Evangelists Halt Traffic in Square; Leader and 12 Followers Arrested

A full-fledged revival session, that drew a crowd of several hundred people into the Square on Saturday afternoon, caused the stoppage of all traffic for nearly a half-hour, and eventually resulted in the arrest of a 40-year-old evangelist, along with 12 of his disicples.

The Rev. James B. Pugh, pastor of the Church of the Light of Christ in Roxbury, began preaching about 3 p.m., on the side-walk in front of the Coop. As his audience grew and began to spill out into the street, the regular flow of automobiles and pedestrians became obstructed.

Patrolman Frank Foster, directing traffic at the corner of Boylston and Brattle Sts., four times warned the preacher and his band of followers to "move along"; but they consistently refused to do so. Finally, Foster put Pugh under arrest.

The hastily-summoned paddy-wagon did not, however, arrive on the scene for another ten minutes, and Rev. Pugh was able to continue his exhortations, with increased vigor, from the middle of the street.

Among those booked at the Cambridge police station for "disturbing the peace" was Albert Kavanaugh, formerly of the Class of '58, who dropped out of college this year.