The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-10-02

"A correspondent OF Tue tibcinDat
Gaelic, writing from the town o.
Aux Cages, in a remote part of the
island of Hayti, says of the inhab
%itants. They are the most degraded
cannibals. Some of my readers may
be astonished to know this, but new.
ertheless | assure them that such il
the fact. Americans are engaged 10
missionary work in China and Japan
but in this country, SC much nearer
home, where actual cannibsls exist
even in q of its largest cities the
work has been sadly neglected. These
people do not eat adults but children
who are constantly stolen for the
purpose.
Last evening. in the same street
where | was stopping. a poor woman
went out to a neighboring shop for a
moment and left her child asleep,
When she returned it was gone
stolen by an Obiad for sacrifice.
am told that the in which
these peop'e operate is this:
For instance, at each service 10 a
temple the priest allots toa certain
person the task of producing a child
at the next meeting for sacrifice.
When the child is produced, if it is
found to be lean, they apply them.
selves to the task of fattenipg it as
quickly as possible before it can be
killed.
All sorts of means are resorled to
bv these fends in procuring victims.
One of the most common is the use OF
a certain plant which grows here, the
secret OF which is known only to
these Obiads. One of the women
will come into the city selling cachou
nuts or something of that sort, and
as soon as SIZE sees a nice fat child
she will manage in some way to en-
brace it, at the same time taking it's
hand in hers, which has been previ-
Ously rubbed with the juice of the
plant. In q few hours the child ap-
parently dies, and the parents won
der at the cause of its death. 1t is
buried. and the same night these peo-
pie will come and dig it up and car
ry it into the mountains and there
apply the juice of another plant, and
it becomes as well as ever and is
sacrificed.
A story is told here, and vouched
for even by the foreign merchant.
here, Of a child h. died 10 this way.
and its father was SUSPECT rus of the
cause aud wed. at night with four
men, all armed, and laid 10 ambush
and watched. About II o'cluck
some Obiads came aud commenced
to disinter the body. Sooa after il
was brought ~ the surface il came
To lite aud walked ablut, aud the
whole party Were about TO start of
when the ambushed party fred on
them. and on hurrying to the spit
The father "a astonished to tiud
among the slain bis own mother. The
child lives in Aux Cages to-day, and
is a handsome young lady.
l had O man pointed out to me
who was in the grave three days,
having incurred the hate of another
mai who applied the juice of the
plant to him. After three days be
was resurrected by his enemy, ana
the effect of the plant passing away
he came to life again, but without
reason of speech, bis enemy not
knowing the counteracting plant,
made q servant of him, and he toiled
every day in the fields till one day
an Obiad priest, who hated the mans
master, applied the proper plant, and
reason and speech returned. The
Obiads, when children cannot be
procured, sacrifice sheep, and for this
reason you cannot hire q Haytian to
eat mutton. The Obiads are believ-
ed by the Haytians TO fly about mid
night, and they say at such times
they emit FIRE from their mouths.