The Detroit times., 1915-02-06
SUNDAY STIRS
QUAKER TOWN TO
|lTSFOUNDATIONS
Relief Is That Evangelist Has
Started Religious Flame That
win Sweep the Country
.INFLUENCE EXTENDS =.
EVEN ACROSS THE SEA

Instances Come To Light of Con.
versions Resulting From Read
ing Of Newspaper Reports
--s--s.s 49,. sa-..
ny THE RELIGIOUS RAMBLER.
The facts of the Billy Sunday re
viyal In Philadelphia have been print
q "a throughout the land as sensationa
news. but the underlying significance
u az the facts Ii still more noteworthy
s - news.
The two-score thousand person:
Who daily crowd into the tabernacle
most Of them having come hours be
fore the advertised time OF opening
are a interesting as the unconven
fiCnal evangelist himself; but or more
{ Importance than either or both Ii the
xeaIJy nationwide solicitude over the
question Of religion.
There Ii widespread belief amonl
4 Chrhtians that Billy Sundays Phiia
& delphia campaign In the point a.
y which the fire Is breaking out thai
VIII sweep the prairie.
Az q mere narrative OF fact, there
3 q mighty meaning in the populations
which have visited Sunday at Phila'
n delphis from New York city. Boston
q yVashington. Richmond, st. Louis
Cincinnati, Duluth, Minneapolis ano
, many. other cities. asking him TO CON
"A duct meetings for them.
Individuals and Populations from as
4 Ar south IN Florida and from beyond
4 me Mississippi have travelled all the
way Ia Philadelphia for the single and
& <ypress purpose Of hearing Billy Sun.
& 6ny and Witnessing his meetings.
a such widespread concern for the
things OF religion Is highly flluminat-
Ing
The religious press Of the Land Is
y foaturing the Billy Sunday meetings,
+ - that they have become the one
\ uppermost theme of interest In strict
+. ~ religious circles. Not only have the
metropolitan dailies printed special
3 Articles upon Billy Sunday and his
3 meetings, but the great magazines
have taken him up. although their
q articles cannot be printed for q couple
II of months yet.
All this has given old Philadelphia.
which William Penn founded AZ q
holy experiment" q sort and amount
X of advertising which city boosters
"a could not have procured by any meth
Tod or amount OF money.
Most OF the daily newspapers OF
have published the Sun
day sermons I'm full, daily, since the
K b<ginning OF the campaign. In add
\ ton. their extended reports Of the
*neetings have been sympathetic and
4 nkillful This 10 unprecedented pub
l1city for religion. Sunday does not
Employ press agent, and all the
Newspaper space that Is devoted to
hb work is entirely outside OF his
\ own planning.
Instances are already cropping up
{ of persons converted simply by read
Ing the newspaper reports Of the ser
+ mons. An entire family Of non
B ohurch-goers presented itself to q
United Presbyterian church in an out
hing part Of Philadelphia. Billy had
cot them, though none had been near
HIS meetings. l know a manufacturer,
10 clubman and man about town"
+ whose liquor chest in HIS once has
been unvisited for days, all because
be the reports OF the Sunday sermons.
Now he has gone to the meetings, and
y his friends say he viii surely hit the
trail"
Literally millions OF persons every
day are reading the primitive gospel
& message, decked out in modern lin
Ruistic clothes. as Billy Sunday repre-
"a oents II. The united churches oi
Y Philadelphia have not money enough
tc buy this publicity. The great pub
licotion societies OF the denominations
or the American Tract society or thu
American Sunday School union. de
op1to their huge funds and organiza
Hoe. do not reach SO many personi
md % compellingly as does the Bill,
Sunday story through the secula
The thickly encrusted shell of tn,
oyorago persons apparent Indifference
Ito religion has been cracked by thi
Uncouventional Instrument, whose. sue
cess n setting many persons to quot
ms the scripture passage: Go,
chose the foolish things OF the world
t1nf he might put TO shame then
~ weak thingS OF the world. that h
might put to shame the thinss tina
4ro strong Without respect to sts
1921 - - oAAAh6r PcoHic nave DeCOu
Interested In Billy Sunday. The PFC
ortm Of those who show antagor
IN y surpr11ingly small.
That religion is for all levels o
Doc3oty, and that the Lord does no
nQutro about ones ancestors or ban
1coount before having personal dea
20 with him. has been made plat
rough the occasion OF the Sunda
oo0ngD. Billy has conducted morn
u meetings IN some OF the most @,
Dofye homes In Philadelphia. On
Dorning he was with the Biddles an
>@lr frlends; the next he was IN tn
0lfentfary: In both cases speakin
~ vocabulary Of HIS hearers. Tn
ogt democratic spot in PHILADELPHIA
the turtlelbacked Tabernacle O
CDon Square. . few steps from IN
ban Catholic cathedral.
OF the multitude OF incidental al
~ Of the Sunday campaign ha
~ TIE friondlfness shown him b
Catholics know OF instance
80 Darinh prfests have extoiled Oh
Of Sunday, and have advise
members TO hear him. Their
o1vays q percentage OF Catholic
80 Tabernacle congregations, an
- noon priests there
nG1l<Icu % this friendliness b,
~ MAJOR divisions OF Chri
~ f1ere has been unparailele
I11(c0 among the local Protss
urcnoe- Aside from the cisvs