The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-28
A VISIT TO ZION
Story Of Sunday Passed in the
Sacred Precincts Of
Dowieyille.
A Sermon in Which the General
oyerseer Wipes Out the
Color Line.

Color Line.
Chicago, Sept. 49, The zion express
With fourteen crowded cars. dashed thr,
Evanston. Winnetka, Highland PARK aanf
Waukegan. and. after a run of a little
more than an hour, slowed down anf
stopped within the sacred precincts o
Zion. :
It was Sunday afternoon, and the hum O.
the industries was hushed and there wa,
quiet calm about the surroundings tina
one rarely ever enjoys in Chicago,
There were no street cars. no automo.
piles, no buses, and nobody there witt
conYeyances Of any kind to meet friends
50 everybody walked. Like an army o.
soldiers the crowd Of curious tourists
marched in body up town. nearly hall
q mile, to the principal street
And' TO- up In front, at the head of the
column, was the spare man with the rec
Whiskers. He led all the rest.
Lest we forget, or, rather for the benefit
OF the reader who may have heard of an
other Zion, I will state by way Of explana.
ton that this one is located in the north
eastern corner of Illinois, half way be-
tween Chicago and Milwaukee. It was
founded about two years ago by Rev John
Alexander Dowie, the acknowledged head
OF the Christian Catholic church.
The streets are not paved with gold, nor
anything else, but they will be soon
Ihis Zion is said to contain about 10, 0oO
people at the present time Even Tho
there are only S,OO0 you will admit, !
know, that 1t is a pretyt good start for
so short a time.
The big lace factory, which was trans
planted from Nottingham, England, bv
Dowie, is the principal industry Of the
town, tho there are several others of
lesser magnitude.
Already there are several handsome
residences, and many more are going up.
which certainly must give the town 3, de-
c1dedly active appearance on week DAYS.
Verify, there is surely something doing
in Zion.
'All of the buildings, aside from the
residences, belong to the Zion ASSOCIATION
and there are a lot Of them, Including the
factories and general stores, the bank, the
hotel, the schoolhouses, the tabernacle,
ETC., etc.
Zion association is stock company. but
1t Is under the absolute control of John
Alexander Dowie, who is the master mind
In all things in Zion.
\ Lots In Zion are not simply leased
and not for three or five years, but for a
period of 1,199 years. They want every
body to get their moneys worth
The terms Of the leases are not so much
per year for 1,199 years.. but they are so
much down, or to be paid during the first
year or two or three, the amount being
equivalent to fair purchase price.
The person leasing can release if he
likes, and possibly the third person can
i don't know where the power to lease
ends. If at any time the person holding
the lease (probably the Originally desires
TO leave town for any reason, the associa-
tlon pledges itself to pay back the sum
paid on the property together with one.
half of the cost Of the improvements. Very
kind indeed.
Elijah Hospice" is the name of the no.
TEL and 1t is referred to by everybody as
the hospice. It is large and elegant hav.
ing about 300 rooms for guests, a dining
room probably larger than any in Chica.
go. The walters are girls dressed in
white.
"Will you have tea or coffee?' is the
only question asked the hungry guests
seated around the tables, which are made
lot fourteen persons each,
2 The rest Of the dinner comes in with.
out ordering, and it comes to all alike
consisting Of cold roast beef, warm boiled
potatoes, side dish of peas, Zion bread
and butter and Zion pie.
mot much of variety" YOU will saw.
True. But the quality is excellent, and it
Is well worth the charge of 25 cents.
Zion pie Is prime eating. The kind your
mother used to make isn't in it with this.
l am not familiar with the kind she
makes now.
After dinner you follow the crowd again
and soon you find yourself at the taber-
nacle, which is located in a grove called
Shiloh park, probably eight rods from the
hospice. =
And Old Glory floats from the flag pole
on the roof.
1t also floats .triumphantly from the
highest points on most of the other Zion
buildings.
The tabernacle is a very large and
roomy frame building with a seating ca
pacity of 5000 or more, but it is too
small, and already ground has been brok-
en- near by for a modern steel structure
which will seat 10000. This will be ready
in about year.
A few minutes before $3.50 q broueham.
drawn by span of handsome chestnuts.
drove up to the main entrance to the tenn
pie and John Alexander Dowie, the gen
eral overseer, alighted and hastily entered
the great building.
Four minutes later divine service had
begun, and all of the doors were closed
till after the professional.
The beginning was similar in form to
that of the Episcopalians lions white
robed choir on this occasion mum bereG
about 1000 voices, well trained, too, and
you who are fond of show and music can
easily imagine the effect.
The sermon, of course. was by Dowie.
His long, white beard and white gown
made him appear like the real Elijah He
quoted many passages from the Bible.
bearing on the race question, and had
much to say about Moses, who married
q dark skinned lady, and about Aaron
and his companions who made fuss
about 1T, and proclaimed that Moses bad
made an awful mistake. Then he told
how the Lord came to the rescue Of Moses
and his black wife and straightway
changed the views Of Aaron and his band
Of kickers.
Dowie argued that there is only one
race, and that every family in that race
Is just as good as any other 'Your God
and my God is the God of ALL"
The sermon, while full of>good thoughts.
was not remarkable for either dramatic
or oratorical features. 1t might have
been delivered by any other good preacher
who could speak well without notes, and
who was as thoroly familiar with the
Bible.
1t lasted perhaps forty minutes. and was
followed by 5000 voices singing "On-
ward, Christian Soldiers This was fine.
and right here things commenced to warn,
up.
y Dowie came forth again, much to the
surprise Of many who had notion that
the service was about over This time
the general overseer appeared in smiles,
ana on the broad rostrum in front Of the
pulpit. His manner Indicated that he was
feeling well, and had something out of
the ordinary to say. And SO he had