The sun., 1896-10-05
"lIABERERS" IN TROUBLE.
in ANCIENT SOCIETY LIKE oUB
WESTERN UHITECAPS,
Its Member. Have Long rerror,.ed Part

Its Members Have Long Terrorized Pnrta
| OF Bavnrin-Tho Authorities Are Now
| ArrcstinE Many of Them-Some OF Their
| Lavicss Exploits-Peopie Fenr Them.
BERLIN, Oct. 4.-The notorious Bavarian
| Haberieldtreiben, n spccios of lynch law, has
had a sudden and unex pcoted check. 1t was an
ancient custom, said to date back to CHARLIE
mugnc, and set in motion after tho close of the
harvest season with view of settling old scores
with obnoxious persons in the rural districts.
In the old times it was n sort OF rough justice
and served its purpose. or late years. especially
since the spread of socialism among the rustic
population of Upper Bavaria II has deRenerated
intoa riutous and "moonlighting custom, by
which people wero shot, cattle MANNED, and
property burned.
During quarrel a few nights ago q former
victim Of the Haberfeldtreben denounced the
Bergomaster of Sauerlach as II "Habermeister."
The Burgomaster promptly arrested the man
for having insulted him In his official capacity,
and the efforts OF mis- friends TO obtain his ~.
lease have been unsuccessful, the Burgomastee
having refused the sum Of 100000 bail for him.
Since then 2T5 men, land owners, fnrmers,
labor"rs and others, have been arrested in the
Hozkirchen, rolz, and Schliersee districts u:7-
der the charge OF belonging 10 the Haberfcld.
treiben. The excitement is intense in conso.
ouence Of the unexpected action Of the authors
ties. The crops, which before now ought to
have been gathered are rottng In the fields
owing to the absence of the owners. overseers,
and lab9rers belonging TO the farms. who are
confined in prison.
This state Of affairs means serious loss and
probably total ruin 10 hundreds of farmers
and others. The Bavarian officials have for O
long time sought to apprchcud this particular
class OF offenders, but up to this time have not
met with any success.
od In The latter pari Of October, 1895, mob Of
selves. all of them with Dlackened faces and
otherwise disguised met ia an open field oppo-
site the railway station in Sauerlacb one Sun.
day. and held meeting at which they elected
officers and new . Habererkonig" or court.
Some sarcastic individual present asked the
station master If he thought he had not better
away The station master thought the sugges-
tlOh good one, and endcavored to put 1t in
force. but found that the telegraph wires had
been tanlrcred with so that communication with
the other stations was completely cut Off The
meeting finally broke up and the crowd scat
tered.
The next night 300 "Haberers" assembled
ana held grand court in ste nhOring. short
distance away The assistant forester at Hafel-
ding and the Postmaster at Sauerlach were
designated as culprits. and posse was sent to
bring them before the court. The condemned
men were dragged from their beds and bronght
before their self-constitutel Judges who read
long indictment to them recitng their sins.
In the mean time the presence OF the Haber-
ers had become known tar and wide. and thein-
habitants of the outlying villages arose from
their beds lad fastened to the scene. but were
trict were totally, unaware OF the meeting.
and no: single " Habcrer" was ever identified.
Tie authorities. To punish the inhabitants OF q
the villages invaded by the mob for their cow-k
ARA ice. Guartcred company OF soldiers amonRY
them. whom they had TO support for the nexH
six weeks. rhe authorities tried in every way
10 get the ringlcaders of the 'Haherer rs' int6
their clutches. but their victims feared to in-
form upon them. and they were consequently
brought NJ with round turn. and 1t is safe to
assum" that they will be severely dealt with.