Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-05-18

a saloon. After coming out we walk
ed to the corner Of State and Madison
streets and sat down on the curbing.
Across the street a company of men
and women were playing on horns,
flutes, slide trombones and some 9TH
ers were singing gospel hymns. They
were the very hymns I used to hear
my mother sing back in the log cabin
in Iowa when I was child. They
were the songs I used to sing myself
in the Sunday school back in the old
church"
There were tears in the eyes Of the
evangelist and his voice was tender as
he spoke. Thousands of men looked
at the speaker through dimmed eyes
and the silence in the tabernacle was
profound.
II listened" continued the ex-cham-
pion Of the diamond, "and God paint
ed on the canvas Of my recollection
and memory vivid picture of the
scenes Of other days and other faces.
I began to cry and sob, and my heart
was, oh, so lonely. A young woman
stepped out and said, We are going
down to the Pacific Garden mission.
Won't you come with US? I am sure
you will and enjoy it. I arose to my
feet and said to the other boys, Good
by; I'm going down to the mission
with this crowd They saw was in
terested and some laughed, others
me. Some Of them looked at me in
silence. I left them at the corner,
went to the mission and got down on
my knees and gave my heart to Jesus
Christ. I went over to the west side
of Chicago and Joined the Jefferson
Park Presbyterian church."
amen, praise God" said an old,
gray haired man near the front when
the evangelist had finished the story
Of his conversion.
II have thanked God ever since for
saving me that day." continued the
speaker. Listen, men, the other boys
who were with me that afternoon are
now nearly all gone." The speaker
then told Of the sad fates Of his fell
low ball players who were on the
White Stockings team. One of them
had died in an insane asylum in Mich
igan, victim Of cigarettes; another
had crawled into a drunkard's grave;
another died in poverty and squalor
as a consequence Of his sins. (Which
Of those boys won out that Sunday
afternoon" he asked. Did I or did
they? Thank God, I won through Je-
sus Christ. I am what 1 am through
him"
The speaker paused and said alb
ruptly. How many of you men will
say, Thank you, Bill, your sermon has
helped me?'"
The men began to rise in scores and
hundreds and thousands until it SEEM
ed that every man in the tabernacle
was on his feet. They sang a hymn,
and as they sang teh evangelist pleaded
with the men to come forward and do
as he had done twenty years before
and more in Chicago.
"Who will be the first to step out
before this host of men ard declare
himself a Christian" shouted the
evangelist.
In a moment Reginald Nelson step
ped from the press table to the saw
dust floor and made his way over to
where Mr.. Sunday was standing. AS
Reginald did so he caught sight Of
Thomas Marchmount walking down
the aisle, and the two men approached
the evangelist together, who greeted
them with q fervent Thank God"
AS the editor and city reporter of the
Courier were recognized a round of
applause arose, and others began to
stream toward the front. Among
them was Edward Prince, one Of the
largest manufacturers of Bronson.
The sight of their employer hitting
the sawdust trail" stirred up scores Of
the employees in his factory to follow
his example, and the front of the tab
ernacle was soon filled with the peni-
tents.
This means a new Bronson" cried
Billy Sunday, as he saw the wave of
spiritual power sweeping over the au-
dience, and men yielding to Jesus
Christ in hundreds"
(To Be Continued.)