The Norman Transcript. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 1900 Page: 2 of 8
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A QUEER COLONY I IN MAINE.
Astounding Claims of One E. W. Sand-
ford to Supernatural Power.
If the testimony of all the 150 in-
mates of the temple at Shiloh, Maine,
Is to be believed, the Rev. Frank W.
Sandford, chief of the "Holy Ghost and
Us" school, and leader of the world"s
evangelization movement, with its
headquarters at Shiloh, has raise;!
from the dead Miss Olive A. Mills, who
has been for some time a dweller at the
temple.
The testimony ghfu concerning the
alleged miracle is earnest, interesting
and impressive, If only for the reason
that the students t Shiloh are taught
She was on her bed, where she had
been confined for several days. The
smell of death was In the room, ller
jaw had dropped and her eyes were
"prolled and staring. Those who were
bout the bedside told me she had
ulvered and passed away. There was,
o far as I could judge, not a sign of
eartbeat, no pulsation, no evidence of
•reathing.
" 'Oh, God, give her back to me?' I
cried.
"Then 1 knelt by the side of the bed
a d prayed in a whisper. I prayed as
that the most absolute veracity-must jt seemed I had never prayed before,
be a part of their Christian life. , j tokI Oo(, w]mt He aIready knew that
People in that section who have been j ] ha(1 Ipff aM tQ fo„ow H,g Son th,u l
given up all in life that other
men live and strive for, that I had
allowed myself to be called a fool for
His sake, that I had tried to walk as
closely to Him as mortal could. I had
observed all his commandments, even
to the giving no thought to the mor-
row, extending ungrudging hospital-
ity, praying, fasting, and doing all the
works that Ho has asked as evidence
of the true and contrite heart.
"As 1 prayed there with the people
about me, ami the motionless form on
the bed, there came into my miud as
though some kind angel whispered
them these words from the gospel of
John:
" 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, he
that believeth on me, the works that
I do he shall do also; and greater
works than these shall he do, because
I go unto ray Father. And whatso-
ever ye shall ask in my name, that
will I do, that the Father may be glor-
ified In the Son. If ye love me keep
my commandments.'
" 'I have kept Thy commandments,'
I said. "I have believed on Thee, not
with the mere belief that there was
once such a man as Jesus Christ, but
with all the dread and awful signifi-
cance of the great word "belief." 1
believe not in Christ as a historical
personage, but as a present help in
time of trouble.'
"And as 1 prayed thus there came to
me the consciousness that God was
hearing me with the intent to grant
my prayer.
"1 stood up beside that bed of death.
I placed my hand on the brow of that
woman. I cried with the perfect con-
fidence of faith and almost without
volition on my part:
" 'In the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
Olive Mills, come back!'
"There was then no entreaty, no
supplication for her to come back—
it was command—and she came!
"In a little while her eyelids com-
menced to twitch, her lips to flutter,
her breast to heave. She was with us
again. In an hour she was sitting up
in bed and a little after she was down
in my office telling me her wonderful
story. I had hardly dared realize un-
til then that in reality this woman had
been In the hands of death.
OLIVE A. MILLS,
watching the progress of affairs on the
Durham sand hill are at a loss to un-
derstand how this latest manifestation
at Shiloh shall be characterized. Be
it understood that the Shiloh temple is
located in the farming town of Dur-
ham, on the highest elevation in the
place—a great, sandy, bare poll. The
scattered population abo'it is composed
of hard-headed Yankee warmers. The
events of the last four or five years on
the hill are almost too much for their
credulity, and yet in the next breath
after expressing doubt as to some
things they will tell the listener that
they hnve found Mr. Sandford and his
disciples the best citizens the town has
had. They pay their bills promptly:
they feed the hungry. All are welcome
at the temple. The persons who dwell
there devote themselves to a life based
upon all the precepts of the Bible to
the letter. The farmers have had op-
portunity to watch the doings, for
though little has been said about the
movement until recently, the work has
been going on for seven years. New
Year's day was the seventh anniver-
sary of the date when Mr. Sandford,
an evangelist, gave away all his pos-
sessions, abandoned his parish in New
Hampshire and started out into the
world without the least idea of where
he was to lay his head.
In tlio seven years he has built the
great temple without passing the con-
tribution box, has erected a < hildren's
building near by—a structure of stone
—and has completed and equipped a
$2" .000 brick building that is called
"Bethesda,'1 and which is used as a
hospital for the healing of persons by
the power of God.
In this building of Bethesda was
wrought the alleged miracle that has
attracted such wide attention. When
a bare outline of the story had been
published in the local papers and had
made the rounds of the press, the mail
for Shiloh (the temple has a post-
office of its Own) increased to hundreds
of letters daily. People ali over the
United States have been asking for ad-
ditional facts and seeking corrobora-
tion.
"I have been unable to reply to these
letters," said Mr. Sandford to the writ-
er the other day. "They have poured
in on me In such numbers that a dozen
writers could not keep up with the re-
plies. Furthermore, my sense of re-
sponsibility in this matter will not al-
low me to dismiss it with a brief word
of reply. 1 deprecated the first publi-
cation of the matter, for I knew that I
should incur the charge of charlatanry.
I was talking the matter over with a
friend one day and in that way ;in out-
line of the case got into the papers.
As I leared. the affair has created wide
misapprehension as to the purposes of
this movement and as to the character
of Shiloh. Some people appear to
think that I am in business now as a
cure-all and propose to anticipate a
great deal of thf> duty that is reserved
for the Angel Gabriel. A man In the
"West, for instance, writes a tearful let-
ter to ask if I will not come there and
raise his wife from the dead. She
been in the grave since last Au-
gust."
In reference to the Mi'.Is mir::"le h*
said:
"When I entered the room whe"n
Miss Mills was lying my heart sa::S-
Into that light. And as the light
gleamed brighter and brighter my Joy
grew more and more profound. I
knew that I was approaching the
kingdom of God Almighty. I was
afraid just a moment—there in the
dark; then I got out of the fear into
the great, wonderful peace of God that
I shall never forget I know I went
almost to heaven. I know—I know
that, for the joy touched my spirit.
As you approach a vineyard you scent
the fragrance of the grapes before you
get where they are. Well, I was near
enough to heaven for the fragrance to
touch my spirit. It was beautiful!
Then, from away back somewhere,
came thinly and faintly the words, 'In
the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Olive
Mills, come back.'
"But I didn't want to go back. I
rebelled. I kept on Into the bright-
ness. At the mouth of the dark place
I saw a word written on the wall In
F. W. SANDFORD.
Is only one opinion on the matter at
Shiloh. That is entire and implicit
belief. Furthermore, a dozen or so of
the elders were in the room with Mr.
Sandford when the alleged miracle was
wrought.
In the section round about Shiloh
there are all sorto of expressions. The
clerj:;'men of Lewlston and Auburn
havt >veached sermons on the matter,
for it has excited much religious In-
terest in these two cities. These cler-
gymen have been interviewed. All of
them state their conviction that Mr.
Sandford is sincere but misguided.
When the expression of these opinions
was laid before Mr. Sandford he said:
"These men, though Honest in their
intent, do not believe that God can do
this. They practically say so. There-
fore it will never fall within their ex-
perience to witness such manifesta-
tions of the power of the Holy Ghost.
For If God should answer doubt with
success He would be putting a pre-
mium on unbelief, and practically de-
throning faith. They who did not see
this thing stand counter to many
other worthy Christians here who did
see it. 1 never enter into controver-
sies with the churchmen. I have no
patience with hair splitters. I don't
preach. I practice. And, therefore,
the Holy Ghost does by me as He
agrees in His Book to do by every man
who will follow out His commands,
not in their own roundabout way, but
In His direct path. Let us be cau-
tious how we strive to make God out a
liar."
letters of fire. The word was 'Preach.'
I stopped to read and wonder. And
again came, from far behind the com-
mand, 'Olive Mills, come back.' Oh!
how hard it was to turn away from
all the radiance ahead. But somehow
I knew that the word of God Himself
was in that faint voice 1 heard. i
just had to go back.
"And again 1 was over the body
from which I had departed. The peo-
ple were gathered about. It seemed to
me that this poor, sunken casket of
tlesh was some old, soiled, discarded
garment. I rebelled at putting it on
again. But I knew there was good
reason for this command that had been
laid upon me. After what I had ex-
HOME LIFE OF CONSUELO.
The Woodstock Almshouse Petticoat
Had lieeome Famous.
"Malbrouck s'en va-t-en-guerre," ac-
cording to the old French song—which
was written to celebrate the valorous
achievements of the first duke of
"Marlboro' "—and his young duchess
will have to stay at home in England
with the babes, while his grace is
shooting Boers, says the New York
Commercial Advertiser. Her grace
Consuelo is a devoted mother, and her
two boys occupy the most charming
suite of rooms in the palace of Blen-
heim; they are as closely guarded
from amateur photographers as from
kidnappers, and on "show days," when
the palace is open to the public, they
are wheeled about the kitchen gardens
in their blue and white perambula-
tors. On other days their nurses take
them for long jaunts in the 350 acres
of private grounds which surround the
palace, and to the various schools and
institutions of which the young
duchess is patroness. The Woodstock
almshouse petticoat has become fa-
mous since Consuelo came to Blen-
heim. Hitherto the red flannel gar-
ments worn by the women inmates of
the almshouse .ad measured three
yards round. Consuelo heard that new
clothing would not be despised by the
paupers, and she had ten petticoats
made. Five and a half yards of flan-
nel were used in each garmen.t.
A Close Cull.
There were a pair of colored white-
washers standing on the street corner
and talking about hard times, when a
white man stepped up, bent over and
felt around their heels, and presently
rose up with three $10 gold pieces in
ti
"RAISING THE DHAD TO i.li'i:"
(Drawn from Description.)
SPENT A MILLION.
"In order that there may be no doubt
as to her opinion on this matter she
has written out this statement."
Evangelist Sandford took from his
pocket several closely written sheets.
The statement is as follows:
"I had been ill for several days at
Shiloh, but I was not very much wor-
ried at first. Then I grew worse. The
elders at Shiloh prayed with me. but
fit spite of their appeals ( know I
passed out of this life. I knew when
my jaw dropped. It was death. Then
tui a time I was in darkness.
"I went through a valley of dark-
vse. or, rather, the impression was
i,. though I were passing along a dark
tjnnel. I felt rather than saw that
t.iere vas light—a great radiance—at
i-ft othjr end. Slowly I drew forward
perienced I was in no mood to with-
stand the commands of God. So 1
went back into my body. I have but
faiutly and vaguely recorded my im-
pressions. I have not the power of
language to tell you of the wonderful
sensations -to mai:c you realize all the
experience. But what 1 have told you
is true. My sister came down to Shi-
loh to see how much of my recovery
was faith and how much was fact, and
.she found that faith was fact."
To the two hundred apostles and
students at Shiloh Mies Mills has re-
lated this siory in detail, standing be-
fore them in tic1 temple at one of the
regular s>-rvi < <.f the day. Nearly
all the inmates of Shiloh have talked
with het and have heard her wonder-
ful narrative sgaiu and ag.iiii. There
his hand. "I dropped 'em here an hour
or so ago," lie explained, as he jingled
them under their chins and walked off.
The two men looked at each other for
a long time and then one observed:
"Rastus, deir hain't no luck in dis
world fur us, fur shore. We was walk-
in' right on dat gold and didn't know
it!" "Reckon it's de doins of de Lawd,"
humbly replied the other. "If we'd
afound dat money we'd bin so stuck up
ober it dat de Lawd would hev had to
send de cholera around to take de van-
ity out ob us. It was a cluss call. Brtid-
der Smuti—a cluss call."
The government buildings at Cara-
cas, Venezuela, are planned after the
structures at Washington. They are
of wood with rough stone steps.
WHAT JOHN L. SULLIVAN DID
FOR OTHERS.
And Corbett, too, Has Squandered a
Handsome Fortune—The Champion of
Chum pious Tells How lie Got Hepar-
a rated from Ills Lucre.
John L. Sullivan Is a bankrupt un-
able to pay his debts. In his career
as a pugilist for 18 years he has spent
a million dollars or rather loaned a
good part of it to men who, in all like-
lihood, will never pay him a dollar.
This makes John feel sad and lonely
these holiday afternoons. He paid out
?98,000 to the Richburg (Mississippi)
authorities to get rid of imprisonment
after his fight with Jake Kilrain. He
loaned $200,000 and never took a man's
note for any sum thus negotiated. He
spent $200,000 for dinners and wine
and lost $80,000 at the gaming table.
In unfortunate business ventures $200,-
000 more disappeared. His legitimate
living expenses were $200,000. In train-
ing for battles another $100,000 has
been expended.
One year John L. took in $400,000 as
the result of his shows and his box-
ing victories. He always wagered big
amounts on his besting an opponent
and this alone amounted to a large
income. In 1882, after his scrap with
Paddy Ryan, he made $29,400 by the
mill and on exhibitions in the big
cities. From this time on until his
discomfiture with Corbett he made big
money. In his Boston saloon venture
he made $50,000. In his tour with Pat
Sheedy he made $60,000. His tour in
England enriched him $28,000. In his
three plays he made $210,000.
John L. says: "With a fighter money
comes easy, and.it goes the same way.
1 spent $5,000 training for my battle
with Corbett, and lost $20,000 betting
on myself. I always kept a stable of
trainers following me, and they were
a heavy expense. But it was being a
good fellow that broke me. I was the
great and only 'John L.' That title
cost me enough money to last an or-
dinary man a lifetime. I was too easy.
When someone would say that I was
the only one. it meant another basket
of wine. When another would say
that I never refused a friend a dollar,
and afterward asked me to lend him
$50, he got a hundred.
"Then, too, I was slow in getting to
the box office. The others got their
first, and the first count of the receipts
was the largest. Was I robbed? Yes,
I was robbed. If I had what they took
from me I would be satisfied. How-
ever, I don't regret it. I had my tling,
and I paid for it. I haven't touched a
drop of liquor for six months, and am
not going to drink again. I feel as
well as ever, and if I could lose a bit
of fat I would have another try in the
ring. But that is out of the question.
I am going to try and make my busi-
ness a success, and if I ever get another
fortune they will have to break the
United States to break me. My money
will go into bonds."
"Jim" Corbett, who wrested the
championship from Sullivan, has also
known the ups and downs of life. He
spent $8,500 getting himself into shape
to be defeated by Fitzsimmons, and
lost $16,000 which he bet on himself In
that fight. He received $20,000 from
the purse and $50,000 as his share of
the picture money. He says that his
money, like Sullivan's had gone in
riotous living and in staking his
friends. Unlike "John L.," however,
he has never gone the limit. He still
owns his house, which he values at
$70,000, and has money otherwise in-
vested.
"A pugilist," said Corbett, "Is a good
thing for every borrower in the land.
We have to give up. Sullivan has
given away a fortune, no doubt. If I
had what Is due me I could buy a
brick block with the money. We are
all spendthrifts. A man with one good
trainer can fit himself sufficiently well
1'or any battle. But nowadays we must
have five or six trainers and sparring
partners. They are costly luxuries.
Managers, too. arc necessary, but ex-
pensive. I have divided half a mil-
lion dollars with my manager, while a
man in any other business would have
been able to have kept it all himself.
It is the unnecessary expenses whl \
keep a pugilist broke."
TOO MANY EUROPEANS COMING
The Majority from the Southern I'ait
of That Continent.
Secretary Taylor of the United
States treasury says immigrants from
Europe are flocking into this country
too fast and something ought to be
done to stop the flood of immigration.
Last month 33,000 immigrants landed
in New York, or at the rate of nearly
400,000 in a year. The immigrants
from the southern European countries
are those we fear most. Those from
the north, the English, Irish, Scandina-
vians, Danes, Dutch, Germans, all
make desirable citizens. But those
from Italy, Hungary, Turkey and
Spain are coming over faster than they
can be assimilated. The immigrants
from the north usually hasten through
New York bound for the west and the
northwest., where they become farm
laborers, and gradually rise to be- farm
owners. They add to the productive-
ness of the country. The others lin-
ger about the large cities. New York,
Chicago and St. Louis. They go into
sweat shops and sleep twenty in a
room, or they become fruit peddlers or
organ grinders, and never get away
from the cities. A few are employed
in the coal or iron mines. As a rule,
however, they are most undesirable.
We do not need so many of this class
of immigrants, and something should
be aoae to check the tide.
BURR FOUND THE ASSASSIN.
Famous Lawyer Once Cleared His Cli-
ent of Murder.
"I Was particularly interested," said
an old Washington lawyer the other
day, speaking of the Manhattan well
i-rime, "In the paragraph that describ-
ed Aaron Burr's dramatic act in hold-
ing a pair of lighted candles in the
face of a spectator in the courtroom
and shouting, 'Gentlemen, here is the
real murderer.' I do not question this,
but I remember that Jere Clemens,
once a famous United States senator
from Alabama, told of a trial in which
Burr appeared for the defense of a
man charged with murder. My recol-
lection is that the trial was in the
southwest. When Burr addressed the
|ury it was night. The guilty man
was in the room. He had been the
principal witness for the prosecution,
but Burr had learned that this witness
was the assassin, and in closing his
address for his client he picked up two
lighted candles from the table and
holding them in the face of the wit-
ness referred to, he exclaimed: 'Gen-
tlemen of the jury, there is nature's
verdict. Now write yours.' At that
moment the witness fled from the
room. After Clemens told this story
he wrote an historical novel called
The Rivals; or, The Times of Hamil-
ton and Burr.' In that book he wove
the incident into one of the chapters.
The book is out of print and has been
for many years. But it had a great
sale, particularly in the south, before
the civil war, for Clemens was a typi-
cal southern orator, and a man of
wonderful personal magnetism. The
abject of the novel was to make Burr
i hero, and to besmirch Hamilton's
iharacter. In one chapter where Burr
was high in the esteem of Washington,
the latter is represented as reading a
letter from Hamilton in which Hamil-
ton detailed some scandalous gossip
about Burr. Burr was standing behind
Washington during the reading of the
letter. Washington incensed at the
contents of the letter, turned quickly
and saw Burr, to whom he said: 'How
dare you read my letter over my
shoulder?' "Burr, as Clemens repre-
sents. stung to the quick, drew him-
self up and replied with all the haut-
eur of his nature: When your majes-
ty addresses such an inquiry to me in
the manner you have, the only reply
deceny can prompt is, Aaron Bun-
dares to do anything.' This, Clemens
avers, was the cause of the break be-
tween Washington and Burr."
FILTHY PEKING.
rile Frightfully Insanitary Condition of
Chlna'M Capital.
The three chief characteristics of
the Chinese capital which most im-
press the newly arrived visitor are
lust, stench and dogs, writes an Am-
srlcan from Peking. There has been
ao rain since June, and the hideous
:raeks that are dignified by the title
Df streets are ankle deep in black dust,
much of which is pulverized filth.
\long the macadamized streets, of
which there are three, are open drains.
These serve as sewers from which the
lewage is dipped and the highways
iprinkled. When it dries the pulveriz-
ng is resumed, and, in addition to the
iriginal compound, the residuum of
he tainted water is breathed into the
tings. From the gayety of Japan,
ivith its dainty teahouses, pretty gar-
lens, polite, cheerful people, China is
t descent into Avernus. There are two
jlasses—the rich and the poor—since
n comparison with the poverty of the
;ery poor, those in comfortable cir-
!umstances, the farmers, shopkeepers,
ind others of like position, must be
jounted as rich. The one thought—the
laily struggle with half the population
—is to secure food enough to allay
;he pangs of hunger, in summer they
ire but half clad, and, in the north,
:n winter, their wadded clothing sim-
ply prevents them from freezing to
leath. They wear no underclothing,
ind the wadded jnrruents. worn for
rears, left when not in use at the
pawnbroker's, are Mack and stiff with
.llth and infested with vermin. The
louses of the lower classes are wretch-
ed in the extreme, the floor of earth
ir brick, the kang or brick stove bed,
ind a few poor utensils being the sum
Df their possessions. While they show
great skill in many lines of purely
decorative work the Chinese are not
the best artisans in the world, espec-
ially as carpenters, and the doors and
windows are seldom fitted to exclude
the piercing winds. Added to this they
rarely shut, a door, and tho windows,
covered with paper, \\hieh soon be-
comes ragged and broken, are better
adapted to excluding the light than
the cold. The people suffer frightfully
from chilblains during the winter
months, hands and feet being raw and
bleeding, and thousands die of pulmon-
ary complaints.
Absent-Mlndpd.
It was an electric car, and a man
was sitting between two women. The
man left the car. and as he passed
out an umbrella slid from the seat
toward the floor and woman No. 1.
She caught It, rushed to the door, had
the car stopped and told the conductor
to call the man back. The man, how-
ever,declined to take what was not his,
and so the good Samaritan, leaving the
"water'lied" in the conductor's hands,
regain ed her seat. Meantime woman
No. 2, who had seen and heard the
whole performance, suddenly came out
of her trance and exclaimed. Where is
my umbrella?" You can imagine the
rest of the tale: but it. was very funny
to see it all.—Milford Journal.
Sailors' trousers, or "trombone
pants." as they have sometimes beer
called, expand in bell-shape at tha
bottom so as to be the more easily
kicked off in case of : le wearer's fall-
ing into the water.
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Burke, J. J. The Norman Transcript. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 1900, newspaper, January 25, 1900; Norman, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc186758/m1/2/: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.