The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-08-20
. . .

~ IGTEN TO the voice Of God. God
80 n In the machine. God pro-
- duces everything. Great and
marvellous are the works Of the
Creator. Here h the disc that screw
down on the machine: here II the tiny
needle: there In the trumpet-llke trans
mitter Of the sound. turn the crank TO
furnish the motive power. place the
needle In thu groove, and. presto, the
sound In produced: but howf Can any
man. BE- he Of scientific mind or other
wise, give any lucid explanation? No,
they cannot. for God produces the sound"
This dramatic declaration was made by
~. O. Waggoner. one OF the foremost
lawyers In Ohio. and who until recently
WAS considered one Of the most radical
atheists in the state. n not In the coun-
try. No invective was too bitter. no
argument too blasphemous for him to
hufl ct the church. and he resorted to
every means . shrewd intellect could
devise TO harm and hold up to ridicule
and scorn religion and al connected
With Il. Hts large library. containing al
most every conceivable attack on Chris
tianity. was assiduously loaned out for
this purpose. In public and private. At
home and on the street. he inveiGhed
against religion. stopping people on the
corners and pouring into their ears
violent haranguea that showed how In
tense was his antipathy to the cause
against which he fought.
Yves . stPeng Antagonist.
In many other ways did he show the
hatred that was in his heart for God and
mankind. His friends were 4 parrot and
che works Of yoitaire: his amusen1ents con-
sisted In crushing some poor champion or
xSe -. - teRu lARf
his encounters were many. Frequently.
though m old man. has be been engaged
IN brawls on the street. using hts heavy
cane with telling effect. On one occasion
ne was trounced by prominent young
society man for alleged repeated insults TO
. woman. His present wife. married =
short time ago In now In an asylum
The subject Of his remarks was gram
ophone. an ordinary inexpensive instru-
ment. but one destined to shape the future
OF the old man. mind and lead him from
The paths OF inndeiism to embrace religion
and become an exhorter OF the word OF
God instead Of disseminating the teachings
Of agnostics
The story OF Mr.. waggoncr's conversion
u hest told In his own words, He said:
AS you may have heard. was perhaps
the wickedest man In the United States.
At the age OF n hrss read some Of Vol
taire's works became interested. ana
after that read with avidity everything tha'
could beg or borrow. After I went oat
IN the world 70 earn my own living I pus-
chased all the hooks ] could hear OF, until
Ut the present time I own over 80 books
written by the men foremost In the crusade
against tho Bible Many Of these ] have
loaned ~ was In the work with a prr-
pose hamnGued all who would hear me
on the street corners and neglected my
business 10 talk infldelism, ! was Stunned
BY society In q measure ana many men
who would have otherwise become my
clients declined to rstronise me because OF
my belief which was iistaxteful To them.
became q scientific reader Of the bible
and I called myself a scientific inndel
know I was one Of the best read men In
the country on the pihie. I can quote
whole chapters and tell you where "a fnd
any passage In the scriptures I made life
uneasy for every evangelist who came 80
the city for would seek him our and
engage him In argument. do no. say this
hcas,ingiy. hut n II fact that was
never werssed In ar argument have
driven many n preacher ont % Toledo by
my ridtcuie. Ministers without number have
visited me and begged mr. 10 ass4st. but
always led them into arSnmen. and they
were Hind 10 hack out ~ my once door
was a personal friend Of inTersot and re-
garded him ~ one 81 tire greatest men who
ever lived.
Manner Of Hts Conversion.
Eight months and four days before
united with the church and became one ~
COTS chosen few I was converted I WAS
not brought 10 see the error 81 my way
IN a church. There were no prayers. no
solicitations. shcre vas no one there 10 take
my hand and bid me- welcome, TIE rcum-
stances surrounding my conversion are at
once new and novel. bur withai most ss-
fec,ual and solemn. For some days had
been somewhat III at ease had had a
talk with ono Of the city rassnrs and no
remarked to me tina, the teachings 81 In
fdei,sm might be hugxsa 10 the breast by 4
young man, but when a man became as
old as I he should cast about for come
thing that was stable ard that he could
RELY on on his seathbsd. This was a sisn-
pie way Of putting a.. hu, l sce1ea Mt II
at the time. and told him nv faith was
good enough 10 die with. The nsxaS OF my
conversion I retired At my usual hour |
could not sleep. and after pacing my siesa~
for some time in A d.ssaseei frame 90 rninss
I arose and sought saiacs from MY gram
ophcne.
1.-The Eght Was burning rather Sin AK,
I selected q dssk NJ random ana rns II On
the machine. The record resosvsd. ard
Praise God From Whom All BLESSINGS
Flow was waited On the midnight air and
Allied the room with meiciy. tbs was 'oa-
lowed hy the thirty third psalm TIE rsc"rS,
being that OF nr Tasmage. The isss fecsasS'
a. religious airs had convenient was
Rock OF AGES Cleft for Me-. and - sss
grand hymn vas produced the Exhs came
Ma Hx segh and J ssst q eoesssssesss