Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-02-03

TIE CHURCH OF THE ECoNOMITEs.
u Rapp moved with him to Indiana,
where another Harmony was founded.
Disease attacke q the new ,illage and
reduced the number Of its inhabitants
so greatly that the remaining ones fled
back to PENNSYLVANIA. In 1925 they
bought $500 acres of land in a most
beautiful valley near Pittsburg. Here
they settled and here those of them who
are still alive, live to day. The mis-
fortunes that befell them IN the two
Harmony settlements caused them to
change the name. J. hey called their
new home Economy and themselves
Economics. The members who de.
serted the Harmonites either died out
or became as other citizens of the
globe. any of their descendants are
well known people in around l.
legbeny City
About one thousand members first
settled in Economy, but a. their num-
Der was never increased by birth or by
adoption, and as dca h occasionally
invaded there homes, there remain at
the present time not more than eight.
cen members, the youngest of whom is
sixty two years old When they first
took vows of eel bacy they believed
that the world was nearing l. end, and
so they Ii ed simple lives, preparing for
the mysterious hereafter. George
Rapp Just before he died. told the
Others the world would surely end
before the last member died. They
bel eve il
On entering the village one sees plain
houses. wide, wcll-kept streets, lined
on either SIDE with large shade trees
and Ch ckens nothing else. 1t is
most unusual sight TO see any people
on the streets ! he thr fly appearance
alone prevents a sitor from thinking
it deserted village or imagining that
the inhabitants were Il ating the
princes arrival to awake them from a
century long sleep. The houses are all
alike. They are all built with the gable
end towards the street and cannot be
entered except through the yards.
There are no front stOops 10 fall over
in Economy rape vines are trained
10 cover the street SIDE of all he houses
but they are pruned so as not TO inter-
fere with the ii ght of the windows.
The men are housekeepers. and so
are the wo en-. They never mingle.
not even III NOTk. he uTcSS OF one Is
the dress of all. Everything is on an
equality ] he men wear hlue broad
cloth long-ta led coats, wide trousers
and broad brmmed black hats On
holidays the bro. dcloth is e changed
for blue silk attire. The women wear
straight, full skirts, gathered on a
plain waist of blue flannel, giDgham or
six. Their heads, indoor and out, are
Aways picturesquely attired in bright
blue silken Normandy caps.
The oldest citizen OF this part of
Pennsylvania still remember and speaks
of the wonderful broadclOth, ilannels,
blankets, + onomy whisky and wine
they Obtained from the Economics.
The factories are all silent and deserted
now. and the meml ers have long since
grown too feeble for hard labor. IL
was in Economy that silk culture and
manufacture on large scale were frs
tegun in the Uii ed States.
Everything in economy Is run by rule
and regulation much as at boarding
school. At 5 o'clock in the morning
the bell on the one church rings and
every one in the village rises. At
o'clock eve y dweller sits down to
breakfast and what is ten in one house
is eaten in all. There il day for
milk soup" and one for "wine soup