The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-12-28
rsoME aurER supERsrIrIoNs.
Strange Beliefs That Prevail Anon,
the Negroes and Creoles OF Louis
lana.

Or 10AAC46 amy 2AAAOnk
the Negroes and Creoles OF Louis
lana.
From the 81. Louis Republic.
Webster defines superstition as ''belief
in omens and prognostics." and further
"omen, a sign, q presage:" "prognostic,
foreboding, tosen.n OF all these definitions
the only one used and understood by that
most superstitious or all races, the African,
is sign" A sign of trouble, OF sickness. of
joy. Of sorrow, of visitors, Of accident, a
voyage, a DEATH
Ii the cat washes her face with dainty
touches of velvety paw-"Dat's a sho' sign
hit gwine to rain, Miss MANNER IL Senior
Cockalorum crows Justify three times before
the door, "Gwine hab visitors dis day, Miss
Mamie, sho's you hawnm II sparks scatter
in golden showers from the chimney-"Don'
move, chile hit WON'T burn yo'; dat sign
| money comm to you'." ssDoin' burn de
egg shell, honey, case dat bring you
sorrow.n 40 de Lawd's sake, see dat rat
run cross dat heyth (hearthli You's got u
bad enemy, chile, gwine to do you sum
Dirt Wha'for you kim back, honeyi Dom
you know you mus e turn back arter you
git stateds Dat sho' sign YOU gwine to hab
had luck while you out How cum you let
Miss Flo lay her parasol on de beds You
| an her be bad friends, sho, you sse.n
These and hundreds of similar sayings
and supeTStitlons are as familiar to south
erners as the blue sky and fragrant blossoms
OF their sunny CLINE.
In the extreme south, more especially in
| louisa a, and in New Orleans worst of all.
where French, Spanish. Italian and Afri-
| CANAL races peculiarly susceptible to oc-
cult intiuences-predominat supersti-
stition runs riot. The WELL
known voodooism, as brought from
darkest Africa, thrivss among the negroes
there, and st. Johns eve each year brings
the anniversary upon which certain unholy
rites and mysteries accompany the diabler-
les of the voodoo dance, wish its white
queen" always "A young, commanding
woman, whose youth seems perennial, who
has been known for years as Marie, the
Presumably-as the fount Of eternal
youth remains under cover-Time bleaches
the locks and dims the bright eyes of the
voodoo queen, but to all intents and pur-
poses Marie" remains perpetually the
same. s..-,. .se, ee D..
The widest tales Of barbaric and heathen-
ish lncantations are told of their midnight
orgies, but 1t is of voodooism as practiced
among the more civilized negro element that
| write.
In childhood my spirit has shivered with
terrified enjoyment, a sort OF ecstatic fright,
as it were. at the solemn assurances of my
dusky nurse-a creole negresS-that she
felt pins and needles sticking her. "And
twas dat yaller Francoise hoodoin' herw
And when | saw with my own
scared eyes the small image, bearing
a grotesque resemblance in its tur-
ban and plump outlines to my own dear
"Maum," and with every part OF its waxen
anatomy stuck fall of pins, why, Of course,
became a devout believer at nee in Fran
coises guilt. WHAT measures were taken 20
dispose of the little image-for which l
secretly logged was not permitted TO
know. but it disappeared and with it the
pricking sensations my shaun" had en-
dured. r...
Another time long string Of beads,
bright and gay in hue, all sizes and fan
tastic in shape, was found upon the gate
knob. "Maum" was again "hoodooed" aud
great tribulation OF spirit ensued. Inaunier-
able visits we're made to the voodoo doctor,
an ancient African with wool like lint cot
| ton, and black face scanned with freckles-
before she was freed from the evil that
| luTked in each Sbright-hued bauble There
is no doubt that chemical a alysls would
| have detected poison in the gaudy coloring,
and the contact was due to the mischief.
Perhaps the most peculiar OF the many
methods adopted TO work upon tie super
stitious negroes was tue insertion, by appar-
| emily supernatural means, of balls of
| feathers into pillows and beds have my
| self examined these creations and marveled
at the skill displayed in their manufacture.
| The closest scrutiny failed to discover rip or
| newly sewed seam Ia bed or pillow tick, and
| yet the balls were found buried in the mat
| tresses and among the soft feathers
| of pillows. They were made of soft,
highly colored feathers brilliant and gaudy,
scarlet and gold, bright blue and vivid
| green, and were about the size and shape Of
i A fox. .,1n oil
and when lightly struck al almost impalpa-
BILE powder arose. An inquisitive Jack of
| the family cut one of the queer objects in
halves, and we found therein such an as
sortment as Shakespeare puts into his
witches caldron as they bFewed in dark
ness and tempest:
| Fillet of fnny snake,
| Eye of newt and toe OF frog.
Wool bat and tongue of dog,
Lizard sleg and owlets wing.
| Certainly there were all sorts of horrible,
unnamable objects. The soft, whitish pow
der that arose in high clouds When the balls
were touched was undoubtedly some subtle,
insidious poison, the secret ofsits composi-
| ton perhaps handed down from the alchemy
Of the ancient Egyptians, AID its constant
| inhalation during sleep was to cause slow
| lingering, and eventually fatal ILL
ness without apparent cause to be-
set the unfortunate victim selected.
The creole negroes of New Orleans have a
gruesome fashion of invoking consumma-
ton of their wishes that believe Is entirely
indigenous to the soil of that quaint, cos.
mopolitan, semi-foreign old city. Among
the numerous fete days. high days and bolt
days that are scattered so Literally among
| the too sober pathway of che twelve months
| of the year none is more beautifully OBJ
| served by the New Orleanaise than the First
| of November. This is by legal statute a
state holiday, and in the Catholic d Epis-
| copal church calendars All Saints day, but
in Louisiana, and particularly in the Cres-
cent City, it is day for the remembrance
| of the dead.
| That tomb is, indeed, neglected, and its
occupant forgotten that does not bear a
memento; from the simple conch she'll, or
| perhaps only q little mass of white, glisten-
| ing sand with a paper rose stuck in its
| midst, to the elaborate, expensive floral
| tribute that crowns the lofty marble Of the
ricn mans resting place, not one is left
| without decoration. A general pilgrimage
| to the many cemeteries in and around the
city takes place, and its observance Is uni
versal to surprising degree.
1t is on that day the old cradle supersti-
| tuition tells you to pursue the following
method if you want to have your wish, the
| dearest desire of your heart, fulfilled.
| You must purchase beforehand hand
| kerchief, and 1t must not be used, but kept
| clean and white for this occasion.
On the eventful morning you must leave
home as early az rosgbla and also aa