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House of David Again Prepares | for Prosperity jBenton Harbor, Mich—The I House of David, famed Benton ■ ,| Harbor cult, has launched an j I extensive program of improvements designed to catch thepennies and dollars of amusement-bound visitors to the Chi- i icago worlds fair, j The campaign is under direc-i tion of Judge Harry T. Dew- ! hirst, ex-attorney from Califor- I nia, who entered the colony of | j “King” Benjamin Purnell some ! j years ago, and upon the “king’s” | death in 1927 wrested control of the cult from his widow “Queen”f! Mary.Dewhirst already has plunged 'heavily in the baseball business. ! i and has three bearded teams on jI the road, each flying the flag of I the House of David. 'One, in the west, is under con- j i trol of Grover Cleveland Alex- lander, grizzled veteran of the big i«leagues. Chief Bender formerly |1 of the Philadelphia Athletics.jI and Ray Powell one-time Boston i ' Braves player, are in command j of the Eastern team. A third team operates in the central j j states. i! The House of David has erect- j ed a booth at the world’s fair.I where thousands of visitors daily ; isee bearded adherents of the | “Flying Roller” faith, together I with samples of their art and J handicraft the leaflets they use in spreading their gospel and the souvenirs they sell to the crowdsDewhirst has also started a (program of improvements to Ed- j ;en Springs an amusement park, which was opened 25 years ago by Purnell, who was then just struggling up from poverty. Hundreds of thousands of curious who came here every summer to see the famous cult’s,J stronghold, spend money at Ed-i j cn park, and Dewhirst is hoping ; he car. induce visitors to do it again.High Island, in northern Lake i,Michigan, which it is rumored was used as a place of exile for i recalcitrant members of “King i Ben’s” cult, is being prepared ( for colonization. Buildings and i docks will be renovated and ajsawmill removed five years ago.will be reinstalled.Meanwhile. “Queen” Mary, thougli shorn of her power, is not idle. A few hundred feet fromDewhirst’s colony, she is establishing a place of refuge for the 144,000 persons, who according I to her faith, will be the only hu-j man beings to survive the impending devastating fires foretold in the Book of Revelations.1 A few hundred aged and faith-j ful followers aid her in her task.
Newspaper Details
The Crescent-News
Defiance, Ohio, US
Sat, Jul 01, 1933
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 17 Apr 2023
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