The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-26
FUNNY SIDE OF ZION CITY.
DOvyBg, HIMSELF HAS A NAa1B
AZ A HUMORIST.

F0ad q HIma and Net Above 1ieing the
Same On In Many Addresses -tffo1ble
WIN His 'fransIsters when Abroad
One VINO C0uldn't Explain o Pun.
There are few places In the world where
Wit and humor are moro highly appre-
dated than In the stormy little city Of the
Dovieites and Volivans. The absssoe Of
the theatre, dance hall and other forms OF
'entertainment. the Introduction OF cards.
billiards, pool and other. eames. the dis.
favor IN which newspapers and comic
periodicals have been held. and perhaps
most Of all the natural reaction from fre.
quent and long winded Solemn assem-
blies' seem 10 have created q humos hunger
among these people.
The most sucoessful leaders Of these de-
voted followers have been those who oouD
make them laugh loudest and longest. says
tho Chicago TrfbHns. IA all the world
knows, John Alexander Dowie has a canny
Scotch wit that 10 sometimes a. quick a
his SCOTCH temper. Besides, he has o hfoed
humor and an nimltable drollery that have
sometimes brought his audiences to the
verge Of Mysteries. As for Voliya, many
Of his psrtisans think that II he should DO
ousted from his uneasy throne he could
forsake the ministry and make good o. o
comedian. Judge v. v. Barnes, almost
universally loved and respected In Zion
City, AID q man whose influence smonS
these peculiar people cannot DO overesti-
mated, 10 d charming story teller, and HE
anecdotes ere 90 popular that q ripple OF
mirthful anticipation sweeps through tho
audience every time he rises to speak.
nxsnr.oA, nnptaI nrx,apt -hp tnaAA n swami
record an q Zion leader in South Africa,
zionites at h~eadquaters, caught q big
audience on his first appearances after his
return from South Africa by doubling thein
UP with laughter over o humorous desorip-
ton OF his tussle with ma dc mer on his
depsrta 70 from Cape Town. a.,
pun. With 1t he is often quick. and somfe-
times makes double or triple plays on words
that are ingenious to say b least. For
example. he was once examining one o. his
witnesses to divine healing. before a large
audiences. The subject told a narrowing
sWhat doctors operated on youf' asked
nj. Griffin, DR.. Muohmore and Dr..
HYDE was the response.
ns sH,I'. .o SSssrv Srv,1 tine ~ pS sSsa d s1Saer bs az
ul6ulC8i 6UhcucC, uiyiyI IL SioS .A.b ae~
done Muchmore to you, you wouldn't have
had any Hyde left
Az is well known to those who have heard
him frequently, the modern, Elijah Is one OF
those who hold that a good joke improves
with g and hard usage: he has = stock
never fall TO get their hearty laugh from his
audience. The naive air Of pleased antic-
ipation with which he springs a pun for
the 7,8soth time Is much funnier than the
quip itself ever was II tsTsaid In zion City
that there are few ssrnions Of the reverend
Nonite IN which he has not declared that
sthose who drink champagne at night get
real pain in the morning.
He was preaching In Zurich, switzerland,
IN 1904 before an audience OF Serman
speekins people, his &, address bs|pS through
the good old pun about the champagne
Was trotted out, with all the doctors usual
gieeful relish Of q good laugh. The in
termreter gave q literal translation, md.
;;r. Sou re. th r. play syyd Gs sse az Tor sss,i das f fSs
prophet's bewiidered surprise was worth
great skress on the words on which the
foke turned. Once more the interpreter,
none TOO familiar With English, struggled
Ind only * csnphatio repetition 81 COM
xcstidn to thar stolidity. Again the etren-.
uous founder Of Zion City got Oh his psf
pun. This time he fairly shouted Y. then
turned 70 the i~nteIp5stsI ana n ss,a, SOTO oM,
eeeY Champagne, sham pain; sham means
not real PRECIPITATION broke out all over
The foundsring hngdst's face as he brayety
plunged again Into an attempt to carry the
pun bodily over from English to German.
When he had Finished, hmp ana oreashiess,
pIete. Then o Of the General oyerseer's
party on the platform with him whispered
4 few words IN his ear. Suddenly he saw
a great light, and Joined heartily In the
laugh at his own expense.
The unquestioning acceptance O tpeiS
often led to laughable blunders.. At every
baptism service that be conducted u was
M. Dowie's custom to have all candidates
All out what were called Abaptism cards.
These. he told them. over and over again;
bear the full name, residence. age, oocu-
patton, 10. OF each Of their signers. Speak,
In his well known, broad Scotch accent,
he ~prououDced the word full" a. II 1t had
been spelled fool After one Of these ser
vices q letter was received from woman
tism asking why her name had been omittel
from The publiahed list. II wrote my fool
on the card Just as the General Over.
seer told me to- she said.
Several ludicrous blunders OF DR.: Dowie's
interpreters on his foreign trips have be.
olassic In Zion City. During one OF
the doctors meetings In Paris his mark
were being done into French BY q young
PariAan who had studied English o few
inonthe In London. In the course Of his ad:
dress the prophet Of Zion City got on the tran
Of sthe unspeakable hog" Among. other
things he had against the porker was his I'm.
rniinIty from rattlesnake poison. The word
r~attlesnAke was q new one to his interpreter.
hut this was no time for consulting dictionar.
fes. Somsthin had to be supplied, and
that Immediately. In desperation the young
uaed the French word for f1ea. He had
read somewhere that swine were bothered
by these festive insects. 80 he put In the
word and hoped for the best. The following
IL a FREQ English translation OF what that
astonished Partisan audience heard the in
terpreter cay for the famous preacher from
America:
sThe pis Is 20 poisonous himself that
he does not suffer any harm from the bites
OF A fea. There IL an island In the Detroit
River. In the United States, that was onns
no infested with heas that no one dared to
20 there. II was q beautiful island. and the
e.ne wanted to reclaim II. 90 he intro
duoed pigs. These filthy animals mxu.
rated there among the f1eas. When Q flea
would bite one Of the pigs the pig would
lust laugh at It, turn around and eat the
A. s~nvs oDos,t In tail FINALLY the piQs