Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-22
CONVERTS HIT
TRAIL, v0WING
BETTER LIVES
Sunday Arouses People to High
Pitch and Hundreds Come
Forward CSnfessing.
BY MALCOLM EDDY.1

som ething in the weeks of his re-
vival in the quad cities, that would
have been dispeIIed yesterday had
he attended the three meetings
conducted by Sunday at the taber-
nacle. Crowds that filled the aud
itorium to running over marked the
three services and especially was
this true last night when again
hundreds of people had to be
turned away from the doors, un-
able to gain admission
Yesterday for the first time Rev.
Billy asked that people make pub
lie confession Of their desire to
live better lives and hundreds of
people hit the sawdust trail,
grasped the oUtstTetched hand of
Sunday and made the vow to live
q better life. To the watcher it
was a wonderful sight-the eager
ness with which the convert came
forward to make his VOW, the rapt,
upturned, almost glorified express
sion on their faces, some singing,
others repeating the words of
bible text, in the faces of others
had come a new light that was
never there before, tears streamed
down the faces of others and even
- the AdTu dIleu ESDDTLCE q
mist before his eyes as he watched
the procession Men, many who
looked as if they had never before
known the power of religion, toll
worn, hardened of face, came Gag
erly forward with the men who
daily profess their religious convic-
lions and are known as workers in
the church Of God. Women,
oh s-1fR nd oh Trfa1l
workers, sought to shake the hand
Of Sunday and especially touching
was the sight of young boys and
girls. II, IA, 16 years Of age who
eagerly came forward with a Pc
culiar uplifted expression pro-
claiming for perhaps the first time
telling the world of their desire to
live the lives that Sunday had pic
tured to them at the wonderful
meeting of Friday night.
Sunday grasped the hand of each
of them, and those of you who have
had that experience know that it is
no fish-like grasp-it means some
thing to each of them he said
a God bless you or word Of real
encouragement.
forgotten by those who had the |
privilege of witnessing it.
Need Of il Vision.
The first public confessions were |
asked following the preaching of a |
powerful sermon at the morning |
hour, the evangelist speaking from |
the text, Where there is no vision |
the people perish That is where |
- NJ
plan. That is where everybody |
becomes a law unto themselves.
That is where you don't stop to |
consider or care whether your &C
lions or conduct will make it cas-
fer for anyone else to do right or |
wrong The only law you recog- |
nize is the law OF your own desire. |
and you are actuated by the desire !
to crafty your one ambition or in
clination, irrespective of the in
huence upon others through that |
qualification" is the way in which |
he introduced a discourse in which |
he plead for vision in all things.
Every great achievement that has |
moved the world has been ac-
complished by the man with a Wis !
ion, the nation must have it or it |
will perish, the church must have |
it or close its doors, the individual!
must have it or his life will be
empty and void, Sunday said.
And you needn't be afraid of all /
the blatant blasphemy and all the
sneering criticism, all the vile cpl
thets that may be hurled against
the word of God. 1t stands immov-
able as Gibraltar. You needn't
worry Gods truth towers over all"
In his sermon last evening on
safety First in America" Rev. Mr.
Sunday took the commandments,
the moral law, as the basis for his
sermon, and he scathingly de-
nounced the men that come from
foreign lands to plant their
''damnable heresies" in America.
'HThey don't come to America to be-
come Americans. They haven't got
an American hair in their heads.
not an American thought in their
old brains. Every drop of blood in
their rotten veins beats to the mH-
sic OF Sabbath dissertation. They
don't come to build American
homes, they don't come to learn our
language. They come here to uE-
dermine honest labor, they come to
faunt their damnable, heIlish, red
flag Of anarchy. l say rip the tags
OF and send the dirty skunks back
where they came from"
GriIIs Divorce and GOSSIP.
Divorce came in for another ter
ribIe grilling and the scandal
monger got hers. "Shun the tale
bearer, the tattIer, the gossiper;
shun those buZzing pests of society.
A breach of scandal sweeping the
community murders the reputation
of men and women and causes (
tears OF anguish" he said.
So through the 10 command
ments he carried his audience
bringing from each a lesson, a
warning against the evils of the
day that threaten the destruction
of society.
The subject Of his Sunday after. I
noon sermon was Workers for
God" and he lambasted the knock
CT. People ought to have a mind
to work and not to knock and
whenever a knocker comes down
Tue street, honest men turn their
backs; the angels take refuge be-
hind their golden harps. They I
don't want to look-people who
have a mind to work The devil {
double locks his gate for fear he
will get in there. Don't you know I
there are lots of people, sitting