Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-05-25
THE HOLY ROLLERS
QUEER RELIGIOUS SECT BE-
LIEvlNa IN RACE SUICIDE
PREDICTS END OF WORLD.
Headed by "Benjamln" and "Mary,"
Who Conducted Meetings in ottunn-
wa, Thousands OF Followers Are Be
Ing Gathered In Michigan Town.

Headed BY benjamin" and Mary"
thousands of adherents of the new re-
ligious organization known as the
Holy Rollers" are now being gath
cred at Benton Harbor Mich. They
confidently predict that in August 1915
the world will come to an end at
which time the nearly 100000 follow
ers of the strange cult, after securely
fastening Satan to mountain, will as
cend to heaven in chariots, leaving his
Satanic majesty to be consumed with
the other dross of the earth.
When touring the country In a
wagon Benjamin and Mary and Alex
ander visited Ottumwa and conducted
several meetings on the street cor
ners attracting much. attention be-
cause Of the doctrine they preached,
and their, appearance, the men having
exceedingly long hair.
Prepare! The end is night" This
is the greeting a visitor receives from
the time no begins traversing Pipe
stone avenue in the city Of Benton
Harbor, until he emcrges at the can
ming factory and community house Of
the Holy Rollers.
1.-The End Of the World.
If the Holy Rollers are correct in
theirview,it behooves' every one to get
busy and join the anxious throng, for
they claim to have direct communica-
tfon to the effect that the world will
come to an end before another dozen
years have rolled around.
The king and queen Of this new cult,
which is awaiting the millennium, are
benjamin and Mary" They taboo
last names, but before they attained
their present royal positions they an,
swered to the name Of Purnell.
Both Benjamin and Mary hail from
Kentucky. Both we're born in that
state and were converted to the Holy
Roller faith in Richmond, Md. Ben
jamin. is now As years of age with long
red hair and luxuriant whiskers Of the
same fiery hue. Until he saw the
light" he was travelling over the coun
try in wagon, preaching at country
fairs and wherever he could assemble
two or more persons and talk to them
Two years ago he started the commun
ity in Michigan, or, rather, put it or
new footing.
Prince Mike Deposed.
Prior to that time Michael Miller Of
the euphonious title of prince Mike
prince Mike was violently opposed
to race suicide and taught the doctri.
of free love. Eventually his ideas or
these subjects, or more particularly
his practices of these tenents, created
a great scandal and Prince Mike" II
now III the penitentiary. After this
blow the community languished ant
dropped. 81
Then BENJAMIN appeared and speed
lily put the community on a new basis
Last year more than 100 converts
were enrolled. II These were gathered
from all parts of the United States
and their accession so encouraged thu
leaders that BENJAMIN and Mary sailet
for Australia last December on pros
elyting tour. They were successful
and returned with more than eight.
converts. The new arrivals were mucl
impressed with their reception. Emerg
ing from the train, they were escorte,
through gayly decorated and illumir
ated streets to sprightly band music
to the community house, 'The Com
munity of Modern Israelites,' the,
prefer to call it.
The reinforcements will be EN-
p1oyed with other member of the com
munity in canning fruit and CROWNS
vegetables for the. unregenerate unit
the end of the world, in 1916. All thes
people are vegetarians. They believ
the body, as well as the soul must b
saved, so they refuse to defile thei
bodies by eating meat, for meat is ur
clean.
No Bald Headed Men.
One thing that impresses the visito
to the community is the fact that
does not harbor bald headed mar
They style themselves "Israelites,
yet there is not a genuine Jew in tn
entire community The men use n
3 hair tonic, yet they have luxurian
N hair. They attribute this to the sin
II pie life they lead. They are much GU
in the open and live on strictly vege
tartan diet, They go to bed early
work hard and are, fine specimens G
robust manhood.
The men all wgar soft brown hat!
much like the hats worn by the Unite
States cavalrymen. Some of the ele
ers actually braid their long whisker
to avoid stepping on them or Egettin
them mixed up IN their daily toll. TIL