The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1916-03-09

ooAA III 1cIu1duy SeVculy-Ou0 years
ago told why 1000 persons, men, wom-
en- and children, live a community life
On 6 5000 acres Of lowa's most fertile
land and are happy.
The old man, who munched an apple
as ne talked, is the head of the Amana
society. The society is worth at least
$4,000, 900 In lands and improvements.
Not one member has a cent of proper
ty in his own name. Everything earned
In the Amana colony, which contains
seven prosperous little towns and IL
more than sixty years old, goes to the
common treasury.
The old man, George Heinemann,
was asked If 1t were true that four
Amana schoolboys who had played
baseball on Sunday in the little com
mullity had been punished by being
banned from church for eight weeks.
] had heard this about Amana and 1t
had resulted in my trip to the colony.
Eyes, 1t is true" said the old man.
"They were punished. but that is an
exaggeration"-he pronounced "exag-
geration" with the e" hard-"they
were only made to stay away from
our church for two Sundays, not eight.
That would be too much"
up where l live most boys wouldn't
look at that as q punishment"
The old man smiled. It was a gen.
tie. tolerant smile, the smile with
which everybody In Amana greets Wis.
,tora.
ut is different here" he said.
''Church to US is everything. 1t was
80 with our fathers. 1t is 80 with our
cons and daughters and it is so with
u %grandsons and u granddaugh-
tiers. To bar the children from church,
that Ia the worst punishment"
ThInos That Are "WorIdIy."
Then the old nan told something of
the Amana society, of the community
lite in the Eve villages, a commun-
ism not founded on socialistic or econ.
Omic belief. but a communism founded
on religion and subordinate to relig-
lon. He told me why the school girls
In Amana are not permitted to wear
hair ribbons, why the men Of Amana
wear no mustaches, why the women
wear s%unbpnnets and not hats, why
the tango has v been danced In
Amana, just az the tango's %precedes-
sors. the waltz and the two-step, were
not danced: why there is no card play
ing, why baseball and football and all
competitive sports are banned.
1t was, he said. because these things
are worldly"
When ! rose to go I asked the old
man for his picture. you are the
head OF an unusual organization" l
said, probably the most successful
community project in America. May
have your picture?"
NO" he said, still smiling. "Now
you ask NJ to du something which is
worldly. 1t is not wrong to you. but
TO me It is. 1t is not the spirit of
Amana. We have no newspapers
here"
thanked him with the feeling that
he was a kind of benevolent patriarch.
He smiled and said nothing, but as l
opened the wooden gate which led to
the road the old man on the porch
still smiling, shouted out a CHEEKY
"Willkommen." It sounded like You
are welcome" Come again" and
Good luck" all combined, and it
sounded as II the old man on the porch
really meant it.
The seven villages Of the Amana 80.
ciety, grouped within a radius of eight
miles between the bluffs in the river
valley. look like pictures from the Old
World. They r in the valley Of the
Iowa river. ON 2 5000 acres OF the most
fertile land in the middle West. Amana
Ia the largest village. 1t has about
45O residents and at Amana r To-
Gated the wool mills and calico print
factory Of the society. Amana WOO
len goods and Amana calico are known
to merchants as far east as New York
and as far west as San FRANCISCO.
East village has its church. school,
store, bakery, dairy. post office and
saWmtll.
The buildings in all the Amana com
munities are on the same plan, quaint
two-story gabled buildings of old Ger
man architecture. Some of the build
ings, as the stores and hotels. all con-
Quoted by the society. are Of red brick
and covered with vines. Others are
small frame buildings, covered with
vines, but pnpainted-paint in Amana
is q sign az vanity and prohibited. It
is In these small houses that the fami.
lies hive. The houses and other build
tngs, as everything in the colony, are
owned by the society and families are
assigned to their homes by the Geld
ers." the governing body in each town.
In front Of the buildings and at the
side of the buildings and hack OF the
buildings are flower beds, fruit trees
and grapevines.
Community Kitchen.
In each village are community
kitchens and community dining rooms.
Here the food, and there is lots OF 1t,
IL prepared and served under the d.
rection of the best cooks In the VII