The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-13
VERY QUAINT CUSTOMS.
a UNIQUE COLONY or FARMERS
IN PENNSYLTANII.
Their worship Hs After the Manner OF
Reformation Days and Their Lives Are
Regulated by Primitive Notions.

From he Philadelphia Times.
"Drlve right around into the lower lane, boys,
and we'll take out your horse and feed him."
Such was the welcome, modified, OF course, TO
at circumstances attendant upon the newcomer,
that greeted each visitor who drew up at the
gate of q Lancaster county farmhouse where
an Amlsh meeting was being held one glorious
Sunday not LONG ago. Tho stranger might have
thought there was q lack of cordially about IL;
It really didn't sound like tho fulsome and con-
ventIonal phraseoloRy of what Is known as polite
society; but without asking us two Gentiles who
We were, where we came from, what we wanted,
&C., they simply made us welcome.
And what q sight that wssl There wore
sixty-fvo yellow canvns-covered wagons dot
ting the avenue under the trees. and sprtnkled
over the Landscape back of the barn; sixty
Ave vehicles so nearly alike in pattern that you
would have thought you were visiting a wagon
factory. and that here wcro the results of largo
efforts on the part Of tho builders who had fol-
lowed one sample. When we got petter 40
Quainted with their various owners We asked
how they ever told them apart, how they got
the right horse to the right shafts. "Oh, we Just
look at emit we know emf One man said he
recognized his because tho back of II was pep
pered full OF shot, the result of a target prac-
ticc by the boys ~ homo, who hit the wagon in
stead OF the mark; Another said he had q little
block nailed TO the door of his wagon for the
comfort of his short-legged wife; tho block
couldn't be moved without taking up the floor
developed until the Shole sin.y-fve wagons did
appear different after all, and what may have
seemed an awfuliy easy mark for the evil
duly considered by the astute A~miehman,
wasn't SO easy as it looked.
wagons were not furnished with whips. Neither
IL there. q whip socket nUr even q hood over tho
front: II you should LOOK very carefully in the
u rather tough hickory switch or two. but that
Is only q probability. The Amishman observes
the spirit of the Injunction implied in the say:
Ing; A merciful maa is m~ercirul to his beast"
1t would take nothing less than q horse chow to
get together q finer collection of equininity than
was seen at Friend ADrnhain's that day. Many
worldly LRncastrian owners of roadsters are
ready to admit that the dust doesn't drop on
Arnish outfits when there is opportunity for a
test OF ~speed"-it ia no race. you know-on tho
excellent roads there even II The broad brimmed
touch up his nag with The heavy harness
used is strong enough to draw q load Of coal,
m mh,ss Win II Il e q hsl} ton .sit or MORE a" Of ' R%ish w q fs%
and family.
The passengers of the sixty Ave yellow wagons
crowded the two large lower rooms OF the farm.
house. and left q large overflow for the porch.
where the droning voice Of tho minister, who
preached In pure German, could be plainly
heard. While the speaking was Just a bit too
deep for the Gentle listeners. there was enough
In me way OF pietn IT. syerywhere t. entrance,
too far gene in the sermon. Just opposite us. in
a row, were a lot OF youngsters ranging from
l"O " bA Cbto albfiEhAAD. "AiO9 1
throughout tho meeting generally was as
demure as If they had been ten times those
ages. Beside US, around us. were biz, lusty
Aln.shmen, in their qneer.!ooktnE clothes.
sitting in thoughtful attitudes. following care
fully every word spoken. although "a few OF the
younger men in whom the spirit was will
lug doubtless, hut the dean weak. dOzed and
bodied their heads. The whole scene was one
that was with difficulty given 4 place. SO close
to Philadelphia as seventy miles, and the
stranger did not need to he told that he was
witnessing one of the most Curious survivnls in
a IN trlIl-One which. by the NAY. excited tho
attention aud comment OF Prof. +. B. Tyler, the
noted English Archaeological. when on n visit to
this country some years ago. Ine people are
Worehippink after the manner .! Reformation
days and they present II curious phase OF life TO
the student OF religion and history.
1t is not difficult to understand why tho rest
of Pennsylvania doesn know more about the
this bit of the land green walled" in Lam
casters hills and watered by the Couestoga, the
Cocalico. or the Pequea: For conscientious rea-
sons the Woodworking farmers OF Aini>h-Men-
mist persuasion there give scant encouragement
to the man with the pencil or camera, and so
the intensely picturesque. quality OF an all-day
Philadelphia gets n glimpse now and then OF O
Lancaster county Amishnan on Cbestnutstreet.
and one man Is enough 10 cause people to turn
their heads for u second LOOK. But think OF
sixty or seventy OF them In a crowd! All
/" banged" ut the forehead aud cut straight
across the back, OF the ~neck-around a
no lspels or buttons: .hoo.s and eyes being
the accepted mode Of fastening their clothes,
and in trousers OF a fashion of generations ago!
And then 10 get into an argument with them on
tie subject Of dress or the propriety OF using
tobacco or OF looking upon the wine when II ia
I World eut> ID - Of Il Lane Lsaea shsr tstis ~ SwS Sa ' do
YOU suppose the Lord turned that water into
wine for at the marriage in Cana OF Galilee?'
was the Seil.kRown dose one of them ad min-
istered ms a c.incher in the tee;otal discussion:
The only thing am sorry about now Ii that |
wasn't on hand to get some OF that. My, IL
mus nave peen good @ and lie smacked his lips.
perhaps in the joyful anticipation Of n more
glorious feast that Is 10 be spread for all good
Amishneu some day.
No Anisn meeting would be complete without
the by dinner that i seTyed to al the G"nsre,
religion or crops out under the trees when tho
services were over. the women were getting the
dinner ready: There weren't enough tables 10
feed every BODY at once. so the crowd won't in In
relays. We followed about nifty Am!snmen in
party No. i. When they entered the dining
room they threw their low-crowned. broad
brimmed hats into a window seat until 1t
was fun up to the top Of the lower sash. The
hut every man seemed to catch his own head
gear when he went out without any trouble.
table, each one bowed his head in silent prayer
before starting ut tho shunkdfesh. the Oebrotd
tables we're most generously laden. 1t simpli-
fed tho dish question very much to use the
same cups ana saucer right straight through
rinsing between times. and tho coffee Gu ps con
sequcntly, had quite a deposit of grounds IN
scene. 1t is also customary at the end OF each
meal to return thanks" in silence and with
due reverence. although ! am afraid this latter
quality was somewhat IMPAIRED for three OF the
congregation when q sly wink from the irish
farmland John broke in upon the OF
the thanksgiving. After that tho men. retire
from the dining room and make room for An
other relay. while the women raplenish the
stock on tho tables and mako a few minor
changes In the chinawRre.
And the Amish children Where can they be
more picturesque? The youngsters have the
same proclivities for sport that others have,
and tie uuaintness of the situation strikes one.
AS he secs them playing tag. or teasing the dog
or chasing butterflies. They dress exactly like
their grand fathers or grandmothers; II seems
rather beneath the dignity Of those soher,iook-
ink little people to lie cavorting around the
yard, raising the same kind OF racket that you'd
expect from st. Mary street Kids.
A. soon rs the girl can walk around she APP
pears in long skirts. TO which n white cap. y
white k%ercnief, and a white apron add their
unique finish. The dresses worn by the girls
are OF various colors tor various girls. the skirt
and waist being the same In every case. Deep
purple lie much affected. while dark brown.
drAb, and black are also popular, There Is only
one style Of wearing the hair, and there can DO
no improvement on it for the Amlsh girls: T. :
parted accurately In the middle and comhed
rnonthly Town toward the temples, whore two
small plsits start, which are carried around
and OaIhRred into a kot iust under the edge of