SALVATION BUFFOONERY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1164, 20 June 1884, Page 4

SALVATION BUFFOONERY.

The Salvation Army in Adelaide appears to he taking leave ol iis senaea. A monster demonstration, ■winch was held recently in Hindin nsh, a suhnrh of Adelaide, was characterised hy disgraceful blasphemy and buffoonery. The procession was headed hv a brass hand, and about 30 ‘coryphees' dancing and playing tambourines. In front ot these rode “Captain” Gore, who joined■ the main body at the Gasworks Hotel, He was mounted on a donkey, in imitation tf Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, and ho wore ajsoarlet tunic and cap. At a signal from the crowd he. touched the ass with a whip with the intention of making it go; but the ass objected, and a large congregation of larrikins, who were in the immediate vicinity, began to yell and deride the wretched cieature. The ass persisted in its refusal to go, and about forty or fifty of the people who surrounded Gore attempted to push ,it. In the confusion which followed Goie was nearly thrown upon his head, and the animal, having become frantic, attempted to force a passage for itself through the crowd, and vainly endeavoured to jerk Gore oft. After further difficulty the animal’s obstinacy was overcome, and the profession proceeded a considerable distance to Broraptou Park. There the ass absolutely refused to go any further. A ring was made from among the hoodlum and rough element, ivhioh formed the majority of the procession, and Gore, singing a bloodthirsty hymn, attempted to ride into it. As the animal declined to go Gove dismounted, and the crowd lifted it up by main force and earned it into the ting. Gore remounted, and then began an acrobatic performance on its back, amid the chants and hallelujahs of the soldiers. As the ass refused to be a participator in this ludicrous proceeding, Gore, amid cries ot “Amen” and “ Praise the Lord,” seated himself with his back to the donkey’s head, and grasped madly at its tail, in order to keep his position. He got nearly half killed for his trouble. Gore varied the proceeding by sitting on the donkey sidewavs, and yvas again thrown. The •crowd by this time had reached over 1000 persons, and became quite hilarious at the ineffectual attempts of the Captain to main his seat. The unfortunate ass was now discarded, and the crowd moved off to a vacant piece of ground where another ring was proceedings which ensued were on a par with what had preceded, and at times were of a cli--■gnsting character. They consisted chiefly of what were termed “ Hallelujah gallops,” in tin shape of dancing and jumping to the strains ot a band and ihe (inkling of band ouvines, yvhile others, arrayed in imitation of niggers in a minstiel performance, danced a number of jigs to the strains of several concertinas. This yvas followed Jbv a “ Hallelujah merry-go-round,” of the lowest music hall type. A decrepit! drum and a thing described as a flag yvere placed in the centre of a ling, and the male and female soldiers danced louud it, throwing their arms and lets about in a manner which c lied forth expressions of disgust. ’J his disgraceful ovgio terminated yvith what was billed as a “ Praise the Lord corrobovee,” which consisted of ahidei us clashing together of a number of musical instruments and a dance, after the manner of a blackfellnw’s entertainment. Alter tins came the ordinaly collections and tea and public meetings, in the army's own Ism acks in Bowden. The Press protests in the strongest terms against this hoirible painful travesty of religion, the like of yvluch has never been seen in Ade laide, or, indeed, throughout the yvliob <>f AustraTa. Adelaide at the present time is overrun with, these religious maniacs