The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-29

Commander Ballington Booth is worthy
Of his audience. Such IS the opinion Of
every member Of the dense throng that
listened 10 him at the Plymouth Con-
gregationsl church last night. That
auditorium has seldom been 50 crowded.
Not a seat. not place 10 stand. could be
secured. even before the speaker went 70
the platform. and the entire audience
waited quietly. except for the bursts OF
applause that frequently broke out, until
the close.
Mr. Booth has one defect as a public
speaker-his voosiization is imperfect and
very Indistinct at timcs-5at the earnest
ness and the fervor that control him in
even the simplest statement amply atone
for occasional faulty utterance. and the
impression Of all studious auditors Is that
they are listening to a man of power. He
Is a natural leader-1is tall. commanding
form clad in military coat Of Prince
Albert cut. his magnetic eyes that seem
TO look directly in the faces Of every
listener before him, holding them 10 the
closest attention while he drives home ar
guments that would trouble a born de-
batter 10 refute-these things combine TO
bring him the recognition that he has
everywhere commanded.
last night was given a careful exposition
of the principles Of he Volunteers of Amer
ica, that organization which. according 10
TIE SEt'ahCr, a year ana a kaAl ASu. SFisAAtS
from the refusal OF Salvation Army lead
ers 70 recognize America as a sufficient
power in their organization 10 have home
trained leaders. y live, aggressive reEg-
ton IS the basis Of N0.unteerdom, says
Commander Booth: there is no room for
religions THAI are born and grow on
church steepIes. Christians must come
down. Get out of the guttersT' thua-
dered the speaker last night mol GeS
&C wn deeper and rescue the people that
are still lower
The commanders illustrations are ex-
ceedingiy timely. They have a meaning.
One of them was about poor negro down
South. who prayed the Lord 10 send aim a
turkey. The Thanksgiving bird did not
/ come. and after waiting awhile, the colored
suppliani amended his prayer like this:
Lord Lord send this darSey 10 tur-
key" The moral was obvious. and il was
driven home. IF the people do rot come
to us. We should so TO them. We believe
| that ii is the Christians duty TO take
! Christ to the Christless. and the churches
| duty TO take the church 10 the cnurcnIesS.
Primarily the work Of the Nolun ,eers.
/ Says Mr.. Booth. is among the criminal
classes and the convicts. His wife has I'M
! dertaken this feature and has been very
/ successful, judging by the figures he gave
/ He stated that the organization IS in touch
! BY correspondence wiki 5000 prisoners. aud
4 ,
| League. all OF these l.s00 being inmates OF
| state prisons.
/ Commander Booth continued: 1T is now
about seventeen months since God in His
! providence revealed il To be His Will. and
1 the American public made known their de-
/ sire that we should inaugurate this new
movement affiliated with the churches and
] distinctly American in its character.
| Its growth has been truly phenomenal
/ and remarkable. Though we have scrupu-
/ lousy avoided any display Of figures. be
/ neving them to be inadequate in setting
/ forth the great good done. yet, as they are
/ perhaps the most concise method OF con-
veying our growth TO the public, l may
| mention that the Volunteers of America
/ have now eight regiments, their cen
! ters being located in New York,
/ Philadelphia, Boston. Buffalo. Chi
( cago. Grand Rapids Minneapolis and San
/ Francisco. These are subdivided into six
! teen battalons and dctachments. in addi-
/ ton TO our national headquarters in
! which we publish the Volunteers Gazette.
and employ some forty people. There are
/ already nuety-two staff officers, and more
| than 800 commanding officers. whose whole
( time is employed in furthering the inter-
I ests of our philanthropic work by far the
1 larger majority Of whom have been raised
! in our own ranks. As a further instance
OF the manner in which the movement has
I taken hold or the pubic may state tnat
( have Just received through our reports in
( formation that during recent month 2,lf2
+ open-airs were held. reaching some 1900
people, while about 176e0 attended our
week-nlght services. exclusive Of the 16o.-
5 eco attending our Sunday services in the
/ armories throughout the states.
"On an average. 1000 n year are profess
/ ing conversion IN our meetings. and we
/ have every reason 10 believe that i; is only
/ a question Of q shor; tine until We shall
be able to raise a force OF consecrated
J evangelists from our cwn ranks, enabling
US TO more efTectually reach the un-
+ changed
The Defenders League Is a thoroughly
! representative group q all evangelical de-
nominations. and Includes some Of the fore
/ mos; citizens Of the Union, legislators min
I listers. lawyers physicians. literary men
! and merchants. who subscribe s. per an
mum toward the support OF the movement.
4 There are several thousand Of such perma-
3 neut friends as the present time"
Brevet-Nei Gardner Mr Booths pri-
/ vate secretary. assisted IN the meeting The
I Rev Mr., Lee introduced Tho speaker. Be-
/ fore the close ~ the meeting a highly sat-
/ isfactory collection was taken up
/ Tho leaders 90 from here 20 Portland and
thence % san Francisco.