The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-07
HOW TIE TARTARS ARE BEING FAMED Russian MennoniteS In Their
 Kansas Homes SHEEPSKINS TO AUTOS Transformation of Refugees in a Sin gle Generation-WhatD Did lt-The
 Younger Men Take on
 American Ways.
SHEEPSkINS TO AUTOS
From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post
 Near Lacrosse, Kan, the west has no better example of what changes can be brought about in generation than the case of the Russian MeNnonites.
 Thirty years ago the first settlers came to Kansas wearing sheepskin coats and Russian caps and boots. They huddled on the station platforms and could speak no English. They were afraid of the customs of America and acted as if fear ing to be jailed OH the slightest pretext. The other day ten touring cars were drawn up in a country road and every one was drawn and owned by a Russian, all sons of the men and women who huddled in sheepskins a third of a cen tury ago.
 During December and January" said a hardware dealer in the little town of Otis in the midst of the Russian settle ment. we sold % automobiles. nearly all to farmers They paid cash for them. too. and are getting a good deal of pleasure out of their new playthings." Wheat did it. In the early days the Mennonites skimped and saved, always living on less than they earned. small though the Income was. They had few wants and their farms were well tiled They lived, and many of them yet live, fin colonies, the towns being the dwell ing places and the farms being man aged at a distance.
 Wealth from the Earth.
 When the average western farm failed to produce wheat the settler found fault with the climate and quit. The Russian bought his place and went on putting in wheat, blowing a little deeper and har- rowing & little oftener.
 Then when the good crop years began he had wheat everywhere. and in sum mer 1t is one vast wheat field where the Russian farmers have their homes. They have built fences with stone posts and barbed wire, and the landscape looks like a vast garden.
 Not much use have they for banks The bankers have learned to have the money ready when the wheat is sold. They heap up piles of silver dollars and the Rus sians have pockets in their trousers that are made especially for the purpose of holding them. The pockets are deep and broad, and 1t is not unusual for a peck of silver to be carried to the farm by the owner.
 Much of this is buried until there is sufficient for another farm purchase Then the payment is made in cash.
 They bought land when 1t was worth s4 acre; now it is worth $40 to $50, and hard to get at that. They have money in banks and homes that are com fortable, according to their way of think ing.
 Church Is the Center.
 The towns are built around church The church at Munton and the one at Catherinstadt cost from $200oo to $40 GOO each. Other great stone structures are the dwellings of priests and the schools for parish educational work
 The priest rules the municipality and the county, for the voters of the Russian denomination are in the majority in at least two counties In the late spring there is a march to the open lands and the blessing of the fields takes place Other customs that seem strange in this land are followed. The priest Is greeted with barred head by all when seen on the street. He wears his robes all the week It is odd sight to see the whlskered farmers and the priests riding in up-to- date motor cars.
 A curious likeness exists in the dwell ings of the little towns. The houses which a few years ago were mere cabins have grown into something like cottages but of the plainest and squarest shapes The windows are covered with heavy curtains and blinds and the back door is used more than the front in many homes
 The Rising Generation. -s But the streets are full of children sturdy red-cheeked little ones they are. too. The visitor is an obpject of curios- ity If your camera is pointed in their di- rection they hide, and their mothers with shawls over their heads. are not much braver.
 The stores and schools are managed by the members the sect and the ten dency fig toward yet greater clannishness as the property of the communities falls more into their hands. In some of the counties the politics is absolutely con trolled by the Russian vote, and it is folly for the candidate who is not favored by this people to aspire to office.
 Several members of the church have been sent to the legislature, and the fu taly in education and the advancement of the west. Some of them have not yet at tafned as full familiarity with America n 1dioms as the Russian member of the re- cent legislature who was speaking on the suffrage question
 "I love my wife," he declared in i'm passioned tones, and I am sure you all do" But he got no further; the yells of the house ended his speech
 This younger generation is responsible for many of the changes in the way of doing things The old customs are fol- lowed by the fathers and mothers but the children break away. They refuse to wear distinctive clothing or to follow many of the old social usages
 Russian Wedding Feast.
 The wedding Is the great function now as ever. It Is three-day feast with it's hospitality and occasional convivialty and much visiting. One of the customs Is the march of the bride and bridegroom the minister. and the party invited to the church. the long procession winding over the rolling prairie in double file, making an interesting spectacle.
 But now the automobile is more likely than not to be called into use for these occasions At wedding the other day the bride and bridegroom were able to play neat trick on the inevitable chari- vari crowd that makes life miserable for the country wedding party
 Thirty young men armed with shotguns and tinpans crept stealthiy across the fields and Into the gate of the brides home. They counted on q noisy time.