Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1906-03-12

VOLIVA AND OFFICIALS MAKE A
DESPERATE EFFORT.
WHERE is FIRST APOSTLE?
Financial Books Appear to Be Miss
ing-Many of the Faithful in
Open Rebellion Against the For
n1er Head of the Church Commun-
ity.

Chicago, March 9-John Alexander
Dowie is no longer in communica-
ton with the officials of his church
i'll Zion City who are striving to hold
together the fiscal affairs Of the in
stitutiOn and prevent it from com
plete wreck. 1t was learned yester-
day in Zion City that urgent private
cable messages sent to the apostle
in Jamaica had been returned unde-
livered. Coupled with this it was
recalled that no messages from
Dowie had been read at meetings
there for a longer period than he
ever was silent before. 1t became
an open secret that Deputy OVERSEE
Voliva had "cut loose" from Dowia
and was defying many of the apos
Ties cherished rules.
Dowie Out Altogether.
It was said that Dowia was in fac:
no longer the active head of the
church. 1t was even rumored, as a
climax to reports which have beer
in circulation for some time, that the
mind of the founder of the Christian
Catholic church no longer exhibits
it's former vigOr
In addition to the questions
Where is Dowie? Is he still in ia
maica?' these queries were in many
mouths:
What has become of the private
bookkeeper who kept the ledgers
mounted with brass locks and opened
only at the command of Elijah? Why
was it necessary to forcibly open
the secret office in the Zion admin
istTation building yesterday. in
which the vanishing boollkeeper
kept tab on all incoming subscrip-
tons, tithes and the like?
Community Almost Dazed.
The community. raIlying from the
shock received when Deputy General
Overseer Voliva opened the dark
pages of Zion affairs and confessed
that mOrtgaged lots had been sold as
free and unincumbered land, was
declared to have thrown off the yoke
of the Christian Catholic church
While all the deacons were en-
gagged in earnest prayer for safe
passage through the present crisis a
number of the sO-called parOchial
members of Zion community, men
with families and men who had
staked their fortune with DOwie met
III Elijah avenue, the old Sheridan
road, and discussed affairs quietly
Affecting scenes were Witnessed as
each in turn told of the life savings
he had handed over to Zion for invest
ment in land and how they had econ
Omized in response to the apostles
Interpretation of the word of God al
most to the point Of starvation. The
wan faces of the women of the city
confirmed the stories of seIfsacrifce
and testified to the faith they had in
Dowie.
Meeting Held, Plain Talk Given.
The spokesman at the meeting, an
Australian who had recently been
fined SO by ex-Overseer Speicher for
attempting to hold a public meeting
within the limits of the city, outlined
the case from the peoples point of
view. He spoke of the millions that
had been spent and asked whether his
hearers would stand quietly by in
view of the fact that an apparently
criminal act had been committed in
selling mortgaged land as free lots.
Today We are all living on mush,
he said. Our families are crying out
for food. I am hungry now and I
have not a cent. Oh, the bitterness
of it ali, And yet they are attempt
ing to squeeze more money out OF
Zion in order to cover up the illegal
acts Of the man who has robbed us.
Do you remember. men and women,
how he would preach to US from the
2Sth chapter Of Deuteronomy-.Th
shalt not borrow or lend'-and on