New-York tribune., 1904-08-12
AMONG THE MENNONITES.
Womdn TraceIIcr in H-cSt Tells of
Their Curious Customs.

.lo one knows how many queer things there are
- The United States ilI he travels the length and
breadth Of them ssld d woman JUST back from
rre West.
You know nv husband IS Interested in West
err lands. ard cur trip took us into certain vii
IaEes where II seemed 70 me- that D was longer
In America rubbed my ewes like Rip Van Win
kle. 70 make sure I awIke We found whole
villages speaking another language Several UI.les
we found villages containing only one person who
could speak English and who came whenever in
terrreratiou wsS needed. n some villages. under
stand NOT single person can speak English. All
their ideas their traditions. their customs. are
different as ther language They are the living ex-
erlpIifaar5or Of tho teachings Of Tostoy- They
70 10 na war They one- no resistance TO injury
Few Of them eat meat Many things are owned
iH common. The Russian samovar sets Ii every
house brightly polished and ever ready 70 brew a
fragrant -s--
These are The Mennonite villages OF The Norrh-
west. There are hundreds OF them scattered
through Kansas. Iowa and the Dakotas. with cut
--ing stations IN Montana ana colorado The
ATenuouites are coming now IN numbers second
onl. 10 the Jews and Italians Nc of the East
know nothing about g.. They are sex down IN i'm
nigrar5on statistics e~ Russians and Russian 70
.-s means u1ly Russian Jew. BIT Inese people
arc very different -rom Jews II $ Nor5erful
row many different races Prussia manages 10 drive
OUT Of her borders.
'New-To-k gets none ot this Mennonite immi-
grafton Every one OF those sturdy peasants has ia
his pocket the name of some Iitrle Western vii
lage. known 70 as out household word in his
family for years.
BUILT OK RUSSIAN PLAN
The ars, Indication Of The village one gers. in
d-ztuE across the level p-air'-. is 'he carefully
cIaute5 wcodiar5 which surrounds every one
5o- in tins rreeess land The village IS built on
fle Pus~iau plan-rhe house. around common
.artre and The farms outlying. There is the Rus
slsr mir. she common pasture and belonging 10
vhe village or which an may pasture their cows
The Erain elevator is owned ~ common, and mo
dai-es are cooperative TIE great steam thrashar
has perhaps. been bought .r common by the vii
GaEe and each vear different farmer gives up
his tine 70 The thrash.UF, going from farm 10
Farm with lis TWO sets Of wagons and his gang
of eighteen or twenty men. and receiving per
centags me grain thrashed. And II IS the
farmers wife and daughters that cook for this
great gang of
These people hold practically intercourse
With she outside world except 10 sell their crops
and 10 Buy the implements necessary for up-ro-
date Western farming They are still largely IN
ths era OF home manufacture They raise almost
az they cat they make almost everything they
sse There IS scarcely farmhouse which has not
been buir by the farmer ard his Sons themselves:
and they also have made all the furniture within.
ever 20 me clock while the women have spun and
woven the carpets. the curtains and the bedding
The daughters g7II the cream separators, and
sometimes :he mowers. Great families prevail
Ter Twelve ead fourteen children are more com
mon than q lesser number. and i couple has 70
children. Il invariably adopts some One patr1-
arch found in Iowa village, who had adopt
- six BOYS. and had given every one OF them a
Farm when ne was ready 10 start out for himself
'AIore curious than The material Will be the men
taI atmosphere OF the place 70 the traveller from
AmeTlcz- The people are absolutely devoted tc
religion They read little else. they talk little else
II every house viii he found a good collection Oi
religious books and seldom any others. except ele
nentary schoolbooks. Every farmer takes one
not subscribe for the local weekly. n the winter
trey reac much. and always religion The meI
viii discuss religion and theology on the slightest
royocstiou, and unfortunately.
he NEVER KILLS
y 81 tAsy have 10 paid or regularly appointed
ministers They wait in their churches fer III,
spirit 70 move speaker, like the Quakers II
Fact they are practically Cuakers, although they
are followers Of Memo Sielnens a German monl
who broke OF from the Church in the Middl,
Ages and founded sect Non-resistanca, op
position 20 every form q killing and cruelty is th
foundation OF this religion The prairie chicken
p 7norsel OF feathered nectar. may people th
circling prairies from May 20 November. No Men
nonuite win shoot it The Mennonite never hunts
IIe never goes 10 war. He IS almost always q veg
eta-iau.
Zach nan IS a priest in his own household. no
orlg ~ religion, but OF education He not onl
iistrr-ts his children in the faith. but teaehe
thess as well In Russia each father has educ<ts
MS own sauuiIv for centuries There Is g touch c
the rchoolmaster about every naa- Over her
t1er have taken slowly 20 the idea OF the AEneri
,lrf l.;.s.sc scnool. and when one Is establishes
anoEz them they want Il conducted IN German
Ine osdy thing the West has against the Men
nonites Is their obstinate struggle on this point