The Prescott daily news., 1915-02-03
BILLY SUNDAY CAP
 TURES PHILADELPHIA 4
Contributed.

Billy" Sunday has been conducting revival services in Philadelphia dur ing the month of January and will continue till about the middle of March. A tabernacle seating 1500O people with standing room for 5000 has been built and is has been crowd ed twice day and frequently thou |sands have been turned away for lack of room. The desire to hear the fa- nous ex-base ball player has become so great that he has adoptd a rule to repeat his sermons same day and those hearing the first sermon are not allowed to hear the repetition of it that evening and in this way he breaches to about 10000 different peo- pie a day. Instead of the crowds de- diminishing the jams have been greater and Sunday now speaks to more peo- pie than any other man in the world. During the meeting, ex-Pres. Taft made an address in the city and he usually commands large audiences but he spoke to comparatively small au- diences while the tabernacle was pack ed like sardines to hear the gospel and more were turned away unable to get in than were present to hear Mir. Taft. The gospel still has a hold on the masses as no other subject has. Sun day breaches the old fashioned gospel and holds to the orthodox belief in the great doctrines of sin, repentance, regenration and in real heaven and a literal red hot hell of fire and brim- stone.
 There have been upwards of 10000 conversions during this meeting and the majority being men and those who know say that at least 95 per cent of his converts "stick" and they become a power for God and the church. He is one of the hardest fighters of whis- key in the world and the unvarying rule has been that after one of his meetings there has been a decrease of crime and a grat falling off of rum
 
 in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and West Va have gone dry since his meetings. He conducted great revival in Colorado Springs and Denver last summer and Fall and the State voted dry at last election. Same way with West Virgi- nia. Now he has begun his fight in Philadelphia, which he pronounces one of the worst whiskey soaked cities in the Union, and he has defed the Iliquor and saloon traffic and called to battle. Last Sunday. 31st, he preach ed his famous sermon on "booze" to double audiences of men and boys, 40,- 1000, and it had it's effect. Here are some of his thrusts at the saloon:
 "The saloon is the sum of all vil- Ilianies. It is worse than war or pes tilence. It is the crime of crimes. It is the parent of crimes and the mother of sins. And to license such an in carnite fiend of hell is the dirtiest, low down, damnable business on top of this old earth. If the fellow that gets drunk goes to hell, you bet your life the man who voted for the saloon will go to hell too, and I'd like. to fire the furnace while the lobster is in there. The whiskey gang has got the United States Congress backed into d corner and is choking the gizzard out |of it. Don't you come out, you Dem ocrats and Republicans, and talk about your belief in referendum. You're a Ibunch of towards. You won't permit Iprohibltion to go to the people for a vote. I'm getting tired of your ex- cuses and am going to fight"
 Sunday went on this strain for an hour and half in the afternoon and Ian hour and half at night to different audiences of men and they fell under his power and wept and shouted under lhis portrayal of the evil of drink and lthen at each service, 15,000 voters pledged to cast their ballots against the saloon at the coming election, or 30,000 men in one day.
 It is predicted by the Philadelphia North American that Sunday has com menced to break the clutch that the whiskey element has had on Philadel- phia and Pennsylvania so long and that this will be the greatest religious and temperance revival in the history of the world
 LIN NLN Cu NEINDN EnIrnI