One Sunday night a young husband from Racine, Wisconsin, whose wife was in poor health, listened to our plain words and turned back from the sin he intended. He had never been warned and he was very thankful; he told me he was a Catholic and had never gone wrong. Another evening a very handsome young man, twenty-eight years old, listened to the words of warning and then came to me quietly and said: "I am a Christian and a church member and I have never gone wrong, but I was just about to go into one of these houses of shame, while waiting for a train which is late, when I saw your gospel meeting and have been kept back from sin by your message. Most men would be ashamed to tell you, but I tell you for your encouragement."
IF THIS WERE YOUR SON.
Among the hundreds of repentant men and youths who have knelt in the dust of Chicago's most infamous streets, in the open air meetings of The Midnight Mission, is one whom we will call Joe.
One Saturday night Joe came to our meeting and told us that he was a gambler, a pickpocket, a drunkard, a libertine and worse—enticing girls from their homes and placing them in houses of infamy. He asked us to pray for him, which of course we did. Joe disappeared for an hour or so, but returned at midnight to our meeting, and at half-past twelve knelt in the street, with another repentant young man, confessing his ruinous and shameful sin.
For four years since that night we have kept in touch with Joe. We were obliged to advise his father—living in another state, an elder in the Presbyterian church, who never suspected anything wrong in his son—to take more interest in Joe, and not to take less interest in the class of other men's sons that he was teaching in Sunday School. On his own motion Joe told his father the whole heart-breaking truth. Unspeakably humiliated, the father proved himself a father indeed, and did everything in his power to restore the young man to a right life, at great cost to himself.
Joe now has his own home and his own business. He is a respected citizen, instead of—God knows what—most likely a despicable white slave trader in Chicago or Detroit or New York. He is one of hundreds who have heeded our midnight protest against terrible sin, our midnight testimony for the Lamb of God, who takes away sin.
ANTAGONISM—PROTECTION—TRIUMPH.
At the beginning of our work the keepers of evil resorts were respectful and to a degree friendly. During the second summer, 1905, the meetings increased very greatly in power. Sometimes we continued preaching from ten o'clock at night till three in the morning. Workers reached their homes after daylight, with hearts almost bursting for gladness because many sinners had repented. As many as fifty workers were engaged in the same block at once, holding four simultaneous meetings. All were working voluntarily and without pay. I myself was earning my expenses with my pen.
Thousands of misguided men had their attention called to the cross of Christ and the holy life every week. The revenues of the resorts were seriously diminished. One manager, who had been misled in his boyhood and genuinely regretted the loathsome life he was leading, said to me, "If you Christian people keep coming, we've got to go." The Christian people kept coming. That man has since quit his awful business.
With our increasing spiritual power, keepers of saloons and resorts became alarmed for their revenues and began to offer resistance. They hired express men to drive into our meetings and organ grinders to disturb us with their noise. On one occasion a cab driver was paid to drive at high speed into our meeting, where deaconesses and many Christian women were assisting. Many times automobiles were stationed near us and made as noisy as possible in order to harass us. They wasted some nice fresh eggs on us, and a melon. As we were proceeding lawfully, under legal permits from the police department, we called upon the police for complete protection. While an American patrolman was on the beat we had no trouble, but a foreign-born officer showed us considerable disfavor. We had our own opinion of the source of his ill-will. Chief Collins was entirely just and friendly and took all necessary measures for our protection.