The Washington times., 1917-04-12
EVANGELIST ENACTS
THE DRAMA OF SIN
Billy Sunday Plays All the Roles
in Selling Gold Bricks
to Cod"

last night for the undoing of the Old
One and for the benefit OF revealed
religion, a performance entitled sell
ing Gold Bricks to Cod"
The Duke of wellington. Billy Sunday
"a .Hog-jowled Bartender. Billy Sunday
A Woman of Society. Billy Sunday
Ben Franklin. Billy Sunday
A Hebrew Billy Sunday
4 Woman of the Street. Billy Sunday
a CRATER. .Bllly SUNDAY
A Comanche.. e............- Billy SUNDAY
A hube-.- .Dliiy ounuoS
No other actor (for Billy will tell
you he is an actor in the service Of
the Lord ever tried without costume
or makeup to play so many parts or
impersonate so many characters. By
leaps and bounds he was all over his
stage, the green carpeted platform OF
the meeting house, his voice changing
from the soprano plant of a woman
of society to the bass tones that Billy
associates with the personality OF the
Iron Duke; from the mixed ale husk-
iness of the bartender to the whoop
Of a raiding Indian; from the nasal
twang of a countryman to the clip
ped slang of the street woman.
Movie and Ph0nograph.
come to life, a moving picture and q
phonograph, sound synchronizing
with sight Old-fashioned church
goers in the overhowing Tabernacle
stiffened their backs and stared (as
Billy hoped they would dol when his
whirling mind and his leaping body
conceived and projected concrete pic
lures OF sin and hypocrisy, giving
full rein to his talent for mimicry and
burlesQue. Presently they relaxed,
began to smile and ended by laugh
ing uproariously as they beat their
hands together.
There were probably $4,000 persons
in the tabernacle last night who
seemed thoroughly to enjoy Billy's
dynamic eccentricities, who appeared
to testify by close attention and fire.
quent applause that his extremely
concrete methods of preaching had
taken hold of their minds. In the
afternoon, even with the opening Of
the baseball season and the circus ex-
ercising its~springtime pull at Madi-
son Square Garden, Billy Jared well
enough for hearers, no less than 1000
turning from sun-bathed Broadway
TO the doors of-the tabernacle.
In the free swing of his campaign
warm up. as he puts it. taking the
phrase from his old days on the base
ball diamond. He is warming up
against enemies Of the United States as
well as enemies Of God.
GCharIotte Russo American,
The pacifsts find Billy "a pricking
thorn They've been around to the tab
ernacIe in -droves Ia dozen buttonholed
him last night appealing to him not
Ito preach approval Of the war; but
Bily's attitude is Get thee behind me.
thou charlotte russe American" And
also he tells them to their astonished
faces that they make him extremely
i'll Then he hops upon the platform
and tells young men it's their decent
duty to enlist
He was especially happy last night
and yesterday afternoon because his
son George, a stalwart lad, has applied
for service in the aviation corps. He
says he would like to take a shot at
the Kaiser himself, in the line OF the
Lords work. but he's afraid the recruit
ing officers would turn him down.
His one-man. one-act play last night,
in which he introduced amusingly
and effectively so many curiously con-
trasted characters as he spun anec-
dotes that pointed his theological
points, was built around the central
idea that prayer without faith or
good works is lead which falls to the
ground-and frequently upon the toes
of the presumptuous. He found his
text in Genesis. XxXii., 2S, "As a prince
thou hast power with God and with
men and has prevailed" a text taken
from the story OF Jacob, who didn't
Esau, ii may be recalled and who, as
Billy explained, tried to stall God and
get away with a three shell game"
Don't try to tell Jesus Christ" he
shouted. You can't get away with it.
He's wise to your cheap tricks. He
knows and God knows when your
prayers are real God has to shake a
shroud over many a man before he
will pray, has to shake a shroud over
many a woman before she will pray.
He has to take some of you society
people and throw you on your backs
and shake a shroud over you before
ycu will pray.
Some of you don't have the nerve
to tell God your real name-not the
name in the city directory or teIe-
phone book. your real monicker But
God knows it He knows you are Mr..
Dead Beat, or Mr.. Old Booze H'ister-
Side. Why don't you get on. your
knees to God and tell him how rotten
you have been? You'll never get your
conscience ironed out until you do"
Billy told a story of his boyhood
days, pinched, hard toiIing days
when they weren't calling me a
CRATER" He was working for a bank
and getting S25 a month. One pay
day he found $40 in his envelope,
needed temptation, kept the overpay-
ment and bought a suit OF clothes
with II.
''Oh, fell for that SIS, all right"
said Billy, land ] can see that suit. of
clothes yet. / worked like a dog try
ing to square that transaction with
God. but there wis nothing doing. God
kept telling me ] owed the bank SI5
with interest and it wasn't until l
sent back the money that I enjoyed an
hour of peace. couldn't work a shell
game on God and none of you can"
Defiance To His Enemies.
He swerved for a minute or two to
rebuke his critics.
''If you can find anything in my
life which doesn't come up to what
preach I'll leave the PLATFORM" was
his defiance to his enemies--to the per
sons that spread the gossip that he
fn ornf rfrh. haf he L. fna IN,