The Washington times., 1908-05-03
|QUEER DOUKHOBORS
A FANATIC SECT
Strange CuStomsand Weird
DoingS of Peculiar
People.
10 Attain Purity Canadian
"SouI WrestlerS" Tor
ment Themselves.

OF the many strange sects which finc
followers In some portion or other of tn,
siooe. there is none more eccentric OF
more Spartan in self-discipline than tn,
Doukhobors- 1t is d sect which re-
spends TO a call that brooks no caviI-
ing, no hanging back. The people who
voluntarily accept its obligations impose
upon themselves a penance which is
calculated to test the limit of theiI
endurance. Humiliation Of the flesh Is
part and parcel of their creed. To such
extremes do they carry their fanatical
beliefs that they are frequently TO be
seen marching through scorching heat
or bitter cold with practically no cloth
ing beyond a Ioin cloth to cover them.
The Doukhobors make sacrifices which
surpass in severity those of the most
rigid ascetic. They have been ordered
by their Leaders 20 sell their cattle.
They have donc 50. Now their children
are dying for want Of sustenance. Last
autumn they were ordered 20 sell their
sheep. and they disposed of 1900. They
then sold their chickens. Now they are
paupers. Their leaders have abolished
time. Nearly 5000 worth Of watches
and clocks have been taken away
from the people by their head men.
Mirrors have been forbidden: to make
sure, special agents have collected al
the looking glasses. Tea, coffee. sugar
and pancakes are under the ban. and
their food is now narrowed down TO 20
tatoes. carrots, onions. and turnips.
According to the statement Of a cor
respondent who has studied their Gus
h,
Every man and woman has a space al
lotted. which IS just four fee- wide.
They have to gee INTO their beds from
the foot, so cramped are their quarters
All eat at big tables in the center. The
young nlen sleep like sardines in the
garrett And, under a new rule, no
DoukhobOr may own more than one
shirt. So poor and indigestible Is their
food now that most Of the Doukhobors
are really i'll and diseased. They let
the law go as a dead letter, and births.
deaths, and marriages 60 unrecorded.
They live In north western Canada
these strange fanatics. Only a little
while ago they were Observation-Disclosures
in reality. Like some OF the earlier En-
glish Quakers, they were forced by per
secution 10 leave their country ana fee
70 North America Their English pro-
totypes went 70 Pennsylvania more than
two centuries ago; the Russians went
to Canada in 1S9S. They settled near
Lake Winnipeg. and there they are now
where $4,000 acres are reserved for their
colonization As dissenters from The
orthodox church Of Russia. they had
gone through some terrible sUfferiugs
Tor their faItb. They thought that alb
Solute freedom would be theirs in Can
aodY but even today they are generally
misunderstood, unappreclated, ana un-
welcome. The real official designation
OF the DoukhobOrs is The Christian
Community Of the Universal Brother
hood. and is based on ChTiSt'S com
mand TO love ali men. They believe
in a5stentiOn from physical violence,
indifference to personal fate, a life Of
purity; love for their prosecutors, and
a Willingness to suffer for the good Of
mankind, but not as law breakers. Their
name ''DoukhcboT' was originally given
them in derisiOn. the word means
spirit wrestler and was intended TO
ridiCule them. But the D0ukobors were
their idea OF ~-estling by aid of the
Holy Spirit and not with carnal weapons.
Ordinarily the DOukhObors are quiet
simple folk. but periodically their reiiE-
IN temperature The quick red blood
OF the sturdy peasants OF Russia courses
faster and faster in their veins Every
thing Is forgotten. They are drilled 20
the commonplace of life They become
the creatures Of their imaginations
alone. Then the climax is reached Let
US march, march. march, shouts some
fTenZicd soul. Yes cries one and
another and a third and moro and more
The excitement Is tremendous. They
cast reason, as well as clothes. to the
four winds of heaven. on they start
on one Of their marches. 80 matter the
heat. no matter the COld-nT ked a. cry
one
on the march they give no thought Of
the morrow nor of the day, nor Of the
-oment. nor of self man or beast De-
aIo the bitter biting winds of the high
Prairie lands in the winter weather
while the thermometer is ten, twenty.
thirty degrees below zero, with thoughts
as pure as that Of the child Just born.
they mingie together without considera-
ton OF sex, age, condition, or class,
without a single stitch Of clothing COW
ering their persons, arm in arm, In an
apparently ineXtricable, indisSOlu5le
company: with nothing touching their
persons except the snow. they tramp
on, the icy. blast-laden atmosphere sur
rounding them they march, singing and
happy and joyful, going hither and
with TO fixed direction, marching in
circles. zigZa gg1ng, then in tangeats.
with no thought Of where they are, Of
where they are going. or what will be
see Jesus" Perhaps you think you
might laugh at the sight of a DOukno-
Dor march in the snow? II IS more
likely TO make you cry,
The origin Of this strange doctrine
of the Doukhobors dates back for cen
turtles, but the first real organization
OF the sect took place about $50 years
ago. AS time wore on two branches
were formed, one submitting to the gov
eminent ana teuIporlEing upon such mat
ters as submitting to military duty and
eating meat, while the other Tigidly
adhered to the faith of the fathers and
held together. despite cruelties almost
unsurpassed in history. They kept fast
10 their three cardinal principles-vege-
farianisrn. communism. and internalism
and finally the Russian government al
lowed them TO migrate to Canada ten
years ago.
they are there now. nearly 1000 Of
them. They are not animals or degen-
crates. They are not paupers Or profit
rafes. Thy are not drunkards or law
breakers. But some OF them are fanatics.
Exchange.