The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1912-10-24
NEGRO RELIGION
IN DIXIE LAND

In But few ,in Ii west are unfamiliar
with the b;s ceremonial dances OF the
Indians. CircGne a hot bonfire .the
Redmen seem to draw their inspiration
from the beating Of the tom tom musi-
clans and their own shappisn sni h ms
uttered at intervals. Aiter tne pre-
cess has lasted an hour tne warriors
become so imbued with tnelr lerpsl-
chorean tasks that such a performance
is decidedly interesting to "a spectator,
whether be has ever seen the same
before or not
The methods of negroes getting re-
ligion are very much on the same order
as those used by the Indians IN seeking
the inspiration for their dances. tWhiie
on my recent visit to nay nome 10 len
nessee it was my.privllege ana pleasure
to witness again the dramatlc gestures
and touching appeals OF darky evan
gelist. The big, fat, sleek propounder
Of the gospel had the form OF hippo,
potamus and voice that he could
make mellow and musical when he
sought to appeal or i could crack IKE
the whip Of an OK driver and become
narsher than the shrek Of a north
wind when he desired to call Down MS
wrath upon the sinful.
Our party was little late Tor the
service. The first hymn had been sung
as we entered and the preacher was
making an announcement. Suddenly,
when the announcements were made,
and bv the wav he stated that the SER
mon for the next evening would be,
1.-The Funeral Of the Titanic, he called
out: "Goyernor Governor. was
the title of a bluish-black devotee,
whose duties around the church seemed
to be similar to those Of sergeant-at-
arms of political convention. "Yas-
sub, Pahson," he answered.
Governor, there is some one sleep
ing here," the preacher cried. Get a
cup of cold water and poul on his
face" The sergeant-at-arms followed
instructions, and led lite dun colored
boy from the church. He returned
with him later and the lad was among
the mourners at the close of the SER
mon. The water had not cooled him
enough to prevent him from getting
the spirit.
1t is declared by those who are bet
ter acquainted with negro revivals that
the darkies must become very hot be-
fore they can get religion. Revivals
are unheard of in winter. The hotter
the summer night the more successful
is the evangelist Al of the windows
are fastened down and the doors are
closed. The "Coons'' perspire freely.
1t takes a brave person. to stay in
church for an hour But one is amply
repaid for the smell by the show.
The black revivaist who presided on
the night of my visit had a more orig
nal vocabulary than billie" Sunday.
he used many words that no one ever
heard before and perhaps will never
lear again, yet they seemed to fit into
lis discourse perfectly and the black
grasped their meaning
ind surging back and forth in their
eats and clapping their hands, cried,
'Fo God he's right! Yassah Yassuh !!
ION niggah ~
When the spirit strikes darky he
lsually evidences it by rising and sing
ng song. The first thing that comes
nto his mind he sings. The words.
ung to hymn tune by one of the
egroes on the night of our visit. ran
IS follows:
"A jaybiId died with the whooping
cough,
A sparrow died with the collie.
Along come possum with his tail
cut off
To invite US to the frolic.''
j. D. T.