Wichita eagle., 1888-01-31
A VOUDOO DOCTOR.
HIS QUEER OFFICE IN A IHOMP
SON STREET ROOKERY.

HIS QUEER OFFICE IN a THoMP
SON STREET RooKERY.
He Sells His Negro Dupes Love Potions
and Curealls-SinguIar Impressions Gre
sted BY tho Chances Of the Doctors
s.Bad Eye"
I got an intelligent young colored man
who has had most Of the superstitious fancies
knocked out of him to go with friend who
was known to the doctor and tel re what
he saw there. This was his story. After
the two men had knocked at the garret dooS
a long time the old doctor opened it about an
inch and stood thef. staring at them with
one eye distrustfuliy. 1t was . big bright
eye that seemed in the darkness of the land.
ing to glare like the headlight of locomo
tive. The young negro confessed afterwa,d
that it made him '.goose flesh" all over. His
companion, who had not his advantages Of
early education and firmly believed in the
old mans power, was shaking from head to
foot with terror. The old man finally flung
the door open and invited them in. He
was dressed in long black robe that
had mysterious red crosses sewed ON
1t. His hair was very white There
was some reason for the singular
impression his eye had made on his visitors
while they were outside the door, because by
strange deformity the fiery eye lay almost
on the cheek. His hands were skinny, Lis
frame was bent, and his face cadaverous
Bob, my young colored friend, says that the
den into which he led shem was enough to
strike terror into the stoutest man in tie
Fourth ward. 1t contained two alligators
and several snakes, all stuffed, but apparently
crawling about on the floor. In a tank were
lot of lizards. A big black cat walked un-
easily about. A hideous carved figure that
looked something like a wooden realization
OF the devil stood in one corner. The place
was very dark and dirty. Across one end
was a curtain with a round hole in it,
through which, it was evident, the doctor
was accustomed to glare at his patients with
that awful eye Strings Of herbs and round
black balls swung from the ceiling.
The doctor shut the door after them and
locked it and then, stepping around behind
his curtain, put his eye to the hole and asked
them, in a voice that was evidently meant to
be terrifying, what they wanted Bob's COM
panion finally managed to blurt out that he
wanted to be cured of the rheumatism, and
Bob wanted . love powder The doctor took
his eye away from the hole and began to stir
about behind the curtain, apparently dancing
and droning a weird tune. Bob's companion
said: "Oh, Lord!" and wanted to cut and run
Bop had an idea that he could distinguish
some signs Of "Old Hundred" about the tune,
and when he caught sight of the old mans
face it looked more cunning than devilish,
and so he decided to stay. The doctor came
out from behind the curtain after a while,
IN one hand holding a cup of black
powder and in the other cup of white DOW
der. He put them down in the middle Of the
floor and kneeling beside them began to pass
his hand over them rapidly, jabbering all tn,
time. He stirred something into the black
powder every now and then and took
stealthy glance at his visitors out Of his
lurid eye to seSwhat effect the performance
was having on them. Finally, he arose and
taking some of the powder scattered il over
ths rheumatic patient to his unspeakable tor
ror. Then he took the rest and putting it
into clam shell marked with fantastic de-
vices gave it to his visitor.
'At midnight in the dark of the moon. you
must hold the black Get with one hand and
swallow from this clamshei! three times and
be we'll"
Bob said he said this like a man speaking
In we'll Tho old man took the white pow
der and put it into another clamshell and
gave it to Bob. ''Let the maiden YOU love
taste of this and sine will be yours" said the
old man, land now give me your silver and
depart in peace"
1t took s3 head to pass them out, and
Bob said his companion was ready to faint
when he turned around on the stairs ard
saw the bulgins eye looking at them stead
fastly through the crack in the door, When
they got outside Bob tasted his love powder
and found it as good powdered sugar as ever
grocer sold. Nothing could induce tho
rheumatic patient to taste the compound
in his clam shell, or even to look at
it. But he told Bob how it was prob
ably made. He said that the old man
goes over to Jersey every Friday
and hunts around among the farmers of the
Hackensack until he finds two black chickens
marked nearly alike. He takes these home
and cuts them up for medicine The hearts
he sticks full of black pins, and hangs up to
dry. The ivers are baked until they are
hard, and then powdered When the hearts
are perfectly dry the old man sells them for
CuSi Ills W udllS aOOub tue UeCk. lie gets 81
apiece for them The chicken liver is his
principal medicine. When he has endowed
it with miraculous powers by his arts, it is
capable of healing any disease, so the negroes
believe. The old man was careful to get Just
the right kind of chickens, or the charm
would be lost They must be jet black, and
of just such age and form, or the 'svoudoo"
was Of no use.-"C. Z. R.n in New York
Adyerficor