Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-05-14
st(isfellaneuns &eading.
A PENNSYLVANIA WITCH.
4 QUEER OLD WOMAN LYING IN THE Al.
LEGHANY MOUNTAINS

LEGHANY MOUNTAINS.
The bringing of law suits in Justices
court in one of the back regions of Lancas-
ter county, Penn, by a young man against
his mother, to recover damages for the loss
Of dog which he claims she bewitched, so
that it ran in circle until it died of eX-
haustion, brought in notice the fact that
there is an almost general belief of witch
craft, charms and magic spells among the
farming population in those isolated locali-
ties; 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 or law suit mentioned, says a
correspondent writing from Columbia, in
that county, several of these "witch-Wo-
men" testified in the case, and the curious
and absurd beliefs they profess were given
iH-great detail. The principal one, and the
one most sought for advice and counsel by
the community for miles around is Barbara
Fischer, who lives in the Dunkark settle
ment, five miles from Reinholdsville, in a
small cabin in the mountains. Sheis eighty
years old, bent and gray, but is still active
ming old woman and lives alone.
She is so independent that she will take
the case of no one who is a neighbor to her,
or who she thinks lives in any large town,
unless the applicant simply wants her to
treat for q common ailment, requiring no
"wonder working." A sufferer from hurts,
fits, burns and similar ailments she will
treat at once, and men women and children
come from far and near to seek her aid. II
child is deformed, demented, or afflicted
in any way, it is taken to Dame Fischer:
If farmer has a horse stolen, the first
thing he does is to consult this old woman,
and implore her to aid him in recovering
the lost animal and detecting the thief.
If there is trouble with cattle, if crops
look bad, Dame Fischer's aid is the first
thing sought. She stands ready at any
time to extend her aid, and if she fails it is
her on the part of the person she is working
with. In her healing operations she has
no medicines, but depends upon her
"charms." Her "pow-WoWs" consist OF
breathing on the afflicted part, waving the
hand over it, accompanied by few NUT
tered words. The conditions for operating
are implicit faith, confidence in the operator
and strict following of her directions. She
will then promise radical cure, and after
over half century of "wonder working'
in that community she enjoys an almost
universal reputation for infallibility. She is
only one of many witch women who are
consulted by their credulous neighbors.
BY far the most interesting feature of this
backwoods healing art is that part which
pretends to work magic spells, charms,
curses, bad or good luck or objects OF hate
or love. The most of these women live
alone. Each has ''mystery book" which
is an ancient volume, printed in the Ger
man language, which is to be consulted when
charms are to be worked. Old Mother
Roske, who lives near Reinholdsville, had
the entire farming neighborhood working
every night for weeks in search Of gold, and
when they failed to find it she gave as a rea-
son that some of them had a cow with blood
in it's horns, and until that could be found
and killed and the blood drawn from the
horn and spilled on the ground in the
moons first quarter it would be useless to
look further for the treasure. The farmers
spent much time trying to find such a cow
among their stock, and in case cow is
killed in this vicinity to this day the horns
are sawed off in hope that blood may be
found.
In answer to questions asked at the trial
of the case of the old woman and her son,
mentioned above, the following were given
as some of the methods used by the witches
in working their charms If horse isstolen,
the thief may be caught and the horse re-
covered if there be three hairs from the
missing horses tail found in the stall. The
three hairs must be cut into equal lengths,
knotted in the middle, and lighted at both
ends.
This must be done at sunset, while the
hairs are held on 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 barnyard where
the sun shines. This acts so upon the thief
that he cannot 20 beyond certain limit and
involuntarily turns the horse back to the
spot whence it was stolen.
TO make we'll run dry ashes of witch
hazel are forced into the mouth of toad,
which is then dropped in the well. Cows
may be made to give bloody milk by oblig-
ing them to trample tOads under their feet.
Dry COWS may be made productive, light
ming warded off, enemies beWitched, crops
increased, and evils and blessings laid upon
persons at will by these wonder workers by
the use of similar charms, and they under
take all such jobs. They will guarantee to
stunt the growth of a baby, destroy rlvars
beauty, separate man and wife, settle lovers
auarrels, produce desired marriages or any
other thing equally absurd on receipt of a
fee for the purpose.
In the potency of witch-hazel the wonder
workers chiefly rely. 1t is burned to ashes
and the blossoms used. Young women car
nv it's leaves in their bosoms as love charm,
and sleep with them under their pillows to
make them dream of their lovers, but of
the persons who testified in the lawsuit only
one said he had never had relative be-
witched. The witness who testified in be-
half of the person who claimed his dog had
rod fhot cipnQ ha ho RI
sided with him his we'll had gone dry, his
cow gave bloody milk, and his three weeks
baby had refused to be sucked, and he eX-
pected it to die at any time. The justice OF
the peace endeavored to ridicule the idea of
witchcraft to the people present, but they
insisted in their belief, and he gave the
owner of the dog judgment Of three dollars
for the loss of the dog, the woman admit
ting that she had dOsed it to death.
JEFFERSON DAVIS AT HoME.-Joaquin
Miller, the "Poet Of the Sierras," recently
visited Jefferson Davis at his home on the
gulf, and thus narrates the impression pro-
duced upon his mind by the interview:
Perhaps the most notable residence along
this warm, sandy sea-bank is that of JEFF
Wis here. They speak of him with great
respect. Jefferson Davis is not Deified at
all, as some writer's foolishly say. But, I
rpeat, he is greatly respected. And when
you bear in mind that there is not one of
these 1O,OO0,OOO people who did not put
some sort of sacrifice on the altar of South
ern opinion, you will not be surprised.
This man stands as Il token to them. Per-
sonaly, l think they see little Of him,
those gray old mothers whose sons went
down in battle, those beautiful girls Of the
South whose fathers never came back any
their tradition. They call him President