The Holly chieftain., 1909-04-16
william Booth was born on April

was trained for the Methodist minis
try which he entered and became one
of the strongest evangelistic forces iu
that church. He grew dissatisfied,
however. at reaching only those with
some religious training and convic-
tion. He felt that ihers were thou
sands whose need was fa- greater and
he grav;tated to the East end of Lon
don where wretchedness of all kinds
Wis the rule.
An d.sused burial ground on Mile
End road he pitched an old tent and
the first Salva.ionist meeting was
held in that tent IN 1861. The fiery
eloQuence OF the earnest young
preacher caught the attention of
crowd of poor Whitechapelers and be-
fore that first meeting was over he
had made several conversions. a per-
formance that he has been repeating
throughout the world for ~ years.
This first meeting resulted in the
formation of the Christian mission,
from which it was the evangelists
custom to send his converts to the ex'
listing churches of the locality. but
finding that they were not welcomed
and were In danger OF slipping back
from sheer want of comradeship and
oversight, he set about forming So
cieties of the converted. These he
found to be potent agency for bring
ilg in more, as the needless East
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 silk
weaver who had emigrated from Cow
entry, England, bringing with him the
Salvation Army idea and 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 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 seen them grow from
few small corps into vcritable army
of tremendous influence and unsur.
passed efficiency. His first great
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
ernment of the army has never been
lifted from his shoulders. Even on
shipboard he is an indefatigable work
er, 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 1t is realized
that Japan is not 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 1t is stated those who re-
ceived 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 writer Gen. Booth is remark.
aole. both as stylist. as thinker
and as producer. He has written In
all 21 volumes, besides innumerable
articles for the army publications.
His best-known book is I'm Darkest
England and the Way Out" in which
he outlined his scheme for social re.
form by means Of colonization. "The
Training of Children" Love, Mar.
riage and the Home" and his books