The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-10-31
THEIR QUEER ACTS. \
Zealot Worshipers Burn Fnrn1ture
Dogs and Other Things-Town is
Stirred.

POS1t1Vely no admllCauCs, eX'
cept on Gods business
That is the wording of sigr
that hangs conspicuously displayed
at the yard gate at the residence o.
Mr.. and Mrs. o. V. Hurt. The
same legend is also displayed prom
inently on the porch at the entrance
to the house. The signs and nun.
erous prevalent conditions about
the premises have been the talk ol
all Corvallis for the past two days
Certain caprices of religious fanat-
icism have been manifested at the
house that are so unusual as to sug-
gest a condition bordering insanity.
Walks about the house have been
torn away Much of the
furniture in the house has been re-
duced to ashes, on a theory that
God wills it. The shrubbery and
fruit trees about the yard, and all
the flowers have been digged up
and destroyed. Kitchen utensils
have been beaten to pieces and bur
led. An incident that has added
unusual impetus to the sensational
character of the conditions is that
o. v. Hurt, a we'll known business
man. former chairman of the re-
publican central committee aud at
present state commit een1an. has
joined the. sect, and is now one OF
its most devoted members. Wed
nesday morning, he failed to appear
at K1ine's store, where he has been
employed for long time. He. sent
instead his keys to the establish
ment, along with a message to the
effect that he had been living in sin
and that hereafter he intended to
devote himself to the work of God.
DoINGs OF THE SECT ~.
Members of the Hurt fami] Y have
long been leading lights in the sect
in Corvallis. Formerly they were
members of the Salvation Army.
One time. after joining the new sect
they carried on their devotions in a
house on Main street. Their night
1y incantations so much disturbed
the people living in the locality
that complaint was made. and the
authorities ordered the noise stop
ped. After that, sort. of camp.
meeting was held in tent on an
island in the Willamette south Of
town Recently the wors1ippers
moved to the Hurt house, and there
a daily and nightly manifestation
of the peculiar bent of the member
ship has been kept up much to the
annoyance of the neighborhood.
During their devotions. the wor-
shippers roll on the floor. groan,
scream, pray, shout and otherwise
give evidence of great bodily and
mental agitation. There are'in all
about2omembers of the sect. Among
them are Mr.. and Mrs. Hurt, Frank
Hurt and wife and sister-in-1aw,
Miss Maud Hurt, Crefeld, swede
with light hair, Brooks, ex-captain
of the Salvation Army at Corvallis,
Mrs. Hartley and daughter. Alliof
the above persons are most of the
time at the Hurt house. There
are number of families and Others,
some of whom engage in their pc
culiar form of worship in houses in
various parts of town. OF the 1at-
ter, none have been SO demonstra
tive as those=at the Hurt house.
HErowN ELECTRIFIED, x
It has been long time since in
terest has been awakened to so high
a pitch as that occasioned by de-
velopments at the Hurt house. The
doings of Wednesday night about
the place. and the tearing up of
walks and destruction of furniture
Thursday forenoon, flew over town
like wild fire, and everybody be-
came interested. 1t was told about
that num- Der of dogs and cats had
been thrown into sacrifcial fire as
a part of the manifestation of the
- =