The Washington times., 1914-04-15
BILLY SUNDAY
AND REVYAL|ST
The Times Sends Correspondent
to Study Methods and Work
of Noted Evangelist.

Continued from First Page)
been cut in half will make the late
jeremiah seem like a sob artist who
has lost his grip.
Churches Will Close.
Once get Billy Sunday into town.
and there Is no escaping him. Far
from being a mere church issue,
church will he the only place you
will not hear about him. For he will
close the churches during his meet
ings tall of them, that is, that ap-
prove his coming. but he will make
himself the pertinent, living. vital.
burning issue of business affairs. of
civic matters. anu of everyday liv-
ing.
No wonder these who can bring
INN or pass him up are asking
whether he is sincere, whether he
bodes good or i'll for a city, whether
his coming means an emotional wave
or lasting betterment. whether he
should be welcomed with open arms.
or Stunned as a plague and pest in
the gu:se OF religion.
IL Is a matter OF prime importance
that those questions be. answered.
<A'o W SCI Tire answer one nee0S 10
go study the facts, not hearsay.
The merits Of Billy's theology can
be left to the experts. the clergy
men. His theology is simple enough.
just a plain matter Of Heaven and
Hell. with emphasis on the He'll.
and no metaphysical embellishments,
Let the clersymen settle that But
the other facts can be gathered by
any person OF average intelligence
fr.,o
ears.
First Hand Description.
Right here, it might be stated that,
whatever his faults. anyone with
half an eye will soon conclude that
Sunday is sincere. Likewise one Is
forced. without much effort. to GER
tain conclusions about the results he
gets. Anyone who runs may read.
But that Is getting ahead of the
story.
This series Is going to be a report
about Billy Sunday. 1t Is going to
contain a first-hand description of
the meetings-those meetings quite
unlike any revival service >ever be-
fore staged, with Sunday gestur-
Ing. posturing. gigging, whirling,
gyrating about on the platform in
the name of the Holy Spirit. and
thousands of silent, tense, earnest
auditors who. the minute he stops
talking. will hit that sawdust trail
to grasp Sundays hand as If they
which they are. the eternal fire
Billy has been painting in lurid
colors.
1t is going to describe Billy's style
of preaching. far different from any
thing yet heard from a pulpit pur-
porting to be orthodox. alternating
between word pictures of purest
te1oquence and fnvective that crys-
tallizes the language of the streets,
with the profanity left out, and pro-
ducing an effect when heard
strangely at variance with the eff
feet when read.
Follow To His Home.
IT will follow Sunday into his
home. That is not an easy trail to
hit, either. When Sunday is con-
like a car. Only preachers and
reporters. when they have made
good with his secretary. can enter.
After a man has preached two or
three times a day as Sunday
breaches. and grabbed hundreds OF
trail hitters by the hand. he has
not much spare time for promiscuous
But once in the home. you be-
come. by right of that entry. a MEM
ber of the Sunday family" mean
ing the party of a dozen or so
workers. You go upstairs or down
stairs as you will. II you want to
see Sunday. his door is wide open.
He cannot stop to talk to you. He
only stops for sleep. But while he
Is doing stunts with his trainer. he
will chat away.
Be prepared not TO be embarrass-
ed IL he suddenly appears in the hall
in his B. V. DIS. He just wants to
show Ma" Sunday he can almost
outpunch his trainer today.
Pretty fine fettle, eh." with one
OF those rare smiles that have help
ed make him famous.
And Ma Sunday will have time
to tell you more about the organi-
zation than PA" can stop to de-
scribe. That Is one pIace the cir