The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1890-12-26
WITCHES IN THE SOUTH.
Dire Havoc Believed to Have Been Causet
by Them Among the Coon Dogs.

In Wayne county. N. c., of which
Goldsboro is the county seat, many OF
the Inhabitants believe in witchcraft as
firmly as they ever believed in States
rights, and are as willing to sacrifice
their lives on the altar of their supersti.
tion as they were to die on the plea OF
a mistaken patriotism.
The Caroliras. Georgia, Alabama, and
other Southern States abound in SO.
called "witch DOCTORS" who will cure
your ails and kill the, witch that is
troubling you. Some of these doctors
actually believe in the personal exist
ence of witches and in their supernat-
ural power, but many of them are
frauds who make living by imposing
on the credulity of their neighbors.
The negro race is naturally supersti.
tious, but the poor white CRACKERS
are also ignorant, and for believing ip
spooks, spirits. hobgoblins, and other
natural phenomena they can give the
colored man cards. spades, and aces.
and then beat him. The cracker is
worse than the colored man because he
fondly imagines that he is SO much
shrewder. and so he does not use what
brains he has, nor does he try to learn
anything. He has thousands of signs,
omens, cures, and beliefs that are
continual source of annoyance to him,
and perpetually keep him in state Of
dread. The simplest incident is one OF
sinister and occult meaning to him. and
he is ever in tremor lest Ill luck and
misfortune overtake him.
The evil influences manifest them.
selves in various ways, and each one
seems worse than the other. His gun
occasionally hangs fire and refuses to
''go off, properly. and at times is so
badly deranged that it cannot be dis.
charged at all. At other times his
favorite coon dog is bewltched by some
evil-minded and envious person, and
then the woe of the cracker is some
thing painful to witness. If his gun
were not bewitched, why could he not
kill a squirrel with it? And why should
his dog refuse to hunt coons, when to
hunt coons was his businessp These
are questions that he can answer only
by assuming that witch has been in
fluencing him and his property.
He employs witch doctor, to whom
he pours out his tale of woe and yields
up his hard earned cash. The doctor
cares little for the woe, but the cash is
grateful and exhilarating. The doctor
is sanguine, and declares that he has a
method of killing that is strictly orig
inal, copyrighted, and warranted to be
effectual. In ono case that / came
across the doctor learned that an old
woman living several miles away was
the suspected party, and he commenced
a campaign against her. He told the
victim to go to her house some night
and stretch white cotton string
around the building, and tie the ends
together with '.weaver's knot" Then
he was to walk around the house seven
times each way. recite given sentence
in front of each door while making
mysterious marks On it, and the cure
would be completed. The directions
were followed, and am happy to say
were effectual, as the next hunt result.
ed in the death of three coons.
Another time a small powder was
given, which must be swallowed by the
witch without her knowing it. The old
lady was invited to dinner, the powder
placed in her cup of coffee, and the
cure was as complete as could be de-
sired. d.-Ihiladel1,hia Times.