The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1909-04-16

over the world every year, controlling
the destinies of his more than 7,00t
corps of Salvation, soldiery with theii
$4,000 commissioned officers, distribu
ted among every civilized country
preaching constantly to vast audiences
and doing an amount Of literary WORK
that would be a facer to many 8
professional author with no other oc,|
cupation.
William Booth was born on April
10. 1929, in Nottingham, England. ano
was trained for the Methodist minis
try which he entered and became one
of the strongest evangelistic forces IN
that church. He grew dissatlsneo'
however, at reaching only those VIII
some religious training and convic'
ton. He felt that there were tnous,
ands whose need was far greater anu
he gravitated to the East n OF Lon.
don where wretchedness OF all Ainus
was the rule.
In a disused burial ground on Niiie
End road he pitched an old tent anu
the first S~alvationist meeting was
held in that tent in 1861. The merry
e%loQuence of the earnest young
preacher caught. the attention OF q
crowd of poor Whitechapelers n De
fore that first meeting was over ne
had made several conversions, a per
Torrance that he has been repeating
throughout the world for At years.
How He Started the Army.
This first meeting resulted In the
formation of the Christian mission
from which it was the evangellsts
custom to send his converts to tho ex'
listing churches of the locality, but
finding that they were not welcomed
and were in danger of, slipping back
from sheer want of cOmradesh1p anu
oversight. he set about forming So
cieties Of the converted. These ne
found to be a potent agency for bring
ing in more, as the needless
ender could be impressed by the
words of a former pal" when he
would not listen to a minister. so
was created the central idea OF the
Salvation Army.
The need Of organization becomes
| apparent, but several methods were
| tried with little success before Gen,
| Booth hit upon the military idea and
| named his organization the Salvation
| Army. From that time on the move
ment grew amazingly and 1t has con
tinued to grow without ceasing to
this day.
Spread Over the World.
The movement began spreading TO
other countries of the world in 1881
when it first reached the United
States through the influence OF a silk
weaver who had emigrated from Gov
entry, England, bringing with him the
Salvation Army idea and a strong de-
sire to continue in the work. 1t
reached Australia in the same year
| through a milk dealer from Stepney,
| and soon afterwards the first Canadian
! corps was organized In a similar
fashion.
Five years later, In 1886, the gen.
eral made the first Of many visits to
the American branches of the army
and he has seer them grow from a
few small corps into a veritable army
of tremendous influence and unsur-
passed efficiency. His first great
world-tour was made in 1891, when he
visited South Africa, Australia and
India. Since then he has visited the
United States, Canada. Australia, New
Zealand and India four times, South
Africa twice and Japan and the Holy
Land each once.
During all these travels the actual
executive responsibility for the gov
eminent of the army has never been
lifted from his shoulders. Even on
s~hipboard he is an indefatigable work
err, planning and writing through the
days.
Gen. Booth Honored.
One of the most remarkable of the
many tributes paid to the general by
the great of the world was that of the
mikado of Japan during the visit to
that country. The mikado personally
received the general with great
warmth and he was accorded remark
able ovations in Yokohama, Tokyo,
Sendai and Kyoto, a circumstance Of
strange import when it is realized
that Japan is notta Christian country.
Another interesting distinction given
Gen. Booth was the comforting on him
of the degree of doctor of civil law by
oxford university. The significance
Of this honor will be better under
| stood when it is stated those who re-
ceiyed university honors with him at
the time were Prince Arthur of Con-
naught. the prime minister of Eng
land, the lord chancellor, the speaker.
Sir E. Grey, the archbishop Of
Armagh, Sir Evelyn Wood, the Ameri-
can ambassador, Mark Twain and
Rudyard Kipling.
AS a writer Gen. Booth Is remark
| able. both as a stylist, as a thinker