The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-05-23
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lNew York Times.l

mother, e0 recover o0mageS TOT the loss of 6 dog, which he claims she bewitched SO that 1t ran in ascircie until it died of exhaustion, has brought into notice the fact that there Is an almost general be- Iief in witchcraft, charms and magic spells, among the farming population in these isolated localities, and that there are many old women who are regularly consulted by young and old, and in whose arts and supernatural powers they put the greatest faith. At the trial of the lawsuit mentioned several of these" witch women testified in the case, and the curious and absurd beliefs they profess were given in great detail. The principal one, and the one most sought for advice and counsel for miles around, Is Barbara Fisher, who lives in the Dnnkard settle ment five miles frsm Reinholdsyillc. in a small cabin in the mountains. She is eighty years old, bent and gray, but is still active and well preserved physically. She is shrewd, cunning old woman, and lives alone. She is so independent that she will take the case of no one who is a stranger to her or who she thinks lives in any large town, unless the applicant sim ply wants her to treat him for commcn D ailment requiring no wonder working" A sufferer from hurts, fits, burns, bruises, felons and similar ailments, she will treat at once and men, women and children come from near and far to seek her aid. Husbands take their wives, and fathers take their children, to have her operate on them for every ill. If a child is de- formed, demented, blind, tongue-tied, or unnaturally afflicted in any way, it is taken at once to Dame Fisher. If a farmer has his horse stolen, the first thing he does is to consult this old woman, and implore her aid in recovering the lost animal and detecting the thief. If there is a fire in the neighborhood, the old woman is sought for information as to the cause, and, if it is believed to be incendiary, for a revelation as to who set the fire. If there is trouble with cattle, if a COW is breachy, if crops look bad, Dame Fishers aid is the first thing sought. She stands ready at any time to extend her aid ; and if she fails in what she undertakes, it is attributed unanimously to lack of faith in her on the part of the person she is working with. In her healing operations she uses no medicines, but depends upon her charms. Her powwows consist of breathing on the affl cted part, waving the hand over it, accompanied by few muttered words the purport of which no one understands. The conditions fr operating are implicit faith in the mode of treatment, entire confidence in and reverence for the operator, and a strict following of her directions to the letter. She will then promise radical cure; and after over half century of "wonder working in that community, she enj oys an almost universal reputation for iafal- libility. She is only one of many witch ulous neighbors.
 By far the most interesting feature of this backwoods healing art is that part which pretends to work magic spells, charms, curses, bad luck or good luck, on objects of hate or love. The most of these women live alone. Each has a" mystery book" which is an ancient volume printed in the German language, which is con- suited when charms are to be worked. Old Mother Roske, who lives near Rein holdsville, had the entire farming neigh borhood working every night for weeks in search of gold, and when they failed to find it she gave es reason that some of them had COW with blood In it's horn, and until that could be found and killed :, ar.5 the blood drawn from the horn and spilled on the ground in the moons first quarter, it would be useless to look fur ther for the treasure. The farmers spent much time trying to find such a COW among their stock, and in case COW is killed in that vicinity to this day the horns are sawed of in hope the blood may be found and used as directed by Motaei Roske, in order that the gold may be found.
 In answer to questions asked of the witness at the trial of the case of the old >~oman and her son mentioned above, the following were given as some of the methoeH used by the witch women in working il, >ir charms. In case horse is stolen. the Hief may be caught and the horse recovered ii 'here can be three hairs from the missing animals tall found in the empty stall. These three hairs must be cut into equal lengths, knotted in the middle, and then lighted at both ends. This must be done at sunset. while the hairs arc held on a shovel near the stable. Whichever way the two ends of the hairs point or turn as they burn will indicate the direction taken by the thief. The stub ends are to be buried in the barn. yard where the sun shines. This acts so upon the thief that he cannot go beyond a certaia limit, and gradually and invol- untarily turns the horse back to the spot from which it was stolen, and it is only necessary for the owner of the horse to be on the watch to capture him
 To make persons well run dry, ashes .of witch hazel are forced into the mouth of toad, which is then dropped in the we'll Cows may be made to give b'oody milk hy obliging them to trample toads under their feet. Dry COWS may be made productive, strokes of ligtning 'warded of, crops increased, enemies be- witched, ;plagues brought into communi- ties, and evils and blessings laid upon persons at viii by these wonder workers, by the use of similar charms; and they 1a alu snk, &k>w N~