Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-12
WEST INDIES NEGROES.
THE MYSTERIOUS ANo DANGEROUS
POWERS OF THE "OsEAH MEN"

Enectivene.. Of Ground Giass-A shop
Out in the Woods.
Some OF the Obeah men are very expert
in preparing poiSons They have several
kinds, to be used according to circumstances.
! One of the worst of them is III de from the
root OF the cassava hev express the juice
and allow it to ferment, ami quantities of
small worms are soon seen in the liquid, one
of which taken into the stoma, b Is almost
certain to cause death One Of the worms
/ is concealed under thumb nail, which Is
allowed 10 grow long for the purposes, and
the operator in handing his victim cup OF
rutfee or some dish Of food manages to drop
the worm into it In Jamaica almost every
negro has growing IN bis garden numters of
arsenic bean plants which are neither useful
for food or handsome in appearance, but
the leans are very poisonous II Is said,
too, that dangerous poison is made from
! the liver and gall Of tho alligator. The
Obeah men are also too handy in the manu-
facture OF narcotics They couli not pro
cure opium without too much risk, but they
knew how TO dstill narcotics from various
plants some of them seem to have con
| siderable knowledge OF botany They can
/ find leaves any where that If put in II water
! vessel will make the water Il deadly poison
IN few hours
| PUIsONS FURNISHED AT Low RATES.
Kingsley in his visit to Trinidad picked
up a nuuIDer OF cases of Otesh poisoning
/ He says the habit of poisoning did not
spring up among slaves deslrous of revenge
upon the white masters, but that it was I'm
/ port4d from Africa Perpaps he forgot
that many of the African negroes We're
sla es in their own country, with hard Por
] tuguese masters He says too, and truly
enough, that some whit. West Indians will
deny the existence of Obeah, because they
believe in II a little too much. and are
afraii TO have it known that they believe in
it Their was an Old woman named Phyl is
in II inidad, some years ago, who WAS caIlel
an 'Obeah woman and who furnished poi
sons at cheap rates She lived ami ruled in
u remote little village, where her supposed
supernatural powers gave her such influence
over her companions that she could make
them do almost any thing she liked \ large
number Of murders We're laid at her door,
but it seemed impossible to get any lega
proof Her acquaintsnces We're too much
afraid OF her to tell what they knew about
her.
They understand too well the effective
hess OF ground glass We know it usually
as a coarse powder, useful for eAterninat
ing rats or troublesome dogs But they
make a more dangerous poison of it They
pound it up betw, en- two hard stones till il
seems hardly coarser than flour. In this
form il is shaken up with water IN a bottle,
and really seems to dissolve Administered
in small doses this pI oduces what is known
as West India dy sentery,' and if the duses
are continu, death is sure TO follow. These
bottles filled with ground glass and water
are used for charms One OF them bung
under a tree in an orchard Is almost sure TO
keep the negroes away from the fruit They
helieve that the charm Poisons it AMI that
they would die if they should eat any of 1t
A bottle of Obeah water put under a
mans doorstep is supposed to bring him the
worst possible luck. II is worse than find
ing white cock head lying in the yard.
with his beak pointing toward the door.
When an Obesh man wants Ia give you just
mild touch of his supernatural power, be
gets somebody to bury near your door a
bottle containing toad, a spider, rusty
nails, muddy water and other articles
They know how to work with corrosive sub.
Innate; but that is not often used, because
other poisons are cheaper and easier to Oh
tain. A negro could hardly 60 to u chem
lists and buy any of the deadly poisons
without suspicion being aroused In slave
times, OF course they never bought any med
icines at all, for everything was furnished
by their masters So they fell naturally
into using such posons they were famil
lar with in the fields And some of these
are deadly enough
THE TRADE OF THE OBEAH MAN.
an the old slave times, OF course the
Obeah men, being slaves, had to work a.
we'll as the rest but when they were freed
they could use their influence over the
others to even better advantage They are
generally now In some small business, very
often keeping little shops, where their Gus
toners, of course, are wholly negroes. They
sell any cheap thing there IS a demand for,
principally rum and fruits and sugar and
poor kerosene oil and salt meats To their
profits from the sale OF goods, which are
often considerable, they add what they can
make from the Obeah business II serv-
ant want something TO make his master ap-
preciate him, he goes to the Obeah man and
buys some nonsensical thing in which he
has every faith 1t may be no mors than a
few white pebbles wrapped up in package
with some human hair; or it may be harm
less powder, TO Is scattered about the mas
ter's sleeping room Or perhaps a silly col.
Orei girl wants someth ng 70 secure the af-
fections of her lover. They Lave to pay
we'll for these things If they have nc
money the Ubeah man will take goods in
exchange; bananas will do, or cocoanuts, or
some Jewelry-any of the little things that
negroes nearly always have
Il visited one of these little shops kept by
an Obeah man some time ago He had
hanging up openly some Of the peculiar
beads that are used at Obeah dances-the
l., E,,,l fLas
sion of was punishable with death The
shop was not in village, as you might i'm
agipe, but alongside Of a frequented path
through the woods, with not another build
ing within two or three miles Of it And |
can hardly call that a building, for it was
little more than & shanty, with u tbatched
roof The proprietor of it lived IN a small
room partitioned off at the back and the
shop was in front Why did he keep his
shop out in the woods, do you ask! That
was just good for his business as II he
had been in the midst of a town-muCh
cLeaper and more retired You must have
noticed ali throush b the West Indies that a
negro is never afraid Of a long walk. He
may be too lazy to do any thing else but he
will willingly undertake = walk OF five
ten, or even twenty, miles if he has any ob-
ject TO gain He will not hurry about it
but he will go i should not hesitate tu
send q negro on an errand thas would take
him five OF six mics, for he would rather
enjoy it He would loiter along, pick up a
little fruit here and there, and have a hance
TO talk with the friends he met on the road
So distance from his customers is no draw
back to one OF these little shopkeepers"-
New York Times
The Midget Page of the House.
There Is a sunny haired little page in
the house OF representatives who has be
come quite a pet among the members.
He is a little tot Of fellow, with bright,
pen face, large brown eyes and a sunny
blonde head OF hair. He wears little
knee -breeches, and is as lively as a cricket
At all times. When the members want an
arrand done fast and well they always try
to get this little fellow to do it. His very
politeness and good manners have brought
many little tramps Ia his feet, because the
members all want him. But he does not
mind an extra run, and goes rs chirpy and
as happily on a new errand as possible.