Thus, for the convention’s public address, 79,256 squeezed into Yankee Stadium, New York; 60,158 overflowed Houston’s Astrodome; 52,349 crowded into Detroit’s Tiger Stadium; 52,390 jammed the Oakland-Alameda Stadium; 49,684 packed Atlanta Stadium; 50,879 filled Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium; 47,339 thronged White Sox Park, Chicago; 38,225 met in Royals Stadium, Kansas City; 44,564 listened at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium; 28,007 gathered in Jarry Park, home of the Montreal Expos; and two conventions during two different weeks at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, had final-day totals of 43,720 and 54,381 attending!

[Pictures on page 14, 15]

The “Divine Victory” International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in just three months, convened in 39 cities, filling the largest facilities available with a total of 1,433,078 persons

23,955 in Copenhagen

50,879 in Philadelphia

78,792 in Munich

38,225 in Kansas City

53,199 in Brussels

52,390 in Oakland

This remarkable difference in Jehovah’s witnesses was noted time and again at all the conventions. In Rome, Italy, for example, the newspaper Paese Sera of August 9 wrote:

“Yes, there is no doubt about it, they are meek. And not only that, but also they are kind, well mannered, full of concern for one another. . . . Not one piece of paper or watermelon peel can be seen on the ground, nothing. And yet they have eaten at least 30,000 sandwiches.

“Even in the air there is something strange, but at first one is unable to say what it is. There is a different odor from that which is normally present during a soccer game in the Flaminio Stadium. There are about 50,000 persons present, but not one of them smokes. . . .

Columnist André Rufiange also wrote regarding this convention, and, at the same time, took note of the unjust persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses in Quebec years ago:

“Not even a single thing went wrong nor was there any unpleasant occurrence. In order to control crowds of 20,000 people, one policeman would have been enough and even he would have been bored stiff. . . .

In Osaka, Japan, where over 31,000 were in attendance, the Asahi Shimbun of July 29 commented: “This assembly is the largest crowd that the former exhibition ground has had since Expo ’70.

The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung of July 28-29 reported:

“Since Wednesday nearly 60,000 people have assembled [in Düsseldorf]​—it is the largest convention that has ever been held in Düsseldorf, the city of Fairs.

Columnist Larry McMullen wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News of July 20:

“I can witness to this. In a crowd of 40,000 I did not see one cigarette lit or an empty bottle of booze under a seat.