Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-03-11
NASSAU NIGeRRs.
And some of the Hair.rRtalnC Earna
They Tell 90 StrRnEers.

Eossau Correspondents york. TrsssHe
Voodoo superstitions prevail 10 sur
prising extent among the negroes
heard a great deal abou, a witch wac
yictimized some of thCss poor Poop
severely a year or two ago aud there
was a certain wooden baby in particular
which exercised mslefic spells Of the
most fearful potency. asked Isaac TO
tell me the story. Isaac is very black
and very good natured young man who
drives a carriage, and this is what he
gave me-the tale OF Miss Mary john
son:
"Well. sir, dere comes a man here
from Jamaica-he was q discharged sol
dier-an' he had a wooden baby bout so
long measuring from wrist to elbow i;
II had glass eyes and glass belly, an de
name of de wooden baby was written
across its belly; its name was Miss Mary
Johnson. De man from Jamaica he went
TO Mr.. Taylor-MondaY Sergeant Tay-
lor. down dere at de guard house-an'
he said, Mr.. Taylor, if you'll give me
"a IN save your life Mr.. Taylor say
he like very we'll to save his life, but he
want to know what all dis means. oh,
we'll say de man from Jamaica, you
ben ben at half-past 5 o'clock to-
night, an take care you amt
dead afore morning2 Well, Mr.. Taylor
he went home. an shut his garden
gate an watched Nothin' didn't hap
pen at half-past s; but about 8 o'clock
he heard q scratchin' and a scratchin'
out in de yard. He was afraid to go out,
so he looked through the keyhole, an
there was man what he'd never seen
afore diggin' grave, an de wooden
baby. Miss Mary Johnson was runnin'
round all de time, talkin' to him while
he was diggin'. Mr.. Taylor cried out TO
know what dey was doin' dere, an de
man he run away; but he slam de gate
so hard after him dat Miss Mary John.
son couldn't get out, an so Mr.. Taylor
he got de wooden baby. He carried it
down to de guardhouse and fastened
it with chain, an it used to R-RATTLE
de chain an make an dacfM noise. Oh,
yes sir 1t could move its arms Just so,
an it could talk as good as anybody"
Did you ever hear it talk =
mo, sir; but seen de baby oh yes,
siri' Here Isaac's voice cracked on a
rising infection. 81 seen ii. Dey've
sent it away now to de United States.
"Who sent itH-Mr TaylorP'
ooh no, sir. l 'Spect it was de Queen
sent it.
"And what became of the Man from
Jamaican"
Nobody knows what become Of him.
He wasn't seen here any more"
We'll, the other man, who was dig
glng the graveH Did they catch him?"
'Oh, yes, sir; dey caught him, an
sent him toprison for life. He's up dere
in de prison now"
who sent himH'
"The Queen sent him, sir-de Law"
"Was he tried in the Criminal Court
and sentenced for life?"
ooh, no, sir!' (rislng infection again,
with squeak) "Dey toOn't try him.
Just sent him up for life, and kept him
dere. If it was only about black folks
dey'da' try him fast enough; but dere's
too many of de white English gentlemen
in it. Lots of EN- raised on Miss Mary
Johnson
''Whst do you mean by that?'
well, suppose you are goin' to race
a horse. You go to de man what has
got de wooden baby, an you say:
WdnG you 10 make II SO Cat my morse
will win. Or may be you are in de
sponge business Miss Mary Johnson can
fix it SO dat your vessel make her voyage
every time, an none of de others don't
NOT one of dem. OATS de way desc
white English people got rich De wood
en- baby had keys an all sorts of things
here, SOS she could go into any house
she'd mind to.
'Dere was another man had two of de
wooden babies; but b'lieve somebody
what was smarter'n him must bewitched
him an got de better of him, because he
died, and when he was buried de
two wooden babies walked just behind
de coffin, along wild de mourners, an
dey was cryin' an cryin' like every
thing. You see, when de man was
dead, dey had to die, too, in three or
four days; an dat was de last of dem
There is another story related of Miss
Mary johnson which should be given as
a supplement to Isaac's narrative. The
man from Jamaica demanded 81 as the
price of saving certain life. The vic
tim could only raise three dollars and
half; so Miss Mary Johnson spared him,
but his aoJ6 died.