New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-20
Closes His Seven Weeks
Campaign with Nearly
21,000 Converts.
MORE THAN S51, 900
COST TO CITIZENS
Less Drinking, Fewer Crimes
and Big Increase in Church
Membership Result.
ID, reIegr,ph o N. rnbane J

Syracuse, Dec. l9.-With Billy sun
davis help, it has cost Syracuse SOL
3i2.69 to convert 2O,963 sinners in seven
weeks.
The evangelist wound up his cam
paign here to-day by speaking TOUR
times to $4,000 persons ano collecting
s23.1t227 az q thank Offering az the
Tabernacle. This collection viii be
augmented by hun 3reds OF dollars sent
to him direct, the amount Of which no
one knows but himself. II is esu-
mated that his receipts for the entire
campaign will be $4,000, In addition
20 a wagon load or so of gifts OF every
kind and description. The amount puts
Syracuse in third rank of all the cities
he has visited and third IN the number
of converts 1000 behind Pittsburgh
and II. 900 fewer than Philadelphia.
Syracuse went fairly mad IN saying
farewell to the evangelist. Thousands
OF men and women literally fought
their way TO get into the Tabernacle,
and. once inside, scores OF them, carried
of their feet by the exceptionally dra-
matte and emotional sermons. soboed
and cried as they needed the last call
for trail hitters. At the four services
23O5 converts were recorded ne"
high record for one day. =,
Briefly summarized, the results OF
the campaign are these; Drinking has
been reduced third. there is less
profanity. employers of labor say there
il an evident upward trend toward hon
estv. industry and thrift; church mem
bership has increased one-third TO one.
half. and clergymen say the general
moral tone of the city has improved on
per cent.
Churches Look for Room.
Collections during the campaign out
side the thank offering" were about
s31 900, including those taken at SYRIA
cuse University meetings. mission ser
vices and all gatherings presided over
by the field workers in the churches.
Total expenses Of the campaign were
in the neighborhood Of S27 900. II cost
$4,000 to build the tabernacle, while
$1,000 or $4,000 more was expended IN
rent for the tabernacle site, paying
two-thirds Of the salary of Sundays
dozen or so assistants, rent for Senator
Hscock's residence. where the evan
geist was quartered, and other sun
dries.
Syracuse clergynen are predicting
boom times from now on because OF
their increased membership. Ever
since the day Sunday issued his first
call for trail hitters five weeks ago
every Syracuse clergyman whose church
was cooperating in the campaign has
been running trail hitters" TO their
lairs. Each convert has signed a card
stating his preference as 10 what
church he wished to join. and each min
lister had postoffice box AT the taber-
nacle where those cards were distrib
uted daily. The minister then chased
up those who had announced their pref
erence for his church In cases where
the convert failed 10 designate a church
the cards have been assigned according
to the geographical location Of his resi-
dcncc.
Converts of Many Creeds.
Some Of the converts have escaped.
but the great majority have been
rounded Up and placed on the church
membership lists Total memberships
have increased one-third in the city
as result There we're several hum
dred visitors converted.
II is believed this method of dis
tributlng the converts will eliminate
the disagreements among the clergy
that arose in Omaha. There the min
listers entered into an agreement not
to approach converts until after the
evangelist had departed When some
of them went out after the trail hit
ters' at the close of the Omaha cam