Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-24
OBSERET EVENING NEWS
Thursday. = April a. 1880.
NEGRO SUPERSTITION.
SPIRIT lore OF THE SOUTHERN
PLANTATION HANDS.

/ OONu SOulu II Ia lulctetlHS 70
hear the darkits tell about the
s'spirits'' as they sit around the log
wood fires, I'm their old, tumble down
cabins in the woods. None can
equal in horror their thrilling stories
nor make their listeners feel so
truly that the spirits" are really 10
| be seen.
An old darby, Aunt Peggy by
name, was an enthusiast on the
subject. How she enjoyee telling
us about one eventful evening, when
She was nearly ''skeered 70 DEATH"
She was going to 'sprayer meetin' /"
through the lonely p:ne woods, snd
"thinkin' right hard bout de guide
Lawd," when, what should she see
but a s'shadder walkin' right dar
aside her." She told how she closed
her eyes right tight 50 IS not to see
ii, but stumbling over an old stump
which happened 10 be in the way,
she had 10 open her eyes, and ''dar
it war agin, right afore her.
sI.awd a'mussey =" she said, show
she did run, an dat 'ere spearit right
after her" and it came so close that
it made her feel cold all over. The
good old soul declared the spirit"
did not leave her until she reached
the meeting house. There no spirits
can enter, as side guide I.awd sees
arter dat am they's skeered Of
him."
ONLY STALK BY MOONLIGHT.
She told US that the ':splrits'' were
only to be seen on moonlight nights,
aud that sometimes they looked like
long, thin shadows, dressed in gray.
They often beud right down over
people and peer into their faces,
whilst theiF breath is ike n cold
north wind. IL any one notices
/ then they sigh, dolefuliy, and then
suddenly disappear With a wild
shrek OF mOcking laughter. Some
Of these shadows are As tall as the
lofty pines, and as they toss their
long arms wildly in the air the cling
ing drapery Of their shrouds waves
| in the breeZe. This belief might
well be accounted for by the long
| clinging Spanish mos, whilst the
wind ''sOughing" through the pine
trees might be compared To the
plaintive wall Of some lovely
.'spirit'' mailing from the "I.and OF
the Dead"
Another oil darkey, by the name
Of Aunt Sallie, once lived in a log |
cabin in the woods. She was a
queer little old woman and de-
lighted in telling Us about the
"spiritsr and how she could smell
them when the moon shun, though, |
the Lawd be blessed, she'd never
seen 'em."
Some OF us dared to suggest that
she might possibly have reference TO
the spirit, Of the 'little bTown
Jug" but the gosd old soul failed 10
understand our meaning. Poor
Aunt Sallie, she is row al home
among the s'sFirits, - aud is far
wiser than we are as TO their peculi-
ariiies.
Uncle Joe, another Of our darkey
friends, dwelt in n log cabin on our
estate, within short distance Of the
house, and we had an excellent OPP
portuni.y for Observing the ways
and customs OF the .'darkiesY in
that part Of the country. One day
while the poor old man was driving
a team Of mules he wss thrown out
Of the wagon and dragged some
distance. Although he was not
badly hurt, yet he was much shaken
and could do very little work after
that.
With care he might possibly have
recovered. but his friends seemed TO
.t.s.f- sE,,s a mo-. q. f,.Hrr af.na for Egffs-
zude Lawd to take his sOul," so they |
came tramping In from far and wide
TO hasten him on his journey. They
certainly did so most efect1ally, FOR
they gave him every possible thing
to eat, from fried alligatOrs 10 unripe
watermelons. Finally the doctor
who had been attending Uncle Joe
declared him n hopeless case, and
after "a futile effort 10 disperse the
crowd, he pushed his way out and |
left the man to his fate.
SPEEDING HIN on THE WAY.
In a short while the cabin was
full Of darkies singing and praying
waiting for Uncle JOe's soul TO
take It's flight. The greatest eonfu-
sion prevailed, and amid the din the
dying man tried i'm vain to make
himself heard. His wife and daugh-
ter were watching every breath he
drew, and telling him to ''hurry, To-
de guide Lawd was awaitin'" for
10 take him .''cross dat golden rib
ber.n More and more came crowd
ing in from all directions and Joined
in the mOnOtOnOus chanting, until
at last Uncle Joe breathed his last.
His friends were now SO excited
that they jumped and screamed
with JOY, clapping their hands and
saying: ''De guide Lawd hab taken
his soul; he am gone TO the guide
Lawd. Lawd bless poor Bre'r
joe"
As the shades Of evening fell fires
werelit all around the cabia TO keep
the s;spirits'' away, whilst the
darkies sang hymns TO cheer Uncle
Joe on his way. 1t was a weird
scene, as the darby preacher stood
there, solemnly chanting the first
line Of every hymn, which was then
vigorously sung, or rather shouted,
by the assembled crowd. All around
was the darkness Of the night, save
for this one lonely spot Illuminated
by the freight, showing the old log
cabin in strong relief against the
dark background Of pine trees
Such n bowling and lamentation as
those darkies kept upall night long.
Ii was truly pitiful, and only at
early dawn did the weird song end
and the crowd disperse.
At noon they all assembled again
at the cabin 20 follow the coffin
containing the remains Of Crclel
Joe. as he was carried to his last
resting-place. All the way the
darkies kept up their low, monotOn-
Gus chant, until they reached the
lonely grave in the midst of the pine
woods. Fires were lit at the head
Of the grave to light the wanderer
on his way, and overhead the pine
trees sang a solemn requiem for the
traveller 10 that bourne from whose
shores none return.
As the darkies returned home
ward their funeral chant was chang
ed to a song Of joy, and their APP
peaTanee suggested little Of the
solemn scene which had just taken
place.
After Uncle JOe's death the log
cabin was deserted, and is now (
slowly falling to decay. His''spirit"
Is supposed to hsunt the old home,
and at night nothing could persuade
n darky to go near the place. As
Aunt Sallie told us, il ''there war
anything she war afeared on" il
Guild be to see Uncle Joe's spirit.
1t appears he had not been veIy
good during his lifetime, or else he
would have gone straight TO de
guide Lawd," but Aunt Sallie very