St. Louis Post-Dispatch
July 15, 1900

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Where to So on Your Vacation Can be readily determined by you if you will advertise for “Summer” or Country Poard in P.-D. Wants. ee ‘ RR ON ong oR AN RT IE NE LS I LPS Te a a THIRTY-SIX PAGES. ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Sa Se eee a Ee ee NERS ee ‘“Upere Shall I Spend Wy Vacation? ** an be easily answered by advertising for “Summer Country Board in P.-D. Wants. = _—_—- -— — a VOL. 52, NO. 328 SUNDAY MORNING—ST. LOUIS—JULY 15, 1900 PRICE FIVE CENTS Cs SCHWEINFURTH TALKS CONCERNING HIS “HEAVEN” TO THE POST-DISPATCH , =a * i i od The Celebrated Rockford Teacher and Idealist, Whose Views Have Been Creatly Misrep- resented, Tells of the Abandon- ment of His Plans. -_ 4 THE PASSING OF A HISTORIC SETTLEMENT Bpectal Correspondence of the Post-Dispatch. ROCKFORD, Iil., July 14.—George Jacob Bchweinfurth, who has abandoned his so0- called ‘‘Heaven,.”’ seven “miles from this city, made the following statement to Will- am L. Eaton, editor of the Rockford Reg- Se ie in response to a request from the Post-Diepatch. After the interview was written it was submitted to Mr. Schwein- furth and he gave it his approval. In it he explains why he decided this week to abandor his ‘“Heaven’’—a name given to his social settlement on the Weldon farm by others—not by himself. He ,explains the origin of his title, “The Rockford Christ,”’ a title he never sought, and clears up other misconceptions concerning his long-established but now abandoned ideal. His followers have been urged by him t etudy the teachings of Mary Baker kaldy, the head and front of the Christian Science movement. Here is Mr. Schweinfurth’s Statement: By George Jacob Schweinfurth. “It has been my desire from my earliest youth to follow the strictest Hne of duty. I can remember when a child of depriving myself of little things, which other chil- cren were free to do, because I did not be- lieve they were right. My parents were devout people, natives of Germany, born fiear Stuttgart in Baden. Early in tneir gnarried life they removed to this country and to Ohio, which was my native state. My mother never left that state. When a young man I went to Alpena, Mitch. Dur- ing my youth I joined the Methodist Church ond was licensed to preach, altnough 1 was mever ordained as a minister. Many things which came under my observatwm led me to feel, as a young man, that not only fhe world, but the church itself, was in- estimably below the privilege and standard of the life given by Christ. In following that conviction I am now satisfied ihat my ideas became revolutionary. “The conduct of multitudes who had pro- fessed Christianity led me to doubt the value of what are considered the most im- portant rites. I came to have this feeling about baptism and about the Lord’s supper. The act itself was nothing. People showed themselves to be the samme after it as be- fore. Among my married friends I found that family life, under the marriage rela- tion, did mot seem to enhance happiness. That madé it a union of form and of name, but not of heart and reality. In time the rite of marriage came to have in my feei- ing towards it as little value as the rite of baptism. I felt that the Methxudist Church was not what it ought to be and 20t teaching the truth as it should, not leading people up to the ideal of the life which Christ gave. “It was while I was ir this frame of mind that [ first came ta this vicinity to Visit friends at Byron. Mrs. Beekman, wife of the Congregational minister there, haa for several years been carrving out her teachings. Her husband was not in sym- pathy with her views, but she had gained a considerable following, a recognized sect, generally known as the Beekmanites. I fell into sympathy with her views, which were much in with my It was Mrs. Beekman whe selected me for her successor before she passed away. “The world in general has a wrong idea © my position in that mawement. 1 sup- pose my people have had a way of lovk- jug on me a3 inspired and of speaking of me in that sense, but 1 never claimed it or taught, excepting in the sense that I felicve that it is given to all men to be divine, and that it is their duty to attain to that life. “Out of our bellef grew what we might call a movement in Christian socialism, That was buillt‘up as a community here at the Weldon farm, the owners of which heartily adopted the faith. Our pian was that of the early Christian Church, having all thines im common. That ideal was carried on here with very happy results. The farm had originally a farmhouse of the usual] dimensions and the ordinary accompanying bulldings. We added to the home and to the buildings from time to time until the Place has what you now see. It is a farm of 5300 acres and furnished employment to our little community, which grew at times to be 8 or @ members. The work resulted Successfully from that standpoint. The Great aim was to carry: out and to live the idea) taught by Christ, of love for one @nother and being helpful to one another. We attained a high measure of fulfillment of that ideal. Aithough we were a late household, we had very little incidents to mar the general happiness. I am persuaded that very few, ev@m small families. are so free from friction as our large community That was one of the points toward which we etrove. “Our religious service was not unlike that of most of the churches in its genera! idea. I gave to our congragation the teachings to which I felt moved by what I believed to ‘be the leading and inspiration of the Spirit. an inspiration to which every man’e life ought to be opened if he lives as he should and is ready to follow the teachings as Christ gave them. My sermons were report- ed by several of our members and pre- pared in duplicate on the typewriter, for use of our congregations at other points We had churches in Chicago, in our neigh- boring town of Byron, in Kaneas City, Min- neapolis, St. Charles, Minn... and Vista, Colo, The other churches regarded the community at Weldon farm as their headquarters, and to some extent shared 1: the work carried on from there agreement OWT). 1 I visited the other churches as occasion arose. “I first began to feel dissatisfied with gome results of our work about 8 years ago. Our teaching was constantly misin- by the world, There siders. were also cases where its application by our own followers led to unhappiness in familles, much to my own regret and pain. In such cases the spirit and aims of the /movemente were not properly followed by |our own people. The animosity of the com- | munity at large to what they wrongly sup- | posed to be our standard of conduct also |; brough many painful experiences. | “These things led me to the bellef that without our wish or desire our work was bringing some unhappy experiences for which we were not willing to be responsible. For that reason I decided to conform to the moral ideal which was better understood by the world, and five years ago the mar- riage which had been conformed to and re- spected under our teachings by my wife and myself, although during years of that time we were not pursuing the marriage relation In the generally accepted sense, and we were married at Minneapolis under the usual forms of religious ceremony. Dur- ing these later years we have strictly fol- lowed and respected the highest ideals of the home and family relations as currently accepted in soviety. “The valuable property of Weldon farm, the title of which was vested in myself for & number of years, was used by the com- munity in common and for the general good. When misgivings arose as to continuing in our general policy, following our teachings l transferred the place to the original owne rs, S. S. Weldon & Sons. You see that it is something of a gacrifice to atart In at 47 years of age to form your life plans all over again and without means to proceed. I have given the labor of all these years to the common cause. That cause has not been without good results, but the failure to at- tain the full measure of the good which we hoped to accomplish has been very painful indeed, It is not necessary for me to ex- plain the struggles and conflict@e which have | gone on within my own hear®e during this | change in what I ‘believed it best to do. Hiave we joined the Christian Scientists? No, that is not true, but we are studying their teachings, which correspond in not a few respects to our own. About a year ago Il wrote our churches of the discontinuance of our service and recommended that they study the teachings of Mrs. Eddy. In great measure that course has been adopted and our congregations have dissolved go far ag their separate maintainence is concerned.”’ Mr. Schweinfurth is given credit for being Sincere, and his general reputation among |} the people who know him best bears out | the earnestness of purpose which is implied | in his interview. He has the appearance of a man who has been somewhat carried away by his own ideal. Nevertheless his bearing and general manner indicate a well- poised man. He is of medium height, well knit and well built, weighing about 170 | pounds, : This religious community had no set creed, | but whoever wished to join them was wel- | come, provided he showed sincerity of pur-, pose and an acceptance of their ideals. To fulfill-the golden rule and the teachings of Christ in their relations With each other | and their fellow men was a standard they | expected of al) their followers. No mem-)} bers of their community sought to hoard wealth or engrossed themselves in quest of it. One man would not take a note from another if he loaned him money. Mr. Schweinfurth states that one of the | main things whicheled him to abandon his | former plans was the reflection that their | belief lack adaptation to the present order of society. The name ‘‘Heaven,” as applied to the Weldon farm, did not originate there, but was applied in a sarcastic sense by out- It was the aim of the community, however, to make it a heaven on earth, as that figure is sometimes used, and hence seemed to the name was not resented. The principal point of friction the Weldon farm community and people of the region who are not In immediate touch with the place was the fact of the abolition of the rite of marriage along with the other rites. and that several children were born there. The public idea of this phase of it. however, is much exaggerated, and all but one of the children were those of a de facto marriage of the standard of the Church "Triumphant, a marriage which has | since been solemnized in the form and by | the service which the rest of the world un- | derstands In the great household which formed a single commnulty at the Weldon farm were a number of distinct families. Thelr relations as individuals of the ordi- nary family were conducted much as ig the outside world. between | With regard to the social institution af marriage Mr. Schweinfurth today looks on his former tdea of it ass He lacked respect for it general spirit. manifested influence. At present » he has radicaliv changed i ms Cot revolutionary and for he many within {its and regards marriage on an exalted seale as the most nearly heavenly eee ee Odd Mutilation of a Corpse by an Ex- plosion in a Boot Blacking Place in New Jersey. Special to the Post-Dispatch ‘and the experimenter will be |for sport there is nothing which compares ithe ancient art of angling. The | line, Lee se Deerad vs CHINA’S MAN ON HORSEBACK. Prince Tuan, Head of the Boxers, Who Is Said to Have Usurped the Throne. TO FISH FROM Tht SKY a> —" LINES ARE DROPPED FROM BIG BOX KITES. NO BOAT TO SCARE FISH. Novel Pastime Which Combines High Kite Flying With Deep Sea Fishing. NEW YORK, July 14.—Fishing by means of kites is the latest piscatorial fad. Fly- | it gx fish are not the game sought, .but the finny dwellers of the deep which seldom stick their noses above water. ‘1 Phe tempt- ‘ing bait is to be dropped into the sea from a great height, so that the wily fish will get no view of the fish. poie or landing net, nor wijl he see the glint of an oar. In the fanci security of his ocean home he will bite at a choice morsel, only to find that itis at the end of a string thousands of feet long. flainy furnishing talls to creatures will be kite, Y12 ‘ Leng that Soon the more tian one to air line fishing. To Edward I. Horseman is due the credit of having designed the latest innovation in report CMTI- bines the excitement of fishing with the grave pastime of kite flying. it might be possible to attuch a camera to the Kite and to take a photograph of the fish in the act of being safely landed. There having been some very large sea bass caught ocff New Jersey cuast lutely, and this fac t ing them witlrout resort to the clumsy ' vices of ordinary hooks and lines. He IhKes to fly kites, so he found a way whicn would give him the chance to catch fish without agropping his favorite pursuit. He thinks that the high sky fishing could be very easliy accomplished. Ail the ap- paratus required will be a tandein of Kites, a small pulley and a fish Hne of the re- quired length. The tandem is to consist of two box kites and two flat Kites, Jike those emplhuyed in the experiments of Wiillam A. KMddy. ‘These Kites are all conneccte long string. About the center of ihe dem a small puiley is to be placed on Through this pulley will be run the fishiine, bearing an alluringly baited hook, re the precess Dee i Very simple. kites are se! Oo the upper regions of they uuifer .ar oul at holding the fishline, ‘| that pull whieh the veteran nhsnerman The man iwho is in charge if he | ich the | } atitacned “hl IMimed # iy begin | The is drawn momentum tandem 1s the man y + % Horseman neriments in kite home at Ajlennurst, FOUGHT WHILE TRAVELING. One Then Killed the Other With a Hatchet, in Self-Defense. PATERSON. N. J., July 14.-Dr. Dwyer, physician at the General Hospital In Passa has taken several yards of leather shoe laces out of the body of John Morine The man was one of those in the boot bDiacking place of Tony Rase when it was house explosion of dynamite torpedoes, and Tony Rose and Caunno Mycci Were killed, blown up on the eve of the Fourth by the | were CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., July 14 ‘body of a murdered man found roadsiGe near Cieveland yesterday ident} | as that of Posey Barker of -Duck- } town. | Jones Johnson ts in jail chareed with the ikilling. He confessed, saying he and Barker traveling together and Barker got drunk and attacked him and that he struck Barker with a hatchet in self-defense, | body. | "ARGON" A NEW CURE, WAS JAMES DRUGGED? _— — RAREFIED AIR MAY HEAL MANY ‘“‘HOPELESS”’ DISEASES. MISSING MINISTER HAS RETURN- ED TO KANSAS. REMEDY WORKS ON THE NERVES HE CLAIMS A LARGE ESTATE. Used With Success in Cases of Hys-,According to His Statement He Has teria, Epilepsy, Even Locomotor Been in England, a Sufferer in Ataxia and Other Ills. n Hospital. NEW YORK, July 14.—WIll argon found the cure for many human ills? The physicians of New York and their organiza- | Oakley, KRan., who has be: mysterlously tton, the County Medical Society, are not| missing for over two months, has returned ready to say so yet, but some wonderful] here sick, anabie to discoveries have been made in the last few Experimenting !s going on with re- More wonderfuk results are] to ciaim Valued at James English hi be M’PHERSON, Kan., July 14.—The Rev. Thomas H. James, a Methodist minister of uliy trace his wander- ings. His friends are convinced that he was days. drugged } io} ere | had go doubled zeal. expected daily. Argon has been known to scientists for some years, It is practically rarefied air. It can be extracted from the atmosphere |] physician who attended with little trouble. The medical profession, |] as {if from the effects af however, never until recently guessed t! found. tha it was a wonderful remedial agent. . ©.) the living W. Fitch, a graduate of Yale, and for many | gained control of vears a surgeon in the army, Was the first are contesting his righ in this city to experiment with-argon. The new use of the gas ig its applica- beeiy. It flows from | glass bulb, | patients Others of family who had Further than this he Before leaving far Lond offered to endow four chai Wesleyan University of each if the trustees would reluses human the receiver to an elongated which is applied directly to the When the argon its turned on, tii hollow of the bulb is filled with a deep Diue| which they did, and also offered to light of wonderful radiance, When the) sey 099 structure for the Bethany Ho patient grasps the bulb there is but a J slight sensation. Let him be touched with} ?® Kansas the bulb on the forehead or behind tne pepetiiitiinaiiidiaiain See sles GES UP NEW YOR report, which shows that the argon 1s at Gold Democrats, He Says; Will Join tion to the Work on his system, When a reporter saw Dr. Fitch yesterday at his home, No. 640 Madisom avenue, he Was averse to discussing his discovery. He frankly said that he did not why should heave any effect human |! and added that he preferred Waiting till the results of experiments made by other imedical men should be known, “It is a mystery,” he seid, ‘but the cures already made have been weomderful I hazard the opinion tnat argon acts upon or through the rervous tissue which governs | committee, di the process of repair, and indirectly, Puss’- {00 ‘SF hig. tiveuatl the glandular. syatem as well, | C4'FryY Greate Certain it is that the argon penetre! body wherever it is applied. I awakens sluggish nature to new acitvity.” Hysteria, epilepsy, vertigo, train fag dis- ’ the spi locomotor ataANXia , } Tammeny in Working for Mr. Bryan. Special to the Post-Dispatch NEW YORK, July 14 late ohairman of the $1.00,000,000 ; : All this paetronage anda. r. at - t} jImpression locomotor ataxia have bee I i vote for Bryan (of them a t New York most te the argon tr ot , iS asker ver and are “We haven t far enough along to an- or accepting the swer that quest .* replied Dr. Fitcl ~ pa one will sav, how - int as seem as the ar treatme? retood I thi will a rene ial to consun iseases tn W ‘ rn be ae Window Glass Cutters Pay Is to Re- main Unchanged. PITTSBURG, Pa., July 14.—At a con- Window Cutters’ League and the officiais of the American WILK MSBARRE, Pa., Window Glass Co., here ay, the s A. B. Koons, of last year was signed r the ensuing | #econa degree verdict year with a few minor changes The ite much suffering an tlement affects about 20 men, | , or Jwige indicated. JUDGE BECQMES A PROFESSOR. | Yancey Lewis Joins the Faculty of the University of Texas. CLAREMORE, I, T., July 14.—Judge Yan- cey Lewis, formerly judge of the central district, under President Cleveland, has ac- cepted a position in the faculty of the law depariment of the University of Texas, He Was Compelled to Agree by the Majority. ference of the Glass Special to the Post-Dispatch. + ; who held 3," . After . ass Of 1i,)7'Se tT} imsuitea freer the jurors Koous signe! the first dearee verdict with a statement that mM Was against his oonscience. During the weeks since the verdict war given Koons has been a broken men and bas aged greatly, Oe atta it 4 ai i'Smith'’s laukhing, gay nature, SINGLE JUROR 13 SUSTAINED: ! trl. she had Court Overrules a Verdict to Which | | Invitations +; General Wood of Cuba. It was thought ralid¢’gban climate BEAUTIFUL MISS SMITH. SLAIN BY THE BOXERS, DIED A MARTYR 10 GOSSIP als» LP? oe She Was a Society Belle in Washington When Cruelly Charged With the Theft of Valuable Jewels. a. Ow i as PROPERTY SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND AND MISS SMITH PROVEN INNOCENT, She Went Abroad With Minister Conger and Family in Order to Bury Her Sorrow, and Declared She Would Never Return to This Country. Special to the Post-Dispatch. [ ones the news was sent to Washington, WASHINGTON, July 14.—No matter how! but Washington was uninterested. There painfully death may’ have come to Mary! was no spicy scandal tn the finding of the Condit Smith, the pretty Washington girl, | jewels, and at any rate it was not nearly who, it is nowe believed was murdered by! as interesting as the loss of them. So Washington accepted the finding of the jewels in a disinterested sort of -Way. Washington had almost forgotten the ac- cusation made agatnst “Polly” Smith by Boxers, it was sweet to the living death | j | she was suffering. She was a martyr to Washington scandal] | mongers, and was literally driven to her death by malicious gossip. | this time, in the freshness of other gossip Mary Condit Smith died in trying to on which Washington feeds, but “Polly” live down and forget that she had been’ gmith had not forgotten. She could not branded as a thief. No more innocent, nO forget. She came home from Cuba {me purer girl ever lived that she, yet she was | mediately after the jewels had been found, not proof against scandal and gossip. ind no doubt could have taken her own Horror stricken, ashamed, cowed, she place in society had she been able to fore sought to forget by traveling from one end | oer put she was not the forgetting kind, Of the carte to the Omer. She continued unhappy, never speaking un- It was in Pittsburg the seed of scandal]... she was spoken -to; growing thinner that led to Miss Smith’s- murder was] an? jess like her former self every day. planted. In Washington she was known Society had all but killed her by its love as “Polly” Smith. Here she was | for gossip. She was a laughing, lighthearted ‘j . y It was when her family had almost de- welcomed everywhere. When the invitation came for her to at-| ®P4ired of ever making her well and happy again, that the trip to China was pro- tend a house party given in Pittsburg last ei 3 posed. The Congers were close to the fall she accepted. It was a gay house Condit-Smiths. They loved the “Polly” party and “Polly’”’ Smith was the gayest of all. No one denied that she had been the| Smith they had known of old. The girl loved. girl, oe Fe eee £a Ss SRR RS CRS 8 =e ee m/s = = witkisieieiciei-i-hle eile ee ithout her, fleft for China with the expressed purpose of staying there always. In China she broken | could at least be among people who would that le scandal took yt. » hostess | not gossip. What if they were heathens? missed jewelry to the val i@ of more} What if they did kill her, as they perhaps Her gwueste were all persons Of lave done? They would at least make nadie | iisery short-lived. ‘olly’’ 8mith wentto China. She wag them their names i no one of | a pitiful looking little thing when she left hem. But the police are not respecters of | Whehington, the only home she had ever nd family names, so the de- |*known, where she had done #0 much te jewelS | make h ippy the lives of others. party. It ts said that !t was Miss Smith's pur- of “Polly” | poas to e®entually be a missionary in China, and they »e- he could never return to Washington. It fe. | was urged upon her that Washington had forgotten the accusation made her and was only too ready to looking | the wrong. “he wrong, however, Was things that; to ‘at, to her thinking. to ever be righted shose to go fram her home forever. “Polly” Smith met death has not ide known as yet, but no matter death was sweet to Der, | There may be those in Washington today , puffer a pang far the girl whom they > houwe | 8¢? None can deny that the calumny they helped ts give breath and life to made her a martyr. ST. LOUISAN IS ONE OFFICER. — er. me National Association of Retail] Furni- sae bea ah ER igs IE 9H ture Dealers Holds an Election. nice> lian obmeatl: ie ce: hea . | CINCINNATI, July 14—The National Ase | sociation of Retall Furniture Dealers today elected the following officers: President, Thomas M. Smyth, Chicago; vice-presti-e dents, Isaac Frank, Indianapolis; E. & Hostettler, Waterloo, Io.; C. L. Bachman, Decatur, UL: W. H. Bischoff, St. Lowls; | secretary and treasurer, Mayor E. Bmricd, |; Chicago. MORE BODIES ARE FOUND. not have the beneficial efect expected. | mote) Number of Corpses Taken Brom os eee Wreck of of the Saale Is 56. Sint mt Ghia thé theta | NEW YORK, July 14.—Three more bodies . | were found tedey on beard the German ; ° a ‘ : : r ™ . P nd ' lost jewels was scived, wy were foun Lloyd steamer . Whteh tn in the house of their owner, in some OUt- Saal burned the of-the-way place where they had been left AL of the party, than $2040. the highest standing and of un! a i character. She called in detectives, and told} } cy y - . began to search for the among the guests at the hous learned In some way they n to delve into ““Polly”’ Smith’s past jaugh.| aiready ‘ ‘ | . flleve ivainst a j Wes ~ of the jew- , ry Wer) | W iif sent to her death Smith. She was ed numbere and | epted, The] and paler She was seldom came in fewer those that did come were not a giri got paier seen outside her own home Miss Smith's brother-in-iaw ig Covernor- | that a cnange scene and climate woukl ‘ was sent to Cuba. change of scenes litera abour tae while the house party was going on. re re ere —— 60 5 he Pena sic: eidhiciien. x 2 ee ome