The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-10

h No waste of any hind; no vnsm-
ployed. no INDECENT no tramps or
criminals. A place where, al
though no one dresses sxtraya-
Eantly. the materials worn are Of
the highest quality, and every esr.
ment to the last stitch. buttou.
hook and eye, u h perfect repair,
A place where flowers and vines
grow IN abundance In every yard
and garden; yeA, even on the ma
chimes In the factories are pottsd
plants or flowers In vasss. Whsre
there ID IN orchestra and band, ana
almost all Of the people take part
in song festivals and concerto"
He paused dramatically to la
the full glory Of this remarkable
state take effect Then. This vas
the sort Of place founded by George
Rapp and his associates" he said.
George Rapp was q weaver Of
Wurttemberg, who decided to emil
crate to this country upon hearing
the news Of the Louisiana purchase,
Accompanied by his son and many
followers. including q young archi-
tect named Frederick Reichert, be
arrived in Baltimore In 1908 anl
Immediately started for the vildsr.
ness. After exploring part q Mary
land, Pennsylvania and Ohio, TIE
party bought 5000 acres Of land
at So per acre, and located In But
Ter county, Pa, mot far from Pitts
burgh. They called their settle
ment Harmony" and their com
munity the Harmony society
1.-THE Communistic feature Of the
society was not premediated, but
came about through Unforeseen cir
cumstances. After making the nee.
essary payment for their land and
purchasing some cattle, horses and
implements, they had . little mon
ey left At the time they left Wurt-
temberg, the Weather members oi
the party had advanced money 10
those who needed It to pay the e.
penses Of the journey to America
Under present conditions the pay
ment of these loans became IN I'm
possibility, 30 It was agreed that
they be cancelled and that what IT.
tie money or personal property az
listed among the members Of the %
ciety would Be placed In one com
mon fund, 10 be used for all.
Among the society's ranks wan
tradesmen Of almost every conceiv-
able craft - carpenters. black
smiths, wagon makers, cooper
shoemakers, tailors. hattsrs, M
sons, wheelwrights. saddlers and
weavers. Under the leadership Of
George Rapp and Frederick Reich
ert, the young architect. who an
erward took the name OF Rapp =
George Rapp's adopted son. thess
craftsmen were put TO work. build
ing the town and producing extn
goods to be sold outside
communities. This was the begin
ming Of the society's industrial
prosperity. which grew steadily.
until Economy. the third town. Wa
a famous early metropolis.
when I was q little boy" con-
tinued Brother Duss. they were
making their own silks. having i'm
ported silk worms from China with
which to start a silk farm. About
the time of the close OF the Civil
war a bakery was established
which baked bread for all. And
each family had It's own COW. Just
:, the same the milkman drove BY
mornings and evenings, and the
milk from each COW was poured
into the top of large can. Then
the milkman extracted from the
spigot at the other end Of the can
the proper portion for the family.
and drove on. Sometime when W
put a tubful Of milk into the can.
We could get only q gallon In re-
turn; the rest would be distributed
among our neighbors."
"But what happened to this ideal
staten We interrupted Brother
Duss. why did It fsilr'
Why UteplA Failed
well, the first cause Of It's Tall.
ure started back In the early day.
Of the colony when the hardships
were many and the food rstions
we're extremely scarce. At this
time celibacy was adopted a. an In
tegral part Of the society's plat
form. and from that time on The
birth rate was practically nil.
Then an insurrection occurred
in the society, led against the
Rapps by q ne'er-do-well just ~
rived from Europe, called Count
de Leon He managed to influence
most Of the young people In the So
ciety 10 cut loose, demand their
share OF its capital. and move to
another part Of the state. Then
others began to demand their mon
ey back, q gradual disintegratlon
set In, and with no new members
to supplant the old ones, the or
ganixation of the society went 70
pieces. When We tried to straight
en- out the accounts. We found that
no books had been kept-well. l
would rather talk OF the days when
the band played here on this stand.
when the cherry trees were ID
bloom, when all was order and
} neatness, and an amaslng peace