Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-06-09
COLONY OF MoLoKANlEs.
Eighty RUSSIAN Quakers" Arrive on
S. S. PennsYlvania.


The second installment of Molokan-
les, of whom there is said to be over
200, 900 in Europe now, awaiting trans
portation to this country, came into
port lately on the steamship Pennsyl-
vania. The Molokanies are an inter
esting people. They are Russians, but
not at all like the Russian that comes
to this country as a general rule. The
Molokanies occupy a place in Russia
almost exactly like the American
Quakers and they are a peace-loving,
intelligent people, averse to war and
strife of any sort and generally well
educated.
AS was the case with the first batch
of Molokanies, who arrived few
weeks ago from Hamburg, The aggre-
cation was met by Captain B. E. Dea-
mans, formerly of the Russian Inn
perial Guard. Mr.. Deamans is man
of wealth who had to leave Russia
and her army when he embraced the
faith of the Molokanies and he came
l|here, to settle in Los Angeles, Cal. In
| Los Angeles he started a Molokany
| settlement with the one aim of his
| life to get all the Russian Quakers to
populate California.
Because of the comparative wealth
of the Molokanies, and because of their
wide influence. the Russian authorities
dared not send them to Siberia for
their refusal to Join the Russian army,
So they were sent to a state named
Khar, near the Persian border, across
the Caucasian Mountains Whether in
| Khar or in Germany, the Molokanies
were exiles just the same and it was
left for Captain Deamans to find a
suitable spot in America for his broth
ers of the faith to settle in.
The Molokanies do not drink or use
tobacco in any form. They are popu-
lous, however, and adhere strictly to
the Rooseveltian theory of anti-race
suicide. In this way they have multi
piled until now there is a good sized
army of the Russian Quakers in Eur
ope waiting to come to America as
fast as Captain Deamans can open
lands for them to settle upon. They
are an industrious people, good-natur-
ed and friendly, and they attend strict
ly to their own affairs. They have
an equivalent, in Russian, for thee and
thou of the American Quakers and
they begin the conversation with any
one very much like Alexander Dowie
and his followers, with something akin
to Peace be with thee!"
Among the Molokanies who arrived
on the Pennsylvania were several large
families, and many of these families
had plenty of money. They kept to-
gether on the steamship on the way
over and their portion of the vessel
was in marked contrast to the quar-
tiers of the others in the steerage. The
space occupied by the Molokanies was
scrupuously clean and neat and the!
gave the officers of the Pennsylvania
absolutely no trouble all the way over
| In dress the Molokanies are very
simple, as they are in every other fea
ture in their lives. They are real de
voices of the Simple Life" The dres!
of the Molokany is not dependent upoI
the fortunes of the family. They hav,
all they want to eat and they liv,
! wholesomely and the rest of thei
wealth is used to relieve the distress
OF the poor wherever they meet it.
Captain Deamans took his little com
pany of eighty to the west as sool
as the quaint Russians had passes
the INSPECTION of the immigration
authorities. They are classed in tn
immigration records as the most desir
able of any immigrants coming t
America.