Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-05-08
WITCHES IN THE SOUTH.
Dire Havoc Caused by Them Among
the Coon Dogs.
Received Methods of DESTROYING a
Witch by Charms Of Various
and Potent Efficacy.

( on the altar of their superstition as they
/ we're to die on the plea Of mistaken "a
/ triotlsm, writes a GoldsbOrO y. c. cor
respondent of the Philadelphia Times.
/ The Carolinas. Georgia, Alabama and
| other southern states abound in so-called
| witch doctors. VINO Will cure your ails
/ and kill the witch that is troubling you
Some Of these doctors actually be.
/ lieye in the personal existence of witch
es and in their supernatural power, but
many of them are frauds who make a liv-
I ing 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 in spooks,
| spirits, hobgobLns and other natural phe-
nomena, they can give the colored man
cards. spades and aces and then beat him.
| The cracker is worse than thecolored
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 a
continual source of annoyance to him, and
perpetually keeping him in a state Of un-
rest and bred. The simplest incident is
g
and he is even in tremor lest ill-luck and
misfortune overtake him
The evil influences manifest themselves
in various ways and each one seems
worse than the other His gun OCCASION
ally hangs fire and refuses to go off
properly. and at times is so badly de
ranged that il cannot be discharged at all.
At other times hls tayorite coon dog Is be-
witched by some eyil-minded and envlous
person. and then the woe of the cracker is
something 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 business? These are ques-
tions that he can answer only by assuming
that witch has been influencing him and
his property
He employs a Gitch-doctor to whom he
pours out his tale of woe and yields up has
hard-earned cash. The doctor cares little
for Il e woe, but the cash is grateful and
eXhiiarating The doctor is sanguine. and
declares that he has method of killing
that is strictly original copyrighted and
warranted to be eifectual in one case
that came across the doctor learned that
an old woman living several miles away
was the suspected party, and he commenced
campaign against her He told the
victim to 20 to her house some night and
stretch q white cotton string around the
building and tie the ends together with a
weaver knot. Then he was to walk
around the house seven times each way.
recite a 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 that they proved etfectuaI as the
next hunt resulted in the death of three
c0onS
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, tine powder placed
i'm her cup Of coffee, and the cure was as
complete as could be desired
But the common and old reliable method
of killing witch is as follows; The doc
tor must catch "a glimpse of her and from
memory draw her picture. This need not
be- a good likeness of the witch, but it
must bear the same general form, and It is
still better if some of the features are eX-
aggerated. Then this picture must be
hung up and shot with silver bullet. If
the bullet hits the picture it kills the
witch, and She can never trouble you again.
Thesiver bullet Is usually made bymellng
silver coin. This whole ceremony, which
is comicaliy absurd, will be performed
with an owl-like gravity and breathless
interest that leaves no room for doubling
that it Is regarded as etfectual and is a seri-
GUS and important matter indeed
There are some advantages in witch
l.,lF hos
a ready excuse to fall back on in an emer-
gency. Should his corn refuse to grow, 1t
is an easy matter to claim that it has been
bewitehed This is a simple and satisfy
ing statements and 1t is, therefore, COM
mon for the shiftless cracker to insist that
it was witches and not weeds that rendered
his garden unproductive.
About fifteen miles north of here ! ran
across a young fellow who was yeritable
mine of information in regard to witches
and attendant subjects. He soIemnly as
surad ma that the carrying of an AK hoe or
spade through a residence would cause a
death in the family within "a year Should
the utensll 10y CarelessnesS or accident, be
carried into the house it must be taken
ont at once by the person who carried it
in. He must go out at the same door
through which he entered taking as near
Iv the same steps us possible and holding
the tool in the same position This pre-
caution would, I presume, enable the
family to escape with a hard spell of
sickness
He regarded it as bad luck to turn back
70 the house after leaving il. even if only
for a short distance he would not say
what particular sort of ill-fortlue would
follow such course; it was simply "bad
luck
On getting up one morning there were
several curs In bis hair making it look
as TIA rat had been making q nest in his
tangled and matted locks. He grayelv
.wagEad his head and declared that a
witch had been trying "a give him head
ache. AN day he was in a deep study
irving to make mp his misty mind as 70
the identity of the witch The next night
before going Is hed be turned around
three time. and then -ar into bed back
ward. thus befudd.in- the witch and wlfd-
u. If q second attack Ha explained t.
me that at times De could discourage E
walk-niudej witch by turning In the road
and walking backward fer short dis
lance. ST. could fool one hy affecting limp