Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-06
LAY HANDS. ON THROAT
OF MAN WHO IS ILL
Religious Sect Attempts Miracles
in Face of Predicted End
of the World

Twenty-four persons gathered in a
large tabernacle tent at Central ave-
nue. and Twenty-third streets yester-
day and soaked up the somewhat sem
sational information that the world Is
coming to an end within the next
three, four or five years. Despite
everything, the services were informal.
j. w. Sykes, who is the leader of the
Body of Christ evangelistic movement,
acted as the prophet He said that
$4,000 persons will be saved when
Doomsday arrives. He did not dwell
on the medium of calculation through
which he reached this remarkable con-
clusion nor did he attempt to explain
what is to become of the other L.
44O. 506. 900 of the worlds population. In
general terms the answer Is doom"
The awful solemnity of Mr.. Sykes
declaration left nothing better to be
expected.
whether the condemned are to be
soaked in gasoline and used as kindl
ing or are to have their eyes gouged
out with olive forks was left as a
matter of conjecture to be solved dur
ing the mental calisthenics of the
faithful"
The laying of hands" is one of the
ceremonies of the sect. The faithful
believe that the laying of hands on a
man who is i'll will cure him. 1t is
proved that this is an infallible rem
edy for ills If the method is carried
far enough. Yesterday, just before
Mr. Sykes made his speech, the faith
full laid hands on the throat of a man
who complained of some bronchial
discomfort. He Is now beginning to
feel better.
After the coming doom" had been
announced, many of the faithful be-
gan to figure out how to sidestep a
few religious discrepancies which had
not bothered them seriously up to that
time.
The cleaning out, of chicken coop
on the Sabbath morn dawned on one
woman as q sin which was to be alb
solved only through tie absolute pub
licity of her sin. She said she had
sadly neglected the chickens by COM
ing to so many meetings and fed them
for the glory of God.
The obvious magnanimity of the
other twenty-three encouraged her to
relate a potato peeling anecdote to
which the faithful listened with fervor.
She said she was peeling potatoes
for a meal recently when she heard
the voice of her father, telling her to
write. She tried not to hear 1t, but In
the end was compelled to drop her
potatoes and write.
when / finished writing" she said,
at found I had some system of short
/ showed it to young man on the
street car and he said it was the
Graham system, but as he had learned
another kind he could not read 1t. So
it is hidden until I can get someone
who can. 1t is very precious to me-"
Thereupon she produced piece of
paper from somewhere, f1ourished 1T
quickly before the concentrated stare
of the twenty-three and as quickly put
IT hack somewhere.
Evangelist Sykes says he had a
vision in 1890. in which. like Saul of
Tarsus, he beheld great glories of God,
and that since that time he has been
preaching according to the revelations
made to him In the vision.
Meetings are being held every aft
ernoon and evening. When i'll persons
are there, they have special sessions
and lay hands on them.
9S
Arrowhead Hot Springs
See, the hottest known spring, Ell
Pengugal, 202 2-1O degrees Summer