The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-19
SIMPLE LIVES OF MORAVIANS
 IN QUAINT SOUTHERN TOWN
Genuine Piey Which Has Resulted in Conditions Which Make Services of Policemen and Magistrates UnneceS-
 sary--Customs Observed During Easter Season.

public occasion. This band Is merely kept in training and as the members of the older organization die their places are filled by recruits from the junior musicians" as the younger men are called. In addition to furshing music at all the regular Moravian servts,s, the band plays in ths tower of the little church on New Years morning and ush- CTS in the New ,ar with appropriate music. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the Fourth of July a patriotic concert Is given by the band in Salem Square. at which large numbers of people are al- ways present, After several hymns have been sung and prayers offered. the as- sembled multitude joins in a patriotic procession. led by the band. after which comes the Bishop and other ministers, then the church oficials, and finally the citizens of the town. All the participants Join in singing hymns llons the line of march. This peculiar ringing of the re- lfgious and patriotic features is both in- teresting and impressive. The custom has been employed In Salem for more than a hundred years, and was one of the very first Fourth of July celebrations to be established. ts
 Other interesting observances in the nature of a survival from older customs are the Salem Moravian lovefeasts. These are always held four or i've times a year. and serve primarily as means of binding together the Salem people. "stran- gers" as we'll as Morayians. in closer ties of friendship and brotherly love. On these occasions, which usually take place before sunrise in the carly morning, the oldest men in the congregation pass cake and cup of coffee to each of the assembled worshippers And while the church band discourses sacred music they partake of the feast n silence. After the beautiful .'lovcfeast hymn has been sung the congregation slowly marches out of the church and stands in the open air, where, just as the sun Is rising, the Bishop pronounces the benediction and the little company lisperses. More inter esting than this perhaps is the chiidren's lovefeast. which is held on Christmas Day, and at which all the boys and girls In Salem are present After they have partaken of the cake and coffee, they march slowly out of the church, and at the door each child is given a lighted candle It is a. beautiful sight to see them disperse. It is the desire of every one to keep his candle burning until he reaches home, and happy are those who are successful The significance of this peculiar observance is to be found in the Bible parable of the Wise Virgins It Is probably one of the oldest of the Mora vian customs that yet survive.
 Announcing a Death.
 The very peculiar method of announce ing the death of Moravians is another interesting thing which cannot fail to impress a visitor to the old town. When Moravian dies the sad tidings are spread abroad by the playing of the band in the tower of the little church
 Those who are familiar with this quaint custom can always tell by the nature of the selection played the age of the per- son whose death is motsrned. Curiously enough. marriages are sometimes herald ed In similar manner, with only slight variations in tke music.
 The old Salem graveyard is a beautiful spot and Is always interesting to those who are unfamiliar with Moravian burial customs. There in that quiet place. under the shade of giant cedars, can be seen
 the curious graves of the Moravian dead. In accordance with an old tradition the
 men, the women. and the children are always inferred in separate plots. No one Is permitted the distinction of having even a modest monument over the site Of his last resting place, but every one,
 rich and poor alike. must be content with nothing more than a modest slab of marble, lying fiat on the grave, which
 tells in simple but eloquent words the
 story of his or her life. The Movavians sem to nave a peculiar reverence fur the old graveyard and oftentmes in the still ness of the early morning little groups | of persons may be seen walking aDout in | silence and awe and with bowed heads | among the graves of the dead.
 But of all the quaint and curious sur vivals of old customs which may e seen
 in Salem at the present time there Is none | so interesting perhaps as the Moravian | Easter observance There, in that his- | toric place, before sunrise on Easter Sun | day morning can be seen the same ser | vice and heard the same songs that were | first seen and heard in far-away Saxony | more than 200 years ago. And there ! Is the same trusting faith in the glorious | resurrection hope which those early | Moravians had. Of late years the ser vice has been especially interesting and has attracted to Salem vast numbers of visitors from all parts of the country. l Indeed, the little town, in spite of the
 hospitality of its citizens. has hardly been