The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-07-29

| Ored stuffs. principally Of the SOciety'S
own make, cut in the plainest style, and
often short gowns in the German peas
ant way. All. even tn the very small
girls, wear their hair in kind of
black CoWl or cap, which covers only the
| back of the head. and is tied under the
| chin with black ribbon. Also al,
young as we'll as old. wear n small
| dark colored shawl or handkerchief
over the shoulders and pinned very
| plainly across the breast. The sex is
not highly esteemed by these people,
| who think it dangerous to the Chris
| tian's peace of mind. one of their most
| esteemed writers advises men to ny
from intercourse with women. as q very
highly dangerous magnet and magical
fire" The women work hard and dress
soberly: all ornaments are forbidden.
TO wear the hair loose is prohibited.
Great care is used to keep the sexes
apart. In their evening and other
meetings women not only sit apart from
the men, but they leave the room be-
fore the men break ranks. Boys are
allowed tn play only with boys, and girls
with girls.
MATRTMONY DISCOURAGED.
on Sunday afternoon the boys are
permitted To walk in the fields. and so
are the girls. but they must go i'm op-
posite directions. With all this care
to hide the charms of the young women
to make them, as far as dress can 20
so. look old and ugly, ana to keep the
young men away from them.lo love, court
ship and marriage go on at Amana as
elsewhere in the world. But while the
married state has nnally the counten-
ance and sanction Of the society. matri-
mony is not regarded as a meritorious
act. The civil or temporal government
of the Amana communists consists of
thirteen trustees, chosen annually by
the male members of the society. The
president of the society is chosen by
the trustees. This body manages the
finances and carries on the general
temporal affairs, but it acts only with
the unanimous consent of it's members.
The foremen and elders in each village
carry on the work and keep the ac-
counts. Every village keeps it's own
books and manages its own affairs, but
all accounts are finally sent to the
headquarters at Amana. where they are
inspected and the balance of profit or
loss is discovered. 1t is supposed that
the labor OF each village produces a
profit, but whether it does or not makes
no difference in its supplies of the peo-
pie. who receive everything alike. as all
property is held in common. All ac-
counts are balanced once a year and the
productiveness Of each industry ascer-
tained.
WOMEN NOT IN THE COUNCILS.
The elders are a numerous body and
presumably men Of deep piety Wo-
men are never members of any of the
councils. nor do they hold any tempoi al
or spiritual authority. with the SINGLE
exception of Barbara Hcyncmnrn, q
poor and iliiteratc Alsatian servant
maid. who was the inspired oracle of
Amana for many years. They have
cOntrived very simple and ingenious
plan for supplying their members with
clothing and other articles aside from
food.
To each adult male an annual allow
ance is made of from $40 to 500. Accord
ing as his position and labor neccs-
states more or less clothing. For each
adult female the allowance is from SIS
10 $50, and from 81 to $40 for each child
All that they need Is Kept in store in
each village, and is sold to the members
ut cost and expense. When anyone re-
quires an article Of clothing he goes
TO the store and selects the cloth. for
which he is charged in a book he br.n,-5
with him. He then goes To the tailor,
| who makes the garment. and charg5 $
him on the book an established price.
/ he needs shoes, or hat. or tobacco.
| or watch-CvcIything IL in the same
way charged Almost every man has n
watch. but they keep strict rule over
vanitics of apparel and do not allow
the young girls to buy or wear earrings
or breastpins. The young and unmar-
ried people who have no parents are di-
vided around among the families.
They have no libraries. and most of
their reading is in the Bible and their
own inspired records. n few newsra-
pers are taken. In general they aim
to withdraw themselves as much as
possible from the world and take very
little interest in public affairs. Dur
ing the war they voted, but they 10
not now to any extent.
ALL ADJUSTMENTS FORBIDDEN.
Though the greater number of the
members came from the Lutheran
church. they have also Catholics and
several Jews. They employ about 400
hired hands. principally in agricultural
labors; and these are all Germcns.
many of whom have families. For
these they supply houses and give them
sometimes the privilege OF raising a
few cattle on their land. They are ex-
cellent farmers, and keep fine stock,