Evening journal., 1915-01-18
MORE TRIAL
HITTERS FOR Christ
Sunday Throws Aside Coat
and Collar During Spirited
Sermons
REPLIES TO SOME
OF HIS CRITICS

PHILADELPHIA, Pa, Jan. 1S--
Fully thirteen hundred converts
1883 by official tally, with scores Of
uncountable stragglers-succumbed TO
the spell Of Billy Sundays oratory at
the three services held yesterday in
his tabernacle at Nineteenth aud Vine
streets. More than a thousand of
these were men and boys, attendants
at two of the services. held for their
especial benefit, and characterized by
the somewhat volcanic delivery of a
sermon entitled Chickens Come
Home to Roost."
Heredity prenatal influence. secret
vice drunkenness and profanity were
a few of the subjects touched upon.
The morning service, which was open
to persons of both sexes, repeated the
sermon delivered on Saturday night.
tn evangelist, during the course Of
the day, delivered and repeated an
attack upon critics, who, he said. ac-
cused him of preaching for money.
Shaking his fist at the audience. he
shouted:
You haven't enough money in
your Philadelphia bank vaults to
pay me Tor preaching the gospel OF
Jesus Christ. | refused an offer the
other day from Chatauqua, which
promised me 100000 for a season in
July and August. l could have had
$1,000 a day if / had wanted it,"
J He next turned his batteries upon
what he termed his other enemies:
Il can't please God and the saloon
| keepers. l can't please God and the
Uhitarians. cant please God and
the Christian Scientists. cant
please God and the Spiritualists.
Meeting science upon its own terri
Tory he cited the classical cases OF
the Jukes family in New York and
the Edwards family in Massachusetts
as examples Of good and bad heredity
He quoted book and page in sup
port of later assertions, giving as his
authority "Huxley's Origin ol
Species, page 94."
When the collections yesterday anC
last night were taken up, the evan.
gelist stated that as soon as enough
money had been contributed to NEE
/ the expenses of the campaien-th,
tabernacle building and the like-spe
cial offerings would be taken I'd fol
| charitV-tO help "the poor fellow.
| that are out o. work" The announce
ment was greeted with applause anC
| followed by the hope that another
week or ten days might be sufflcien
/ to raise the necessary building funds
Sunday preached his afternoon anC
| evening sermons collarless. Shortly
after he began. the close. moist air o
the building seemed to affect him. ant
he divested himself of the collar
When the afternoon trail-hitters be
J gan to appear in the aisles, he fiunl
away his coat. too
The usual scenes took place at thi
trail-hitting yesterday. morning, nool
and night. At the early service tw,
young men, completely unstrung
knelt in the sawdust. clasped in on
another's arms. At the Afternoon
service another young fellow tool
'the evangelist's hand in both his Owl
and sobbed:
"Pray for me, Bill, won't you?" h
implored as he collapsed into a from
seat.
Converts ThrOng Aisles.
More than a thousand of the peni
tents appeared at the afternoon ant
evening services. So many throngel
into the aisles at the evangelist
clarion call" that the ushers an
secretaries were unable to handl
them all Marines from Leagu
Island, recent converts. were con
spicuous figures in the work of han
ding the crowd.
Several of the trail-hitters actuall
tottering beneath the emotional strait
to which they had been subjected b,
the preachers solid hour, were sup
ported by these men. A number o
Chinese were among those who press
ed forward and seized Sundays hand
The evangelist himself ran bacl