RELIGION GONE MAD. Disgraceful Salvationist Demonstration at Adelaide. An Asinine Exhibition-" Hallelujah Gallops."

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 54, 14 June 1884, Page 6

RELIGION GONE MAD. Disgraceful Salvationist Demonstration at Adelaide. An Asinine Exhibition-" Hallelujah Gallops."

The Salvation Army at Adelaide appears to be taking leave of its senses. A monster demonstration which was held tho other day in Hindmarsh, a suburb of Adelaido, was characterised by disgraceful blasphemy and buffoonery, The procession was headed by a brass band, and about thirty coryphees dancing and playing tambourines. In front of these rode " Captain ' Gore, who joined the main body at tho Gasworks Hotel. He was mounted on a donkoy, in imitation of Christ's en try into Jerusalem, and he wore a scarlet 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 wore in the immediate vicinity, began to yell and deride the wretched creature. 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, Gore 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 off. After further difficulty the animal's obstinacy was overcome, and the procession proceeded a considerable distance to Brompton Park. There the ass absolutely refused to go any further. A ring was made from among the hoodlum and rough element, which formed the majority of the procession, and Gore, singing a bloodthirsty hymn, attempted to ride into it. As the animal declined to go, Gore dismounted, and the crowd lifted it up by main force and carried it into the ring. 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 of " 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. Ho got nearly half killed for his trouble. Gore varied the pro ceedings by sitting on the donkey sideways, and was again thrown. The crowd by this time had reached over 1,000 person?, and became quite hilarious at the ineffectual attempts at the captain to letain his seat. The unfortunate ass was now discarded, and the crowd moved off to a vacant piece of ground, where another ring was formed. The proceedings which ensued were on a par with what had preceded, and at times were of a disgusting character. They consisted chiefly of what were termed "Hallelujah gallops," in the shape of jumping and dancing to the strains of a band and the tinkling of tambourines, while others, arrayed in imitation of niggers in a minstrel performance, danced a number of jigs to the strains of several concertinas. This" was followed by a " Hallelujah merry-go-round," of the lowest music hall type. A decrepid drum and a thing described as a flag were placed in the centre of a ring, and the male and female soldiers danced round it, throwing their arms and legs about in a manner which called forth expressions of disgust. This disgraceful orgie terminated with what billed as a " Praise the Lord corroboroc," which consisted of the hideous clashing together of a number of musical instruments and a dance, after the manner of a black fellows' entertainment. After this came the ordinary collections and tea and public meetings, in the Army's own barracks in Bowden. The press this morning protest in the strongest terms against this horrible, painful travesty of religion, the like of which has never been seen in Adelaide, or, indeed, throughout the whole of Australia. Adelaido at the present time is overrun with these religious maniacs.