them away carefully for future
use.
A few days after this the evangelists
held a revival In Edinburgh. Mr.. Moody
spoke most eloluently on the "Good
Shepherd" As he finished there came
over the meeting that stiffness which
Indicates deep spiritual feeling. Bend
ing down from his pulpit toward MIR.
Sankey, who sat by his right at the
little melOdeon, Mr.. Moody said:
MIR. Sankey. hive you anything to
sing on this subject as soloT'
Mr.. Sankpy hesiiated. He coula
thiuk Of nothing directly on the sub
ject except the Twenty-thirc Psalm,
which had already been sung three
times that day by the congregation.
They must have something else. Like
a dash II came to him. Sing tue sony
you found Oh the train." But Ills sec
ond thought was. How can l slug y
hymn without tuner Meanwhile the
audience was waiting In silence. Sing
the hymn you found on the train"
anne the thought again. Mr.. Sankey
opened his little scrap book OF solos,
found the newspaper slip. laid 1t before
him on the rack Of the melOdeOn. and
then struck a rlAl chord and began To
sing. What notes he sang he did not
know. nor what chords be played; he
took no heed Of harmony. nor Of
how he got through the first stanZa.
| And then he paused and played soine
! chords on the nIelOdeOn, waiting to be-
gin the second stanza. The thought
came to him. Can | sing the second
slauZa AS l did the first; can l remem-
bcr the notes?" and he concentrated
his mind once more for the effort and
began to sing. Aud so he went through
the five stauzas. and the audience sat
| still as death until he finished.
When it WAS all over MIR. Moody
came down from the pulpit. and. rest
ing n hand on MIR. MOody's shoulder.
looked with wonder at the newspaper
clipping. My dear FRIEND" he said.
where did yOn get that song; l never
heard anything like it,"
That" said Sankey. 'is the hymn ]
read to you gu the train, the one you
didn't hear"
And thus the tune of the Ninety and
Nine was born into the world. As It
was sung that day In Edinburgh by in
SEPARATION, SO II has been written down
In the hymn books. and SO 1t has been
sung in the many languages, and no
note Or chord OF 1t has been changed.