Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 September 1908 — Sunday in a New Role. [ARTICLE]

Sunday in a New Role.

The Rev. “Billy” Sunday, hero of a thousand baseball diamonds and ten thousand pulpits, founder of the vitriolic and sensational school of evangelism, rushed into the sterotyping room of the W. B. Conkey publishing plant at Hammond and with an ax destroyed book plates which cost him $3,500. W. B. Conkey, the president of the company, was thunderstruck when the angry arm of the revivalist swung right and left on the plates, as hq said: “My reputation la at stake, I will never allow that edition of books to get into circulation. It is an outrage!” Sunday recently found out to his amazement that Herman Poole & Co., of Decatur, 111., had collected his uncopyrighted and melodramatic sermons, together -withhistory of his career,and were having them published and copyrighted. Sunday said the sermons were greatly garbled and hired a lawyer, who Informed him he could do nothing.

Then the fighting‘evangelist Ignored the advice of his attorney and rushed back to Decatur, where he had a fighting session with the publishers. It was finally agreed that Sunday should pay 13,500 for the books. He wrote them a check for that amount and weht to Hammond. Without telling the W. B. Conkey company that be had bought the copyright, he interviewed Pr esident Conkey who refused to give Sunday any satisfaction. saying that he was under contract to deliver 5,000 volumes to Herman Poole & Co. Sunday broke down and wept bitterly. Then bis anger rose again, and on being shown the plates he wrecked them. When Mr. Conkey told him that he would hold him responsible. Sunday showed the assignment of the copyright and tlje fact that he had paid |3,500 for It. He then demanded the "mats” and saw that the edition of 4,000 books already printed were destroyed by fire.