Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-14
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society

en- was introduced in America two
years before our Declaration of In
dependence declared all men are
created equal" Spirit manifesto
tons. akin to the recent popularity
of other world communication, had
a vogue in the colonies before the
Revolutionary War.
These facts are recalled by the
proposed abandonment of the
Shaker Community in Enfield. New
Hampshire, which is reported to
have dwindled from s5o members
to only six survivors. says a bulletin
from the Washington, ID. c., head
quarters of the National Geographic
Society.
How an Idea Survived
OF all the religious groups that
found sanctuary on the soil Oh colo
NAL America. the most remarkable
perhaps. were the Shakers with
their partly medieval and partly far
ahead OF their day" Ne bulletin
continues. And the persistence OF
a firmly grounded religious belief
10 aptly illustrated by their survival
to this day although their virginia.
vows provided no younger genera
ton to carry on their tradition, and
their deliberate isolation in self-sus-
tanning communities rave few op-
~portunities to make converts.
The Shakers never had more
than 5000 members and the twelve
communities remaining today re-
ported S67 members in 1916, which
means a population of not more
than a thousand. The longevity OF
individual members, combined with
their abstinence from meat and hsh
| fhpir nraGnrihad manual laL-u -
hygenic living, have made their
communities interesting human ex-
pertinent stations for the biologist
as well as the geographer. The
bodily movements as they Worship
ed closely resemble the MONDAY
gymnasium exercises of many an
American business man.
Arrested for Gyrations
Ann Lee, selt-styIed Ann the
Word but known among her toll
lowers as Mother Ann founded the
Shakers whose oIncial title is
United Society of True Believers in
Christ's Second Coming After four
children died in their infancy Ann
Lee sought solace among an OIL
shoot of the Quaker sect in Eng
land which had been influenced by
the early eighteenth century wave OF
manifestations among what we
would call mediums. Ann could
not read or write. and her husband
later deserted her. For her shout
ing, leaping and bodily gyrations
during her e~xhortations she was ar
rested in Manchester.
while in Jail the young woman
asserted that Christ appeared to her
in a vision. told her he was one
with her. and upon serving her SEN
tence she gathered a few followers
n set out to America to proclaim
herself the embodiment of Christ in
His second coming.
A Modern Miracle
On the way across the ships
captain forbade the Shakers to in
dulge in their athletic form of wor-
snip. WheEeupon, according to
Shaker literature, a storm arose. a
plank was sprung, and the vessel
began TO fill. Mother Ann reas-
sured the captain saying two angels
a appeared before her in a vision
to promise her safe passage. Just
as the crew was becoming exhaust
ed from pumping a huge wave again
struck the ship and damned the
plank back into place!
For two years Mother Ann
worked in New York as a washer
woman. then, in 1776, she founded
first Shaker village at Water
vliet, New York.
In such strange fashion was in
stituted, the year that America
dates her birth the Western Worlds |
hrst experiment in communism.
Later societies, or families, grew
up in New York, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut.
Ohio and Kentucky.
The Shaker Platform
The cardinal platform Of the
religion are virgin purity,
confession of their sins, complete
separation from what they term the
vanities. and a communism
winch approaches political social !
II a man and wife Join a
Shaker community they are sup
posed to live as brother and sister. |
Until recently they prohibited
the taking of photographs and they
forbade pictures of all kinds as
idolatrous. Even the cultivation of
hover gardens for decorative pur-
poses was frowned upon in former
years. And there is still doubt
among the older members about the
propriety OF musical instruments.
The Shaker community Is as
nearly self~-sustaining as possible
and about the only importations in
beginnings were iron for their
plough shares. In their industrial and
agricultural and development they
have contributed many valua-
Bile ideas which have been seized
for general use. They are
with the revolving harrow,
cut nails and the planning machine.
Raising herbs for medicinal use was
one of their early major industries.
Their Towns Spotless
"A famous description of their
central community, that of Mt. Leb-
anon, N. Y, is applicable to all their
No Dutch town has
a neater aspect. no Moravlan ham
let a softer hush says this writer. |
The streets are quiet; for here you
have no grog-shop. no beer-house, |
no lookup. no pound; Of the
dozen edifices rising about you
workrooms. barns. tabernacles, |
stables. kitchens, schools, and dor
mitories-not one is either foul or
noisy; and every building. whatever
may he its use. has something of
the air of a chapel
An elder and an eldress are the |
heads of the villages.
In the larger villages two of each
sex are chosen. and their authority |
is unquestioned. The recruits of the
societies are from world weary per-
sons to whom the isolation appeals, |
children attending their schools |
are mbued at an impression
able age with their religious teach ,
ings. Each member of the COM
munfty is expected to perform a