Omaha
PART TWO
EDITORIAL
PAGES ONE TO EIGHT
unday
PART TWO
SOCIETY
PAGES ONE TO EIGHT
VOL. XLV NO. 9.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MOltXIXd, AtKlUsT 15, lt15.
SINOI.K COPY FIVE CENTS.
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Work is now in pro6pess to epect the
bi meeting place in which the
converts will Kit the sawdust trail
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THE "BILLY" SUNDAY tabernacle lakes
form apace at Fourteenth street and
Capitol avenue, and the coming event
casts Its shadow before.
Three weeks from today the famous
ex-base ball player evangelist will address his first
congregation In Omaha, Inaugurating a two
months' campaign; During those two months he
will preach twice every day In the week except
Monday, which Is his resting day.
The Omaha tabernacle will be one of the largest
ever built. Its ground measurements are 178 by
240 feet. The tabernacle at Des Moines measured
174 by 227 feet; that at Philadelphia, where meet
ings were held for ten weeks last winter, measured
216 by 303 feet. This was the largest ever built.
The capacity of the Omaha tabernacle has been
somewhat exaggerated in reports.
It will" seat about 7,500 people, including the
thoir of 1,500 on the rostrum. In addition to this
there will be standing room for from 2,500 to 3.00Q .
in the vestibule, ten feet wide, which extends all
around the building. Between this vestibule and
the main auditorium doors can be lowered so as to
give those standing there an unobstructed view of
the rostrum. Thus the total maximum capacity ot
the building. Including those seated and those
standing, will, be from 10,000 to 10,500. The
tabernacle at Philadelphia had a maximum capacity
of 18,000 people.
The Sunday tabernacles are all alike all built
under direction of the same man, J. H. Speice, who
goes from place to place a month or six weeks in
advance of the evangelist to erect the- tabernacles.
With him travels his foreman, Jess Henderson:
all other labor is hired in the locality of opera
tions. The tabernacles are built with two objects la
view namely, capacity and acoustics. The latter
Is, natrually, a great desideratum when a man la
preaching at least twelve times a week In a vast
building.
The broad, low, "turtle-back" roof is ideal for
hearing properties, as well as being easily con
structed and covered with weather-proof material.
This roof comes down at the eaves to within eight
feet of the ground. At Its center it it only twenty
six feet from the ground.
The ten-foot vestibule surrounding the build
.ng on all sides Is really in the nature ot'an'addi
tion to the building proper and its roof slopes from
mx eight-foot helgbth to seven feet at its outer
odge.
The whole building la constructed of yellow
ine, from - the heavy timbers which uphold the
roof to the thin shiplap siding on the sides'. About
175,000 feet of lumber will be required to build
the Omaha tabernacle. The roof will be covered
with a combination fire-proof roofing material.
Three cupoloa on top will help muah in ventilating
the , building. Numerous dormer windows set in
the roof will act both for lighting and ventilating.
These windows will be provided with ropes and pul
leys so that they can be opened or closed from the
ground.
.There will be twenty-four doors In the build
ing, opening directly upon the streets, each door
six feet wide, allowing the biggest audience to get
out In two and a half minutes. .
The tabernacle will have no floor. Thirty tons
of sawdust will be spread upon the ground within
ihe tabernacle. Aisles five feet wide will run
lengthwise of the building every sixteen feet.
The seats will be made of smooth planks, with
'oard backs. Numbers will be painted on the nu
merous posts upholding the roof for the assistance
of the ushers in seating the people. '
The rostrum will be built at the north end or
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View o the Taternacle irv
process ox construction jooJano
own from ihe Union Pacific
Headquarters Building
the building. It will be seven feet high. Krom It
the tiers of seats will rise for the 1,600 members
of the choir. Chairs will be placed here for the
choir.
Mr. Sunday's platform will be at the front of
the rostrum. It Is built the same sice In all places
six feet wide and sixteen feet long. His pulpit Is
thirty-four inches high and sixteen by twenty-six
Inches In top measurements. It also is built of yel
low pine and covered with a cloth material. His
platform will be carpeted, and above him will hang
an "augophone," a device of concave shape to still
further emphasize the acoustic properties of the
building In carrying his voice. A large section of
the rostrum will also be fitted up for the use or
newspaper men, accommodating about twenty-five.
Under the rostrum will be various rooms for vari
ous uses. . -
There will be a reporters' room, where they
can use typewriters and have telephone connections
with their offices. There will be a hospital, where
trained nurses and doctors will be in continuous
attendance and where those who faint or meet with
accident will be taken at once for first aid. An
ushers' room and a doorkeepers' room will be there
for the accommodation of the scores of men charged
with care of the audiences. Here will be also a
postofflce, where those connected with the Sunday
party will receive heir mall. Telephones will be
available at many places. There will be booths in
the vestibules for the use of the public.
LtRhtlng or the building will be entirely by
electricity. A 100-watt or 150-watt Incandescent
light will be placed every eight feet. The outside
of the building will also be brilliantly Illuminated
by twelve arc lights.
Though grading is still being done at the north
part of the site, the framework of the building Is
all in place at the south and east sides.
The tabernacle will be completed without a
doubt by Friday, September 3, when choir rehear
buIs In It are to start.
The offlrlHl tabernacle builder, J. H. Speice, Is
a rotund, Jolly, scrapple-fed Pennsylvanlan. A po
liceman sauntered .up to the scene of operation!
while the Interview with him was going on.
"Have they got them one-armed men yet?'
inquired.
"Oh, yes." laughed the builder.
"How many of them they gonna have?"
"Well, it'll take about twenty-five," said
Speice.
"What do they want with so many one-armed
men?" asked the Innocent Bystander.
"To take up the collections," said the cop.
"I've never missed a date," said Mr. Speice.
"Always have had the tabernacle ready for the
meetings on schedule time. In Pittsburgh I had the
hardest tussle with time. I reached there Just four
teen days before the meetings were to start. But I
got the tabernacle up. I couldn't get the electric
wiring done, but I .put In gasoline torches the first
few nights, and the meetings went right along."
After the meetings are over here the taber
nacle will be sold to the highest bidder. According
to Mr. Speice, the building usually sells for about
75 per cent of what it cost, so that the net cost is
not great.
When the tabernacle here Is complete the build
ers will go to Syracuse, N. Y., to begin wort on
the tabernacle there, whence they proceed to Bal
timore, Md., which Is the next city on the schedule.
It is interesting to observe that there is a rea
son for naming the "Billy" Sunday meeting place
a "tabernacle." There is good scriptural authority
for the use ot that word in a building of this char
acter. The ancient Jews carried a -structure or
wooden framework, covered with curtains, through
the wilderness In the Exodus as a place of worshln
and sacrifice.. This was called the tabernacle.
The dictionary defines tabernacle as "a slightly
built or temporary habitation; a transient shelter."
The human body is considered as a temporary
habitation of the soul. "Shortly I must put off this
iny tabernacle," says St. Peter.
The word was once used derogatlvely In Eng
land, referring to the meeting places of dissenters,
chiefly Methodists. Now It is often used to indicate
a church with a very large auditorium.
In the Bible there are many verses In which
the word occurs. For example:
"Lord, who shall abide In Thy tabemacleT
Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh
uprightly and worketh righteously and speaketh the
truth in his heart." Psalms xv:l and 2.
"How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord or
hosts. My soul longeth. yea even falnteth, for the
courts of the Lord." realms lxxxlnl and J.
"Look upon Zlon, the city of our solemnities:
Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a city of quiet hab
itation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down."
Isaiah xxxlll:20.
"And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall
be In peace." Job v: 24. '
Diagram of the Tabernacle in Omaha
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Graphic Pen Picture of Rev.
as He Appears When in
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CAPITOL AVE.
HERE never was any preaching done Jes'
like that base ball man does It. He's
got a platform to stand on more'n as big
as two wagon boxes, and be klvers every
inch of it in every sermon be preaches.
In the meetln' he got so f trod up that be tore oft
both his coat and vest, jerked off his collar and
kervat, an' then rolled up his sleeves as If he was
a-goln' to help tbreh. I thought I'd heard rather ..
strong preachln' all my life, but I never beard none
that took hold of me like hls'n does. Why, It goes
into you like cbiggers."
That is the way an early convert of Billy Sun
Cay described his work. Since then his reputation
has lost nothing In force and strength, Judging by
the speeches of more recent date and the throngs
which flock to hear him.
In a place where Sunday was to hold a meeting
a delegation of ministers asked him to tone down
Ms remarks. To them he replied: t .
"Why, if I did that I wouldn't have any more
people to preach to than you do!"
And that is the light in which be views his un-.
tfcual methods.
The typical Sunday meeting takes place In a
large, brilliantly lighted bul'ding, with a roped-In
space in front for delegations from various lodges
e.ud organizations, and over the platform a huge
white, banner on which is planted in black letters
three feet high: -
"Get Right With Ood."
A stir comes from the audience packed in the '
hall there are almost always a large number
turned away when Sunday appears and takes hts
seat on the platform. Several songs are sung and
enthusiasm Is aroused. The opening prsyer Is de
livered by some local clergyman, and two or three
more songs are sung. Then Sunday maks a few
This sketch is by Rev, Elijah P. Brown of
Indianapolis, commonly known as "Ram's
Horn Brown," sometime assistant to Sun
day, and is taken from a published volume
on "The Real Billy Sunday."
Introductory remarks of a pertinent nature and
says:
"Dig up!" i . ,
The new, shining milk pans which bang on the
rosts about the ball are now brought Into play,
nd the expense of the meetings Is defrayed in this
way. After more singing , by the choir Sunday
goes to the pulpit desk and gives out his text.
"As the first words of the text are announced,"
tayt Mr. Brown, "his muscles become rigid and he
bends backward as if about to throw a somersault.
The manner of the speaker is in a sense mild at
the start; be Is not violent; he does not speak un
duly loud; there Is nothing approaching a strain
in his voice. He quickens his pace; his collar be
gins to look as if it had seen better days; soon he
is raining great sledge hammer blow on the desk
to force home his points,' and people start as If
shot at.
"There is but one word that will even remotely
indicate his manner, and that Is "action." At one
moment he is at one end of the platform and the
next at the other, and. then quicker than thought
he. bounds back to the center, giving the desk a
solar plexus blow that would knock out a giant
Ever and anon he makes long, rapid strides to give
it more whacks, until at last a large piece splits
off and bounds to the sawdust floor below, at
"Bffly" Sunday
Full Action
vhlcb every small boy in the front row Jumps anfl
ssyt'Oeel'"
And here are some of the things he says:
"I don't care if a church has 2,000 church
members. What I ask is, how much power hare
they? ' Nine times out of ten you blame the evan
gelist when there are no conversions, Instead of
tbe Godforsaken, booze-hittlng, card-playing
church members. There were places where Jesus
could do no mighty works because of unbelief,
where there should have been faith.
"I said to a barkeeper one time, 'Why don't
you give your heart to Chribt? You are too nice
a fellow to be in this vile business.' He said, "I
wouldn't be in it if the church members' hadn't
toted for me.' If there Is anything that makes
me sick it is to have some red-nosed, buttermilk
eyed, beetle-browed, peanut-brained, stall-fed old
saloon keeper say that he wouldn't be in the busi
ness if it were not for church members voting for
h.m. Hell Is so full of church members like that
their feet are sticking out of the windows."
And this Is one of his replies to criticism for
tbe language he uses:
"Where you put salt it kills tbe bacteria that
cause decay. If a man were to take a piece of
meat and smell it and look disgusted, and his little
boy were to say, 'What's the matter with it. pop?'
And he were to say. 'It is undergoing a process in
the formation of new chemical compounds,' the'
boy would be all in. But If the father were to say,
'It's rotten,' then the boy would understand and'
hold his nose. Rotten is a good Anglo-Saxon word
and you don't have to go to the dictionary to find
out what It means. Some of you preachers had
tetter look out or the devil will get away with
some of your members before they can find out
what you mean by your sermona-"