The Dickinson press., 1889-03-30
Two WEIRD STORIES.
PEOPLE IN PENNSYLVANIA SAID TO
BELIEVE IN Nh cHEs.

. VII" Have Power of the Evil Creatures.
= Child Gndei the Spell Killing IL Bad
Man at Long Range.
The ip.ict of pas, ages i'll witchcraft is still
entertained by many people III this d;erks,
county Hearing of several nlcu i'll the city
who We're sad TO bc able to give wcll
authenticated eases of witcErraft. or hex
Ing" It's 1t is cuilel here. your correspondent
visited ono of them and was told the follow
ims story:
Several years ago u family with whom |
wa> well acquainted lived on Cedar street.
THIS city, and directly opposite them on the
sumo street lived Il woman who was known
il" lie II hex 1.-THE Dutch for witch There
wis Il child tolnin the family of my friend
IL was a beautiful child, had the swcetes, dis
position OF any y"unsster ! ever knew, and
:;:vuT cried or gave its mother any trouble ut
I'll. When the child was about three months
;,ti this Old lex came into my friends house,
ami. taking it out ct tho cradle. Rugged and
si>A,i 1t, III the same time tnuttcrung III the
language in which the Bible was first written.
When Sic lief. it w;Is III once noticed that the
child va, Us completely spotted us IL leopard,
and it erred continually, as though suffering
great pam, 1t would cry ut night US long Us
In" hex across the street remained ut the
window, but ;> soon ue the witch would ~
trio its cri"S would cease and it would get
some rest. This state Of affairs kept up
for some time. The Regular doctors could do
nothing for the child, everybody knew the
poor little thing was 'hclicNed lbewitchcdl,
and the m",!:er, worried nearly to death
through anxiety and loss OF sleep while at
,.. lE-., a.. I:,t No., J.,., .-,-.ll .t L.. NE
i.iic,l until they sent for Il witch doctor tlc
i~tirltical doctor still lives in this city,.
EASY l:AolGn WHEN You NOW HOW.
He came III answer to their call, but pre-.
.iolls to his arrival bad seut them u note.
warning them not to speak II word to him.
He wrote several words in the Ethiopian
certain place in the Bible, and after putting
the book under the cllila,s pillow, informed
the mother that if they would refuse the hex
across the way everything she asked for her
baby would get well. The same day the old
hex sent over for some triilcs-l think it was
for Il smoothing iron or Il pinch of tea-bu1
the mother refused to let her have them, and
truDi that moment tho child commenced to
set better.
The third night after tho witch doctor
had been there Il big black cat came to the
bedroom window and scratched to get in.
The cililds father, knowing that the old hex
had sent Thy cat, picked up his boot, and,
lnriing it through the window, sash and all,
strucS the thing and knocked il To the ground.
The fact Is, when the boot struck tho cat it
struck the witch herself, for she had turned
herself into il cat in order to get into the
rooni at that child. The next morning the
hex ca:ne limpins aiound and said she had
fallen down stairs during the night, but She
never bothered my friends child any more,
| and everybody kaew well enough that the
words the doctor had put in the Bible We're
ton strong for tho dcvil in the hex This,
my dear sir. is n fact, and tho child who was
bswitchcd l., now Il ulaa and has children Of
his own and works on tho Philadelphia and
Reading railroad"
Your~ correspondent felt u very prcccptible
chill course lis way up along his backbone IF.
ter l~isteuin:, To This recital, and the oh gentle
MAI noticing that something was wrona con
tiEued:
You probably don't believe in witches,
but !imow tacrc are witches il this city to
day who caA do jusi Us they please with you
or TIC. Why, they SIN cuatr.ct with tho
devil, with II pen dipped III ,:,cir own blood,
aiil lie gives lilem the power. | lzncw q llan
living i'll the ncishhoriiool of E%oycrtown, il
t.li' county, who was bcwiscicd 10y Il nan
living on Tenth street, in this city. ten miles
away from him. What do yea think Of that's
The witch would ont to his house in tho
dead hour of the night, sometimes Oh u horse
and at other times il Il big stone wagon, aud
III ono could see him but the man he was tor
turing. The mans daughter could sec the
window fly up when tho witch cai:lc into tho
room, and could see aud hear tho window
fall when he went out, but could not SEQ tho
witch himself. He would sit on the poor
man's breast uud hammer and pinch him
drcadfully and would keep it UP nearly every
night until he had him SO sore that he could
scarcely move around at oil.
MAILING TIE WITCH.
"l1e camo to Reading ono day and consult
ed tho witch doctor, who wrote some words
on n slip Of paper, folded it up, and, giving
the man Il horse shoe nail, told him to go to a
certain trco carly i'll the morning. before sun
rise. stick this nail through the paper and
drive it into tho side of the tree next TO the
sun, just far enough to hold the paper to the
tree. This, he said. would hurt the witch
and probably keep him away. If the witch
another tap tho next morning, but was
INV ! . Az liA1 SlSNAI t1l JUL
the paper or Ito would kill tho man who wa.
the witch. The witch continued to trouble
the man, however. and when he went out tc
tap the nail tho third morning he was sc
angry that, taking the Ak in his hand, liz
struck the nail SO hard that he sent it cntircl,
through the paper.
Upon the instant tho nail penetrated tht
paper he saw tho form of his tormentor fal
dead before him. and Lc went to the depo
and told several parties that he had killed
such and such n man in Reading that morn
ing. They laughed ut him and said lie wa
crazy, but sure enough tho witch, who wa
walking in his garden in this city, ten mile
away. as the doctor said he would do and u
the MAI said lie had done. fell dead in hi
tracks just at that time. The man VIII.
Killed hin got well and was never TROUBLED
again."
The names Of the parties were given il
> both the above cases. and tho old man toll
his story with such nn oir Of sincerity tina
after leaving him | mado inquiry in the local
tiles he had mentioned and found tho opinio
generally prevalent that just such things la
occurred. More especially was this tho cas-
in reference to the man who was said to Lay
droppc;! dead i'll the garden, and there ar
not Il few in this city who would swear tha
: it Is true substantially as herein given. Witc
and ghost stories, implicitly believed by thos
{ who narrato them, can be gathered by IL
Il dozen in this county. Thy arc told b. IL
, muscular farmer lover To his busom COUNT
sweetheart: are related to tho children in C,
u Pennsylvania Dutch by their II
u rents, and are tho subject of many Ion
arguments and conversations i'll tic count,
stores. -Iieadins G'al Cor. Philadclph
North American.
4. In ono year Frank Davis. u Dcs Moin
II youth, got into Jail. broke out, saved tv
boys from drowning, discovered and put o.
q fire. had his arm broken, stole q horse, sh
at burglar and put out his brothers cy
u Ii he lives to grow uD lie will lc q hustler.
ls shakeSpearc's Romeo was Romeo Mon
II. ochco. and Juliet was Juliet t'ai..lo, Il;
W dc!lo gives the story cs true. and. till late
their tclnt, was s!,nwu nj Verona
"a