The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-03
TALKS OF ZION CITY|
REV. ". D. GAY, A CONVERT or
 DoWIE
He Has Been to Great Meeting of New Sect on Lake Michigan and Speaks With
 Enthusiasm.

Rev. W. D. Gay, who has recently re- turned from Zion City. H., talked inter- estingly of Zion City. the home of the Dowieites or ''the Christian Cathonc church ip Zion
 Mfr. Gay was formerly Baptist min- ister and was in charge of the Adams street church of Montgomery. He has large family connection here. He is an ofacer in the Dowie church and went to Zion City to attend the great "Feast or Tabernacles."
 Zion City is forty-two miles north of Chicago said Mir. Gay, and is situated beautifully on Lake Michigan. It is hve miles long and two miles fronting on the lake. It gradually rises back from the lake to an altiture of 17 feet, providing splendid drainage. It has three parks and is laid off like Washington city with boulevards and avenues running from the Central Temple area of 200 acres. It cele- brated the second anniversary showing 10000 people, with over 70 nationalities.
 These people work in lace factories. candy factories, pure food and general store supplies, carpenters. brick layers. gardeners. clerks. hotel keepers. electri- clans, school teachers. lawyers. preach CTS, etc. There is a mayor, a chief of po- lice, a fire department, a council. a health department Consisting of ex-phy- sicians, a large force. These doctors teach hygiene and diet. but do not be- lieve in poison and drugs.
 During the Feast of Tabernacles over 100000 people were in attendance from all parts of the world. The last chapter of Zecheriah says that all nations will finally (dn the last days) come up to Jerusalem to the Feast of Tabernacles. Zion expects to rebuild Jerusalem's Tenn pie, and restore the ancient Feasts of the Prophecies for all the world to keep A- -I t- tkx,
 where 1000 guests may sit at one time at the table. This nice, very clean place costs only N.00 day to Zion's guests Blankets were necessary avery night for covering during July. John Alex. Dowie is the moving spirit of these 10000 whom he has gathered from all nations during the past seven lears. He is a Scotchman, five feet four inches high, very genteelly dressed al- ways, and weighs about 21o pounds. He has comparatively no personal magnet ism and speaks broad Scotch. So there is little of his power to be attributed to
 his ability to please the American ear for public speaking or a magnetic per- sonage to draw Those who have stud jed him think his power is more in the clearness of his purpose, the generalship
 displayed in organization and financial prowess.
 He has been repeatedly called by leading magazine writers. 'the Napoleon of organization, the Morgan of finance, and the Mahomet of religious enthusi- asm." He has succeeded in getting un-
 der his personal trusteeship about $S5.- 600 900. which he holds as trustee for the church.
 Cautiously enough as he has progressed
 and broadened his work into the commer-
 cial and educational and political lines a splendid man has been found to assist him in the forty-three departments of the great church work.
 "It is a common mistake among those who desire to cast a slur on any new movement to say Zion is like the Nor mon church. There is no church where
 a cleaner, more honest and better edu- cated> class congregate. Zion fights pills. pigs and poison and liquor, tobacco and cards. It is more truly said, 1t is like ancient Israel or like the Greek Cath olic Church. Only it professes, and lives
 what it professes, to be separate from those who deflle either spirit or soul, or body with impure thoughts, deeds. or diet.
 'To say that 1t is all Dowie Is to stamp 8 man as minimizing, for how could one man look after 300 lace fac tory people, stores with 250 clerks, 900 carpenters building public and private houses, mayor and council of a city of 10000 inhabitants, where the law makes it easy to do right and hard to do wrong.
 besides tailors, candy factory people and 260 other workmen?
 Dr. Dowie's prosecutions and personal ity have overshadowed many men who are greater than he is in their own in-
 dividual department. Some ask What
 would become of the City of Zion if Dr.
 Dowie died? Well, he Is only 56 years of age. He is most likely to live 20 years longer. But if he should die or be assas- sinated, there are men like Daniel Sloan who was MT. Moody's greatest financler and Young Mems Christian Association
 worker, and who now is at the head of Zion's finances, and a great Bible teach CT, who could carry on the work, per-
 haps developing 1t in other directions even to greater advantage, for Zion be- lieves 1t is Gods special movement and
 will go on with ever increasing power
 "We profess to meet all the needs of humanity, even to baseball on Saturday afternoons, where a game was played in little over one hour and half, the score being two to nothing. This is a part of Zion's amusement, and 1t Is open- ed with prayer, the hines standing on