The Red Cloud chief., 1879-12-18

The Horrible Tragedy tnss,rd tht. Year y"
aEu--ian Isa-ant village.

IFrum the It F.t.r.nuf= 'r"LF-
I'm the city of TTkhyin, on oct -, i
peasants were put on trial upon the az
ru-a,ion If having burned alive q pea
ant woman. Auraphcna lguatIcii. ="
YEAR old. n a witch. GA the pr"!lin-
mary investigation il Ma discovered
that igraphcna, from her Trih""i. had
been regarded a. possessing the super
human power If "'spoi.iH@ p'nFl',
that j., II inflicting different disease, "u
The persons who d~i-pl"l-"i her. and al
~ ii curing them ~ her D"n Nal. Mar
rying . soldier, IN" l"ft her native NJ
Lyc. /rochrff. and settled III ~. Peter
burg. Two wears before her death -ho
returned la her native place, a wId0"
aud u-nnilc-~. The viila@cr- were much
alarmed Al her appearance, beng AFRAID
thl; -hc would cau~cth them great tr"uhi"
The boldc-;. or Pcrhap- the most cow
lrily If them, wanted to ~ once shut
up the witch in her hun~", and burn
her. But IL that tim" tn" yillagcr- did
nn; dare {" carry ont this plan Agra
phena WAS poor and -lchly, and hy"d
chiefly upon charity. som" If IA" vi
lace families. out IF fear 81 the supposed
witch. used Ia satisfy All her wl~h"-
while others, especially the poor One.
had To- refuse her demands. and were
wont Ia a-cribc to her al the cases II
sickness and all the accidents that hair!i
them. While liyiu. ia =. Petersburg.
Agraphcna had h"c"m" acquainted with
the properties OF many NalHl-
bic medicines. and after her rc-
turn To III" village -hc q
ten attended the sick. somc,imo-
with wonderful success. Ihi, only con
firmeI the popular belief in her witch
craft. unhappily for herself, She neither
admitted nor denied openly that She was
a witch; perhaps she preferred I" leave"
thing, ~ they were. drawing, no doubt.
4 profit from the Villagers fcar~.
In January, 1879, young "ma was
suddenly taken sick and died; then rs"
other women were pr">tratcd by some
kind of nervous disease. They cried ont
that thew had been ..>puilcd' 10y the
witch. Their parent, tried /" propi'iaic
A@raphcna with their tears and pres
cntS. But 20 all cntrclticS she simply
answered: IL did not injUr" them, nor
can | help them" Then there arose -
"rca, Indignation; the men Of the Vii
lagc assembled and decided Ia shut NJ
the witch in her house, to feed her there.
but un no accouut To- allow her 10 visit
any other house. This plan vas t" hc
carried out Immediately. On Feb. IL a
dozen of the villagers went to the hou>r
of Agraphcna. They took along with
them nails and planks. Arriving there.
they searched the woman's trunk for
charms; except several phiil> of mcdi-
cincs, they found nothing suspicious
but Ia the supplemented and excited
peasants these seemed To lac the most
positive proof of witchcraii. To make
a long story short, Agraphcna WAS shut
up In the house, the door and Windows
were securely closed and nailed and
though this had been no part "f Tn,
original plan, the house WAS set on fire.
The blaze attracted ut once "a crowd 81
people: many expressed their "ratilica.
ton, and nobody dared to interfere IN
behalf "f the victim. Among III" other,
came the brother of Agraphrna. II,
rushed io the door and tried 20 break if
in: hut WIS not allowed To ID -. ..Ih,
Mir have 80 decided, let her barn" cried
the mob. Some Of the more hmnaur
however. approached the window auo
shouted la the "tun;c>~ ihs
crimes. and we will save thee" Eur
she kept silent. +" her dc>pairing
brother she answered - bear brother
| am not guilty onc Of the Grove
~aid aloud There j. vet time la ~ay,
the woman: let H. Il" il al once, or ".
shall suffer severely" Don't tourl
her" said a>rptma%cuarian; II an~wr!
for this Gccti with my head The fat,
nf The woman was sealed; nobody there
aflcrtrici Ia save her. On the contrary.
some III the men helped t" spread the
fire. soon the ceiling fell down, an,
III" unhappy victim Of popular ~upcr>ti
ton persisted in the flames. The people
stayed nj the place the whole night, til
the fire went ont of Itself. On the mex
day the constable found q few charrc,
bones. On the trial the peasants cnn
fce>cd their deed. but denied that they
had committed Il crime. The jury fnUuo
only three, the rin~-lcllcrS, guilty. On,
IF these was In" old man above mon
toned. The resi- were acquitted.