The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-05-13
LIFE AT A LAUNDRY.
WITH A BRAND NEW NlNeTEeNrl
CENTURY PROPHET.
curious Religious Sect Discovered IN ~,
caso' with self-Acting Divorce Cour.
at Its Head-Facts About
the Community.

| NSn--S4.' may 10. -Aanund Reinertsen. 8
norwegian, who is the ostensible nronr;ato,
=. pace known as the Beehive Laundry =,
go 90 "ese indiana street, was plaead pnaa,
T,oV pohds TO keep the peace bv Jnstice
80 o4iliin monday. The prosecuting wit
n nosS was another Norwegian. named Haral
otiahsoh' whose story was such as to eriva . !
iasi. idea OF a remarkable state Of affair,
p o. at the aforementioned Ia ma 90
ZIG stated That Reinertsen was the leaaar ~
peculiar religious sect, and that ali Cow
verts OF his peculiar faith were indncad r.
ilye with him in his ahundry. that II VS. y
pare Oh his religion to separate men from
.neir waves, and when Stians obiected TO
'nis reinertsen threatened To ush his head
with huge Bible. '''''
ises' Neis {, Brun, Lutheran miuister
saio 70 reporter who asked him if he knaw
aii ~ about Reinertsen's pretensions.
rom what have learned he imaoinas
niIlselt representative of Jesus (16riet
an anu ene only one on earth. He Gains 10 he
p Que anger spoken of in the tenth CHAPTER of
lev iseselaoioh as standing with one foot ON the
etefhal God that there shall no lnosr 10
.llle. lie Is the one in whom all biblical
.lueus center. He is the pronbat man.
! tiohed by Moses in the nasTaoa.
"A prophet like unto me shall G,a
ifora raise unto you; Him shall We hea, !,
nc actually makes this claim aud many
otners equally absurd. Besides the sinner
na'uiai power which he is supposed to Dos
sesS' Ne takes upon himself tho RIGHT tn dix.
solve marriage, and the married reonla
VINO suecumb to his influence are comnallad
70 hVe apart from each other. Tbat is
there are "a couple of small rooms in the for.
wafd part of the basement where fine
women pass the nights, and other rooms in
ehe rear where the men are kept There are
tnree families and one unmarried youne
woman VINO have been living in that way
Tor more than a year" ~
now long has this thing been going ongo
AS nearly as can ascertain, for nearly
two years ="
hat Is the mans object in separating
husbands and wives.n
lie holds that marriages as thev ara mar.
iorIhed IN this age are not according to Gad,s
WI, anu are therefore null and void. When
.ney are separated for certain period. he
tolls them that he will marry them nv tba
direction of the Lord himself, Perbai1s hv
IhiS operation 81 woman will be Joined to
some other man than her former husband |
ana vice versa, but it will be with rho
sanction OF God, and they must therefore be |
content Among those who have been dunad |
oy thls man are Mr.. Stianson and his family |
otiaiisoh, l believe, Is n baker By trsae |
D"t over year ago he and his family came |
10 look upon Reiaert-en as a proohet from |
heaven ana went to hive with HIM in his
hasement as he commanded them. They |
nave lIvet taere since with their children,
nut seiaFatei in the manner | hava nen
ITO TED Last Sunday week the vvouij- Ia
p'ophe6 began to talk to Stanson about a
message he had had from Heaven directing
nIh 10 Unite certain OF his flock in marriage
E4f~r / 81.
he was to give Mrs. Stainson to another man |
10 this STAIN on Genturred when Reiparisan |
i1e~ into rage, and, lifting a large Nor |
WeEEfn bible IN Il threatening way told tina
racalcifrant that he would crush his head if
he objected. Stanson then left tine place. but
c'uid not persuade his wife and two children |
10 go with hln. The next evening he re-
turned to the laundry and TOOK the children
by force, aided by the police. but still the
wife remained. Ga Tuesday night Stianson
called at my house and told me all abont his
TT oubieS. | went with him to ISL West In. |
tlaua, and did my best to persuade the mis-
guided woman to go with her husband. hut
'ne was lmmoyab!e as the rocks. She thought
she would be lost if she left the abode of fine
prophet ami was lntioxible in her determin-
atlon to stay. The next night the police were
again called upon for assistance. and Mrs..
Stan on was taken from the place by force
she was taken to the house of a friend Mt
No POS Hubbard street, where she is now
)ut 1t 1t Is necessary to watch her confirm |
'nsy or she will escape and return to her
'hosen dwelling place. Nothing can be ,
,roven against Reinertson that is criminal
hat is left to the Imagination. When / {
harged him with seducng Stianson's wife |
he only Response he made was: 'You can't =,
rove it They divide the profits of the
aundry. or spend only such money as is |
ecesSary claiming to give the rest to the
ord {
A reporter visited the Beehive Iaundrv f
t late hour, and the door was opened t3 {
i'm 10y Reinertsen himself. He is q msdiutn-
We | man, about 40 years of age. with A
unch Of reddish beard on his chin. a shocl-
hair overshadowin- a low, ratreatinp \
1rrhead. lie eyed the reporter suspicion w, !
nj denied all the allegation in regard to his
'PaFatlon of men ami their wives. To tle
|t7nishlnent Of the reporter thu propbst
'tradnced 10 him Mr.. Stianson and hi.
I q. both % whom had returned and begged a
, be taken lack. S5ianson said that tho Z
evil had taken GoLi of him and lie was c
Try He wa contentei to live thereafter Y
It'll the prophet. il