Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-04-08
Russian 0uakers or Memo n
ties,


ties.
1t is beliesed that Congress will act
wisely and grant to Russian Quakers
OF Mennonites, the special land grants
prayed for An agent of these worthy
PEOPLE is now in this country, and was
in Philadelphia few days ago, where
he was inteI viewed By a reporter of
Forney's Press, who writes Of the in
teryiew as follows We learned some
interesting facts regarding this people,
who are so little known with US. 1t
seems when Catharne IL, of Russia,
found the immense prairies of South
ern Russia could be made fertile and
productive, She looked TO the farmers
Of Germany to DO it Hearing of the
prosecuted ard monarchy ridden Men
nouites, she offered them perpetual
freedom from bearing arms, the rights
of self government, in fact, everything
they wanted to catry oat their religious
ideas or principles, If they would take
her lands and farm them, which law,
now that they want to sell out, bears
very hard on them. They hope to
have it changed. Ever sincs Catha
rine's time they have heon migrating
from Germany into Russia until they
now have seven separate large colonies
and one hundred or more small ones.
They do not live in commuDes or IN
natural families, but each father owns
his own property, and by his own ex-
ertion supports generally large family
of children, but their quiet way of
living. their high standing of education
and their excellent German experience,
has made them very bold and success
sful farmers. Talking of 1900 acres
under cultivation in a farm, or % TO
$4,000 sheep, does not in any way
alarm them.
Numbers Of them have these, besiaes
silk-worms and the necessary mulberry
trees, as well as apricot orchards, hard
shelled almonds, English walnuts, wild
olives, and good grapes. The Black
Sea being SO near keeps them from
having such excessive cold or heat. In
laying out their ground they tried to
portion it fairly, and in enc case vii
lage of say fifty houses was formed by
cutting up plot iato long, narrow
farms, fifteen times as long as they were
wide, and crossing them by one road,
made enc row of houses the village,
while every farm had the benefit of part
of a Hill, meadow, and high land.
Mr.. Janzen, in an interview, seemed
very desirous that the false report
that they desired to settle in one
colony might be done away entirely.
They had no such intention. The
wheat-growers will 20 10 Dakota, the
sheep-growers to Indian Territory or
Texas; and SO, whilst they will keep
together enough to be able to support
good schools and churches, they will
and desire to disseminate into various
parts of our favored land. They have
been shipping ten million bushels Of
wheat per annum to Europe, and in the
London or Liverpool market their wheat
brings ten cents per bushel more than
almost any ether. 1t will be very
profitable to our country if We can, BY
taking in these fifty thousand people,
load five hundred more vessels for Eu
rope and add twenty millions of gold to
our tessures every year. Now, all they
desire cf the United States is that they,
the Mennouites, may send out commits
sioners who may select lands or por-
tIons of lands, aud giving the name of
the person who will homestead on them
or pre-empt them, then have the Secre-
tary of the Interior withhold those
lands for two years, SO that the person
agreeing to take them may have tine
enough TO sci! bis property at home and
make his long journey to his new eoun-
try. They will become citizens-will
adopt the couutry-a thing they could
not do in Russia, as the Bible is not
translated into that language, and if
they forgot German they would not be
able to read the Bible, and Of course
there will be no such trouble here
The Canadian government are doing all
they can to get these settlers to 60
there. But, having tried two king
dems, they are anxious to have the
rights that American citizens enjoy,
and say that we who have always lived
under our own rule have no idea of the
despotism of Europe.
Cremation or Burning OF the
Dead.
The question of burning the bodies
<f Al ,,oo,.Ia apJ prsServino tho he's