Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-16
"sHocKlNe" NEW CONVERTS.

..
the itinerant evangelists, each season
bring thousands to the mourners
bench,' and the resolution to lead a
better life. Where do these converts
land? Church statistics fail to ac-
count for any but 81 small percentage
of them in church membership.
Some of the resident ministers and
lay religious workers of this city were
in conversation few days ago, and the
question was raised: What becomes of
the converts OF Marshalltown's reviv-
ais? 1t is currently reported that large
numbers are converted at every reviv-
al in the churches. The missions of
the city, the Salvation Army and the
Y. M. C. A. all have personal workers,
bands, and claim conversions from
time to time, which would aggregate
every year into the hundreds. And yet
a canvass of this problem shows that
but few of these persons reported con-
verified go into the churches
A leading Methodist and Christian
worker expressed himself about like
this: lat the recent Bulgin meetings
at the Methodist church 1t was claim
ed at first that seventy-tive had start
ed in the new life. but later reports had
it at forty-five Now what has become
of a large per cent of this number:
Five found their way into the Metho-
dist church, few into the Friends
church and we do not know of any
joining any other church II we are
correctly informed fully rs per cent OF
them evaporated. Now proper place
for religious man is in the church.
and the perseverance on the part of the
ministerial body that gets people start
ed in the Christian life should stand
by them until they are able to stand
alone.
1--WE know a minister, who is not
resident Of Marshalltown, however, and
who has a revival in his church every
year, and when conversions occur, pro-
poses membership to the church on the
spot, and then he does, all he can to
build these members up in the Chris
tan life"
Listen to homely little parable:
Two reapers went forth to harvest
their grain and as one drove around
the field, the sheaves fell one by one
upon the ground; the wind blew and
the rain descended, and the grain was
widowed. The other reaper was fol-
lowed by men who placed the grain
into shocks at once, and when the
winds blew and the rains came, they
grain saved.
Shock up as you CO." is a good
maxim in all trades and professions.
"CHEAP WHISKY" AND TEMPERANCE.
Speaking of saloons and the drink
evil the other evening, prominent
business man expressed his belief that
the solution of the problem might be
found in taking the profit out of
whisky" by making it free of internal
revenue tax and placing severe pen
nlties on drunkenness. He believes in
his position, and argued it with the
earnestness of conviction.
The trouble was that he accepted the
saloon as the primary evil, while it is
only a development, an outside symp-
TOM It's evil influence is only an out
growth of a pernicious habit. With
manufacture and sale of intoxicants
would lessen the number of public
drinking places. The root of the evil
is the drink habit, and it Is likely that
cheap and better liquors would bring
about an increase instead of modi-
tication of the habit.
Cheap whisky, no matter how pure,
is not a factor in temperance reform.
The whole history of drink denies it.
Time was when gallon of good
whisky" might be purchased for little
more than the present price Of drink,
but none of those who remember the
time will claim sincerely that there
was less drinking or that drunkenness
was less common. The contrary was
true. Drunkenness which, however
much We may deplore present condi-
lions, is now confined to a compare
lively small number OF our population,
was ordinary in those good old days
of cheap. pure whisky. A harvest field
from which whisky was barred and in
which the harvesters were not half
fuddled all day long from the whisky
jugs set conveniently under grain
shocks, and free to all. was peculiar
Its proprietor bore the reputation Of q
skinfiint, harvest hands stunned his
employment, in spite Of liberal wages
and plentiful table. and his neigh
bors refused to change work" No
barn raising" was complete without
whisky and the orgie that invariably
followed the setting of the last pin to
hold the framework together.
Men put barrel of whisky in the
cellar as they put down their winters
pork. The preacher took a nip before
dinner. The school teacher drank and