Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 207, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1912 — BOOTH FUNERAL IS REVIVALPENITENTS AIDED BY POLICE. [ARTICLE]

BOOTH FUNERAL IS REVIVAL—PENITENTS AIDED BY POLICE.

Thirty-Four Thousand Participate in List Rites to Founder of Salvntion Army in London. The funeral, in London * of the late Gen. William Booth, founder and commander in chief of the Salvation Army, was turned into a. gigantic revival, never equaled in history, Wednesday. The police were required to clear a way for the penitents forcing their way to the mercy seats on either side of the platform where they knelt in prayer. The fervent invitation to sinners and backsliders to come forward to the throne of grace had bden accepted. They responded i nscores. As the penitents wentJiorward, the singing shouts of encouragement and amens Increased in volume until the Olympia was turned, into a colossal old-fashioned revival. Striding back and forth on the platform, Gen. Bramwell Booth, swinging his arms above his head, led the singing, pausing frequently to remind sinners that the dead leader had given his life to saving them. In accordance with the traditions of the organization, the services were without pomp or symbols of mourning buT were carried out with moving fervor and impressiveness. The body of the late general, in a plain pine coffin, rested upon'-a white catafalque in front of the big platform acorss the end of the hall where all the chief officers of the organization were seated and where forty bands of .music were massed. Tbe crimson flag of the “Army of fire and blood,” #hich the general unfvfrled on Mt. Calvary, was planted above the coffin. A bank of flowers, composed of the tributes sent by members of royalty and many societies, was behind it. Flags of various nations in which the commander in chief had waged campaigns and the standards of the older divisions of the army were arrayed in front of the platform. These and more Salvation Army flags in the galleries, each "tipped with white ribbons, and twenty' portraits of/ the evangelist surmounted with green laurel wreathes and with a broad orange ribbon connecting them were the only decorative effects. The front rows of chairs before the coffin were filled with representatives of various bodies and also the equerry for the King,, several mayors, a delegation from .the Stock Exchange, ministers of all protestant churches and Jewish rabbis and many notable personages were present. When the bands began with the very well-known revival hymn, “The Better World,” the ocean of voices took up the strain and sang three stanzas of it. Bramwell Booth fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. Silent reading, alternating with hymns, continued for half am hour, following which a true Salvation Army revival service was conducted and an invitation to sinners and backslidders to come to “the mercy seat.” Dozens of persons forced their way through the crowded aisle to the mercy seats on either side of the platform, where they knelt In prayer. •All the soldiers of the army arose and recited the covenant of fidelity, pledging themselves to be faithful soldiers of the Lord. T,he catafalque was then wheeled slowly down the aisle while the great gathering sang, “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder I’ll be There.” The coffin was placed in a hearse and conveyed to the Salvation vrmy headquarters, where it will rest until taken to Abney Park Cemetery.