The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

sins and that the members OF his Church
should make q practice OF confesstnR theii
sins 70 him.
When Zion City Was az the Insight Ofits pros.
perity IL contained more than 5000 persons
who subscribed TO this creed and accepted
all announcements from the Genera Over
seer, as Dowie called himself, as coming
from God. Every store, every factory amt
every peanut stand was In the nams Of
Dowie.. Every business enterprise was
run IN his name.
Il has not been q cooperative community
az all. 1t has bean q n man community
and the man who from It's origin until April
Of this year owned all was Dowie,
Liquor was absolutely forbidden In Zion
City. 30 was the use of tobacco, Rndso was
sw caring.
When Dowie moved on New York with
his Restoration Host the city he had built
up in less than three years bade fair TO be-
come n Of the important communities
OF the State. There were 1000 hands In
the laoo faotorfee, stores were doing q
large business and q great university had
been started. Dowie lived In O house
which cost si54 600 and contained among other
things a set Of dining room furniture worth
$500. In the ofiioe Of this Elijah there was
a table that cost $500.
HE had a summer place In Michigan.
outside OF Zion City. He had q plan for
q new Jerusalem on the Nile, q colony ia
~f@e VIVIAN AANAbC
a great temple In Zion City that would be
a monument TO this new faith.
AFTER discharging all liabilities he
said in a burst Of pride TO his followers, I
estate OF Zion, which ! control, u worth
$2l 1000 in this city and county alone.
With the trip to New York the tide turned.
Since then trouble has come so swiftly upon
Dowie that It would he surprising II it had
not left him mentally unbalanced. He
promised his followers that he would re;
claim New York from the devil and lead
Il captive back 10 Zion, and members Of Lis
Restoration Host came with him on that
strange crusade.
When they went back his prestige was
gone and Dowteism was on the wane. Its
passing since then has been swift.
Dowie started on a trip around Il . world
to try his luck in the role Of a modern Ell ah,
but he was hooted at and his religion re-
ceived with derision. He returned a year
ago, and then came the appointment OF a
receiver at the Instance OF some OF his
creditors.
lie STAYED this of for a time, but last
spring the financial scheme which had been
the concomitant OF bis religion collapsed.
There was nc money in Lion to speak Z,
because Dowie M taken most OF il himself.
He had spent $50, 900 on his tour OF the world,
$500 for a private yacht, $40, 600 on a trip
TO Mexico, more h 81 900 900 in speculation
hadn't even paid for the lumber that
the city was made with.
The words of this prophet are false
false as hell" cried the Rev. George l.. Mason
70 the Dowieites here when these revelations
were made.
He had been a Baptist preacher and had
seen won over by Dowie. Over in Berlin
the members of the Dowie congrega ion
have decided to give up his religion alto
gether and to call themselves by un ELL
tirely new name.
A receiver mas been appointed for Zion
City by the United States courts, but the
religious part of Dowieism seems TO he
without "a director. lust at present Dowie
has less than 80 followers who are loyal
to him, il Is said. The rest Of the Inhabitants
nf Zion profess to regard Noliva as their
leader, but it does not appear that he pre-
tends 20 be Elijah Ill. or to have any Of the
divine attributes which Dowie claimed and
in which his curious religion centred.