Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-11-21
A BUNKER LOvE.FeAST.
A Strange Ceremony That Took Place No
Far from Ephrata, Pa.

Far from Ephrata, Pa.
About one mile northeast of the little
town of Ephrata. where the lane from
Fahnestock's mill crosses the old Read
ing Road. stands the new bunker
Meeting House. The old bunker set
Element, around which to-day cluster
SO many memories of the revolutionary
epoch of our Nations history, is some
distance away. The people of the town
( like to tell you about the latter place
they call it the cloister here-speak of
it with the greatest veneratiOn and will
take You a few steps out of the way to
show you a picture of the Saal, the
brothers house or the monastery. Way.
way back. when the infant United
States was laying uneasily in the cradle,
imbibing the nourishing milk of pa
triotic ENTHUSIASM, the Dunkers had
erected their buildings for religious
worship here.
! To the everyday religionist they seem
| like a peculiar people, with their broad
/ brimmed black hats, odd cut of coats
and with hair long and parted in the
middle.
Dunkor or Tunkar comes from Cs,-
man tunker which means to din II ia
e., nav, of ,bo;r r;tuaI which hos o;v.n
tbam ,ba name of the German Ran.
! lists.
There was time when the Bunker
Church was small and had but one
Bishop in this section. but the church
at Ephrata was set off from the main
80 "oIi.d IN 1884 II bsd then
H., no ,,,as III. r.s;d.pt n;n;ster
y, ,bat tim. hn, has cone 70 his iono
o., De- San,roi UsrIay Soon aftaI
-. ahI;sbmant of tbe church was
.hoson p;.han and s,;,i nrss;Jas The
ohu,oh hoI ,,an,b.rsb;n to.Jav of oyer
,brna bnn5rad and tf,r nsrb.ns over
So hnndrad
A, ,nnnn Ias, Tbursd.r Drntsrs from
.varv near Sac,ion nnt on their newest
haarars and ,ba;r w;yas and daughters
-. aon, of sn,Uy ub;tapass .nd
rnIIad nrar tba duStv b;cbw.vs To the
,,,n,Lar ,,aot;nor b,rS. t6a ncw Dunt.
ar moa,;nr, ,bonse an. mile from Enhra.
- IN ,,aI lora' 60, wos 10 t,ka
J nlana. III aftprpnpn fhA nraac her
borte5 and tbs n.onIa nr.vad and sang
and when even;pg came and tbos. who
iiyed far away lad nsrtaken of the
Mons avar;ng meal in the basement Of
,he cbnrcb neonle began to f,ock into
,be rnnmr eJi,ice and crowded il IN
nyoraowinc
Tho mnn1;pg- -bopsa ;s the laroest one
in The countv and is ono story bigb
hu, upd.r itc entire length there i a
roomv b,samept DIVIDED into several
roomS Enter at the main door and at
tho other end i the nlatform Alono
,;,bar s;Ja are at last ten Iono bencbes'
Zach ono beinc a foot biobeT than the
other ar one in front and Tunnino from
two feet above the lower floor up to
twelye feet They remind one of par
ouet circles and the lower floor the
Init ~ On the inclined seats the i'm
mense crowd of worldly people sat and
watcbed the EXERCISES
In the center are two rows of benches
Of At least twenty feet in length. They
have bipb backs and ON the usual meet
mo daTs are used as such. TODAY
avery fourth one was turned around
and ON the backs Of these /. wide board
was placed and that made a first-rate
table. and so Il was all over the church.
At e:3, o'clock Ministers Ensminger,
of Annville: Zook. George and Christ
Bucher, of Lebanon; Keller, Myers,
Newcomer, of White Oak, and others
arose in the audience and soon the ser
vice began with exhortations and sing
inc. The four hundred Dunkers took
an active interest in the services. On
the one side were seated the men, on
the opnosite side the women. and in
comparison they were as five is to three
in the latter's favor. Then there was a
lull in the services and the little tubs
were brought out and the feet-washing
began. This occupied at most an hour,
- L-al