San Antonio Daily Light

SELF-BAKING SECT.
The Begonny Religion Insures a Hot
Time In Life to Its Votaries,
Baking themselves in huge roaring
ovens is the climax of emotional enthusiasm
and
self-sacrifice of a
strange sect of Russians.
They are
the Begonny, and they live in the village
of Ternowo, near Tiraspol.
They are not religious fanatics, although they have been associated with
a religious movement, that of the Poles
in Russia. Their origin was a political
and economical one, their agitations having always been directed toward
greater personal
liberty and
political power for individual members
of society.
They demand the abolition of documents
for proving identity and also
the abolition of the necessity for the
passport, while their desire is toward
countries in which people can live unknown in the pursuit of wisdom.
The members of the Begonny repudiate
compulsory military service, and
if forced to bear arms they are liable
to emotional enthusiasm, leading to
self-sacrifice.
The form of death
which they adopt is usually burial
while alive, but occasionally it is self-destruction by fire.
When the last great sacrifice of the
sect was made the people adopted the
voluntary crematory
method as a
means of getting eternal release
from their troubles. On a single day
four families went out from a village
and did themselves to death. A huge
oven was built, and into it those who
voluntarily decided
to
die plunged
themselves.
When people who lacked the necessary
enthusiasm or strength of mind,
or who felt that they were not worthy
of attempting the great achievement
knelt and prayed while they wept for
their relatives
and
friends, whose
charred bones
they
kissed in an
ecstacy of affection and admiration. -New York World.