Some of the most notable redemptions of so-called "hardened criminals" known to evangelistic work have been accomplished by the Rev. Herr. All of the booklets by him have been extensively read and quoted, and it is probable none will attract more interest than that which has just been issued by him.
Christmas at Frankfort Prison
The prisoners had what was unanimously voted the best Christmas dinner in many years. There were 1100 lbs. of turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, oranges, and bananas. There were about 75 fine cakes, 68 of which were sent from Lexington by Mrs. Frances H. Beauchamp, Pres. W. C. T. U. The entire dinner was well cooked and heartily enjoyed by all.
At 11:30, Bro. Jos. Severance, Chaplain, Bro. Geo. L. Herr, of Louisville, Mrs. M. B. R. Day, of Frankfort, and Miss Nellie E. Williams, Junior C. E. Superintendent, of Maysville, entered, and took seats on the stage; these are four of our truest and strongest friends and are most heartily welcomed.
Bro. Severance opened the services by reading the Christmas lesson, i. e., the 2nd chapter of Matthew, which gives the most beautiful description of the birth of the lowly Jesus.
Bro. Herr then offered a fervent prayer.
Bro. Severance' remarks were few; he is still grieving over the loss of his two children, and simply said that this Christmas had lost all of its charms for him, for instead of feeling joyful, he felt sad all of to-day and yesterday, and that we understood why, for instead of four little girls, he had only two. He felt his inability to proceed further, and gave the meeting over into the hands of Bro. Herr to conduct as he saw fit, and catching an idea from the foregoing remarks, Bro. Herr referred to the fact that years ago, Christmas was very sad to him. That he was lying in a saloon in the city of Louisville without friends and without hope. Then in a jovial manner showed by comparison what a difference then and now.
He then said: "I am so glad that Jesus said: 'Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out; I am so glad that he is the same yesterday, to-day and forever. He said: 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. There is not a man behind prison bars that Jesus Christ cannot clean up and make him a man."
The audience sat up and took notice when he mentioned a man who had been a homeless wretch, and a degraded sinner, who had spent thirty-two years of his life behind prison bars, but had been converted in the Louisville jail and was now a man of God, the leader in a Rescue Mission in one of our largest cities, and had the financial support of eight of the wealthiest men in that city. He said that whenever a man goes blind, or deaf, or is afflicted in any other way, he is sent to a hospital for treatment, and that this prison is a sort of hospital, and that some of us are so blind that we cannot tell the difference between our own and other peoples' horses. This simile was put forth in such a humorous manner as to cause much laughter.