The Dawson journal., 1885-04-16
WITCHES AND wIToHERY.
curious Practices Now Prevalent in
Pennsylvania.
New York, Times.

COLUMBIA, PA, April 5.-The
hringing of a lawsuit in a Justices
Court in one of the back regions
OF this county by a young man
against his mother, to recover
damages for the loss Of a dog
which, he claims, she bewitched
SO that it ran in a circle until it
died of exhaustion, has brought
into notice the fact that there is
an almost general belief in witch
craft, charms, and magic spells
among the. .farming population in
those isolated localities, and that
there are many old women who
are regularly consulted by young
and old, and in whose arts and su-
pernaturai 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 ad-
vice and counsel by the communi-
ty for miles around, is Barbara
Fisher, who lives in the Dunkard
settlement, five miles from Bein-
holdsyille, in a small cabin in the
mountains. She is so years old,
bent and gray, but is still active
and we'll preserved physically.
She is shrewd, cunning old wo-
man, and lives alone. She is so
independent that she will take. the
case of no one who is stranger
or who she thinks lives in large
town, unless the applicant simply
wants her to treat him for COM
mon ailment requiring no "won-
der working" A sufferer from
hurts, fits, burns, bruises felons,
and similar ailments she will treat
at once, and men, women and
children come from far and near
to seek her aid. Husbands take
their wives and fathers take their
children to have her operate on
them for every i'll. IL a child is
deformed, demented, blind, tongue
tied, or unnaturally afflicted in
any way, it is taken at once to
Dame Fisher. Ifa farmer has his
horse stolen the first thing he does
is to consult this old woman and
implore her to aid in recovering
the lost animal and detecting the
thief. If there is fire in the
neighborhood the old woman is
sought for information as to its
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 at what she undertakes it is
attributed unanimously to lack of
faith on the part of the person she
is working with. In her healing
operations she uses no medicines,
but depends upon her charms. :"
Her "pow-wows" consist of breath
ing on the afflicted part, waving
the hand over it accompanied by
few muttered words, the purport
of which no one understands.
The conditions for operating are
Implicit faith in the mode of treat
ment, entire confidence in and
reverence for the operator, and a
strict following of hey directions
to the letter. She will then prom
ise radical cure, and after over
half a century of wonder work
| ing" in that community she en-
| ioys an almost universal reputa-
ton for infallibility. She is only
cne of many switch women" who
are consulted by their credulous
neighbors.
BY far the most interesting
feature of this backwoods healing
ing art is that tpart which pretends
to work magic spells, charms,
curses, bad luck or good luck, or
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 Reinholdsville, had the
work.