The Mena weekly star., 1897-09-01
A CURIOUS SECT.
The .HoIy RoIiers'' of Eastern
 Maine.


 Maine
 Anything which Christ did can do, is the keystone of the faith of the Holy Ghost Evangelists, sect organized III OrIand, Me, about two years ago, wnlcn is now springing all over eastern Maine. The leaders of the faith are Mrs. Mary Mcintyre, who came here from Waldo county two years ago, and organized prosperous church, and Elder James Woodworth, of Syracuse, N. Y., who has been in Bangor and it's vicinity about q year Though the members of the sect lay great stress upon prayer and laying on of hands, they are not Chris tian scientists, and claim no affinity with the faith headers. The new cult begins where the other two leave ott, accepting nobody but hopeless sinners and confirmed invalids, who are treat ed for sin and disease free of charge.
 Regeneration is effected in several ways. the course of treatment including prayer, bathing, rubbing and baptism by immersion When these have proved vain the penitent is called before SC cret meeting of the members and com pelled to perform the "holy roll" Ac- cording to the stories told by back sliders who have taken the full mum Der of degrees, the person who makes the holy roll les down upon the floor at one end of the building and rolls over and over, like a log, until every person present is satisfied that the last trace of the Evil One has been taken our. Sometimes the ceremony is finished In ten minutes, while in stubborn cases Of possession it is continued from eight o'clock in the evening until midnight. As the subject rolls past the kneelinG audience, every person has the right to ask such questions as he sees it, and the renitent must make ready and satisfac- tory answers before he is allowed to rise. The sins of lifetime must be confessed in detail, and the innermost secrets made public. Having rolled across the floor until everybody is satis- fled and have no more questions to ask, the subject is assisted to his feet and conducted to a rostrum, where he is proclaimed the brother of Christ and told to go forth and perform miracles.
  duct by members of the sect came about a year ago, when young man who had taken up the holy roll was sick and dizzy for a week after his exercise. Soon after this man recovered, a girl who wished to join the sect had tsc holy roll administered at an evening meeting, and the next morning she was found on the piazza of her fathers house in a swoon. which lasted for more than a day. When asked about he girls condition, the brethren said she was in trance and was paying brief visit to Heaven, from which she would shortly return again and take pos session of her body. They fixed the time of her recovery at six o'clock the next morning, and when the time came she began to revive, gaining strength and consciousness so she was able to sit up and talk before noon. Though the Holy Ghost Evangelists pleaded with her to tell them where she had been and what she had seen, she said she had no memory of events from the time she started to walk home until she re- gained consciousness in bed more than 2i hours later. The new evangelists took her lack of illumination for sign that she had not been wholly regen- crated, and caused her to make second application of the holy roll, which was no doubt successful, because the girl is now full member.
 While Mrs. Mcintyre exhorts and gains new converts, Elder Woodwork goes from town to town treating the lame and casting out devils" as he terms it. Some of the cases which he has treated have been followed by unexpected results. Last winter he was called out to Great Pond to attend Mrs. Hurd, who was in the last stages of pulmonary consumption. As soon as he entered the house he began to ruth his hands and mutter prayers.
 'sThe room is full of devils,' he said "Throw up the windows and let them out I cannot do a thing while they are here"
 1 When the windows were raised, al lowing a bleak wind to enter, he threw all the medicine bottles out of the room, and lOneeling down, prayed for a full hour, while the patient shivered with cold. After the prayer he went back to Bangor, promising to return in week. The next morning Mrs. Hurd died from shock and exposure" so Dr. | Patten made out the death certificate.