New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-08-23
SANKEY INSISTED
ON BEING ALIVE
INCIDENTS IN EVANGE-
LISTS CAREER.
Hosr He Composed 'T'he Ninety
and Nine His First Meet
ing aith Moody.

T-a name Of Ira y. Sankey. the singing evan
,eIist who died few days ago. viii always be
eovned with that OF Dwight L. Moody. the unor
,5s,ned preacher. whose work crowned with
- many signs OF success The total blindness of
zsr Sankey for the last few years OF his life
++hsreu- him from the public eye and many per
sons supposed that, like Mr. Moody, he died several
wears ago In fact he had the experience Of max
s.r : futile denial Of his death while he was
s.5n engaged in active work
10 rives this account of ii in Sankey's Story
81 His own Life preffxed to Sankey's Story of
re Gospel Hymns
n, one occasion. when I leaving Chicago
fo~ New York on an evening train, A gentleman
,ook 2 seat beside For some time nothing
VS. said but after while We got into general
conversation After discussing the weather and
politics entered upon the subject Of religion.
This finally led TO the discussion of Moody and
sankev. The stranger said that he had never had
ne Measure Of hearing either of them When
,or5 him I had often heard Moody preach and
ssrksv sing he seemed much interested, and asked:
...U-hat kind OF folks they?'
..-Oh they are just common folks like you and
ne I replied
His daughter. he said. had cabinet organ. and
they were all very fond of the Gospel Hymns and
h was sorry that ne had not had the opportunity
Of hearing Sankey sing The Ninety and Nine be
fore the author Of the hymn had died. I told him
7 vas much surprised. and asked him what proof
he had Of Sankey's death. He replied that he had
seen ii in the newspapers
1T must be true II you have seen it IN the
papers.- I said
BY this time We were nearing the station where
nv friend was TO get out Hearing the whistle
blow he looked out Of the window and remarked;
7 have enjoyed your company very much but will
soon have 70 leave you now
- hardly think it is fair that We should part
without telling you that l one Of the men we
have been talking about I said
.Why. who you2' he asked.
II an what is left Of Sankey.'
Al this he reached for his gripsack and. giving
ne z ouizzicaI look he said: You can't play that
On me. old fellow. Sankev is dead Then he
rushed fo- the door. leaving me to continue my
journey alone
THE NINETY AND NINE"
Tor the hymn The Ninety and Nine" which
was made famous by NJ. Sankey- the words were
written by Scotch woman. Miss Elizabeth 9
Clerha-e. who died before the hymn became known
l. the world II 1874. when on the way from Glas-
gov TO Edinburgh. Mr.. Sankey found it in 2 cor
Ter of weekly newspaper which he had bought
To- 2 penny. hoping 10 find some news from
America in 1t. When he read It ne was impressed
with the belief that would make great hymn
for evanEeistic work If it tune. and ne read
il aloud TO NJ Moody the Iatter's request. but
found that Mr.. Moody much more interested
Fl z letter from Chicago he was reading. But Mr..
sankeT cut cut the poem and put il in his pocket
The next day At meeting in Edinburgh MI
Moody and others. including Dr.. Horatius Bonar
spoke on the subject. The Good Shepherd"
At the end Of Dr. Bonar's words M
Sankey. Mr.. Moody turned to with the ques-
ton, Have you 2 solo appro pirate for this sub
Jet Rith which to close the service2
i seemed hear il voice saying. Sing the
hymn yog5 found The train RJt I thought thi.
impossible as no music had ever been written for
1rat hymn Again the impression came strongly
upon ms that 7 must sing the beautiful and ap-
prop-fate words 7 had found. and. placing the
newspaper sin on the organ in front me.
lifted my heart in PRAYER. asking God 10 help me
10 sing that the people might hear and under
stand Laying my hands upon the organ. I struck
The kev Of A fat. and began to sing.
Note by note the tune was given. which has
rot been changed from that DAY 10 this As the
singing ceased great sigh seemed TO GO Up
from the meeting. and I knew that the song had
reached the hearts OF my Scotch audience Mr.
Moody was greatly moved Leaving the pulpit.
he came down 70 where I was seated Leaning
over TIE organ. he looked at the little newspaper
slip from which the song had been sung. and
with tears in his eyes said: 'Sankey, where did
you ger trat hymn I never heard the like Of II
II my life I also moved TO tears. and re-
Piled. Mr. MOODY. that's the hymn I read YOU
yesterday the train. which you did not hear
Then Nj Moody raised his hand and pronounced
the henediction. and the meeting closed. Thus
The Ninety and Nine was born
Mr. Sankey had 4 rich, deep barytone voice. and
had power Of expressing feeling which deeply
moved those who heard him Il was always an
oPer question whether his singing or Nj Moody's
straightforward talking had the greater effect
OF their audiences For nearly 2 quarter Of q
century they appeared before great throngs in
many parts Of this country and IN England and
scotland Mr.. Moody was once asked If he kept
any records Of his converts
Records" he exclaimed Why. they are only
kept Il Heaven"
WHEN MOODY AND SANKEY MET.
The meeting OF the two men came about g., this