Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-05-05

Inc architecture or the CADeTndCld
like it's sise, has been q development
The prime requisite in every instance
10 the best possible accommodation OF
q large mass Of humanity within the
range Of single speakers voice. To
this end lofty ceilings are abandoned
and low straight roofs are used. The
platform or speaking pulpit is pushed
% far as possible toward the center
Of the auditorium. Necessity as much
% anything else gave rise to the ia.
nous 'saw-dust trail" Where thou
sands Of people are gathered together
svsn an occasional shutting of the feet
10 q serious disturbance. No sort OF
door 10 noiseless, certainly none that
10 in Z temporary OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
the saw dust covering. This is abso-
lutsly sovndless and by giving 1t a
base Of tamped tan bark it Is also i'm
pssvious to IRE. In many cities where
the danger Of fire has been urged
against It, the more expedient OF
throwing . shovelful Of blazing Goals
upon the saw dust door and watching
them die out has convinced the author.
tiles that their fears were vain. So
thoroughly persuaded ia Mr.. Sunday
Of the utility of the tabernacle that he
has refused to use large auditoriums
IN tAs rare instances where he has
found cities supplied with buildings
hryo enough to accommodate his
crowds. There are other and psyche
logical aspects of tho tabernacle idea,
such - it, democracy. accessibility
and uniQueness, which need not be
considered 1t this time.
For two or three years Mr.. Sunday
struggled on with only the assistance
u his wife and such help as came
from the cooperating ministers of the
community In which he was laboring.
Another ot the fundamental facts OF
Sunday campaign. that Of absolute CO.
operation and unity among the invit
ing churches. was also insisted upon
from the drst.
In spite Of all the obstacles and diff
cultiss the work grew. so did the pile
Of sermons. and some of them am.
plined, modernized and intensified are
doing duty today.
Mr.. Sunday does not sing and can.
not sing, and one Of the very first
things that he recognized was Of .
musical assistant The hrst man to
OCCUPY this position officially was Fred
q. Fischer. Mr.. Fischer began his
work with Mr. Sunday, January 4,
1900. ct Bedford, Iowa, and continued
It until July IL, 1910. at Everett.
Wash, when Homer Rodeheaver be,
came the choir leader. In comment
ing upon his association with Mr.. Sun
day, Mr.. F1scher says:
my work had to do with the musical
end, % soloist and chorus conductor for
five years, after which. because of larger
ana longer meetings. soloist was
added TO the party. I then gave my at
tentSon to the chorus and song services.
doing some solo and duet work.
'.NF. Sunday and I made up the party
IN the early years Of the work. Length
Of our stay In = community was two and
one-half to three weeks. Gradually the
work grew. the party was enlarged and
Iongoe time was spent in place."
It was In this earlier period Of his
work that Mr.. Sunday attracted the
attention of some few magazine writ
srs. In the American Magazine for
September, 1907, Lindsay Denison
gives this impression Of one OF the
earlier meetings:
.-ro ono who has attended Billy Sun
AA ~ tk@A rO0khndo hv
witch he achieves these results seems
aln0st Incredible But by his works you
must know him. Some Of his sermons
and prayers, in cold type, are Of a sort
- make all New England SILVER with
horror and cause the unsodly to gigg1e.
But they make converts the converts be-
come church members-and the army OF
salvation 10 magnined by thousands of
permanent recruits. Finicky critics must
considsr carefully before they deplore
the Rev. William A. Sunday. 1t has
been our habit for centuries to discuss
religion and the affairs of the soul In a
King James vocabulary. to depart from
that custom has como to seem some
thiAx like sacrileee. Billy Sunday talks
to people about God and their souls just
- people talk to one another six days
In the week across the counter or the
dinner table or on the street."
No ambition for the acclaim that
comes from the masses seems to have
had any weight with Mr.. Sunday IN
tho choice Of his fields Of labor. That
he was almost fifty before he became
nationally famous as an evangelist is
due more to the size of the communi.
ties In which he worked than any
other one thing. Naturally diftident
despite seeming assurance when in
the pulpit, he long hesitated to accept
the calls that came from the big cities
which are the eyes of the world. This
disinclination on his part was intensi-
tied because 1t was shared by Mrs.
Sunday and it was only by degrees
that the remarkable organization
which Mr.. Sunday has perfected dem
onstrated its adaptability to the more
complex conditions which obtain in
the congested centers of population.
True to his earliest disposition to heed
the call for service when he was sure
he had received that call Mr.. Sunday
gradually undertook larger and larger
responsibilities until his work took