Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-12-14
Evangelist Gives Defihite Prom
ise-.-Raised $1,000 i'll OF
tumwa Yesterday
CROWD WERE CALLED
Sunday Offers $500 to Charity If They
Would Cover 1t and They Had to
"stay"-speciaI Committee Answers
in Letter Published in the ottum-
wa Newspaper.

/ Ottunwa yesterday where the Mar
/ shalltown man witnessed an attend
| ance Of $4,000 people to three of Billy
Sundays meetings and several over
flow meetings in the churches.
| 1t was the, day that Sunday raised
money for himself and he realized over
81 600 in spite of the fight put up on
him by Mayor Phillips and his crowd,
in fact Sunday took shrewd turn on
the Phillips crowd and made their bluff
cost them $500. He offered to give $500
to charity if they would and they are
busy today raising money for their
! ANTE" Sundays collection came most
ly in small amounts, the largest sim
gle subscription being $500 from I. D.
Foster, and the next largest being 500
from each of several others CONVEX
sions numbered several thousand.
The Phillips letter intended to put
Sunday in the hole was answered by
an open letter in the Ottumwa Courier.
which was prepared by a special
church committee composed OF Rev.
w. H. Horned, 7. D. Foster and L. +.
Spillman. 1t reads:
"At the request Of the representa-
tives of the greatest movement in our
city for righteousness, truth and pur-
ity. and the salvation of men that OF
tumwa has ever seen, we, the under
signed, desire to make reply to Mayor
L. j. Phillips and those who are as
ISOLATED with him in the letter which
appeared in the columns of the Cour-
Ter last evening, suggesting to the Rev
William A. Sunday how he should dis
pose of the thank Offering which he
should receive from the churches and
Christian people of Ottumwa who have
been blessed by his mighty labors
among us in the name of Jesus Christ.
The churches of Ottunrwa who united
ly invited Mr.. Sunday to come to our
city to lead us in the great campaign
for righteousness and the thousands
who have heard him and worked with
him during these past five weeks, are
convinced that God has sent into our
midst one of the greatest evangelists
of the world. We have never had in
our city one who has made clearer
truth by which alone men may be
saved for this life and the next. by
which alone their lives, their homes,
their city, and this country Is to be
saved from all that is unrighteous and
unclean before God. None have more
valiantly and Loyalty championed the
Word of God, the church of Christ, and
the love of country and freedom, than
he has done. The purest womanhood
and the purest manhood Of Ottumwa
are giving him unstinted applause in
his fight for a pure life in private and
in public. He has fearlessly attacked
all sin and unrighteousness wherever
found within the church or without it,
He has never set price upon his
labors, the equal of which
we have never seen on the platform.
He did not ask the churches of Ottum-
wa or any other organization for the
privilege of leading a campaign in our
city, but on the other hand, the un-
tied churches of Ottumwa, thru their
representatives, besought Mr.. Sunday
for the space of nearly three years to
come and help us in this great cam
paign for God and home and native
land. In order to comply with our re-
quest, he turned down similar re-
quests from more than 1875 cities He
came to us, trusting God and the fol-
lowers of Christ in Ottunlwa, and did
not ask us to guarantee him penny,
either for his expenses or for a thank
offering. The last Sunday alone of this
has been reserved that the
friends of the great work might give
4 thank offering to God for His noble |
servant who has so calamity led the
forces for righteousness on to glorious
victory. To this explanation we would |
append the following pointed state |
nents:
First-It is nobody's business how
Mr.. Sunday spends his own money We
are fully convinced that he will spend |
Ill of his money for the honor and
glory of the Christ for whom he is |
spending his life. What reception
would a church committee receive from
my one of these men whose names are
to the letter in last nights |
say: Now, we will guarantee you your
living expenses if you will give the
bulk of your income to the poor" 1t is !
veil known to the people of this city
hat these men are not conspicuous up
IN the charity lists of Ottumwa
Second-Several men who signed
hat letter in the Courier are connected
With the liquor business. In the name
If God what is making people poor fas-
er and more fatally than the cursed /
liquor traffic?
Fhird-The business men Of this city
ire annually asked to put up big bonus
o get carnival to come to Ottumwa
IN the claim that it "helps business"
rhe signers to the Courier letter do not
lgitate people about the great sums of
money carried away by these misera-
lie shows which help to blight the
community and leave nothing good be-
lind them. But when a clean, high
minded gospel preacher like Mr.. Sun
lay works to the point of exhaustion
very day and night for five weeks
hat he may serve God in cleansing the
'utcast and rescuing the drunkard, that
lie may close the ginmill and extinguish
he red light and help the whole city
sodward, then a set of men presume to
Iictate how he shall use his own
money.
E,o,,r+b- Wa confess oursal1,as a,ar