The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-06-20
THE ZOARITES.
ONE OF THE MOST SINGULAR
SECTS IN AMERICA.
A Community in Ohio in Which All
Property is Held in Common
Their Live Stock-A Pro-
cession Of Milkmaids.

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Property is Held in Common
Their Live Stock-A Pro-
cession of Milkmaids.
A letter from Zoar, Ohio, to the Wor'
cester (Mass.) Spy, says: This settlement
of German mystics and communists,
holding all property absolutely in com,
mon, is a complete little kingdom in it.
self. The Zoarites own 1000 acres of land
in one tract, of which half is under cul-
tivation, while the remainder is heavily
timbered with valuable walnut, oak and
pine trees. Their original purchase here
was 10000 acres, but 5000 have been
sold from time to time at great advance
over first cost. Every article, implement
or machine that is used, wrought with,
eaten, drunk or worn by the Zoarites, is
produced in Zoar, as are also the materl-
ais of which it is composed. The only
exceptions to this rule are coffee, tea,
sugar and spices. The shoes the Zoarites
wear are made by their own shoemaker
from leather prepared by their own tan
ners from hides taken from their own
cattle. The coal that warns them and
cooks their food is dug in their own
mines and is burned in stoves cast in
their own foundry, from iron smelted in
their own furnaces, from ore found In
abundance On their own lands. The
clothing that covers them is made by
their own tailors, from cloth woven in
their own mill from wool sheared from
their own sheep. The beer they drink is
brewed in their own brewery, from malt
made by their own malsters and hops
grown on their own lands.
ALL manufacturing in Zoar is done by
water power. Steam is scarcely used at
all. The Tuscarawas river, by means OF
dams, is made to flow with sufficient
swiftness and volume to supply thirty or
forty horsepower to each of the Zoarite
manufactures. Nearly all the machinery
used was made in Zoar by Zoarite
mechanics. One of their principal pro-
ducts is -four, of which, after supplying
their own wants, they ship large quanti'
ties to Pittsburg, Cleveland, Washing
ton and Baltimore. One of the chief
places of interest in Zoar is the great col
lection of immense barns, in which the
milch cattle are kept. A considerable
portion of the Zoarites' wealth is invested
in their live stock, and they have devoted
much attention to determining what are
really the best breeds. They have ex-
perimented largely with the Holstein, the
Jersey, the Alderney and the Durham,
and are now inclined to favor the last
named, though all four varieties are well
represented in their herds. Every sani-
tary and convenient device that modern
ingenuity has been able to suggest is
utilized in the construction of these COW
stables. The stalls extend in long rows
on either side of broad aisle, and the
conditions for light and ventilation are
of the most favorable kind. Already the
cows are out at pasture, and 1t is rare
sight to see the mild-faced, patient crea-
lures come filing in at eventide in q
seemingly 'interminable procession, each
one knowing her accustomed place, and
going voluntarily to it without the
slightest disturbance or confusion.
On the morning and evening of each
day all the young women in Zoar repair,
in merry procession, to these barns and
milk the cows. As members of Congress
sometimes are for much less useful pur-
pose, the girls are ''paired, and to each
two are assigned eight COWS, which they
must always milk. Fancy more than thirty
buxom young milkmaids, with the good
looks which are the offspring of good
health, outdoor exercise and good diet,
sparkling in their eyes, lips and cheeks.
Each one is tastefully dressed in we'll
fitting chlntz or calico, and wears white
apron, which, like everything else. about
these most attractive young women, is
scrupulously neat and clean. The girls
have the privilege of naming the COWS
assigned to them, and the name of each
cow is painted over her stall. These
names show that there is trace of the
romantic in the minds of the young wo-
men of Zoar, the bovines rejoicing in
such fnnciful appellations as Lilly,
Maud, Ethel, etc.
Another place in which to see the
Zoarite young women to advantage IS
the bakery, where all the bread and pies
for the entire community are baked
fresh every morning. From seventy five
to hundred loaves comprise the average
daily consumption of the town. The
baking is done by men, but each house
hold sends its young women to the
bakery to procure its supply OF daily
bread and carry it home wrapped in a
large. spotless white cloth which each
damsel carries with her.
Besides these quaint professions OF
young women to the cow stables and the
bakery, there is another similar one to
be seen in Zoar on every pleasant day.
That is, a procession OF girls, ranging
from eight to thirteen years, drawing in
an old fashioned baby carriage younger
brother or sister for an airing. AS all
property in Zoar is held in common, so
the Zoarites share equally, and participate
together in all their pleasures and duties.
Thus even the babies of the society are
''aired" simultaneously in a long drawn
out procession.
For the pleasure of the members of
the society and their visitors public
garden and greenhouse are maintained
in Zoar. Both are of considerable ex-
tent and would be highly creditable to
any large city.
Remedy for Torpid Liver.