The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-04-15
THE HARMoNIrE COMMUNITY.
A Chat With an aged Economic"
George Rapp's Followers.

An aged Economic approaches us,
coming slowly down the shaded path
way. He is feeble, but his dark eyes
are very bright. His portly frame is
clad in his usual suit of blue, and he
wears the broad brimmed hat. There
are pigs in the field beside him; he
losses them an apple over the fence.
They quarrel for its possession. squeel-
ing in rage. He laughs till his fat sides
shake. He losses them more apples,
fairly exploding with mirth as he
watches them crowding and jostling
each other. So on he goes out of sight
entirely oblivious Of our presence. The
pigs follow him as far as the boundary
of the field will let them, drowning his
merriment with their sQuealing.
This man may be said to be typical
Economic. Innoc5nt, honest, simple
minded, with little knowledge OF the
great outside world and its complexities,
he is easily amused. I IecalI another
like him, the former keeper of the
orchard that incloses the old burying
take US. He was an elderly parsonage,
little, spare and strangely detormed but
of singularly interesting mind. He
was quite comical, and original without
knowing it. The childlike innocence OF
some of his remarks was delightful. 1
visited his little vine-covered watch
house very often.
Closing an eye, and regarding me
with great gravity, he once said:
Death is funny fellow"
why soT"
HE has been playing with nae these
ten years."
81 do not understand"
Look at me and see how bent am.
1t for me is very hard to walk. People
say | should long ago have died. But l
am here. Death takes younger people,
and laughs when he brings them here"
pointing to the orchard.
THAT is joke you can enjoy"
$50 do; smile back at him. What
Is there in death to make me afraid 2"
A few weeks later, I called to see the
little German at his post. His coy
watchhouse was there, covered with
luscious grapes that psrfumed all the
air. Ny friend was not there, but fol-
lowing the direction of a German
laborer, found him. A mound was
over him, upon which some tiny morn
ing glory vines had already taken root.
Death, the joker, had grown more earn
est. | could not but wonder if death
Was still joke to the honest and kindly
little German.
Opening white gate, August leads
the way into a spacious orchard,
through which runs q long, straight
roadway. On our right as we enter is
little vineyard, so trimmed and per-
fectly kept that one cannot but admire
it. Not weed mars the ground be-
tween the trellises. The odor of the
grapes is exquisite. On our left is q
peach orchard in full bearing, and the
truitage is worthy of Delaware or Mary
land. 4 little farther on begins pear
and apple orchard, which extends for
fully half mile.
Here" said August, psusing, "our
dead lie"
We look about Ua, non-plussed. Be-
fore Us is q square Enclosure in the
orchard. fenced with white Daiings
Pear and apple trees grow within; the
grass grown surface IS very smooth.
There are no monuments, heajstones,
ratings, flowers Or evergreens; the
place has the appearance OF a pasture.
Where are the graves, August" we
asked.
"Dere, in de ground"
"But you cannot tell one from an
other! !"
Ivy shoot We; viii God forget?"
Upon closer inspection, we find some
new-ma6e graves near the fence, with
the earth heaped over them in the usual
form, but with nothing to designate
them. They are arranged in long rows
extending entirely across the Enclosure,
and the last row is now begun. When
complete, it will, doubtless, see the end
of the Harmony Society. The old
graves are all level with the ground,
and many are entirely obliterated.
CuriousIy, and I trust typically, the
plant called "lite everlasting" grows
over them, and grass and fowerlrg
vines run riot, being only occasionally
disturbed by the scythe. No effort is
made to beautify the place; but ii is
most impressive spot.
Are many buried here. Augusta
"De Harmony Society is dere, is the |
sober answer.
Inst beyond che burying ground is q !
,ocslted In dian mound" "a relic of the |
lncient Mourd Builders. Over it grove |
few stately oaks and hickories, in the |
shade Of which benches have been ar
ranged In the form of circle. There
the workmen In the orchard eat their !
MONDAY meal. The mound has never
been explored, nor will the Harmon
ties permit the ancient tumuius to be
desecrated.
Near by is frame building, In which
pears and apples are sorted and bar
reled.-H. d. Mason, in American