Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-19
A voUDoU DOCTOR.
Sent to the Penitentiary for Imposing
on "a Sick Negro.
NasAciile American.


By far the most curious case that has
stirred up the people in the precincts of
the Criminal Court was that of Ed Bur
ley, negro necrOmancer and voudou,
tried yesterday. The prisoner was a
squat-built, monkey-faced. thick-lipped
negro, and stronger argument than even
the late Col. Payne's Ariel for the belief
that no pair of his species entered Noah's
ark. Leah Sharp, his prosecutor, was a
little bullet-headed, wizen-faced negro
woman, whose physiognomy denoted
anything but high degree of in
telligence. The exhibits in the case
were the dirtieSt of homespun
bags, about three inches in diameter.
containing Burley's celebrated s'luck-
battery" consisting ola loadstOne, pieces
of steel wire and some red-nigger hair:
gold-mounted brooch, brass cameo ring,
a wOman's photograph and several other
tricks and odds and ends that would
puzzle the witch of Endor herself to de-
scribe. Leah Sharp testified that she was
very i'll on the oath of February last, when
Ed. Burley, voudou doctor, called to see
her, and, standing beside her bed, told her
he could restore her to her usual strength
by means of his ''luck battery" which he
had suspended around his neck by a
string. But he informed her this s9uck
battery" could only be worked by
means Of two pieces of gold or silver
money and a photograph. He assured the
foolish woman, however, if he did get
the two pieces of gold or silver money he
would endow her with no end of good
luck for the rest other life, and she would
always afterwards be able to find gold
The woman then gave him her $40 gold
breast-pin, ring and photograph, and he
took his ''luck battery" the loadstone,
and bit of wire out of his pouch and
showed Leah how the little iron hose
shoe picked up and held on to the wire.
Whatever doubts the woman had had
about the ability of the battery to perform
the miracles claimed for it were swept
away by the ability of the doctor to
endOw little colts shoe (she called it,
with the power to pick up piece of wire
and hold on to it until it was taken away.
His victim then insisted that he should
perform the charm. This was done by the
voudOu doctor putting the pieces of gold
in bag with the "luck batteryv and
shaking them together. He then took the
loadst0ne, bit of wire aud red-nigger hair
out of the pouch and, sticking the hair i'm
the centre of the loadstone, attached the
steel wire to the end of the latter. Then
taking the whole in his left hand he waved
1T three times over the WOman's head, ut
terlng at the same time some sort of glib
berish the woman did not understand.
Telling her that she would be all right
from that time on and able to find gold he
replaced the "luck battery" into the
bag, hung the latter around his
neck, gathered up the photograph and
walked out of the house. Finding that
she soon got worse instead of better the
woman reported to the police that she had
been voudOued. Burnley was arrested and
the gold brooch, ring and photograph
found on his person, and the grand jury
found an indictment against him for get
ting property under false pretenses. The
jury that tried him yesterday assessed his
punishment at five years in the penitenti-
airy, and Leah Sharp had her jewelry re-
turned to her and went on her way re-
joicing.
Cleanliness and purity make Parker's
Hair Balsam the favorite for restoring the
youthful color to gray hair.