Wagner and the Return to Nature

San Francisco Call 1903

San Francisco Call, 1903.

A Utopian society has established itself in Ascona, a little place on the borders of Italy and Switzerland. This little society, which numbers thirty-eight individuals, seeks to solve the problem of how to live happily. The members are pledged to observe certain simple rules of living, which they have carried out now for three years. They eat no meat, but live principally on fruits and herbs. and they wear one simple garment only, and no hats. There are sixteen women in the sect. They know no laws save those of nature, and they amuse themselves with Wagnerlan music. The founder of the colony is a Belgian. Each new member is initiated on his finding sufficient money to buy a plat of land, by the cultivation of which he is expected to support himself. – London Daily Mail.

San Francisco Call, Vol. 94, 22. Juni 1903, Nr. 22, S. 3. Online

Digitalisat: California Digital Newspaper Collection.