CITY BEAT: PREACHER FOUGHT THE DEVIL AND ‘DEMON RUM’ IN THE TABERNACLE

    When I was a teenager I preached a lot of sermons at churches in the Decatur and Central Illinois area.
     Following one Sunday morning service, an elderly member of that congregation shook my hand and said “You are going to be another Billy Sunday!”
     I thanked him but didn’t have a clue who Billy Sunday was or what he did!
     Before the advent of radio and television evangelists, preachers would hold crusades in cities like Decatur and draw thousands of residents.
     Billy Sunday was one of those preachers who created a definite impression on the residents of Decatur a century ago.
     Looking back, I’m fairly certain that the elderly gentleman who made the “Billy Sunday” comment to me that day had attended a rally of his in the early part of the last century.
     Back in 1908, Billy Sunday held a six-week meeting in “The Tabernacle” and thousands attended every night.
     That’s the subject of this week’s “Scrapbook” on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions.
     As I wrote in the “Scrapbook” article: Thousands gathered to hear William Ashley “Billy” Sunday preach a fiery brand of Gospel to the people of Decatur and from surrounding communities.
     The famous evangelist conducted his battle with the devil and “that old demon rum” in a structure called the tabernacle, which was located on the corner of Union and West Eldorado streets.
     The old structure was built to seat 5,000 people, but the newspapers of that day indicate that as many as 6,000 would crowd their way into the structure to hear Sunday.
     People came from miles around to not only hear him, but to be entertained by his antics on the platform.
In fact, his attack on “booze” was so effective that Decatur residents voted local option by a plurality of 1,048 votes that same year and closed down the 64 saloons, plus one brewery.
     Billy Sunday died years before I was born, but as I started learning more about what he did in Decatur, it was apparent that he was one of the most colorful people to make an impact on Decatur over the decades.
     I’ve often thought about what that elderly church member told me that day — and realize that he meant it as a compliment, not an insult.
     However, I never aspired to be “another Billy Sunday”. I have my hands full “walking the walk’ and publishing a community newspaper.

     • TRAGIC — Last Wednesday, Jan. 7, at about 11:18 AM, the Decatur Police Department responded to the intersection of Mound Avenue and North Water Street and found that a white 2007 Chevrolet Equinox was making a left hand turn eastbound onto East Mound from southbound North Water Street with a green arrow.
     According to the report, a silver 2002 Ford Ranger was traveling northbound on North Water Street where it entered the intersection against a red light. The silver Ford then collided with the white Chevrolet in the intersection.
     The driver of the white Chevrolet was Gay Rolofson, 72, of Decatur. He was pronounced deceased at the scene. There were no other occupants in the white Chevrolet.
     The driver of the silver Ford was a 32-year-old male resident of Decatur. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries. There were no other occupants in the silver Ford.
     The initial report indicated that there were no indications that any of the parties involved in the crash were under the influence of alcohol.

     • I FOUND IT interesting that when the report of the accident hit social media, some of the first responders to the media posts indicated that they’ve witnessed drivers going through intersections after the traffic signal had turned red and were not surprised that was the reason this accident happened.
     Later reports indicated that the driver who went through the red light at Mound and North Water may have suffered a seizure and, if so, he didn’t drive through on a red light on purpose.
     Perhaps we will know more about the reason for the fatal accident when the results of the investigation are revealed.
     One result we already know: a well-liked, kind family man (his obituary is on page 21), who drove within the rules of the road at Mound and Water Street, lost his life at that intersection last week.
     Prayers for his family members and friends on their shocking loss.

     • AS YOU KNOW, if you have read this newspaper for any length of time, I’ve written many times that reckless, irresponsible driving in our community seems to be getting worse.
     So many drivers these days do not pay any attention to traffic signals, signs or “rules of the road” and people are being hurt, or killed, as a result.
     I drive to and from the newspaper office each day on Route 51/South Franklin Street and driving through the intersections just south of the Lake Decatur Bridge certainly keeps me awake! The road, regardless of what time it is, is filled with speeders, weavers and red light runners with no regard to safety or posted laws.

     • UNLESS there is a crackdown on speeders and other irresponsible drivers, our streets and roads will become even more dangerous.
     Many drivers drive any way they want to drive because they are never held accountable.
     The longer drivers on Route 51 South, and about every other street and road in the area, drive any way they want to drive because they are never held accountable, the less safe travel will be on our city’s streets and roads. If the recklessness of many drivers continues, more innocent people will be hurt and even killed in our future —and that doesn’t have to happen!

     • SNAIL MAIL? One of our subscribers who lives in Oakley sent in a subscription renewal. The postmark on the envelope showed that it was marked in St. Louis on Jan. 5. We received it a week later! Why does a first class letter from Oakley have to go to St. Louis to be processed and returned to this newspaper’s post office box in downtown Decatur?
I also noticed that some of the other mail we received from Decatur residents last week had a St. Louis, Missouri, postmark.
     Hmmm. From Decatur to St. Louis and back to Decatur for a first class letter to be delivered.
     Still wonder why the USPS continues to lose money?

     • A FEW WEEKS ago my “Viewpoint” column was about how long-established companies have greatly reduced personal customer service in favor of making customers a number.
     A business where I have been a customer for the last half century recently charged me a $35.00 “late fee” because my quarterly payment was received two days past the due date.
     I have never paid this company anything past the due date. I checked our records and found our check was mailed to the company’s office two weeks before the due date.
     When I looked for a phone number to call the company I had to go back to an invoice from a year ago to find a number. The number had been removed from more recent statements. (I wonder why?)
     I called and got a robot. I requested a live person to talk with and a woman’s voice came on the phone.
     I told her about the late fee charge and that I wanted to protest it. She already had identified my name and account and then she started with a long list of questions (Everything but my blood type) plus I could barely understand her and asked her to repeat several of her questions.
     “Where are you located?” I asked her.
     “I am on location right now,” she answered.
     “Where is your location?” I responded.
     With some hesitation, she replied, “The Philippines.”
     Another business that was once within walking distance from my office before moving to another state —now has their customer representative in the Philippines!
     I think all the questions from a rep who was almost impossible to understand was an intentional discouragement to those calling with a problem.
     I told her that my contract with her company was up in a few months and I didn’t believe I wanted to renew. I told her to have a good day and hung up.
     I went online and found that my $35.00 late fee had been eliminated since I had always been a good-paying customer. (smile)
     I also learned the company will only be accepting online payments in the near future.
     I now wonder if the check I mailed actually arrived on time but they held it before depositing it to make a point that I should pay online and not through the USPS to avoid a late fee.
     Of course, there is always the strong possibility it took two weeks for the USPS to deliver the check to the accounting department in a nearby state.

     • I LOOK forward to returning to WSOY’s Byers & Co. after the holiday, cold and cough breaks and discussing the issues in our community with Brian Byers each Thursday at 7:00 a.m. We’ve been discussing those issues each week on his program for over 23 years.

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