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Line 13: − − William T. Ellis wrote in 1914,<ref>Ellis, William T, ''Billy Sunday: The Man and His Message with His Own Words Which Have Won Thousands for Christ," John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1914</ref> "Out in the Puget Sound country, where the sawdust aisles and the rough tabernacle made an especial appeal to the woodsmen, the phrase 'hitting the sawdust trail' came into use in Mr. Sunday's meetings." Ellis calls it a "luminous" substitute for "the older stereotyped phrases: 'going forward,' 'seeking the altar.'" and contrasts Sunday's approach with "the more conventional method, used by older evangelists, [of asking for] a show of hands." Line 23:
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Sunday was unabashedly uneducated and spoke in the plain speech of ordinary people, a marked contrast to the dignified style of other ministers. This was unusual, even shocking at the time. Schools trained students in elocution and rhetoric. Ministers and public speakers were expected to use formal, educated English. A 1920 book for English teachers bracketed Sunday with a humorist famous for introducing slang into written English:
Sunday was unabashedly uneducated and spoke in the plain speech of ordinary people, a marked contrast to the dignified style of other ministers. This was unusual, even shocking at the time. Schools trained students in elocution and rhetoric. Ministers and public speakers were expected to use formal, educated English. A 1920 book for English teachers bracketed Sunday with a humorist famous for introducing slang into written English:
:...it would be interesting to study idioms and even slang. The latter may not be deemed wise by purists in English courses but all of us enjoy baseball slang, and [[George Ade]] and his rival in slang, Billy Sunday, are popular because they use these picturesque shortcuts that in many instances are destined to become the main paths of verbal expression.<ref>Hall-Quest, Albert Law (1920) ''The Textbook: How to Use and Judge it'', Macmillan, [http://books.google.com/books?id=a3bfVRnNovwC&pg=PA159&dq=%22billy+sunday%22+%22george+ade%22 p. 22]</ref>
:...it would be interesting to study idioms and even slang. The latter may not be deemed wise by purists in English courses but all of us enjoy baseball slang, and [[George Ade]] and his rival in slang, Billy Sunday, are popular because they use these picturesque shortcuts that in many instances are destined to become the main paths of verbal expression.<ref>Hall-Quest, Albert Law (1920) ''The Textbook: How to Use and Judge it'', Macmillan, [http://books.google.com/books?id=a3bfVRnNovwC&pg=PA159&dq=%22billy+sunday%22+%22george+ade%22 p. 22]</ref>
A 1907 profile tells of him retelling New Testament stories in his own style:
A 1907 profile tells of him retelling New Testament stories in his own style:
He gave his speech vigorous physical accompaniment:
He gave his speech vigorous physical accompaniment:
:He begins to dance like a shadow-boxer. He slaps his hands together with a report like a broken electricl lamp. He poses on one foot like a fast ball pitcher winding up. He jumps upon a chair. In the stress of his routine he may stand with one foot in the chair and another on the lectern. All the while he is flaying the "whisky kings," the German war lords, slackers, suffragettes, or the local ministry. And, if his story of the sinner come home to salvation fits the gesture, he may emphasize the moral by throwing himself on the floor with an outstretched arm groping for the home plate like a baserunner sliding safely in with a stolen run.<ref name=nytobit/>
:He begins to dance like a shadow-boxer. He slaps his hands together with a report like a broken electricl lamp. He poses on one foot like a fast ball pitcher winding up. He jumps upon a chair. In the stress of his routine he may stand with one foot in the chair and another on the lectern. All the while he is flaying the "whisky kings," the German war lords, slackers, suffragettes, or the local ministry. And, if his story of the sinner come home to salvation fits the gesture, he may emphasize the moral by throwing himself on the floor with an outstretched arm groping for the home plate like a baserunner sliding safely in with a stolen run.<ref name=nytobit/>
==The "Sawdust Trail"==
Sunday is associated with the phrase "to hit the sawdust trail." After starting in tents, he conducted his meetings in roughly-built wooden "tabernacles." Sawdust covered the ground in lieu of a floor. At the peroration of his meetings, he would call on people to come up the aisles and declare their commitment to Christ.
William T. Ellis wrote in 1914,<ref>Ellis, William T, ''Billy Sunday: The Man and His Message with His Own Words Which Have Won Thousands for Christ," John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1914</ref> "Out in the Puget Sound country, where the sawdust aisles and the rough tabernacle made an especial appeal to the woodsmen, the phrase 'hitting the sawdust trail' came into use in Mr. Sunday's meetings." Ellis calls it a "luminous" substitute for "the older stereotyped phrases: 'going forward,' 'seeking the altar.'" and contrasts Sunday's approach with "the more conventional method, used by older evangelists, [of asking for] a show of hands."
==Beliefs==
==Beliefs==