The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-09-25
Devils of All
Sorts SuCcunb
to This Pastor
Special Correspondence OF The CAM


ing of bad books there may be an end
if Pastor Howtons theory as to the
source of their authorship be accepted
and his method of treating the writer's
: be adopted. Mr.. HOwton, who once
held holy orders in the Church of Eng
land, but long ago set up a religious
I esta blishment on his own account.
/ holds that bad books, from the erOtic
novel in yellow covers to the maudlin
romance in drab binding. are all alike
! inspired by demons, and that he has
/ been invested with divine powers to
! cast out the evil spirits and rid an
afflicted world of the products Of their
malignant pens.
1 At Glossop, a stony streeted, prosaic
| little town in Derbyshire. he conducts
an institution for the cure Of the de-
/ mon-possessed, where he makes a
/ speciality of treating those Obsessed by
! literary devils. and by exercising the
/ noxious spirits, fits their victims to
/ become useful members OF society as
4 clerks, blacksmiths, housemaids-or for
whatever occupation their natural tai
ents qualify them. He keeps a case
/ book in which he records some OF his
head Of the list he proudly points to
! this entry:
HIS SUCCESSES.
Case No. LADY novelist; possessed
! by a very malicious demon. All her
stories were inspired by MIN. I wres-
tied with and succeeded in casting out
demon. Lady fell in a dead faint, one
and a quarter hours. Revived, and
completely recovered Has never been
able to write stories since. power hav-
! ing completely gone"
When asked what was wrong with
her stories Mr.. Howton admitted that
1 they were not so bad as many books
/ that were foisted on the British pub
/ lie, but they showed unmistakable
! signs of the cloven hoof and possessed
/ that subtle quality, in common with
/ all demon inspired works, Of render
/ ing their readers easily accessible to
| the same species Of devil and trans
forming them into writer's Of trashy
/ fiction, or worse.
/ The next entry records another con-
/ quest over the evil one Of which ne
/ is almost equally proud. 1t reads:
| Case 2-Miss -. Very highly con-
nected. Brother a canon, uncle gen.
i eral in the British army. Possessed by
/ a fallen angel. which I cast out. Lady
/ has since painted pastoral scenes,
/ which hang on my WALL and Is now
my private secretary. Her own testi-
mony is, I feel just like a bird let
7 loose
CASTS OUT ANY SORT.
He does not confne his attention TO
literary devils or fallen angels At al
times he is open to an engagement TO
cast out any sort OF devil that has
taken up a human habitatiOn. One or
the entries in his case book tells OF a
triumph over one Of the old-fashioned.
hot and Kissing fire and birthstone sort
This is how he has recorded it:
Pastor Greening OF Leeds-Possess-
ed. when a lad, of most horrible demon.
: Came to the home, where fought with
demon, which eventually came Kissing
from patients mouth. like a fierce SER
pent. In casting this devil out the
room and everything in it shook and
/ the chairs danced about.
/ He began TO tackle devils twenty
years ago. renting a small house at
! GIossop for the purpose at something
under thirty-five cents a week He
has prospered in his work; has built
mission chapel at a cost Of $500, where
the faithful gather and bear testimony
TO his victories over evil spirits, and is
now building a large house where, with
ample accommodation for his patients.
he will be able to carry on his voca-
/ ton as a demon specialist on big
! scale. For, strange as it may seem in
this materialistic age Of millionaires
and motor cars. with many the faith
in demons abides as strongly as 1t did
in the old days Of broomsticks and
witches and out Of their patronage Pas
tor Howton makes a very comfortable
living.
FASTS AND PRAYS.
He is not at all the type Of man one
associates with the ascetics OF old, who
were reputed to possess power over evil
spirits He is a big man with big
voice, reddish hair, sandy mustache,
great double chin and a waist whose
tremendous girth constitutes an afro
cio,us libel on the claim he makes that
he finds in fasting one Of the chief
sources of his spiritual power. At his
home plush bottom chairs, comfortable
couches and soft carpets take the place
of the stone floors, wooden benches and
slab Of rock with which the old-fash-
toned demon exOrcisers were content.
AS to his methods Of treatment he
does not go much into details. When
asked how he casts out the devils he
replied:
by prayer and fasting. I spend
nights and nights in prayer. Then
there suddenly comes to me a wonder
fn1 mower. and go for the demon right
off. It's either him or me then Once or
twice it has been nearly me, but won
in the end, praise the Lord."
Each of his patients is supplied with
separate room. where, if need be. a
curse looks after him while the pastor
is working I'D the power that will en-
able him to fight it out with his partic-
Mar demon. Whenever it comes to
him. at whatever hour Of the night. he