Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-05-01

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posed to bring with twas already
his. Nothing that life in future years
has brought him has aver caused him
to d~eprecate his earlier calling and
his associates. Without being blinded
to their faults, he has always had for
them the greatest charity.
The life of q baseball player is in no
sense calculated to induce religious
reflection. It's practices are not con-
sistent with any particular church
life. It is not to be presumed, there
fore, that the conversion Of the base
ball player-Billy Sunday-was predi-
Gated upon in previous religious activi-
ties other than that of his very early
home days. Hundreds of thousands
Of persons have heard him tell the
story, and dozens of men have at
tempted to write it, but none have
achieved an approximation of success
when he has departed in any way from
a verbatim report. AS Mr.. Sunday
tells the story:
ssTwenty-six years ago I walked dow
a street in Chicago in company with
some ball players who were famous in
this world-some Of them are dead now
and we went INTO a saloon. 1t was sun
day afternoon an we got tanked up, and
then went and sat down On a corner. I
never go by that place but I pray. 1t is
Var Buren, street, Chicago.
"As / said, we walked on down the
street to the corner. It was a vacant
lot at that time. We sat down on the
curbing. Across the street a company
of men and women were playing on in
struments-horns, flutes and slide from
bones-and the others were singing the
gospel hymns that I used to hear my
mother sing bach in the log cabin In
Iowa, and back in the old church where
I used to go to Sunday school.
"And GOO painted on the canvas OF my
memory a vivid picture of the scenes of
other days and other faces.
MANY have long since turned to dust.
1 sobbed and sobbed and a young man
stepped out and said:
"sWe are going down to the Pacific
Garden Mission; won't you come down to
the Mission? I am sure you will enjoy
It. You can hear drunkards tell how they
have been saved and girls tell how they
nave been saved from the red light dis
trict.'
ST arose n said to the boys:
I'm through. We've come to the part
ing of the ways n I turned by back
on them. Some of them laughed and
some of them Knocked me; one of them
gave me encouragement; others never
said a word.
''Twenty-six years ago I turned and
left that little group on the corner of
State and Madison streets, walked to the
little mission, went on my knees and
staggered out of sin and into the arms
of the Savior.
81 went over to the west side of Chi
cago wher I was keeping with
a girl, now my wife, Nell. I married
Nell. She was a Presbyterian, so 1 am
a Presbyterian: Had she been a CATHOLIC
/ would nave been a Catholic-because /
was hot On the trail of Nell.
'"The next day I had to go out to the
ball park and practice. Every morning
at 10 o'clock we had to be out there and
practice. I never slept that night. I was
afraid of the horse-laugh that gang would
give me because I had taken my stand
for Jesus Christ.
sI walked down to the old ball grounds.
] will never forget 1t. I slipped my key
into the wicket gate. and the first man to
meet me after | got inside was Mike
Kelley.
'Up came Mike Kelley" he said: Bill,
I'm proud of you. Religion is not my
long suit, but I'll help you all / can. Up
came Arson, Pfeffer, Clarkson, Flint
Jimmy Mccormick, Burns, Williamson
and Dalrymple. There wasn't a fellow In
that gang who knocked; every fellow
had a word of encouragement for me.
THAT afternoon we played the old De-
troit club. We were neck and neck for
the championship. That club had Thomp-
son, Richardson, Rowe, Dunlap, Hanion
and Bennett, and they could play ball.
81 was playing right field and o g.
Clarkson was pitching. He was as fine a
pitcher as ever crawled into a uniform.
HAnaA - A-n~ 4AAArr 0pnnAIa
Bender, Wood, Mathewson. johnson.
Marquard, but I do not believe any one
Of them stood In the class with Clarkson.
I'VE had two men out and they had a
man on second and one on third, and
Bennett, their old catcher, was at the bat.
Charley had three balls and two strikes
on him. Charley couldn't hit a high ball;
I don't mean a Scotch highbaIl, but he
could kill them when they went about his
knee.
II holiered to Ciarkson and said: One
more and we got EN-
"You know every pitcher digs a hole In
the ground where he puts his foot when
he Is pitching. John stuck his foot In
the hole and he went clear to the ground.
oh, he could make them dance. He could
throw over-handed and the ball would
go down and up like that. He is the only
man on earth 1 have seen do that. That
ball would go by SO fast that a Their
mometer would drop two degrees. John
went clear down, and as he went to throw
the ball his right foot slipped and the
ball went low instead of high.
II saw Charley swing hard and heard
h bat hit the ball with a terrific blow.
Bennett had smashed the ball on the
nose. I saw the ball rise In the air and
knew it was going clear over my head.
II could judge within 10 feet OF where
the ball would light. I turned my back
to the ball n ran.
1.-THE field was crowded with people and
I yelled: Stand backP and that crowd
opened like the Red sea opened for the
rod of Moses; I ran on, and as / ran I
made a prayer; 1t wasn't theological,
either, I tell you that. / said: God, II
you ever helped mortal man, help me get
that ball, and you haven't very much
Time IN make I'm vour mind affhQrs +