The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-01-28
THEIR SUPERSTITl0NS.
CURIOUS FANclEs ABOUT SPIRITS
IN THE OF ARkS.

/ out-Chos;s Of Murdered Men stalk
/ About at Night-A Belief That the Num-
her - Brlngs Good Luck.
1T will never come out until it's burned
out-thais what they say" So remarked an
I intelligent business man Of Forsyth, Mo,
pointing 10 black stain Of blood on the floor
81 J. $. 3 Borry's old store, where Capt.
Kinney. the Knobber chief, had fallen when
Slot DO death by young Bill Miles ~ good
many have tried 90 scrub out blood stains,
they say. but never could do IT,"
Thlsbac0mm0n mountain superstition. The
mouniancers have noticed that blood stains
ol cotton goods turn black and are not easily
washed away They conclude that some SUI
psrnatural power. instead OF q chemical COM
hnation. keeps the stain there. 1t Is a com
mon practice, they say, TO cut out blood
stains and burn them.
II there is any place in the country where
"a living spirit of evil, tho personal devh, Is
believed in unquosuoningly, II Is here satan
travels mp and down the gulches and ravines
and peers In al the open doorways at the
iresIdes. or. finding an open door, JUST
mclts his way in" Those who have read the
story of the Bald Knobbers will perhaps
think there Is good reason for their falth
But the monntaineer goes further He sees
Satan and his imps There are mysterious
sounds I'm the wo0ds-that is they are not
understood hy him. and he says the spirits
are responsible for the mysteries. Not alone
does be see tho evil spirits, but the souls OF
the murdered deld, he believes, are never al
rest Capt Kinney. the dead Knobber chief,
stalks forth hy night clad In mask as Of old,
ont now with a blood stained shroud around
him instead Of the mdlshal's coat of blue that
was his pride That he viii seek vengeance
40 thcso who oppose the Knobbors Is not
doubted
AvFNGIyG SPIRITS.
On the other h0nd. there are those plenty
..no say tho o'i OAK from which the Taylor
ooys were hanged boy Kinneys men still
-hriek- and er0ans in agony as the boys did
,amly for mercy. while the spiritof murdered
-ocgbum comes down 90 the village square,
lul there Undertaking as a man once more
throws MP it- leff hand and striving 90 draw
revolver fails 10 geo 10 raised Then, fail
us backward on the ground, il huls
phantom pistol away through the darkness.
They 10 not believe that the spirits Of the
lead -lrk vengeance vainly Whenever mis-
fortune bafasany one they shake their heads
8muously if bee has ever shed human blood
siclme4 accident. death. are not the results
4 bad sanitary conditions OF carelcSsness;
ihey are the yisitations OK justice loving
.pirts Bur The fear % future visits Of spirits
never acts ns power to keep the ready hand
nom the pistol.
Tie fancy men have nearly all been
converted. according 20 their understanding
of H0ly Writ Preachers and churches
abound There are fTclve preachers ia
population of 900 now. What more could
.ae wI.hf Only the low trash are beyond the
Ual.of lac church All thelest citizens Of
lhc county are church members. They read
the Bible carefully, they sing religious hymns
mel0l.1ulg. they pray aud say amen fer
.eutly They give literally TO the poor, they
aro careful to entertain strangers But SOME
now th.y never comprehend the Sermon. on
hs Mount or the Seventh commandment.
There old Uncle Johd'iildreth He is the
remover of warts for tho mountaineer lads
aud n,-es The old man takes piece Of
bread -lX inche, long and ties knot, draw
ing tha knot tight directly above the wart,
lyiu. -0mo mysterious words as be does il.
ihe vari goes away, the mountaineers say,
within d week
The superstition about the number IL has
d curious hold here They think "A combina- /
ton of L. peopio for a purpose will DO irwin /
chile The knobbers are said 70 have organ /
.el ia groups OF IL at the first, and there are /
those that believe that had that principle been /
adhered to the knObbers would have still /
ruled tho Ozarks as they did in 1886 In their /
thirst for whipping people they wholly neg /
lectel 10 organize gangs Of Is or multipies OF .
that number Hence their downfall.
There is another curious theory held by /
some of the mountaineer5 Thus, Livery /
man Ray, who carried visitor from New .
York 10 sec the victims OF tho Knobbers III .
tho vicinity OF Sparta told ola revolver that /
ho had, which would sweat drops Of blood |.
when fred under proper circumstances Two /
men bad been killed with H. When a weapon .
has killed two men 10 Will thereafter sweat /
"a drop OF blood whenever fired at a living
target An inanimate target is OF no effect
they say.
WHY THEIR HOGS DIE.
The whips that were used to whip men with
were invariably burned afterward. IL would .
have brought bad luck 10 lave left bloody
switch Do existence Various theories about
tho III luck that would follow were held.
Jarvis Lawrence says that such whip would
turn % q serpent that would hunt the man
who had used 10 and agenge the blood OF the
victim with a bite There was no use Ia tax
Ing whisky for such bite Death was sure
20 follow Another notion is that the cattle
Of the men who used the whip were sure to
find it within "a year aud llcl, it with their
tongues Then they would die Of the muir
rain
4 little while ago in Sparta tho village
hogs that everywhere run .he streets In this
country were dying at the rate OF three or
four a day right Ia the street Tho reason
was plain enough 20 one who knew anything
about hog cholera, called. There was a great
pool Of stagnant water near tho center or the
village that was the resort OF all the hogs OF
the ueighborAoOd They had walowed IN it
the season through, and got nothing else 10
drink save when a rain storm made scarcely |
less filthy pools elsewhere. Why shouldn't
thGy diei Would the hog owners Sc III Not
40 all. II was q mysterious visitation. Likely
enough when the knObbcrs were hanged at
Ozark the hos would not die any more.
That's what tho anti-Knobbers thought and
sid The Knobbers said il was a just inhio-
tion On a people that were going 70 sacrifice
four victims 90 blind prejudice, and that,
too, when tho hogs Of both factions were
dying. OF course there were others who
thought that tho cholera wastlue 10 a vista
ton CA general principles-a sort Of a warn
ing 10 The whole people to abandon their sins.
Capt Kinney, the Knobber chief, under
stood the people very well when he devised
the horned mask tor his murderous crew 1t
is impossible 10 appreciate the abJect terror
which those masks created among tho mi.-
jority Of those who were visited The nela-
tives OF the murdered men in Christian
county, Charley Green and WIN Edens are
unable 10 90 on with their stories when they
como 10 describe the impression created by
the masks Old Mrs Elizabeth Edens turns
white at the mention OF the word and barely
escapes fainang IL is said that men who
had determined to fight and we're well fixed
for battle lost their courage and wits en-
tirely when they saw the masks, and took
their whippings like cowed cdrs.-New York
sun