Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-05-13
Miscellany.
An Old Superstition.

Among the horrible superstitions
which still exist in some parts OF the
world, that of the vampire is one of the
worst. A recent lawsuit In Germany
has shown that this weird belief still
exists, notwithstanding the boasted
enlightenment of the nineteenth GEN.
tury.
On the 5th of February, 1870. there
died at Kantzyno, village in Western
Prussia, of consumption, q respectable
gentleman, named Francis Won Pob-
locki, sixty three years of age. A few
days after lis funeral his eldest SOD,
Anton. was taken sick and died on the
18th of the same month. According to
the physician, his disease was what is
known as "galloping consumption"
Almost at the same time this mans
wife and young daughter were taken
sick; a second son and a brother-in- law
felt very unwell. and all these persons
complained of feeling indescribable anx-
iety and oppression.
The superstltious notion was now
adopted by the family, that the dead
father was a so-called vampire, and that
they must all die if help were not at
once obtained.
A vampire is supposed to be a body
which continues to live in the grave.
rising therefrom by night to suck the
precious hfe-blood from living persons,
especially its own relatives, and thus to
nourish itself and prevent the usual
decay.
The persons attacked it is said, some
times feel themselves in dream caught
by the neck and almost strangled; or
unable to keep off the fearful visitant
who lies on their breast, they decline
very rapidly, and after their death be-
come themselves vampires, and SO on
without end. until, by some forcible
measures, the fearful terror is dis
PEELED.
According to this superstition, which
prevails in Poland and Western Prus-
STA, the ability to become q vampire is
given with the SO called Fortunatus'
cap, which in all ages and among all
people has been regarded as an emblem
of prosperity. Such vampire candi-
dates are said to be somewhat dicta-
torial and avaricious. The principal
sign, it is believed, is to be found in
the corpse. The face retains it's color;
the blood flows freely; the Stiffness and
offensiveness of dead bodies are entirely
absent, as though the person were in a
trance.
There are various methods adopted
by these superstitious people for de-
stroyiDg the vampire; some mild, Others
more severe. One is to turn the dead
body in the coffin with the face down
wards. Another is to drive a wooden
stake through the breast, and further,
to cut off the head and lay it, face
downwards, between the legs. While
the body is thus horribly treated, the
people declare that groans are heard
and wild laughter from the mouth of
the vampire. In some cases the body
is burned to ashes.
After Anton Won Poblocki's death,
and his mother and sister were taken
sick, the family determined to resort to
the severest measures OF relief, the exc
cution of which deyolved on the second
son, Joseph, who was now the head of
the family. The same operation was
to be performed on the father on the
night before the sons funeral.
Joseph Won Pollock, with this view,
went the day before to the grave-digger
of the place, and offered him a round
sum of money if he would dig the grave
for his brother so near to his fathers
that they could, without much trouble,
break through the separating earth,
and open the coffin of the supposed
vampire.
The grave-digger consented to do
this. but first consulted the pastor of
the village church. The worthy clergy
man forbade his taking any part in such
desecratiOn, and ordered him to dig
the grave as usual. He also set watch
on the night before the funeral. The
watchman was, however, careless, and
the men were not disturbed until they
had accomplished their purpose.
Joseph and his assistants were tried
for their act of desecration, and were
found guilty by the District Court. This
sentence was reversed by the Court of
Appeals, but the verdict was set aside
by the Superior Court, and the case
sent back to be tried again by the tri-
bunal of the district. The trial was
protracted through two years, but all
tuO paisiCS WcAc uhaiiy oOiuitecu oh ehC
insufficient ground that they meant no
wrong.
If now we ask for the origin of this
strange and horrible superstition, we
shall probably find it in the ancient
doctrine that the souls of the dead pass
into the bodies of other animals
doctrine still held by the Hindoos.
There is bat in South America which
sometimes sucks the blood of animals,
and if this species once existed in Eu-
rope, it may have given rise to the be-
lief that the dead sometimes rise from
their graves and nourish themselves on
the blood of the living. The wonder is
that the superstition should still main
tain its ground in this age of almost
univeral education and of scientific in
quiry.