The gold leaf., 1905-08-10
,arly a
.rection. !
JST SOCIETY
MEMBEh

Philadel phia, =, Aug. dead Tor
three weeks, during which the remains
were guarded by q fanatical co-reli-
zionist the body of Mrs. Julia Rud-
man was found at 1928 South 11th
street the headquarters OF q dimlnu-
tive sect known as the Holy Ghost
Society The only other occupant or
the house was Mrs. Caroline Lang.
who professed to believe that the
strange god whom both women wor-
shipped would breathe new life Into
the corpse.
For the past week or two the neigh
bors. to whom the comfortable, old
fashiOnVi home OF the tiny sect has al
ways been a place of much mystery,
had believed that Mrs. Rudman, who
was woman Of go was dead, as she
was no longer to be seen In answer
to their inquiries. Mrs. Lang told them
that she wss only very weak. Rela-
tives OF the dead woman called, but
were not admitted.
Spurrcd to action at last by the
clamor OF the ncighbors. the bu-
reau Of health took action and ordered
an inscpctor to enter the house, il he
had to call on the police to break In
the door Late in the afternoon In
spectOr Shoemaker, OF the bureau, ar
rived at the place. The aged Mrs.
Lang came to the window, but refused
to let even him into the house until
she was told that the door would be
forced unless she opened 1t. Miss
Lucie Oelschlager, who was on friend
ly terms with Mrs. Lang, acted as In
termediary for DR.. Shoemaker, and on
condition that he and Miss Oelschla-
ger were the only ones to enter Mrs.
Lang opened the door.
She guided them up two fights OF
stairs to a back room, and showed
them the body. 1t was In a dreadful
state Of decomposition, but when the
doctor turned to her, Mrs. Lang said:
She Is not dead; she is only sleep
ing" The aged woman, who is about
rs years old and very weak. refused to
leave the house, and objected to any
steps being taken which would de-
prive her of the body Of her dead COM
panion. For several weeks Mrs. Rud.
man was sick. Then one day about
three weeks ago the neighbors noticed
that Mrs. Lang had closed all the
blinds In the house. and made her ap-
pearance only when some one rang
the bell to inquire about Mrs. Rud-
man. During all tl.at time she had
been sleeping in the room adjoining
the one in which the body lay. The
windows were tightly closed, and 1t is
a wonder how the woman lived under
such conditions.
The two women had lived in the
South 11th street house since 1896.
They were members of strange sect,
who called themselves the Holy
Ghost Society, and were also known
as the Congregation of the Lord. Be-
sides Mrs. Lang there Is now but one
other living member, a man named
Herman Yost.
The founder of the faith was a
dressmaker, who came from Switzer-
land in the early Cos. Her name was
Meister. One day while at work she
began to pray and then to preach.
She declared that she had had q reve-
lation and that the Holy Ghost had
taken possession of her She lost the
use of her hands, and friends took her
up and cared for her. BY her preach
ing she won followers. and in a short
time society was formed In 1854
her followers applied for a charter
but were refused. The following year
they bought the 11th street house. and
with great ceremony dedicated it and
installed Anna Meister in it as a high
priestess. At that time she took the
name of j. Elimar Mira Militia. and to
the day of her death she was called
God Mira Militia.
1t is this strange deity whom the two
old women have worshipped in the
11th street house for years, and to
their neighbors they preached faith In
God Mira Militia. When told that Mrs
Rudman was dead, Mrs. Lang became
confidential for moment and declar
ed: Yes. she is dead. but God Mira
Militia will bring her back | gave her
vinegar. just as the soldiers gave the
Lord vinegar when he asked for water
on the cross. 1t was that vinegar
which caused His resurrection. and il
will bring Sister Rudman back"
srIek-Makins Clay Machine Grlnds
Up Live Man.
Phoenixville. Pa. Aug. IA pecu-
liar noise from a slag-mixing machine
at the Montello Brick Company's
works. Perkiomen, led to an investi-
cation, which revealed the fact that
the machine was grinding to powder
the bones of Howard Yocum OF Ra-
Inns Station. aged 80. the man who a
short time before was operating it.
How Yocum happened to fall into
the slasmixing pit is mystery, as he
was alone at the time. His body WAS
literally ground to pieces, kneaded and
mixed with the red clay Of which the
bricks were being made. Nothing but
one of the unfortunate mans little fin
gers could be found.