Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-18
TO Be TRUE is
TO solve ALL
BIG PROBLEMS
Billy Sunday Enlarges on Subject
~BacksIidersR to Fair-Sized
Evening Audience.
BY MALCOLM H. EDDY.

ed his points with the converse
the man and woman who stick to
their convictions at every turn.
Throughout, the sermon was strong
and the evangelist brought in nu-
merous illustrations and explana-
tons which went far toward
throwing further light upon the
tex. The talk, however, was more
orthodox and close to the subject
than any previous sermon since
the campaign started.
As though to show that his eIO-
cution does not largely depend upon
the sensational for effectiveness,
Sunday started VI on the topic Of
@Backsliders" in a poetic vein,
which continued for some time.
The first part was peculiarly free
from slang, and was in many ways
similar to the sermons heard else
where than under the bare taber-
nacle rafters. However, as time
went on he fell more and more into
his customary swing-an unstable
course in that the listener never
knows what quaint expression, I'M
usual illustration or new gesture
he Is to be a witness to next-the
1owery phrases disappeared.
Shining Is Being Untrue.
Somebody asked me. Why is it
heinoUs to sin?' l will tell you.
1t is to be untrue. There is no
man or woman that I SO delight to
honor as true man or a true wom-
an, those who hold firm on their
principles; there is no one I so
despise and abhor as a contempti-
BILE snake in the grass, an untrue
man or an untrue woman he said,
in speaking OF backsliders. He
eulogiZed Robert E. Lee as among
the true, telling of the vain effort
Of the Louisiana lottery company
to buy his good name.
A powerful stroke in his talk was
that directed at the fact that juve-
nile delinquency is on the increase,
simultaneous with the recorded
great decrease in attendance of
Sunday schools. He showed sta
tistics that proved in the last year
500 600 minor children in this coun-
try left Sunday schools there
were that many less in the total
enrolment On the other hand he
said that the percentage of girls
and boys who come before courts
is daily growing by leaps and
bounds.
Young MOderns ~Wise."
why, a little frizzle-headed sis
sy who hasn't sprouted a long
skirt today knows more about dew
ilment and the ways of sin than
her old granny knew when she was
Is years old God mapped out the
same path for men and women.
The standard of sin is sexless.
What is wrong for a woman to do
is wrong for a man to do. Your
wife has just as good a right to
walk down and Sit around with a
gang and fill her hide up with
booze as you have, and then stag
ger home"
The close of the sermon was
abrupt Say. do you want to know
the solution of the problem of the
20th century? When will we win
the world for Jesus Christ? When
men and women will come out
clean cut, uncomprOmising on the
side Of Jesus Christ, and when they
will die before they will yield to
the devil, before they will sin
want every one of you to pledge
yourselves to enroll upon this side
to pledge verbally that you will
do all in your power to make your
self Of this kind. Everybody who
will, step up here and shake hands
with me. Everybody come" More
than so per cent of the crowd did.
too, and Sunday was occupied for
10 minutes shaking hands with in
dividuals of the crowd.
Crowd Of COCO Attends.
Despite the rain. mud and gem
eral mixup of the elements, the
gathering in the tabernacle was
by no means small. being Judged
at between $500 and 5000. with
another 500 in the choir. In the
absence of Homer A. Rodeheaver,
who was called to Ohio yesterday.
Prof. Bob" Mathews led the song
service and introduced Rev. G. II.
Johnson of the Moline Swedish
Methodist Episcopal church, who
led the opening prayer. Mrs. VIII
liam Asher sang a beautiful solo,
open My Eyes That I May See
TO an accompaniment hummed by
the choir. The whole effect was
very pleasing.
Before opening his sermon Sun
day cast his eve around the audi
ence and remarked that there were
many men present, ''All you men
stand IN. Let me look you over
he said Probably so per cent of
the attendance arose. Somebody
said there won't be enough men in
heaven TO sing bass. This bunch
ought to help some" said the
evangelist
Pharisee and Publican.
The indifferent church member
gets no mercy from the Rev Billy
Sunday and in his sermon of yes
terday afternoon on the theme,
'sPharisee and Publican" he gave
them an unmerciful faying. What
the world wants is a religion of
deeds. not words: said Sunday.
Talks cheap. Lots of people are
expert windjammers. but to get out
and deliver the goods is what the
world is looking for. You will al ,
ways get what you are looking for
in the world. You fight the devil
with your mannerisms, 1 will fight
lin the best I know how with mine
and we will both unite and give
him the best run for his money
that we know how"
He pleaded for a careful reading
of the Bible in these terms: "If
eli