Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-01-13

JtNt OF lnelf ndfeQ. IT tney Sflhe any
one II will be you. That IL the reason
! want TO leave this place, Say you
Will, Philip, Surely there are other
churches where you could preach as
you want TO and still not be In such
constant danger"
II required all OF Philips wisdom and
love and consciousness Of his immedi-
ate duty 70 answer his wifels appeal
and say no TO II. II was one OF the Sc
yerest struggles he ever had, There
was TO be taken into the account not
only his own safety. but that OF his
would, he could not shake on the feel
ing that man so cowardly as TO re-
Rort TO the assassination OF q man
would not be oyerparticular even II II
should chance 20 be q woman. Philip
was man enough TO be entirely unshak-
en- by anonymous threats. A thou
sand a day would not have unnerged
him IN the least. He would have
writhed under the sense Of the great
sin which they revealed, but that Is all
the effect they would have had.
When Is came 20 his wife, however,
that was another question. For mo-
ment he felt Ike sending In his reslg-
nation and moving out Of Milton as
soon as possible Mrs. Strong did not
oppose his decision when once he had
declared his resolve. She knew Philip
must DO what 10 him was the will OF
his Master. and with that finally she
was content.
She had overcome her nervousness
and dread now that Philips ooura-
geous presence strengthened her and
she began 10 tell him that he had bet
ter hunt for the man who had appear
ed so mysteriously In the study.
IL haven't convinced myself yet that
there Is any man. Confess Sarah, that
you dreamed all that"
II did not" replied his wife, little
Indignantly. DO you think / wrote
those letters and stuck that knife into
the desk myselfY'
"Of course not, But how could a
man get into the study and neither you
nor the girl know III"
Il did hear noise, and that is what
started mo uD stairs. And he may be
In the house yet. ! shall not rest easy
until you look into oil the closets and
down cellar and everywhere"
SO Philip, 10 quiet his wife, search
ed the house thoroughly, but found
nothing. The servant and the min
ister's wife followed along at a re-
spectful distance behind Philip, one
armed with the poker and the other
with a fire shovel. while he pulled open
closet doors with reckless disregard OF
any possible man hiding within and
pretended TO look into the most unlike
ly places for him, joking all the while
to reassure his trembling followers.
They found one OF the windows In
Philips study partly open. But that
did not prove anything. although
man might have crawled in and out
again through that window from an ell
OF the parsonage, the roof Of which ran
near enough 10 the window so that an
active person could gain entrance that
way The whole affair remained more
or less q mystery to Philip. However,
the letters and the knife were real.
He took them down town next day TO
the Office OF the evening paper and ask
ed the editor to publish the letters and
describe the knife. II was too good a
piece OF news to omit, and Milton peo-
Pile were treated TO a genuine sensation
when the article came out. Philips
object In giving the incident publicity
was TO show the community what a
murderous element 1t was fostering In
the saloon power. Those threats and the
knife preached a sermon to the
thoughtful people Of Milton, and clu-
zens who had never asked the question
before began 10 ask now, Are we TO
endure this saloon monster much long
err"
AS for Philip, he went his way the
same as ever Some OF his friends and
church members even advised him TO
carry a revolver and be careful about
going out alone at night Philip laugh
ed at the Idea Of a revolver and said:
IF the saloon men want TO get rid Of
me without the trouble OF shooting me
themselves they had better make me a
present OF silver mounted pistol.
Then | would manage the shooting my
self. And as for being careful about
going out evenings, what Is this town
thinking Of that II viii continue 20
license and legalize an institution that
makes It's honest citizens advise new
comers TO stay at home for fear OF as
sassination? No. / shall 20 about my
work Just as II lived In the most law
abiding community In America. And IL
! am murdered by the whisky men |
want the people OF Milton TO under
stand that the citizens are as much TO
blame for the murder as the saloon
men. For a community that viii liz
cense such a curse ought TO bear the
shame OF the legitimate fruits OF 1t.
The trial OF the man with the hare
lip had been postponed for some legal
reason. and Philip felt relieved some
what. He dreaded the ordeal OF the
court scene. And one or two visits
made at the Jail had not been helpful
%. IA t., Lss1 \ 4
time TO see the minister, and he had
gone away feeling hungry IN his soul
for the mans redemption and realiz-
ing something Of the Spirit OF Christ
when He was compelled TO cry out,
They Will not come unto me that they
might have eternal life" That always
seemed 30 Philip the most awful fea-
ture OF the history OF Christ-that the
very people He loved and yearned after
spit upon Him and finally broke His
heart with their hatred.
He continued his study Of the prob
lem OF the town, believing that every
place has. certain peculiar local char
acterisdcs which every church and
preacher ought TO study He was
struck by the aspect OF the lower part
OF the town. where nearly all the poor
tI people llNeu. lie went GOWN lntfe
and studied the situation thoroughly
IL did not take very great amount of
thinking 20 convince him that the
church power In Milton was not prop
erly distributed. The seven largest
churches In the place We're all on one
street. we'll up In the wealthy resi-
dence portion and not more than two
or three blocks apart. Down in the
tenement district there was not a sim
gle church building and only one or
two weak mission schools which did
not touch the problem OF the district at
all. The distance from this poor part
OF the town 10 the churches was fully
a mile, a distance that certainly stood
as a geographical obstacle 10 the
church attendance OF the neighbOr-
hood, even supposing the people were
eager TO go TO the large churches.
which was not az an the fact Indeed.
Philip soon discovered that the people
were Indifferent In the matter. The
churches on the fashionable street In
town meant less than nothing 10 them.
They never would 90 TO them, and
there was little hope that anything the |
pastor or members could DO would |
draw the people that distance to come !
within church influence. The fact OF |
the matter was the seven churches OF |