Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1903 — EX-PUGILIST EXHORTER [ARTICLE]

EX-PUGILIST EXHORTER

How Bantam Billy Smith Now Fights Satan. ITIGHTLY PLEADS WITH OBOWDB. Wearing the Salvation Army Uniform. Former Champion Fighter Works For Religion no He Fonght In the Ring—lncident Thnt Led to Uls Conversion. “God called me, and I stood up. God bid me work among you, and I am here.” Night after night Billy Smith, the undisputed bantam champion of seven states, the participant in 108 creditable ring battles and one time the very best in his class, stands on a stool in the center of a motley crowd at Fortieth street and Lancaster avenue, in Philadelphia, and thus explains his presence in the ranks of the Salvation Army. He works for religion as he fought in the ring, says the New York World. With his frowsy hair waving in the breeze, his fists clinched, bis head lowered and his lithe body swaying to and fro. Smith, in the language of the streets, urges his bearers to repent and be saved. Before Brother Smith begins his “testimony” he looks the crowd over “just like 1 used to size np a percentage bouse,” as be puts it, and then in a dear, penetrating voice he tells his story. “You all know me,” he begins. “1 need not tell you that I gambled, that 1 lied, that I cursed, that I fought, that I bad a good time. You all know that I went all the way down the line. You all saw me play every game and each one to the limit You all saw me on the highroad to bell, and some of you were jealous of me. You envied me the good time, the good clothes, the diamonds, the cheers of those who paid to see me fight. Not one of you bad sense enough to be sorry for me. 1 was pushing the pace that kills. “Every vice bad its bold on me but rum. I was getting to the place where I no longer respected my family, cared for my friends or thought of myself. I was billed for eternal torture. Then God spoke. It was right here on this corner. The army was here. I heard the testimony of a dozen saved souls, and each one seemed to tell the story of my life. My wife said, ‘Billy, they mean us.’ It was the word of God. We followed the army over there to the hall, and there God called me. and I stood up. God bid me work among you, and I am here. “Your soul Is worth saving. We are here to help you save it. None of you is so far gone that you can't be saved. 1 know that It takes a brave man to shake his bummer friends and come out strong for Jesus, but it pays. I know all about the sneers and the smiles that yon will have to bear, but they are only for today, and salvation is forever. No coward can be a Christian. “A coward can’t be anything that is manly. I’d sooner wear this uniform and stand on the street in the snow begging pennies for the poor than live in a palace with a guilty conscience. You people are afraid to come out for Christ. You think it is smart to sin. It’s cowardly. Some day you will wake up. It may be a day too late. Come to Jesus now.” A Salvation Army hymn sung to the air of the everlasting "Hiawatha” cut short his harangue, and the clear soprano voice of Mrs. Billy Smith, some time star of the Fairy Female Minstrels. sounds high above all the other voices, and Billy pushes around in the crowd with a tambourine begging pennies for the Salvation Army Rescue home, which is the institution he regards with especial favor. “I simply had to take up the army work.” Billy said the other night. “It was God’s will, not mine. My wife ran away from her home in Illinois twice to go on the stage. General Joe Wheeler is her uncle. Her people are all right They would not stand for any female minstrel business. Her brothers, who kept the Leland hotel at Shellyville, 111., got a crowd together and went to Jana, where the Fairy Female Minstrels were to show, and surrounded the hall, and it was a toss up whether they would shoot the showmen or only lynch them. “My wife (we were dot married then, you know) went home with her brothers and, bless you. ran away again. I met ber In Chicago the day after 1 fought McGovern, and the next time I went to Chicago we were married. She was converted first and had much to do with my salvation. “We just turned our diamonds and such things Into cash, established this home, and while I give 10 per cent of all I earn to the work my wife sells the War Cry and helps at the barracks. We are both trying to learn to play instruments. so that we can get into the band. We have come into the army to stay.” “Are you ns happy now as you were wbeu boxing?” “1 never knew what it meant to be j happy before.”