Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-04-01
LIKENS THAW TO
SAMSON OF old
EVANGELIST BILLY SUNDAY
BREACHES NEW SERMON IN
SPRINGFIELD TABERNACLE
FRoWNs ON LIBERTY
"Giving Youth Freedom is Sending
Him to He'll" Says Revivalist.-
He Takes a Wallop at
the Saloons.

That physical strength does not al
ways denote spiritual and moral
strength was set forth in plain and
concise manner by Rev. Billy Sundays
initial sermon on Samson the other
night in Springfield. This discourse
was not given during the evangelists
engagement in Ottumwa, in fact 1t is
an entirely new one, having its first
presentation in the Springfield taber-
nacle. 1t was heart-to-heart talk and
appeal TO sinners which left lasting
impression upon the minds OF the
1900 persons present.
With the exception of his descrip-
ton of Samson's early life, the evan
gelist steered clear of the expressions
of slang with which most of his SER
mons fairly sparkle. "Sundayisms"
were few, but plain, naked facts were
abundantly set forth.
Samson was portrayed as the Harry
Thaw of the Old Testament. As
boy he pictured him as the worthless
son of care-free parents, and his life
was presented as warning to the
young men of today who wished to
make a success in life.
Picturing the strongest man" as a
moral pervert, Mr.. Sunday pointed out
his weakness and his inability to con-
troll his animal passions, as young
man who did as he pleased, in which
connection the evangelist said, Let
ting the young man do as he pleases
| is just the same as giving him a pass
| to hell"
Pictures Samson's Downfall.
| Continuing the speaker drew word
picture of Samson's downfall, which
was caused by his association with
| the wrong crowd, his moral weakness
causing him to choose for wife
woman from the camp OF the enemy
who later deserted him and married
another man. Her action filled Sam
son with wrath and with the jaw bone
of an ass he slew thousands of the
foes and caught thirty foxes, to the
| tail of each of which he tide a fire.
brand and turned them loose in the
wheat fields, where the golden grain
\ was almost ready to harvest. Next he
told Of Samson's infatuation with an
other girl who was also an enemy, and
who was bribed to worm out of Sam
son . the secret OF his Herculean
Z IL.
as the lightning express by which
Samson was drawn to ruin. Samson,
who could lie about as fast as a dog
can trot, in answer to the fair maid
ems question, answered that If he was
bound with seven green Wisps, he
would become as helpless as candi-
date in the hands of his friends, and
after twice fooling the girl, he at last
4 impaired to her the sacred secret by
which he was able to make buildings
and mountains crumble She was told
that if the seven locks of his hair were
sheared his power would be gone.
Loses Hair; Loses Strength.
1 When robbed of his strength Sam
son found himself at the mercy Of his
enemies, just the same as when the
! devil gets his hooks on the young man
i of today, he will show no mercy. His
eyers were put out and he was made to
grind at the mill in the city where he
had demonstrated his wonderful
strength.
At last with his strength and sight
gone he appealed to God that his for
mer self might be restored just once
more He had reviewed his life, saw
his mistakes and repented. God heard
his earnest entreaty, and cropping to a
:, pillar Of the prison, Samson placed his
shoulders against it and down went
the building, resulting in his own
death, which was the inevitable sequel
of the life he had lived.
Says Strength Aids Destruction.
In words Enthusiastically plain the
evangelist stated that strength Is the
: cause Of destruction, and that per
, son who boasted at being able to drink
, all day and go to work the next was a
fool. "The meek shall inherit the
earth and not the bull-dozer," said the
speaker. "The fellow who goes around
with a chip on his shoulder will never
. died in a bed. The first step in the
wrong direction leads to hell The
devil is always very particular that
the path to hell Is as bright and at
tractive as can be. The evil passions
grog shops, pool rooms and bad places
will put our young men of today down
and out just as they did Samson OF
old.
in closing the speaker stated that
vices are bright and attractive for the
same reason that toasted cheese Is put
is a trap-to lure the weakling in.
tTll bet,' said Sunday, that most of
the saloons In Springfield are owned
by the brewery, and they can afford
to make them attractive. If they didn't
they could not keep in business. The
reason that they don't like me Is be-
cause they know am on to all their
tricks and am glad that they do not
like me. Just wait until break out
on them and you'll see them head for
the southwest If they did no moro
handshaking in the saloon than In the
churches there would be no more PEG.