The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-07-09
SOMEEMEXICAN SUPERsTITIONs.

Not long ago, IN one OF the Iton-
tiel towns in Mexico, q man shot a
defenseless old woman down in the
street in broad daylight. He was
captured with his csrb!ne in bis
baud, and when examined before
the magistrate gave as reason for
his crime that the murdered woman
had been called upon to nurse his
brother, who YVES sick, and had, by
working charms on him, caused bis
death. The firm belief in phantoms
is taken advantage of by evil dis
posed persons, who, disguised as
women, glide about the sub
nrbs secured from M lies; at'on by
any psssers-by. Sometimes con-
Gdlng husband is mada the victim
OF evil spirits, as was one poor
wretch in Brownsville, who, coming
home late at night, encountered a
dark form standing az his door. He
addressed it. but received NJ reply,
and then tried to drive it away,
J whereupon he was set on by the OBJ
Ject, which he afterward firmly de-
clared was the devil, and terribly
beaten, the fiend disappearing in a
Hash OF sulphurous fame just IS aid
reached him, leaving him standing
IN the middle of the street alone.
These phantoms haunt graveysrds,
and men will gravely tell Of "phan-
tasmus, as they call them, seen at
the spot where men have been
murdered. These generally bear the
form OF men lying dead, weltering
in their blood. Those that recount
you these tales affect not to believe
in the existence of spirits, but one
can see thai although, like Nine.
de Stael, not believing in ghosts,
they are afraid of them all the same.
AT Pueblo man went before one
OF the judges and asked protection
from 8 discarded sweetheart who,
he declared, had made an image the
exact representation of him, and
which was carefully dressed in
Clothes like these he wore, and that
she stuck pins in the ar os and legs
OF this puppet, which act caused him
The most awful tortures.
fearful pains shooting through
the portions Of his body cor
responding to those in which the
pins We're stuck on the puppst. He
had dragged to court the woman,
and actually bore the puppet in his
hand as proof OF what he said. He
proposed to destroy this uncomfort~
able pirsted edition of himself, and
only asked that the Judge would
prevent the woman from making
another one.
The supers titions, of course, give
rise to considerable traffic in
charms, in which may he found a
curious lntermiXture Of religious
belief. A thief, for instance, will
carry as a charm against detection
some curious verses addressed to
the patron saint of his guild. Love
powders and potions are often used,
and sundry old men and women
ycleped "curanderoS" make living
as doctors, practicing curious mix
ture of medicine and necl omaucy
IL Is not So long ago IN an interior
city, that one o. the oil wOmen
smothered herself and patent, a
tax collector OF some in:el'i
gence, to dea'h 10 IN inns
eroved Russian bath, in which
she raised mephitic yap1r OF GER
TIN heros for the purpose " driving
out.a W tch thai inhabited the body
OF her patient The fact thst she
herself persisted show that che be
levedln ghosts and thought 'hat she
c5nid conquer then. Before enter
ing the bath she told her attendant
TO psy no attention to any cries
within as the witch would probably
make q great disturbance before al.
lowing herself to be dislodged.