The Use and Need of the Life of Carrie A. Nation [111]
form. She
sent this to me, of course I was not to be caught with such chaff. I wrote
her so, telling her of the time when Mr. McKinley wished to deny the
fact, that he rented his property in Canton, Ohio, for saloon purposes, his
minister denied this, but the 'Chicago Voice' proved that he did. I suppose
Mr. Roosevelt got his minister to write what he dared not. I wrote
her that old birds were not easily fooled with chaff, also stating, that if
she would get a statement that Mr. Roosevelt was not a beer drinker, I
would give her another $50.00. Of course she could not do this, but the
Republican Press published all over the country that Miss Gaston got the
evidence and I paid the $50.00, but not one word of this was true.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SISTER LUCY WILHOITE'S VISION.--WRITES TO ME FOR CO-OPERATION IN MAKING
RAID ON MAHAN'S WHOLESALE LIQUOR HOUSE.--HESITATE ON ACCOUNT
PRESSING ENGAGEMENTS AHEAD.--ANSWER THE CALL.--RAID SET
FOR 29TH.--W. C. T. U. CONVENTION IN SESSION.--FOUR SISTERS AND MYSELF
START FROM M. E. CHURCH.--A CALL FOR THE POLICE BEFORE WE
COULD EFFECT AN ENTRANCE.--TAKEN TO JAIL IN HOODLUM WAGON.--
UNHEALTHY CONDITION OF CELL.--IN JAIL FROM FRIDAY TO MONDAY.--
GOOD OLD PENTECOSTAL TIME ON SUNDAY--COUNTY JAIL MONDAY--TRIAL
WEDNESDAY--JAIL SENTENCE AND FINES--APPEAL TO DISTRICT COURT.
In the Fall of 1904, I received a letter from Sister Lucy Wilhoite of
Wichita, telling me of a vision, which I will relate here in her own words:
"During a severe illness, last July, the Lord appeared unto me and
revealed many wonderful things concerning our work in which I have been
engaged for seven years. Temperance and Prohibition.
My life was despaired of by my friends and I knew I was very near
the borderland, and as I lay on my bed of suffering in the still hour of
midnight, God showed me the awful desolation which our thirty eight
saloons and five wholesale houses were making in the homes of Wichita
and surrounding country, The sight so overwhelmed me, I cried unto
the Lord and said, "Oh my God! Have I done all I could during this life
of mine to dam up this fearful tide? Then I said, show me Lord, what
this means. Immediately a great cloud of human souls came rolling down
a steep decline and as my eyes followed them, saw them rolling on and
on until they finally fell into a pit from whence fire and smoke were
ascending. Then my eyes were turned again up the ascent from whence
the souls were coming. When, Lo! I saw the National Capitol, with her
Senate and Congressmen. I saw the Legislative Halls, and our Educational
Institutions. I saw our churches with her educated ministry, and
her secret societies, our public libraries and reading rooms, our National
State and Local W. C. T U's, all of them right in the track of this awful
tide of human souls, yet they still rolled on and on until they reached the
pit. Then I cried again unto the Lord and said, "Oh, Why do you show
me these horrible things, when I am on the brink of the grave? And
still the picture or vision remained before me, growing more and more
vivid every moment until I struggled to my knees, and said, 'O God, if
I can do anything to dam up this fearful tide, just heal this body, and
let the healing be the seal that I can do something to help, and I shall
do it if it costs my life. Then a deep calm and soul rest settled over me
and I sank into a deep sleep, when I awoke I realized the pain was gone
and also the fever. I lay there, looking up to God and I said, "Now,
Lord, show me what you want me to do. Immediately, like a great scroll
reaching across the sky, these words appeared, written in letters of gold.
"Spill it out!" Then he showed me the very place I was to attack Mahan's
Wholesale Liquor House.
"For many weeks I pondered upon this vision and prayed about it
most earnestly, that I might not be mistaken and know of a truth that it
was God's will. I never found any soul rest until I wrote to Mrs. Nation,
and told her the time was ripe for God and that we must attack
Mahan's Wholesale Liquor
sent this to me, of course I was not to be caught with such chaff. I wrote
her so, telling her of the time when Mr. McKinley wished to deny the
fact, that he rented his property in Canton, Ohio, for saloon purposes, his
minister denied this, but the 'Chicago Voice' proved that he did. I suppose
Mr. Roosevelt got his minister to write what he dared not. I wrote
her that old birds were not easily fooled with chaff, also stating, that if
she would get a statement that Mr. Roosevelt was not a beer drinker, I
would give her another $50.00. Of course she could not do this, but the
Republican Press published all over the country that Miss Gaston got the
evidence and I paid the $50.00, but not one word of this was true.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SISTER LUCY WILHOITE'S VISION.--WRITES TO ME FOR CO-OPERATION IN MAKING
RAID ON MAHAN'S WHOLESALE LIQUOR HOUSE.--HESITATE ON ACCOUNT
PRESSING ENGAGEMENTS AHEAD.--ANSWER THE CALL.--RAID SET
FOR 29TH.--W. C. T. U. CONVENTION IN SESSION.--FOUR SISTERS AND MYSELF
START FROM M. E. CHURCH.--A CALL FOR THE POLICE BEFORE WE
COULD EFFECT AN ENTRANCE.--TAKEN TO JAIL IN HOODLUM WAGON.--
UNHEALTHY CONDITION OF CELL.--IN JAIL FROM FRIDAY TO MONDAY.--
GOOD OLD PENTECOSTAL TIME ON SUNDAY--COUNTY JAIL MONDAY--TRIAL
WEDNESDAY--JAIL SENTENCE AND FINES--APPEAL TO DISTRICT COURT.
In the Fall of 1904, I received a letter from Sister Lucy Wilhoite of
Wichita, telling me of a vision, which I will relate here in her own words:
"During a severe illness, last July, the Lord appeared unto me and
revealed many wonderful things concerning our work in which I have been
engaged for seven years. Temperance and Prohibition.
My life was despaired of by my friends and I knew I was very near
the borderland, and as I lay on my bed of suffering in the still hour of
midnight, God showed me the awful desolation which our thirty eight
saloons and five wholesale houses were making in the homes of Wichita
and surrounding country, The sight so overwhelmed me, I cried unto
the Lord and said, "Oh my God! Have I done all I could during this life
of mine to dam up this fearful tide? Then I said, show me Lord, what
this means. Immediately a great cloud of human souls came rolling down
a steep decline and as my eyes followed them, saw them rolling on and
on until they finally fell into a pit from whence fire and smoke were
ascending. Then my eyes were turned again up the ascent from whence
the souls were coming. When, Lo! I saw the National Capitol, with her
Senate and Congressmen. I saw the Legislative Halls, and our Educational
Institutions. I saw our churches with her educated ministry, and
her secret societies, our public libraries and reading rooms, our National
State and Local W. C. T U's, all of them right in the track of this awful
tide of human souls, yet they still rolled on and on until they reached the
pit. Then I cried again unto the Lord and said, "Oh, Why do you show
me these horrible things, when I am on the brink of the grave? And
still the picture or vision remained before me, growing more and more
vivid every moment until I struggled to my knees, and said, 'O God, if
I can do anything to dam up this fearful tide, just heal this body, and
let the healing be the seal that I can do something to help, and I shall
do it if it costs my life. Then a deep calm and soul rest settled over me
and I sank into a deep sleep, when I awoke I realized the pain was gone
and also the fever. I lay there, looking up to God and I said, "Now,
Lord, show me what you want me to do. Immediately, like a great scroll
reaching across the sky, these words appeared, written in letters of gold.
"Spill it out!" Then he showed me the very place I was to attack Mahan's
Wholesale Liquor House.
"For many weeks I pondered upon this vision and prayed about it
most earnestly, that I might not be mistaken and know of a truth that it
was God's will. I never found any soul rest until I wrote to Mrs. Nation,
and told her the time was ripe for God and that we must attack
Mahan's Wholesale Liquor