Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-04-04
ANECDOTES OF SANkEY
How the Afflicted Singer Be-
came an Evangelist.
IETENsEsT MOMENT OF his LIFE.

"Nfnefy and Nine" He1cre q treat
scotch NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. with
n swiss saIesman-His of
singing.
The misfortune that has befallen the
eyes Of Ira d. sankey, the famous
singing evangelist. reminds me that it
was a Pittsburger who brought him
and Moody together In revival partner
ship, says a correspondent of the Pitts
burg Dispatch. The story has often
been told, but 1t viii bear repeating.
The two men, then strangers to each
other, were both present at an interna-
tional convention of the X. NJ. c. A. at
indianapolis in 1870. Sankey was a
delegate from New Castle, where he
was working under his father as depu-
ty collector of internal revenue. His
wonderful singing attracted the atten.
ton of the great evangelist.
"Who is that man yer there that
sings SOP Moody asked of the nan
next to him, who happened to be I'll. X.
Porter, then president Of the Pittsburg
Young Mems Christian association.
why that's one of our P%ennsylva-
mia young men, Ira Sankey," replied
the Smoky City man. HE has a fine
voice, hasn't hep
Il don't know anything about his
voice" said Moody. but / know this
that he feels every word he sings and
believes every word he feels. | want
to meet that man. Bring him to my
hetel."
The meeting took place. The evan
gelist wasted no words approaching
the subject.
81 want you to come with me, young
man." said be. 1--WE been looking for
you the last eight years."
Sankey spoke of his business in New
Castle.
@'You'll have to give that up" said
Moody peremptorily.
Sankey took six months to think "
the matter and then accepted the call.
Sankey, in his work, searched all the
hymnals for suitable tunes for revival
purposes, but found few to his liking;
so he had to turn composer. In reading
q hymn or a poem an idea would strike
him. He would paste the verses into
a musical scrapbook and opposite them
would jot down a few musical notes.
a future speech.
During the Moody and Sankey meet
ings in Edinburgh he read in a reli-
gious newspaper the words of NINETY
and Nine He clipped them and filed
them away, intending when he had
time to wed the poem to music. Dur
ing one of the meetings Moody closed
a talk or the very theme covered by
the verses and called upon his associ-
ate to sing something. An inspiration
seized Sankey. He seated himself be-
fore the organ, with the clipped poem
before him. and began to sing without
airy definite idea of what the tune
posed as he sang. The impromptu mel
ody. united with the spirit with which
it was sung, took the vast audience by
storm. There was a slight pause. San
key began the second stanZa and found
that he could sing it just as he had
sung the first. Afterward he described
that as the intensest moment of his
life. Certainly Ninety and Nine Is
bis masterpiece as a musical compost
ton, though never thought out or re-
hearsed before he sang it before that
great Scotch audience.
When asked how he managed to
make his voice heard above all others
in a vast congregation of singing wor-
shippers, Sankey said:
The whole thing lies in interesting
the people with your song exactly as
an orator does with his oratoryY If
you sing interestingly. they'll be quiet
as mice just to listen, but you can't do
1t with music alone. You've got to
make them hear every word and see
every picture of the poet; then you'll
get that silence of death, that quiet be-
! fore God, which always ONE when
good is done. | have sung before TO-
600 people when the building was so
still you could hear the clock tick. al
most hear the heart beat"
4 lObh HOOd AoiN VI lis AhibaA5 a.
every professional singer finds it nee
essary to do, but he never took a drug
for his voice.
Mr.. Sankey enjoys a joke, even If 1t
be at his own expense, else this little
story would never have seen the light.
He told 1t on himself. He entered a
music store In Geneva and asked to
see some music boxes. None that was
shown him filled the bill.
"Have you none that plays sacred
music?'' he asked.
why" answered the salesman, 1--WE
have some that play a kind OF half
way sacred music"
"What?"
"Oh, those Moody and Sankey hymns.
I can't imagine what the people see In
them, but we sell thousands of the
boxes that play them. Here's one"
The box he produced began TO play
Coates Ajar For Me" and then branch
ed off upon other gospel hymns.