The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-06-18

Serious illness is the only excuse among
them for non- attendance at church on Sun
day Their services are from two to four
hours long. In winter when things are
dull on the farms, they hold nightly meet
ings at the church, and will discuss theology
until late in the night with all the fervor
and energy of partisans in critical cam
paign. At Hays City there are five Men
monte churches, all severely plain wooden
structures with large seating capacity.
Each is the headquarters Of a schism among
the Mennonites. One party believes that
Christ was baptized backward Another
sticks to it that he was baptized forward
Another party prefers to worship by itself
because it believes that certain quality of
wine was used at the Last Supper, while
the other Mennonites believe that some
other kind was used. In Hillsboro differ
ences of belief concerning the age at which
Christ was baptized and the dress that Men
nonites should wear keep them from wor-
shipping together Everywhere among the
Mennonites there is a ceaseless argument
as to how far one should offer non resistance
to an adversary. Members of families of
Mennonites have been known to go for
months, even years, without speaking to
one another because of disagreement on this
point
The Mennonites read the Bible literally.
They follow the teachings of Christ as
closely as they see them. They wear a
beard because He did Many Of them be-
lieve it wrong to wear buttons because
Christ did not. That, again, is still another
bone of contention. They render unto
Caesar what is Caesars. That means taxes
and all imposts. They will not go to law
and the greater number of them will not
speak to a lawyer Arbitration among
themselves on the Scriptural plan is strictly
adhered to. They are hospitable, in their
way, to strangers, and they will expel a
Mennonite who is not merciful to his beast.
They follow Christ mode of living even
in their homes They cook over open fires
because stoves were not common in Christ 5
day, and some of them will not sleep in
beds because the Master did not They
are wine drinkers because Christ turned
water into wine at the marriage feast in
Cana Then, too, they have feasts at
weddings because Christ countenanced the
practice. They pay their pastors or priests
no salary, but they are very generous
givers of aims to them. They look out for
the aged and sick carefully The women
are not permitted to have any voice in
church affairs. A woman who expressed
an opinion in public about the beliefs Of
the sect would be disci plined. Some of
the more radical Mennonites eat no sugar,
burn no lamps, use neither pen nor ink,
because the Master had none of these, and
they are not absolutely necessary now.
There was serious trouble among the Rus
slams in Marion county few years ago be-
cause Mennonite had photograph of his
baby taken. The man brethren argued
that inasmuch as he and his wife loved
their child and had placed his picture on
the wall, they were covertly worshipping
craven image. 1t may seem strange that
the Mennonites, with their straining after
extreme Puritanism, are not prohibitionists,
except for frugality's sake. They find
their best reason for this in Paul S advice
to Timothy-''A little wine for thy stom-
ach's sake
Stories Of the frugality of the Russian
Mennonites are the stock humor of this
region. Most of them are true. Not one
in 100 of them takes or reads 4 periodical
of any kind. Country editors who have
taken newspaper plants into regions where
thousands of Russian farmers live have
never got out more than two or three is
sues. The Mennonites have no time or
money for reading. They seldom go more
than dozen miles from home. Many
Russians in Kansas count their landed
possessions by 500 and 600 acres and have
never been twenty miles from their homes
since they settled there in 1873. The
average Russian family consists of the par
ents and seven children. Families of
twelve and fifteen children are not un-
common. The more children the more
workers for the parents is the way they
look att. A Russian family of nine per-
sons can subsist on so cents a day. Not
penny goes outside except for taxes and
the cheapest and strongest clothes. The
women make the mems clothes as far as
they can. Many Russian owning $40, =
600 or $50, 600 worth of land will go bare
foot and compel all under his roof to do
likewise, through the summer, except on
Sundays, so as to save shoes. When he
does buy shoes he gets brogans with the
sole and heel completely covered with
broad headed steel nails, to make the
leather wear longer.
Although the Russians have some ia
nous dairy farms, very few of them will
indulge in the extravaganza Of butter and
cream They argue that it would be the
height of folly for them to eat what would
bring good coin at the creamery down the
road Outside of a Bible-never more
than one for each grown person in the
family-and few books of church forms
and duties, nothing in the way of literature
may be found in the Kansas Russians
home When a Russian farmer cannot
possibly find any work for his hands to do
and when there is no church service to at.
tend, he may take holiday, Then, to
save his horses from work he will walk ten
miles to town, carrying in his pockets few
cucumbers Or ears of roasting corn to sell
for Z or s cents. After getting the money
he will clutch it tightly and trudge home
again. He has seen the sights of the
village and visited bit What more
could man wish When a Russian goes
to an auction, as he often does, and bids
on horse and wagon, or harvester, or
COW, does he 60 at it recklessly with $5 or
SO bids. No, indeed. IF the last bid
is S62, the Russians will be $62. OIL; and
if some white man raises him to $63 he
bids back with $63.O1. When the Rus
slams get to bidding against each other the
auctioneer becomes weary. Every bid is