The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1882-02-15

house, and when next morning kind
neiQhbor, who had nursed the child in
it's last sickness, oame to the door, the
couple pounced on her, tied her hands
and feet and kindled the pyre, on which
they laid her. She had the wit to con-
fess her guilt and beg for priest, and
when the priest came he liberated her,
but not till she had been fearfully
burned. The tribunal of Mons laid
its iron hands on the culprits, sent them
TO Jail for sixty and forty days and
made them pay $50 damages TO tn cir
victim. In the south of France Sd M
liar charm is in vogue. IL you are
worried by witches you have but to
stea Ia =ew kettle put, into it all th 9
old nails, pins and pieces OF iron OBJ
tainsble and boil it furiously. AS soon
as the vessel begins to sing keep an
eve on the door and the first person to
enter will be the witch, obeying an ir-
resistible impulse. Upon clubbing the
witch vehemently the evil spell will be
broken. At Charleroi, in Belgium,
four women were convicted recently Of
swindling by pretended sorcery. Their
practice was to select old women who
had come into property and blackmaiI
them under the threat of allowing the
spirits to kill or bewitch a favorite
| child.
At the Russian village of Wratshevo,
near Nevgorod, two years ago, there was
q woman named Agrafena Ignatjeva; q
widow, who had the reputation of be-
ing q witch, and who encouraged the
belief, as it made the peasants bring
her food and gifts in abundance. There
were many persons in the district suf-
fering from epilepsy and it was popular
ly believed that the witch had thus
punished them for offending her in
some way. One of these epileptic suf-
ferers, girl from distant village, be-
sought some peasants to burn the witch
and 80 release her from her sufterings.
At an assembly of headmen and seniors
of the village it was resolved to extin-
guish the source of mischief. They
pr ceeded to her hut, which they found
fastened up. They broke it open, dis
covered the wretched woman, charged
her with the crime and then nailed
up the window and door to prevent her
escape. By this time over 200 men had
assembled arouAd the hut and amid
their jeers and shouts of exultation it
was set on fire and the whole crowd re.
mained until it was quite consumed.
} Though the rural policeman was offered
} bribe of $3.50 to report the burning
J as accidental, he informed on the will
layers, sixteen of whom were brought to
J trial. The three prime movers in the
, cremation were sentenced to slight
! penances in church, and the others
} were set free. The courts in Germany
were called upon nots.long ago to decide
! suit brought by peasant and his
} wife against neighbor whom they ac-
eused of having caused the death of
/ their two little pigs by witchcraft.
"You couldn't see any marks on their
bodies at all" he testified. in the
: evening they were healthy, ate heartily
the pigsty was locked, and in the
morning one of them was already dead
The defendant crossed the yard in the
night and bewitched them. speak to
you, Judge, as to father, and i'm
plore you to make her give you the
| doctor books she hs. got In there it
stands how to bewitch." When the suit
was dismissed the complainants said
they would appeal, and as they went
out the husband exclaimed "This we
cannot lose it is impossible" 1t may
be added that while in Madagascar the
! missionaries have rooted out the last
vestiges of idolatry, the belief in witch.
craft defies extinction. 1t was reported
} last winter that dog had spoken and
had announced that hurricane, causing
Rrievous famine, would devastate the
district that immense hailstones
2 would descend and that even the
heavens would fall. re advert this the
, people were told to get SIX black and
six white beads and to wear them
I around the neck and no harm would
come to them, and all the influence of
the missionaries could not prevent the
! converts from investing in beads.