{"id":1343,"date":"2019-07-11T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T17:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/?p=1343"},"modified":"2019-12-12T19:13:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T19:13:09","slug":"test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/2019\/07\/11\/test\/","title":{"rendered":"The Billy Sunday Snowstorm"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-1343\" data-postid=\"1343\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-1343 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_87gc652 tb_first tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col-full tb_4qig652 first\">\n                    <div  class=\"module themify_builder_slider_wrap tf_clearfix module-slider tb_3aym170  slider-overlay  \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n    <h3 class=\"module-title\">Guest post by Barbara J. Taylor<\/h3>    <div class=\"themify_builder_slider tf_carousel tf_swiper-container tf_rel tf_overflow\" data-lazy=\"1\"        data-visible=\"1\"\n        data-tab-visible=\"\"\n        data-mob-visible=\"0\"\n        data-scroll=\"1\"\n                            data-auto=\"5000\"\n            data-controller=\"0\"\n            data-pause_hover=\"1\"\n                data-speed=\"normal\"\n        data-wrapvar=\"1\"\n        data-slider_nav=\"1\"\n        data-pager=\"1\"\n        data-effect=\"crossfade\" \n        data-height=\"variable\"\n        data-css_url=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/themes\/basic\/themify\/themify-builder\/css\/modules\/sliders\/carousel,https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/themes\/basic\/themify\/themify-builder\/css\/modules\/sliders\/slider\"\n                    >\n        <div class=\"tf_swiper-wrapper tf_lazy tf_rel tf_w tf_h tf_textc\">\n                         <div class=\"tf_swiper-slide\">            <div class=\"slide-inner-wrap\">\n                                    <div class=\"tf_rel tf_lazy slide-image\">\n                                                                            <img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width='360'%20height='200'%20viewBox=%270%200%20360%20200%27%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-tf-not-load=\"1\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(to right,#a9aaa5 25%,#a4a5a0 25% 50%,#afb0ab 50% 75%,#b6b7b1 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#a9aaa5 25%,#b5b5b3 25% 50%,#737572 50% 75%,#aaaaa8 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#524c4e 25%,#7c777d 25% 50%,#aaaba5 50% 75%,#b9bab5 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#abaca7 25%,#a5a6a1 25% 50%,#aaaba6 50% 75%,#bfc0bb 75%)\" decoding=\"async\" data-tf-src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-1-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" class=\"tf_svg_lazy wp-post-image wp-image-1357\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\"><noscript><img data-tf-not-load data-no-script src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-1-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-1357\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\"><\/noscript>                                            <\/div>\n                \n                            <\/div>\n        <\/div>                     <div class=\"tf_swiper-slide\" style=\"content-visibility:hidden\">            <div class=\"slide-inner-wrap\">\n                                    <div class=\"tf_rel tf_lazy slide-image\">\n                                                                            <img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width='360'%20height='200'%20viewBox=%270%200%20360%20200%27%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-tf-not-load=\"1\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(to right,#959792 25%,#6e646f 25% 50%,#625d61 50% 75%,#4e484a 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#413d3e 25%,#3c3835 25% 50%,#231f1e 50% 75%,#3a3633 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#3c3837 25%,#373334 25% 50%,#949091 50% 75%,#35312e 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#433d3f 25%,#332f2c 25% 50%,#635d61 50% 75%,#4c4845 75%)\" decoding=\"async\" data-tf-src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-2-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" class=\"tf_svg_lazy wp-post-image wp-image-1355\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\"><noscript><img data-tf-not-load data-no-script src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-2-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-1355\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\"><\/noscript>                                            <\/div>\n                \n                            <\/div>\n        <\/div>                     <div class=\"tf_swiper-slide\" style=\"content-visibility:hidden\">            <div class=\"slide-inner-wrap\">\n                                    <div class=\"tf_rel tf_lazy slide-image\">\n                                                                            <img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width='360'%20height='200'%20viewBox=%270%200%20360%20200%27%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-tf-not-load=\"1\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(to right,#9c9d97 25%,#9e9f9a 25% 50%,#918d8e 50% 75%,#9c9d98 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#898989 25%,#908f8d 25% 50%,#878586 50% 75%,#4c4a4b 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#625d61 25%,#282423 25% 50%,#211d1e 50% 75%,#2d2926 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#4e444c 25%,#3b3736 25% 50%,#878682 50% 75%,#9d9e99 75%)\" decoding=\"async\" data-tf-src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-3-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" class=\"tf_svg_lazy wp-post-image wp-image-1356\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\"><noscript><img data-tf-not-load data-no-script src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-3-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-1356\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\"><\/noscript>                                            <\/div>\n                \n                            <\/div>\n        <\/div>            <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_u5pk123   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p style=\"text-align: center;\">Little Billy Sunday\u2019s come to our town to stay\u00a0<br \/>An\u2019 drive the Devil out o\u2019 here, an\u2019 make him keep away.\u00a0<br \/><em>\u2014Charles B. Stevens<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 0px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\"><strong>The sign on Wyoming Avenue read, \u201cReverend William A. Sunday, the world\u2019s greatest evangelist,<\/strong> will begin his siege on Scranton, March 1, 1914. Will you join his army?\u201d Thousands of Christians from the Pennsylvania coal region eagerly awaited what promised to be the event of the year. Adherents admired Billy Sunday for his plain talk. \u201cYou don\u2019t thrash the devil with highfalutin words,\u201d he liked to say. They also appreciated his energetic style.\u00a0Prior to becoming an evangelist, Sunday had played baseball for the Chicago White Stockings, and he brought that athleticism to his preaching. He was often seen throwing off his jacket and hitting an out-of-the-park homerun with his imaginary bat and ball to punctuate some bit of homespun wisdom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Preparations for the revival started a year in advance. Per Sunday\u2019s instructions, churches organized prayer meetings, added extra choir rehearsals, increased Sunday school membership, trained congregants to \u201cwitness for Christ,\u201d and raised money to build one of Sunday\u2019s tabernacles.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Completed on February 26th, the temporary structure could hold an audience of 10,000, plus another 1500 in the rear of the pulpit for choirs and dignitaries. From outside, the building looked like an organized shantytown, with its rough-hewn wood and abundant entrances. Windows dotted the four exterior walls and poked through the top of a turtleback roof designed to carry Sunday\u2019s voice to every corner. Smoke curled from fifteen metal chimneys attached to the fifteen pot-bellied stoves installed to heat the main hall. Electric bulbs dangled from the rafters, lighting the seats and the sawdust-covered aisles below. Jury-rigged telephone lines and telegraph instruments surrounded the pulpit, guaranteeing quick reporting and extra editions of local newspapers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Other preparations included newly built restrooms, first-aid stations, and a nursery at the local YWCA. \u201cNo children in arms,\u201d according to Sunday who wanted to prevent distractions during the services. The evangelist also banned women\u2019s hats and coughing so he could be seen and heard clearly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">It seemed Sunday planned for every eventuality except one. The weather.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">March 1st began with clear skies, but as the day progressed a snowstorm moved in. The evangelist kicked off his seven-week campaign with three services that Sunday. When the evening sermon started, the streetcars were still operating thanks to plows attached to the fronts of the trolleys. While the snow accumulated outside, fourteen inches in all, Sunday continued preaching against such vices as drinking, gambling and tobacco use. Occasionally he\u2019d have to pause and wait out the noise of the forty-five-mile-an-hour wind\u2014\u201ca real rip snorter,\u201d as he called it\u2014before continuing with his message. At one point he prayed, \u201cGod, get out there and grab that blizzard by the snout.\u201d As always, Sunday ended the service by inviting those who wanted to be saved to come forward. He stood in front offering a \u201cglad handshake\u201d to anyone who \u201chit the sawdust trail\u201d toward redemption.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Once everyone had the opportunity to be saved, the reality of the storm set in. All modes of public transportation had ceased with 4000 worshipers inside the tabernacle. Snowdrifts, some ten feet high, blocked roads for miles. About 1500 people who lived nearby braved the harsh conditions and walked home, but the remaining 2500 would have to \u201ccamp in the house of God,\u201d Sunday explained. The telegraph lines were down, but as luck would have it, the direct phone lines to the Scranton Times and the Tribune Republican were still working. Sunday took up an extra collection that night, this time for food and coal. Reporters called their respective papers and arranged for patrolmen a couple miles away to deliver fifty pounds of coffee, 500 loaves of bread, and 1000 sandwiches in their wagons. Three coal company workers braved raging winds and mountainous snowdrifts to deliver fuel to the tabernacle.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">According to the papers, everyone who stayed passed the night without complaint. They boiled coffee on top of the stoves in the large, concave, collection plates, and had their fill of food. The next morning, when the winds had died down, volunteers showed up at the tabernacle in horse-drawn wagons and offered rides to the stranded. After calling the storm the worst he\u2019d ever experienced, Sunday cancelled Monday\u2019s services and declared a day of rest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Growing up, the story of \u201cThe Billy Sunday Snowstorm,\u201d as it came to be known, fascinated me. When people spoke of the event, they\u2019d insist that all 2500 inside the tabernacle had no choice but to be saved after spending the night with such a charismatic preacher. And everyone knew somebody who had been saved. Even people my parents\u2019 age, one generation removed from the event, claimed to have known at least one person who was stranded that night. My grandmother loved to tell how she was born during \u201cThe Billy Sunday Snowstorm\u201d while her father was \u201coff being saved.\u201d Scrantonians still speak about their connections to the evangelist with great pride.<br \/>When I started writing, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night, I knew I wanted to use the Billy Sunday story but I wasn\u2019t sure how. As it turned out, two pivotal scenes in my novel take place that evening, one at the revival and one in the snowstorm. The tabernacle may be long gone, but a century later, Billy Sunday is still causing a stir in Scranton.<\/p>\n<h3>References:<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Bruno, Guido. \u201cBilly Sunday, Who Makes Religion Pay.\u201d Pearson\u2019s Magazine. April 1917: 323\u2013332.\u2028The Scranton Times. Various articles on Billy Sunday\u2019s visit to Scranton. January\u2013March 1914.\u2028The Tribune-Republican. Various articles on Billy Sunday\u2019s visit to Scranton. January\u2013March 1914.<\/p>\n<h3>Author Bio:<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Barbara J. Taylor was born and raised in Scranton, PA, and teaches English in the Pocono Mountain School District. She has a master\u2019s degree in creative writing from Wilkes University, and English and Education degrees from the University of Scranton. She still resides in \u201cThe Electric City,\u201d two blocks away from where she grew up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Barbara Taylor\u2019s Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night, is being published by Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books, on July 1, 2014. ($15.95, trade pb, 320pp).\u00a0 Visit the author&#8217;s website at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barbarajtaylor.com\">barbarajtaylor.com<\/a>.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Little Billy Sunday\u2019s come to our town to stay\u00a0An\u2019 drive the Devil out o\u2019 here, an\u2019 make him keep away.\u00a0\u2014Charles B. Stevens The sign on Wyoming Avenue read, \u201cReverend William A. Sunday, the world\u2019s greatest evangelist, will begin his siege on Scranton, March 1, 1914. Will you join his army?\u201d Thousands of Christians from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","builder_content":"<h3>Guest post by Barbara J. Taylor<\/h3> <img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width='360'%20height='200'%20viewBox=%270%200%20360%20200%27%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-tf-not-load=\"1\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(to right,#a9aaa5 25%,#a4a5a0 25% 50%,#afb0ab 50% 75%,#b6b7b1 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#a9aaa5 25%,#b5b5b3 25% 50%,#737572 50% 75%,#aaaaa8 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#524c4e 25%,#7c777d 25% 50%,#aaaba5 50% 75%,#b9bab5 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#abaca7 25%,#a5a6a1 25% 50%,#aaaba6 50% 75%,#bfc0bb 75%)\" decoding=\"async\" data-tf-src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-1-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\"><noscript><img data-tf-not-load data-no-script src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-1-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-1\"><\/noscript> <img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width='360'%20height='200'%20viewBox=%270%200%20360%20200%27%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-tf-not-load=\"1\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(to right,#959792 25%,#6e646f 25% 50%,#625d61 50% 75%,#4e484a 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#413d3e 25%,#3c3835 25% 50%,#231f1e 50% 75%,#3a3633 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#3c3837 25%,#373334 25% 50%,#949091 50% 75%,#35312e 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#433d3f 25%,#332f2c 25% 50%,#635d61 50% 75%,#4c4845 75%)\" decoding=\"async\" data-tf-src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-2-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\"><noscript><img data-tf-not-load data-no-script src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-2-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-2\"><\/noscript> <img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width='360'%20height='200'%20viewBox=%270%200%20360%20200%27%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-tf-not-load=\"1\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(to right,#9c9d97 25%,#9e9f9a 25% 50%,#918d8e 50% 75%,#9c9d98 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#898989 25%,#908f8d 25% 50%,#878586 50% 75%,#4c4a4b 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#625d61 25%,#282423 25% 50%,#211d1e 50% 75%,#2d2926 75%),linear-gradient(to right,#4e444c 25%,#3b3736 25% 50%,#878682 50% 75%,#9d9e99 75%)\" decoding=\"async\" data-tf-src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-3-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\"><noscript><img data-tf-not-load data-no-script src=\"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Scranton_snowstorm-3-360x200.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"200\" title=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\" alt=\"Scranton_snowstorm-3\"><\/noscript>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Little Billy Sunday\u2019s come to our town to stay\u00a0<br \/>An\u2019 drive the Devil out o\u2019 here, an\u2019 make him keep away.\u00a0<br \/><em>\u2014Charles B. Stevens<\/em><\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 0px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\"><strong>The sign on Wyoming Avenue read, \u201cReverend William A. Sunday, the world\u2019s greatest evangelist,<\/strong> will begin his siege on Scranton, March 1, 1914. Will you join his army?\u201d Thousands of Christians from the Pennsylvania coal region eagerly awaited what promised to be the event of the year. Adherents admired Billy Sunday for his plain talk. \u201cYou don\u2019t thrash the devil with highfalutin words,\u201d he liked to say. They also appreciated his energetic style.\u00a0Prior to becoming an evangelist, Sunday had played baseball for the Chicago White Stockings, and he brought that athleticism to his preaching. He was often seen throwing off his jacket and hitting an out-of-the-park homerun with his imaginary bat and ball to punctuate some bit of homespun wisdom.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Preparations for the revival started a year in advance. Per Sunday\u2019s instructions, churches organized prayer meetings, added extra choir rehearsals, increased Sunday school membership, trained congregants to \u201cwitness for Christ,\u201d and raised money to build one of Sunday\u2019s tabernacles.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Completed on February 26th, the temporary structure could hold an audience of 10,000, plus another 1500 in the rear of the pulpit for choirs and dignitaries. From outside, the building looked like an organized shantytown, with its rough-hewn wood and abundant entrances. Windows dotted the four exterior walls and poked through the top of a turtleback roof designed to carry Sunday\u2019s voice to every corner. Smoke curled from fifteen metal chimneys attached to the fifteen pot-bellied stoves installed to heat the main hall. Electric bulbs dangled from the rafters, lighting the seats and the sawdust-covered aisles below. Jury-rigged telephone lines and telegraph instruments surrounded the pulpit, guaranteeing quick reporting and extra editions of local newspapers.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Other preparations included newly built restrooms, first-aid stations, and a nursery at the local YWCA. \u201cNo children in arms,\u201d according to Sunday who wanted to prevent distractions during the services. The evangelist also banned women\u2019s hats and coughing so he could be seen and heard clearly.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">It seemed Sunday planned for every eventuality except one. The weather.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">March 1st began with clear skies, but as the day progressed a snowstorm moved in. The evangelist kicked off his seven-week campaign with three services that Sunday. When the evening sermon started, the streetcars were still operating thanks to plows attached to the fronts of the trolleys. While the snow accumulated outside, fourteen inches in all, Sunday continued preaching against such vices as drinking, gambling and tobacco use. Occasionally he\u2019d have to pause and wait out the noise of the forty-five-mile-an-hour wind\u2014\u201ca real rip snorter,\u201d as he called it\u2014before continuing with his message. At one point he prayed, \u201cGod, get out there and grab that blizzard by the snout.\u201d As always, Sunday ended the service by inviting those who wanted to be saved to come forward. He stood in front offering a \u201cglad handshake\u201d to anyone who \u201chit the sawdust trail\u201d toward redemption.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Once everyone had the opportunity to be saved, the reality of the storm set in. All modes of public transportation had ceased with 4000 worshipers inside the tabernacle. Snowdrifts, some ten feet high, blocked roads for miles. About 1500 people who lived nearby braved the harsh conditions and walked home, but the remaining 2500 would have to \u201ccamp in the house of God,\u201d Sunday explained. The telegraph lines were down, but as luck would have it, the direct phone lines to the Scranton Times and the Tribune Republican were still working. Sunday took up an extra collection that night, this time for food and coal. Reporters called their respective papers and arranged for patrolmen a couple miles away to deliver fifty pounds of coffee, 500 loaves of bread, and 1000 sandwiches in their wagons. Three coal company workers braved raging winds and mountainous snowdrifts to deliver fuel to the tabernacle.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">According to the papers, everyone who stayed passed the night without complaint. They boiled coffee on top of the stoves in the large, concave, collection plates, and had their fill of food. The next morning, when the winds had died down, volunteers showed up at the tabernacle in horse-drawn wagons and offered rides to the stranded. After calling the storm the worst he\u2019d ever experienced, Sunday cancelled Monday\u2019s services and declared a day of rest.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-indent: 25px; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Growing up, the story of \u201cThe Billy Sunday Snowstorm,\u201d as it came to be known, fascinated me. When people spoke of the event, they\u2019d insist that all 2500 inside the tabernacle had no choice but to be saved after spending the night with such a charismatic preacher. And everyone knew somebody who had been saved. Even people my parents\u2019 age, one generation removed from the event, claimed to have known at least one person who was stranded that night. My grandmother loved to tell how she was born during \u201cThe Billy Sunday Snowstorm\u201d while her father was \u201coff being saved.\u201d Scrantonians still speak about their connections to the evangelist with great pride.<br \/>When I started writing, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night, I knew I wanted to use the Billy Sunday story but I wasn\u2019t sure how. As it turned out, two pivotal scenes in my novel take place that evening, one at the revival and one in the snowstorm. The tabernacle may be long gone, but a century later, Billy Sunday is still causing a stir in Scranton.<\/p> <h3>References:<\/h3> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Bruno, Guido. \u201cBilly Sunday, Who Makes Religion Pay.\u201d Pearson\u2019s Magazine. April 1917: 323\u2013332.\u2028The Scranton Times. Various articles on Billy Sunday\u2019s visit to Scranton. January\u2013March 1914.\u2028The Tribune-Republican. Various articles on Billy Sunday\u2019s visit to Scranton. January\u2013March 1914.<\/p> <h3>Author Bio:<\/h3> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Barbara J. Taylor was born and raised in Scranton, PA, and teaches English in the Pocono Mountain School District. She has a master\u2019s degree in creative writing from Wilkes University, and English and Education degrees from the University of Scranton. She still resides in \u201cThe Electric City,\u201d two blocks away from where she grew up.<\/p> <p style=\"font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; padding: 0;\">Barbara Taylor\u2019s Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night, is being published by Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books, on July 1, 2014. ($15.95, trade pb, 320pp).\u00a0 Visit the author's website at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barbarajtaylor.com\">barbarajtaylor.com<\/a>.<\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1343"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1369,"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343\/revisions\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billysundayevangelist.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}