Show ODD RELIGIOUS SECTS I Have the Devil Worshippers I Settled in New York MISSOURI TRANCE ANGELS NEW MEXICO HAS A MIRACULOUS HEALER Tcx s Women Have n Sect in WIilcli Man is a Back Number They Cull Themselves Sanctificatioitifets Cincinnatis Hand or Perfectionists Perfection-ists I A way ot religious fanaticism seems to be sweeping over the country Nearly every day brings to light the existence 01 some new odd band of worthippr with a form of devotion as tran ge as it is senpetess While the rural communities seem to offer the most fertile fields for absurd religious re-ligious sects the large cities of the country have not escaped Already it is rumored that a branch I oiganization of the Devil Worshippers of Paris has been formed in New York t If this be true the police of the metropolis me-tropolis will doubtless be called upon to squelch the growth of this shocking shock-ing form of fanaticism before it reaches the proportions it has now attained at-tained in Paris The main objects of this band are to pay homage to the devil and to desecrate and insult every phase of true divinity Tributes are offered to i satan Every form of real religious worship is reversed the result being a collection of horribiy fantastic rites These are so at yariance to the bet be-t liefs of ordinary people that a detailed I description of them can well be spared While the tendency of the various i bands of fanatics originating in the Targe cities seem to lean toward the blasphemous those of recent date in the country districts are without these objectional features Perverted religious relig-ious enthusiasm appears to be theo the-o and Ignorant superstition l the corner stone of these manifold sects t A Mitsonri Angel 1 Bollirger county in the southwestern southwest-ern corner of Missouri is now suffering suffer-ing from the antics of a trance angel She Is a young girl Ida Decker byname by-name and not yet 17 years of age She Is blue eyed and light haired but not particularly pretty and with an J L I 7T r I I MISSOURIS TRANCE ANGEL education of limited caliber This girl has a following of about eighty people peo-ple Including two ministers She possesses the faculty of falling Into a real or assumed trance which some times lasts for days at a time While In this condition she claims to journey at will to heaven and bell and what her spirit sees in these expeditious ex-peditious she subsequently describes with considerable eloquence to her worshiping listeners She claims to 3iave communion with God and transmits trans-mits to her flock the imaginary commands com-mands given to her from above Some of her misguided followers assert that wlien she is In a trance a heavenly ihalo appears above her head They Icnow then that her spirit is visiting paradise Her doctrines are harmless as beyond the deception nothing malicious ma-licious hac resulted from her trance trips yo Men Wanted Tesas Is in possession of a queers queer-s ct Jvhlch if its beliefs were adopted generally the end of the world would OQIi be in Islsbt This sect is made l J yo Jh > = I up of thirty odd women who call themselves Sanctificationists The little town of Belton in the Lone Star state can claim the glory of sheltering shelter-ing this worthy band Recently its leading spirits made a journey to New York for the purpose of drumming up recruits but as the fundamental law of the organization absolutely abolishes and obliterates man this trip was not a success Mrs 4 1 Ii TilE HEALER Martha McWhirter is the founder of the order and Mrs Gertrude Scheeble is the secretary and treasurer Both of these ladies had husbands and raised families of children That their doctrine will never be popular is shown by the fact that it has taken fifteen years to build up an organization organi-zation of the thirtytwo members The Doctrine of the Sect Mrs McWhirter explained the doctrines r doc-trines of the sect in this way It is based upon Christian principles We believe in Christ and that he promulgated promul-gated celibacy and taught that a common property interest was right On this cooperative system a band of women fifteen years ago pooled their assets and started a fund with which to inaugurate an independent and self supporting movement among women We have > thirtytwo members now and all of us live in the hotel which has been recently completed We share alike our labors and profits We do not regain recruits rapidly for people peo-ple do not understand our views Women Wo-men who join us pledge themselves to lead alife of celibacy to put their earnings into a common fund to work and to obey the rules of the order The sect is conducted on sound business bus-iness principles It now owns 100000 worth of property and is largely interested in-terested in the commercial affairs of Belton Some of the women who joined were penniless but they were card for by the others Many left husbands and families when they became be-came members In a few instances I the deserted husbands contributed to the support of their wives The latter are permitted to be on friendly terms with their husbands but nothing more If there have been any backsliders the facts have been kept secret All the members are ardent suffragists and believe that women will eventually eventu-ally govern the country The Healer An Alsatian named Francis Schla der is rapidly building up a great following fol-lowing in New Mexico This man is entirely different from all of his kind He makes no claims seeks neither money nor fame and apparently has but one desirethat of healing afflicted afflict-ed humanity He is certainly in possession pos-session of some rare power Some have attributed it to animal magnetism magne-tism the more enthusiastic to a direct di-rect gift from heaven When he first appeared in and about the town of Albuquerque the educated people declared him to be a sharper and imposter or a lunatic and he was threatened with bodily harm Cures of the miraculous kind are credited to him He is but 39 years old stands about six feet in height and weighs in the neighborhood of 170 pounds He wears neither hat or shoes no matter mat-ter how hot thz sun or inclement the weather His hair falls upon his shoulders and he wears a full golden brown board His strange resemblance to the pictures of Christ his quiet manner of living and his power as a healer have had a strong effect upon all who have met him He is called The Healer It is asserted as-serted by people who say they witnessed wit-nessed the miracle that he held the hands of a blind man for five minutes min-utes and sight was restored that he gently rubbed the hands of an old woman who had been paralyzed for years and she left a few minutes later la-ter as strong as she was in her youth Hundreds of cases of the kind are cited The healer takes no money or gifts for his work The Perfectionists of Cincinnati Cincinnati has a curious sect in a band calling themselves Perfectionists Perfection-ists DIrs Hannah E Martin the leader of the Perfectionists died last spring and since May 25 her grave in the Cincinnati cemetery has been I watched by disciples who expect to witness her resurrection and flight to i heaven in a chariot of fire In her life Mrs Martin claimed to be the daughter of God and she was reverenced as the Messiah by her followers fol-lowers The ardor of the latter has been considerably dampened I by the failure of the resurrection which airs Martin promised just before her death woula surely take place Her sister Mrs Jqhn JBroks s now the leader Bpth sisters wJcfe abundantly sup r > plied with means Mrs Brooks like her predecessor has a room in her house fitted up magnificently The apartment is called heaven The leader is supposed to have constant communion with heaven and to hold the fate of mankind in her power The beliefs of the sect are a combination of theosophy and Christian science The members have adopted a language so veiled in mysticism that to the outsider out-sider it is incomprehensible |