The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-09-10
EACH A MILLIONAIRE.
A QUAINT VILLAGE IN PENNSYLVANIA
AND IT'S PEOPLE.

HtNG IL y FEOFI64
There would Be Fortune for Every In
habitant of the Settlement If the Com
mon Property Were Diyided-A Story
of Peaceful Life-Co-operatiou.
About one hours ride from Allegheny
on the Fort Wayne road, near Beaver,
known by the very suggestive name of
Economy. is quaint village founded in
1905 by company of several hundred Ger
mans, half of whom landed at Philadel-
phia. They were brought over at the in
stigation of one Herr Rapp, who had pre-
ceded his religious followers to look up
suitable settlement. Five hundred Of the
beautiful and productive acres upon which
these Economics then settled. upon which
the remaining number, only about forty
souls now, still abide, were at that time
purchased from the grandfather of James
G. Blaine.
The town has one of the loyeliest situa-
tions imaginable. 1t begins on the very
edge Of bluff overlooking the Ohio river.
The streets are at right angles with the
rivers course, and prettily bordered with
shade trees, back of which sit the prim
houses, commonly minus front door, and
so spaced that each household has its own
kitchen garden. Another popularity Of
these houses is a singular decoration of
grapevines, which are trained to eSpaliers
so as to cover the space between the tops Of
the lower windows and the bottoms of the
upper windows. The vines grow in van
dykes, and you have no idea how oddly
pretty is such an arrangement.
FORTY MILLIONS INVESTED.
Your quiet here will not be disturbed by
30 much as the ring of a doorbell, nor by
any sound more startling than the Sunday
like crow Of the finely bred and very numer-
GUS rooster, which, has the full freedom of
the hamlet, or, msyhap, by the rumble of
the distant train or the puff Of the locomo-
tive under the bluff. Economy might fitly
be called the silent village The now de-
serted factories and breweries attest that
once this was busy. and, in consequence,
a noisy place. This in early days, when
the society numbered hundreds. A Rip
Van Winkle lethargy has fallen upon the
place now. AS you walk the silent, well
occasional little old man in a light blue
jacket and tall broad brimmed hat, quite
suggestive of that worn by our Quakers.
Or perchance one Of the homelike danes
may be abroad in Norman cap and stuff
gown. If so, their surprise upon meeting
you, stranger, and so differently dressed,
will not cause them to forget the courteous
good day" they reIigiously give you.
fHo
ance of these uncommon people to give
you a suspicion of millions, yet in the
language of the street that is the size of
it."
Forty millions on the cooperative plan;
in land, gas, oil and railroad and bank
stocks. Only about forty members in the
society at present, the majority having
reached and several having pass the
three-score-and-ten limit. And what
eventually is to become of the millionsS
The very question 1 asked, and was told
"The Lord would take care of that"
You can spend your time uniquely here,
seeing things of interest to be found no
where else. Your patronage is not solicited
and your presence not particularly desir-
able. Yet, if you are sweetly persuasive,
you can find accommodations at the one
hotel, which, like the one store, belongs to
the society, and is not run for money. The
town really prefers to be left alone. The
hotel, before railroad days, was the favorite
stopping place on one Of the main stage
routes out of Pittsburg.
REAL CHARITY.
If you are too poor to pay as you 60, you
are as welcome as if a millionaire, and both
bed and board are yours without money
and without price" II you are a tramp
you will find an annex hotel kept up on
purpose for your brotherhood, where you
will meet travellers from all points of the
terrestrial compass. TO the inquiry. How
do you know these are worthy onesP you
will be answered, Eve don't know. But
that makes no difference. Better feed
dozen unworthy men than refuse deserY-
ing one." Rows that for real charity?
Their hospitality is on a very generous
scale all the way through. Though not
they live well Their cattle
are all blooded, many of them imported
from Germany; therefore, the richest cream
and sweetest butter are yours, together
with fresh vegetables cooked TO the queens
taste.
At the cooperative laundry, which. by |
the way, is supplied with modern machin-
cry, you will see anovel wash day. Each |
family has this day only once in three |
weeks, and they 60 in families, several !
washing the same day.
At the store supplies are given out as Is !
The wine, simply for the asking. Each one |
is supposed to have earned all, he can con-
sume. As each labors for all there is no /
occasion for jealousy or selhshness. There |
Is no room for waste. since there are no op- !
portunities for using more than can be /
eaten or worn.
CHURCH AND ATTENDANTS.
Your interest viii center in the "Big /
House." or, as / prefer to call it. the Exec /
utive Mansion of Economy. In this house /
i've the religious and financial heads Of /
the communicated Father Henrici, the /
present and third religious leader; young !
Slr Duss, the present financial manager |
and Father Henrici's successor, and several l
Dthers. Mr.. Duss is scholar and a gen |
tIeman IN all that those terms imply. His i
one time wife. by whom he has two chill 1
iren, is beautiful and womsuly. These 1
people. aged thirty-two years. respectively /
two years ago took the vow Of cell bacy and /
became leaders in the order. Several other 4
additions were made about that time, the
converts being comparatively young peo-
pie, aud thus the religion gathered al i'm
petus, the first for number Of years.
l should ike 70 devote column TO the 4