The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, December 31, 1878, Image 1
TfR17WEEKLIYIiEDITIONJ} WINNSBOIRO. S. C., USDY DMCEMBER 31,1878 IVOL. .N.4
LIFE AMONG THE SHAKERS.
aLA"LINJIsWir, on WIT'rOUT,
GoDLINEs,.
A DesoriDtion of the Queer People
Who Reside Anong the Berkshire
Hills of New York.
ERMnom the Neta and tburier. I
In our nineteenth* century we
find many singuIarities in modes of
worship which'aro hard to reconcile
with the spirit of the'age.
For instance, the" "Shakers," a
sect singtilar in" tlio habits of life,
personal aspect, and form of worship
of its members. We visited a
Shaker village in, the summer among
the Berkshire Hills of New York,
and found one virtue at least per
fectly illustited-oleinliness. Of
"godlinoss'! we saw nothink. With
in a mile of the village we met a
lumbering vehicle proceeding at a
funeral rate, with two men and two
women sitting .very erect and
looking exceedingly uncomfortable.
As they approached, the curious
garments, the queerly cut hair of
the men, und, above- all, to the
feminine taste, the outrageous and
unmistakable bonnet of the * women,
proclaimed thom undoubtedly "Sha
kors." As we passed, the men gave
us a sober, dignified bow, wilich, I
am sorry to say, we returned by' a
Rather curious gaze. "It's a re
Markable fact," said our driver,
''that you nevei find one man and
one woman* riding together. It's
either one man and two women, or
two ndh and several women."
"Then they do not allow flirtations,
evidently," remirke a young lady,
who certainly looked as if size wan
not above sunl amuisbmint. * "Bless
jour heai-t, no I" Le exclaitned, "tid]
men hfven't nothing to do with the'
women." At the entrance to the
-.Shaker Villago," fields 'of oilions,
then going to seed, (for"which- these
people ture noted,) id prim looking
apple orchards bordjred the ..rd
forming a relitd, howeves94j
stiff, pinkish huses, the ibodos of
the people. These "dwellings" are
very large, built of stone and brick,
and generally of a pinkish *color
most offensive to the eye of thu:
fastidious. The Inon Iwo on one
nide of tho hoise ind theo women on.
the other. Aa we wore anxioums to
make a few purcbases, as relics of
the place, we stopped at a store.
The articlea for sale were very
expensive, nearly all of thom being
fancy, such as baskets, boxes, fans,
Ac. One-thitig attracted us strong
ly, and that was a box of maple
sugar, which everybody said wao:
partionlarly well made by the
Shakers. All of as ate it until, as
Mark Twain would'say, we 'lo'athed
the ver" sight of it. It tasted like
a miit..re of brown sugai and
water,'which to me was not very
appetizing. The store was* pain
fully clean, not a speck of dust to
lbe seen on the floor, ceiling or wall,
the latter being adorned by little
placards with directions for becom
ing good.' Several of us were ad.
vised to inves,t in these, but~ we en
dorsed tlie sentiments and 'dida't
buy. A Shakeress now came in and*
asked if we would not like to go.
down to the dairy. The maple
sugar eater's welcomed that idea
gladly, thinking of a; hospitable
invitation to partake of milk, &c.
Poor creatures I they were doomed
to disappointment, for we were not
allowed to touch nor taalte. The
dairy was cleaner than the store, if
a comparison be' possible. Large
hospitable cheeses adorned the
shelves and tables, creamy and
-*inviting in their appearance. Tall,
bright looking cans of cream and
milk rested 'on ' the' floor, while
bright tin plates an;.1 pans adorned
the walls. We p iased 'from the
dairy into the launidry, and there,
ensconced in a rocking chair, was a
pretty young Sh ikei-ess. Now
there was a handsome young man
:in our psty, (a necessary append
age to all parties,) and by a strange
coincidence (such thidge happen
some times) he looked at he ', and
she--I regret to record such a
vanity and frivolity of a Shaikeress
~-4ooked at him and laughed. Tnis
little coquetry was stopped, how
ever, by the appearance of our
Shakeress guaide--an elderly lady,
who never did such things when
eAe was young, at' lent hier digni-,
fled expressioni hnpIied. 'Batt a# the
old adage-runu, "Let yorngg people
alone for enijoying 4.hein'selt'es." A
4, left the ,roonm, 'our' hadsaome
foung . gotld . fidg4' .J i
to have a little cit wit' the pretty
young Shakeress. "What a very
clean.place you have here," he 'e
marked, granciag furtively at his
coimp..nion. "I suppose you ai'e
never troublod with flion ; there
seems to be a perfect dearth of then
here. Why if one came in all thit
would be necesary to s.%y would
be shoo-fly, eh ?" "Not if you were
tle fly," she coyly answered.
At this interestin, juncture,
when his hopes no douibt were run
ning high, the party re-entere and
the young 8hakerems was ordore to
leave the room. With a submissive
"yea" she obeyed, but not without a
baokwird glance or two. "What
are we coming to," remarked a spin
ster of our party, "when eoven Sha
kers flirt I"
We visited the church next, but
were told no service would be held
there until Sunday. As it was Stt
urday we determined to roturn the
next day to service. Accordingly,
on the following morning, about 10
o'clock; we found 'ourselves at the
church door. "Vehicles to the nuin
bor of forty or fifty filled the street,
people having come from all yarts
of the duntry to see th3 perfor
mance (ceremony, rather.) The
so -called church was certainly.
curiously.built. * It had very Much
the appearance of a large ha.ill, with
the exception of a bay-window at
one end. -The gentlemen of our
party --were told to go to the left
with the "brethren" while the ladies
passed to the.right witha the "sis
ters." The fISor was s> spotlessly
white that yoh positively felt it was
wrong to p u your "herotic.d" feet
tipun it. wohebes were placed for
visit,rs, aid we succeeded in ob
taining one of the fron, seats. Tio
"eonregaion" i.e.,t10 84.akers,
(we.constituted tihe audience,) had
already asrembled, the women wear
ing barege droes. jerjfuetly plain,
(no such woL'ldly thing as an over,
skirt,) With a muslin han-lkernhiaf
nfoarnd the neck and curials lttle
caps on the head, were se ite.l on
one side of the room, and the laon,
with long coAts and pants of a deep
bluish coloi', were. seated .on . the
other.' The h.ir of the toen were
long behin and bthgod in front.
After sitting awhile. in profonit
siience. abiout Welity-five mleu an
wottien* rQs8-. ani:1 'fIn.AA3 - circle
c41ll the "Singing Circle," or it
Somed to us ithe '"Timing Cirelo."
T m'rest of the CO1)grg:Ltion now
r-4 and foui-rm.1 a long line, pre
l):'ratory to thcir dan(_'e1arouhd the
"minging Ciicle." 0.jt of the
"sisters" having givon the key-note
a dismal wailing was set up and
the congregation commenced to
da-ice around. No discription can
convey an adequate idea of how
these people dance. To er,joy it,
one should see them. There was
one man who struck our attontion
par ticularly 4nd he may -Rerve as a
model. 'He was tall and thin, with
a most sanetimonious countenan ce.
He walked on his toes with a moat
elastic 6pring of the body-beiding
forward at each step an dwaving'his
hands up and down in a most efr'ee'
Live manner. Niiv and then, 'as if,
moved by the spirit, he would jerk
himself up and then give a long'
stride. After dancing twve or thr'ee
times around tihe circle, they all
stopped, and then a brother, and
sometimes a sister, would sp)eak.
One sister give ue the benefit of
one of her visiond; .It so happened
that she had bad one that morn'ing
on her way to church. When they
had danced about eight times, th~e
signal was given for them to stop,
They all then:went'to their :seats,
the men on one side at d the women
on the other, and. ' after spreading
their pocket handkerchiefs' on their
laps, composed thiemselves to listen
to the "leader," who now came
forward to address "the people of
the world," as he called us. Turn.
ing his back on the NShakers, he
commenced as follows :
"We are all glad to see you bere
to-day, and hope proper decorum
will be observed ; no frivolity, and
all wordly thoughts put aside. I
know I ain addressing Methodists,
Episcopalians, B iptists, and. manry
other seotsi but j tell you just
what it is, my friends,'tiie time'for
a new religion has' oome, and you
can now throw off your'old shacklesi
and embrace the new fqith. All of
those religions are ruled by an
authorit,y which is 4,bsolately -damn
n.ible. '['here's: the ohulroh'of kng
land, Why, Who's Mt the head of
that ? -Viotoria, She's at the head
of the church atal the army, Wes
ley leg Is the Methodists,' and thats
the way with all of them. Iv ial4
rather be dahqd (taWbe 'N4e tbe
authority of 'those sect.
th~eso people beliet6I~.
Instead of rising, you all did like so
many cows ant horsem, und you!
needn't hAve any other hop6. How
different we are. We live 'like
ange0s (they certainly didt, showt
it) and don't believe in m%rripge..
We are proud of .tho nan%of Sho- I
kers, aind live honest' livet, tilling
the soil and earning -otr dvin bread
Then, again, what' bigotry i'ues
tioso people. Just the 9hr day I
met on1e of Lhe4 men of t0- world
and we had a discussion on religion.
Immediately his eyes. bi'iand,I
know right off that man,bad 'the
devil in him. No Chris- with
I charitable feelings would- get so
angry in- a discinsion. .ko ' no
doubt about it. All .Episo9alians,
Methodistmi, anI all- sxoh li -are an
infernal ot of (hristiane." t -t
With such remarks he aotinud
to scold his audience fdr "Atly half
an hour, when, to our great relief,
he concludeil his remaiks'i th the
siticere hope that we would%kUow-,
ledge the error of ouir ways id em
brace the new religion, i. eco.me
Shakkers. A hymn was t1a sung,
and the-people were distusvpd. The
women then walked in a's%$ imoni.
ons' ianner to their respet e pegs
to6k ddwn th61i 'boungts ' tip- b
pots and walked slowly on6. t
Our party soon after left,laoralizt
iug on what we had *een an hvard.
i
THEATRIOALS AT BLA'CEST I..-.,Q4 t
Christmas evening an entert nbin
was given at Blackstook r.'the '
benefit of the Blackstock igbt -
Itifantry, the receipts .-fro4 which .0
!-wore $155.00 Great disapp6int.: 0
ment was expressed at the Absueno a
of the Chester Luminaries, but-~the :
Rossville String B.nd waar 1. hand a
anI iunished music for $4e occa.. a
sion, The performances opened f'
with a dri.ll in the manual 6f arms 6
by a chosen squad of the B. L. I., 0
who splendidly acquitted them- 1
selves. "Tho -Cousins," a -efined a
society drama, was'then intrdduced t
Misss Mary Nicholon, . Iattie 0
Boulware, Lida Mobley' 'd An nie %
Morrison persontted -their '
ter6 in an tttrajtive-. ino ' " t
tained handsoeo
Pag4n,T . Vp
Keveo#ral impressive tableax were i
pi-esented, after which followe4' a t
farce entitled' Wintafall." Misses tI
Mninie Woodward andTilla obyel
di'stinguisheI theine4ves in. the', A
charming wa,y they naotod 41fre. anc d
Clar'a M.ely. AMssrs. O1, Kou
no.ly, Caldwell tind Pagan sust:inea
their parts in a mostereditable way.
Mr. T. it. Boulware acted the negro
to perfection, and with his cornfield
arlance kept the audience con,
vulsed with law%.hter. Aniid. astori4
of applause the certnin fell, when
everybody forthwith invaded the
apartments where Mrs.. Brice, -Mci.
McLure, Mrs. Craig, Mro, Shannon a
and Mrs. Oates vied with each other I
in dispWnmiug a prindely fot. 'A P
spec.ially noticpable featro 6f the 1
ocq#on wAs a variety 'table in
o:'arge of Miss Anna Ualdwell~ the
Mies. Mobley and Mis* Nettie
Rbddy. These' young ladies" d is-'
cha'rged their' duty iti fa'most
engaging manner, and were the
centre of attraction' to 'which'
susceptible bachelors gravitated, a
The lemnonade well was ai popular
institution. Tihe "dra*ers of water". r
at this wvell were -two charmin~ a
young ladies, Misses Woodward and e
Mobley, whose sweetness of manner
gainett them many admuirr1
ChAester Reporter. -. - . r
At a partyv in M'ehigan a couple 0
of young people submitte'd in jest toiil
a mock marriage ; and after the a
ceremony was performe&I by a gen, t
tleman present the girl discovered I
that he was a justice of 'th's' peace,
and she claime. that the marriage 'I
wa lga.Th youi muani doesn't
A bright and happy face' peoping (
out of a baby carriage, -'is 'a sure a"
sign that the little' occupant. hais
not, been dootored 'with opida' t
preparations. If your baby needs
medicine buy a'bottle of Dr. Bull's'9
Baby, $yrup. It containe nothing ,1
mnjurQus, ...
Pope Leo XIII. is engage'di
drawing up a .scheme' of co-.operar
tion bat\Ween. all -the Europead
powers, with a view' to the regreo.
.sioin'of socialisticad atol
todidencies.
The damage. doge rby* recent
two days' -storli h foeu west#ru 1
counties of "Ma tta j. A6i
mated 4 $8r
p4otep'sn
TIa rar,r.oJVwrra,
L Now Theory to Its Generation an
Re'production.
Among the most vahnablo con
ributions to thq yollow 'eve
oroblem, is one fro;a Dr. E. E
lrnipsoed, of Columbia, publishe<
a the New York Bledical Reaord
le says:
"It weems, from the means of re
earch at my commnand, that in al
lie inquirics of those who hav<
ritten on the origin of ellom
ver, none-have gone beyon th<
Vestorn .: ' pho. Althougf
xtensively.: tn upon, by Lien
eikant*Atury and others, physi
ians have entirely . ignored' th
uliuence0of the trade windai upor
he production of disease. Tht
treat desert of Africa is'a Region o
ry, hot winds, the intensely hoate<
nd rarifieI aiUs passing over COentra
Lfrica, during the rain season, wher
he poisdious elements * are being
onstantly and rapidly,gonerateil, o
ourse takes up this element it
-reit abundance, and as moisture iE
dded in 'large quantities, -whilc
)assing over the immense area o
.ea water, 'these trade winds ar<
roll-suited to deliver- their living
urden on our shores, prepared fol
he addidon of the nalai-ii necessa
y to*intonsify its malignity. Ae
leoe winds, like- all 'others, are
otnewhat subjected to changes it
heir'direction, I would ask if- 'this
any n6t account for fhe appearance
f thif feyer only in certain locali
[es, either on our Gull Qr Atlantic
ot, in anv givan oeason, while al
ter portions are oxenpt. ' So fat
% my investigations - have gone I
nd that all those who have made
rwv registrations for the direotions
ad ducations of witd while this
var prevailed,-.bjvegpuflued theij
eives to the.6ds. near the surface
f the earth, not regarding the
aper.strata of air, . which w1y
-count for the seeming incongrili
r*in 'all efforts ' to identify . th
rigin of the poison of this diseaso
ith prevailing urinds. Tis traciug
I the'trade winds, and of. their
,$oeo doie -li fully with tht
ties which A 1 i nva4dda
61. xa .... . .nv'.d
.11 P4frah'c6 i ywhore in the
orld btip de of the precibod
no, goes fr. to corroborate- i'n
isory of this poison; and, - unt:
lose trts- ire satisfactorily refut,
l, I'will hold this opinion, and at
>)me future tine mnore fully Gluui
-Ite the tostiniony."4
J7-KC-A-BR4C,
aliny slop,
Tired nature's sweat restorer -
-Don't amount to much,
If you impon to bunk ..with a
snorer.
:91-mdra Gazette.
In Paris a certain Mlonsior I(en
rd announces himself as "a public
rib.e, who digests accounts, ex,
lains the laiguage of 'floweis, and
ils .fried potatoes."
Every miai is mad better by th<
pssession of a~ good picsture, if it ii
sly a landscape on' the bauck of i
unfdred dollar note --Kew Orlean.
'icayune. .
"Got all kinds of ties here ?"~ sii
.would-be wit, .entering a well.
nown) frirnishinag store. "Yes, sir,'
splied the shopmnan. '"Well,
ould like a pig -style,". replied thi
astomer." "All -right, sir jue
end - down your -hogshead, ani
e'll taike your' measure," said th<
pad.) sh6pman..
'Thej w.ere looking at the fall styli
f bunnets. Said she : "Oh I dear
)ok at. thudt bird in the crown ; whal
pretty bill I" And -because he~
srned away, 'wiped ' his eyes with,
is handkerchief, and murinured, "]
hould saiy i6 wa's a pretty bill," sh'
ecamne. nelacholy, and threateuic
t>m leave him and go home to hei
Nothet-, -
A noted sharper, wishing to in
ratia'te himself- with W elergyman,
id:' "Parson, I should like t<
ear.you preach mor'e thain I oat
all' yott.". "WVell," 'responde<t th<
lergyagau, "if you had been wher<
on ooglj .to have:been last Sunda;
'on woduld have heard me."-'We
ras that ?" asked the sharper. "It
he coqat,yjai,'' was, lie reply,
Two brothe.re, of the name o
sawes,eon ereating .a disturbance al
he Dublin-Theatre, wore called t<
>r ,b-hecelebrated Felis Me
a wowas 1ntli e atno bog
)ne of the ,. present' .his cat-d.
aid, "Yoi Qlal1 v r inu"ne o
1~o ~Lws." "La*ea
~Itqaoh 1%~ Then .11
da ur~t1 nOh
t 0 e'h1io
IfEWA OFTIHEDAy.
Pullman oars will be running
from Parip to Aome next spring.
The Paris Exhibition building,
rminus the PavIlion of the City of
-Paris, is to be retained.
A recent fire at Ab.in p-lace, the
winter residence of the Khedive of
Egylt,. destroyed half the building.
*Hong Kong a troneidous con
flagration broke out on ChristnaS
and t'afed al4day Thursday, causing
great dostruction of property.
A Kentucky mule kicked over a
- can of 'nitro-glycorine, aod was
bl own into atoms, togetber with a
negro driver* and the wagon to
whioh the mule was attached.
.6ight, one of the numGrous wookt
lies itarted within tho last eighteetj
months iv London, has gone out,
and'those'very hard tilm6s are likely
to have 6 very snuffling-6tt effect on
sevoral other literary luinarieS.
One of the Baston churches re-,
fuses tu adtiit'a genlonan to its
membership, beoause he breaks the
Sabbath by preparing matter for a
Monday paper. The Boston Young
Men'aChristian Association oudirses
this decision.
Boston is getting up a big an.
thors' carnivalo r fair. There are
to be ten booths, each devoted .to
the sale of one anthor's books by
pretty girls. dressed to -represent his
principal characters, There will
also-le'readiig. The profit is to
go to a charity.
Reports from Manchester, Shef,,
geld and other places in England
show the recent distress to be still
increasing, but the thaw, if it con
tinue, will enable insons and
other outdoor laborers to resuine
wof'k, though even then a vast
amount of destitution will re:pain.
The corporation 'of Liverpool
have given public notice that they
intend to~ apply,.in the e0suing sos
sion' of Parliameut, for an aot
authoriing the A.ighting of the
gi e streets, plaeoes,..a44g 4an.
tint-the:6rdugh by 'iAA 'W e
ootrie light, "or otherwise than by
Wnehuns. of gas."
The body of a well developed
child, appi.rently soveral days old,
was picked up on Thursday night
on the streets in Paterson, N. J.,
after having been kicked about for
several days as a parcel of no con
sequence. It was wrapped only in
a bit of old bedtiok and was frozeu
still,
The steam barge United, Capt.
E. L. Haine, ferom Fredericksbtarg
for Philadelpliia, sank off Cedar
Point at 1, a. m., on - Friday. Sh
was loaded with railroad ties. The
crew jumped in a bott as the vessnl
cank,and were five honra in the open
boat. The cook was frozen to death.
The Washington correspondent of
the Loui'sville C1ou1rier-ournal as
serts that Mr. Blaine is working
very hard to have General Grant
put on the army retired list in order
that the General may thus get the
reputation of being what the cor
respo,ndent calls '"a Iaid1easide public
man."
The comittee of the Louisiana
Legislature to whoin were referred
the charges brought against Con-.
gressman Acklen b)y one H. La.
Smith, a telegraph operator, of the
.sedluction and neglect of -a dani'h -
ter of Acklen's ' overseer in 1877,
have -published 'a report exnr'essin y
their unaninious convicti6n that
Acklen was -guilty.
*Mr. Cranston, of Floyd county,
Ga., married in 1872, deserted his
wife in 1874, and, going to Ten
unessee, married aiother woman, and
w~as killed 'by'a railroad accident,
His second wife sued the company
for damages, and, his history having
come dut, tbe question is raised
whether she or the wvife deserted in
Georgia should conduct the suit,
The regular mnesseng~er of the Im.
porters and Traders' JBank of New
York City being absent on Friday,
a new man was sent with the usual
consignment to the 'Olearing..house,
Me wha secornpanied by -the bank
detective. 'and - earried S160.000
Olearing.-'bouse certi#oates of legal.
ten-dere deposited In the United
S ttes - treasury, *42,900 United
States gold certificates, 6,755.88
carroucy7 and $6,7 gold. The me
senger, on arriving at the Clearing
housy, discovered that alW thy money
was gone and could~ 4in to
tadisAppearane.. rj~
1 urned tothe ban *