I had trouble posting this yesterday so here it goes again. If you have the 1975 yearbook it is chocked full of information which truly makes the FDS look like a bunch of very uninspired men. Grasping at any thing to signify gods favour in them.
If you have the time read that yearbook it's enlightening.
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yb75 pp. 111-112 United States of America (Part Two) ***By mid-1918 J. F. Rutherford and his seven associates found themselves in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia. A letter written by A. H. Macmillan on August 30, 1918, enables us to look behind those prison walls. A copy submitted by Melvin P. Sargent reads, in part:
"No doubt you would like a word as to our condition in prison. I will briefly tell you a few things about life there. Brother Woodworth and I ?cell together.? Our cell is very clean, well aired and lighted. It is about 10 x 6 x 7 feet, has two berths with straw ticks, two sheets, blankets and pillows, two chairs, a table and plenty of clean towels and soap. We also have a cabinet in which to keep our toilet articles. . . .
"All the brethren work together in the tailor shop. This room is a well-aired, well-lighted room 60 x 40 [feet]. Brother Woodworth and I make buttonholes and sew buttons on shirts and prison suits. Brothers Van Amburgh, Robison, Fisher, Martin and Rutherford make, or rather help make, prison coats and pants. About one hundred men in all work in this department. From the place I work, I can see all the brethren, and I assure you it is interesting to see Brother Van Amburgh at a sewing machine, sewing seams that join the eastern and western portions of a pair of trousers together. . . . Brother Rutherford almost gave up hope of ever learning how to put a coat together. I don?t think he has finished one yet, although he has been at work about three weeks. When I look at him he seems to be busy, but I really think he spends most of his time trying to thread a needle. [A guard dealt so unreasonably with him that some other prisoners took the jacket and completed it. Eventually, Brother Rutherford was transferred to a place where he was more ?at home??the library.] . . .
"The first thing we do after reaching our cells after supper is to read the afternoon papers. Then for an hour, six to seven, everyone who wishes to may play on any musical instrument he may have. What a variety! I think that they play at every kind that is made except the Jew?s harp, and I am thinking of getting me one of those, as that is the only thing that I can play except the ten-stringed harp. During this, that Brother Woodworth calls ?Dante?s Inferno,? we play dominoes. After this we read the Dawns or Bible until bedtime, at 10:00 p.m., when the lights go out. The next day we do the same thing, and so on until Saturday. On Saturday afternoon all the inmates go out into the yard. There is a baseball game which is well played, in which the men take a deep interest. I usually spend the afternoon playing tennis. The other brethren walk around talking. The different classes of men gather in little groups?anarchists, socialists, counterfeiters, ?moonshiners,? pro-Germans, bank cashiers, lawyers, druggists, doctors, train robbers, burglars, ministers (of whom there are a goodly number), etc., etc., etc. The prison band plays several selections during the afternoon."
The eight incarcerated Bible Students had opportunities to preach the good news of God?s kingdom to other inmates. All prisoners were required to attend chapel service on Sunday morning and those so desiring could remain for Sunday school thereafter. The eight brothers formed a class for study and fellowship. In time other inmates joined them and the brothers took turns teaching the class. Some of the officers even drew near to listen. Interest increased until ninety persons were in attendance.
The Spanish influenza then was raging and this brought the Sunday-school classes to an end. However, just before the eight Bible Students were released from the Atlanta penitentiary, all the groups they had instructed were united and J. F. Rutherford spoke to those assembled for about forty-five minutes. Some officers were present, and many of the inmates shed tears of joy over the hope of liberty to come for mankind under Kingdom rule. When freed, the Bible Students left in prison a small group that remained faithful.