The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-07-27
SERMON ON THE AUTO.
Two Verses From the Book of Nahum
Served as Texts.
New York SUM-

A new light has been shed upon the
automobile. 1t comes from the Rev
Jonas Hipson, pastor of Mount Zion
church, in New Kent county, Virginia,
who derives his Illuminating powers
from a combination of the scriptures
and recent visit TO Washington. New
Kent county knows neither the loco
motive nor the local paper. When the
aborigines want to set somewhere they
hitch up" and when they want news
they get out the Old Testament
The Rev. Jonas is not an expert on
automobiles. Until recent events he
had never seen one. Indeed, he had
never set foot beyond the confines of
New Kent until a month ago he went
TO Washington.
AS he stepped across the street from
the landing wharf the hoarse bray of a
horn smote upon his affrighted ear and
ne fToze in his tracks not a foot from
the path of an automobile that flashed
by him.
An hour later, as ne stood at a van
taee point on Pennsylvania avenue to
gaze upon the mighty dome Of the
capitol. the 'honk. honki" of a motor
car flying past his elbow drove him
shuddering TO the curb.
Soon after an attempt to cross to
the White House was foiled by a
demonstration of devil wagons that
roared past him down tine avenue. It
was coming too fast for Jonas. He
grabbed his grip and without a word
went home in dlsmay-went home
without seeing the Big Stick or even
knowing there was a Big Stick.
He went home, buried himself in the
pines and searched the scriptures: he
knew he'd find something there to fit
the case. When he emerged to his
anxious and expectant flock a salts
! fed smile had banished the gloom. He
rose in his pulpit, his finger upon his
text. 1t was Nahum, ii. 4:
THE chariot shall rage in the
+. streets. they shall justle one against
another in the broad ways: they shall
seem like torches, they shall run like
the Iishtnings."
Then he preached a sizzling. soul
| stirring sermon that settled the auto
mobile with the Mount Zion folks
! 1t was true. said Mr.. Hipson. that
Nahum was talking about one Asshur-
bani-pal or Sardanapalus (king of
Babylon in Nahum's day, and an all
round bad lott who. with a FOSTERING
crowd of gay blades from his capital.
| had gone up i'm chariots 10 the tribu-
| tary town of Nineveh on cash rails
| ing iunket and shocked the good peo-
| ole Of that city, Nahum among them.
/ But these secrs of old he pointed out.
always ClOaked their prophecies Of
modern events in some speech on their
own times, and what Nahum was
really hitting at was the fiery motor
car of today.
| Not content with this Endorsement
| Of his views by the prophet. he
| clinched the case by citing the verse
/ following, which, said he, refers to the
| terrified wayfarers in the path of the
| flying and furious car.
They shall stumble in their walk:
| they shall make haste to the WALL Tor
curb as the Rev. Jonas interprets it,.
| His own experience, he told his hear
| ers, left no doubt that what the
prophetic eye of Nahum really saw
was not Nineveh, B. c., but Washing
| ton. d c..
And tken--fOr this New Kent
| preacher is erudite in subjects scrip
tural-he drew on his enraptured con-
gregation the bible Commentaries" OF
the famous divine. DIR. Norton, chap
! lain to Queen Victoria
THE word torches he cited there
from might better be translated
/ metal The passage should be they
speed with the flashing of metal