They said it was the greatest battle ever fought in the Mississippi Valley of religion against science, and the works of man, and the powers of darkness. The whole city was shaken. Missions started in many places. The different churches began to have street meetings, and to visit the prisons, and hospitals, as they had never done before.
The people told us we would never stay the three months; that we would lose that money; but, praise God, we stayed the three months, and then engaged the ground for two months more.
The man who owned the ground was a Catholic. He was so pleased with the change in the neighborhood for good he said he would let us have the ground free of charge. The interest of this five months’ camp-meeting in “Kerry Patch” was widespread. It reached from the Atlantic to the Pacific and across the ocean. I received letters from a minister in Scotland whom I had never met, enquiring about the wonderful work of God he had heard about. He sent.a letter for publication in favor of the meeting. I received letters from prominent ministers in Canada; from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; from Indiana, and all parts of the country, inquiring about the great work God was doing in St. Louis. People came two thousand miles to be saved, or to have their bodies healed. Some of the physicians said they knew there had been six hundred persons healed. They said many of these had been given up by the best physicians of St. Louis. It was true, that thousands were saved, and hundreds healed instantly and saved at the same time.
While holding this meeting a boy was brought to us, who had been caught and thrown into a dog wagon by the dog-catchers; and frightened nearly to death. He went mad, and would have awful mad spells, or fits, every night or day; sometimes: oftener, for a period of two years past. All that medical skill could do, had been done, but to no avail. It was a peculiar case; the mother told: me that doctors from Germany had tried to cure him, but had all failed, and that all hopes of ever doing so were given up. At times he was all right. He heard about the meetings, and begged his mother to take him.
She brought him one Sunday. She had him in the great crowd near the outer edge of the camp, when he took one of his mad spells, and he was snapping and biting at everyone. The people were panic stricken, so they gathered him up as quickly
