St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1921-06-25
Twenty to Forty Autos Of
People Attend From
Covington Nightly.
OVER ONE HUNDRED
CONVERTS CLAIMED.
Ask Mayor Badon for Per-
mission to Hold Meeting
In Park Pavilion.

For several weeks meetings have
been conducted about seven miles
from Covington on the Lee Road at
which the religion of the apostolic
unknown tongue is being interpreted
to the people. Acknowledgment Of
the grace Of God seems to be inn
pressed by an uncomfortable move
ment of the tongue and the emission
of unpronounoable and inarticulate
sounds. In the fervor of religious
inspiration this condition is accepted
as proof Of conversion. To the un-
blessed spectator this condition seems
to be the result of hypnotic or mes
meric influences or the climax of in
tense emotional strain. The process
by which the unknown tongue is
brought into the religious life of the
convert seems to be concentration on
the object sought and exercise of the
will for it's accomplishment. AS an
aid to this there is music and the
beating of a drum, admonitions OF
efficacy of persistent effort to pro-
duce the sounds of the unknown
tongue. The supplicant is urged and
patted and treated to various ply
sical manipulations and is held be-
meath the gaze and adjurations and
motions of the disciple Of the un-
known tongue until there is an IN
voluntary acceptance and acknoWl-
edgment of the faith and the un-
known tongue holds full possession OF
the mind and shuts out every other
thought and consideration. While
under this control the convert goes
through all sorts of motions and
muscular jerks and contractions and
seems unconscious Of the fact that he
may be punching you in the ribs,
stepping on your feet or even turning
somersault. In fact, he seems to
be oblivious to everything except
that his tongue is vibrating to the
tone of unknown sounds.
From twenty to forty autos from
Covington have nightly attended the
meetings of the sO-called unknown
tongue. Some have gone in a spirit
of simple curiosity and others have
been drawn by desire to fathom
the mystery that has made so many
converts to the new religion. Among
these arei critics who condemn the
methods by which the sinner is lift
ed from the anxious seat into the
glory of full realization Of his sin
fulness and his salvation. Criticism
has been especially strong against
the nervous strain that little children
are subjected to-the pounding and
pushing and urging and beWildering
excitement of being brought under
control of stronger mind. Ihey
consider the whole procedure an ex-
hibition OF mesmeric or hypnotic
power. On the other hand, 1t is
claimed that some of the conversions
have. made good men of bad, Glled
the whisky flask with pure water
and relegated the gun to the trash
pile That profanity has given way
to prayer and thanksgiving and OBJ
seryance of the law So between the
opinion that there should be legal
suppression of the meetings and tne
opinion that any way in which God
IS reached is a good way, there is a
wide margin of difference that can
only be spanned by the future re-
suits.
It is said that SO converts will be
baptized into the church tomorrow,
and that permanent building OF
worship will be erected to carry on
the work after Brother Haynes, the
leader, has departed. There are
four of the Unknown Tongue dis
| ciples who are doing missionary
work, two men and two women.
They have been in Texas.
During the talks in the meetings
Covington has come in for share OF
adverse criticism, and it is said that
some of the wickedness of the town
| will be brought under consideration
at meetings to be held here. Mayor
Badon has received request for per-
| mission to use the pavilion at Bogne
Fa1aya Park as meeting place. He
| informed them that this could not
| be done without permission of the
council and that he would bring the
matter up. At the same time he
suggested that the services Of several
policemen would be required to keep
| order. He was informed that they
would prefer to have an invitation
to come, but that they were coming
| without it if necessary.