The Washington herald., 1918-01-17
$40 TRAILHITTERS.
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you to live" Billy appealed partic-
uiariy to the soldiers, declaring 'if
you have enough courage to put on
the uniform of Uncle Sam you ought
to have enough to walk the aisle for
Jesus Christ"
His voice was husky as he leaned
forward on the platform and pleaded
with the "unsaved" to walk the
trail" Three times he repeated the
Invitation" Then came along the
aisle q pretty young woman. dressed
neatly In red, her black hair entwined
about her head. Behind her walked
her husband-Homer Edison.
Then came Percy s. Foster. we'll
known In Washington church circles.
That started the crowd. An old man
hobbled HIS way UP the aisle, tears In
his eyes. He was followed by a
young man, pale OF face and care
worn, leaning on the arm Of a young
woman. Three young girls came next
and then the ushers were lost in the
throngs that continued coming for
ward along both the ''sawdust trails"
Greets Each Convert.
Billy lifted the trap door on the
platform and jumped down into the
pit" He leaned over, smiling, and
shook hands with Mrs. Edison. Then
he slapped the shoulders of Mr.. Fos-
ter. Both his hands shot out over the
pit" and he was kept busy shaking
the hands of men and women ana
boys and girls. Old men scrambled
up the aisles alongside young girls;
an old woman apparently too feeble
to walk alone, was helped to the
'front.' by an usher. In the crowd
that pushed its way to the platform
, were several soldiers. For these Billy
had an extra" nandshake and a
word of greeting.
God bless you. boys" Billy would
repeat to the soldiers and sailors.
The crowd stopped coming. Billy
jumped back to the platform and
pleaded again with the audience to
show by your stand that you be-
lieve Jesus Christ is your personal
saviour"
Come on, you soldiers" shouted the
evangelist. Come forward, you choir
members and church people. Set good
example tonight. And you folks who
are troubled and need Gods help,
come up"
Back again Billy jumped into the
pit" and out shot both hands to greet
a line Of possibly fifty men and women
and a crowd of soldiers who had come
down from their platform reserva-
tons As the last hitter shook the
evangelist's hand. Rody pleaded with
the audience to come Up before its
too late" He spoke eloquently and
when he had finished the great choir
sang the refrains of "Oh, Lamb of
God Come and Why Not Now?"
Lies on Floor.
A third time the evangelist jumped
back into the pit" and again his
hands got busy shaking those of pos
sibly sixty persons who had been
drawn to the front" through Rody's
plea. Once more he mounted the
platform and several other men and
women came to the front Billy lean
ed down over the platform. lying
fat on the floor. and shook hands
heartily with the last of the so.
A prayer. and the first Washing
ton ''trail-hitting' was over.
One feature of the ''trail-hitting"
that impressed the big audience was
the systematic methods by which the
secretaries" handled the line of
marchers to the platform and the
rapidity and accurateness with which
they recorded the names, addresses
and church preferences Of the hit
ters." These men were in charge
OF DR.. Isaac Ward, and their work
was really marvellous
Billy's sermon was a plea for the
acceptance of Christ. 1t emphasized
the joy that accompanies a Christian
life. He didn't forget. however, to
take q slam at the Kaiser. He de-
clared he was for peace, but not a
peace at any price"
Raps Germany Again.
III We have to wear the collar OF
German militarism.'' he shouted.
wed rather die than pay such a
price for peace"
Billy declared that Washington is
facing a religious crisis. as is the
nation.
But don't think we are not going
to put it over that dirty bunch" he
declared. There may be some disap-
who are prosecuting this war may
not know a let about business
methods. but you can bet they will
fight like the very devil when we put
them on the firing line.
There are 5000 miles of sea be-
tween US and the firing line. We
might easily have crawled into our
shells when confronted with the war
crisis. But thank God we jumped in
and Joined the other nations in the
great fight for liberty and humanity
and we're going to put it over in
great shape"
Billy asked to be put on record as
being against anything the devil is
for. And you can also put me
down." he said, "as being against
anything Germany is for" The
evangelist declared that with Ameri-
can on its knees before God, no