The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-18
QUEER HOOSIER FOLK.
Men Who Possess What Night Be Called
Occult Powers.
]. W. Jacobs Of the Knights of Honor
Can Stop the Flow of Blood From a
Wound John Burnley VIII Take a
Wart OF the End of Your Nose While
You Waft-Other Straro,s po1ver.

from the indianapolis News.
Not often spoken about among people
who claim mental culture and wide infor-
nation, and, If brought up. quietly
laughed down as humbug and supersu-
ton, yet it is not humbug or superstition,
as your correspondent finds after careful
and minute inquiry. What I mean is the
strange, and. if you will, occult power of
some persons. male or female, to stop the
flow of blood from wounds, to blow fire."
take Off warts, to find subterranean
streams of water. and to do some other
things that are puzzling to the spectator.
This power is not confined to few per-
sons in some section of the state, but peo-
pie can be found everywhere in abundance
who possess it. There is some secret
about it, but what it is 1 am unable to
find out, since not one of the persons who
has it will give it out for publication. The
only exception to this rule is in the finding
of water.
The secret knowledge--so far as its
/ Transmission can be traced here-has evil
IDENTIFY been brought to this country by
| Germans mainly, and these were mostly
of the farming class. In every instance,
where the persons practcing the power
/ belong to any of the old orthodox churches
/ the clergy is bitterly opposed to the prac-
tice.
The fact that the flow of blood can be
stopped by the will of some persons, eth
er male or female, is well attested by the
| use which J. ". Jacobs, grand reporter
] Of 10 nj gbf Of hac pf &c
/ ability to do so. He has done some aston
| ishing things in that line, the most mar
yelous feat, probably, being the prolonga-
! ton of the life of Matt Thompson, well
! known storekeeper and Odd Fellow, who,
! in addition to other troubles of which he
finally died would be seized with dan
gerous hemorrhages of the lungs and
which the physicians were unable to stop.
/ Several times Mr.. Jacobs was sent for in
/ great haste in the middle of the night to
/ exert his power to save the patient. On
I these occasions he never rose from his
bed but simply inquired in which room
the man lay, told the messenger the hem
oTrhage had stopped, and went to sleep
again. The charm, miracle, or whatever
one chose to call it, always worked
Mr.. Jacobs says that he learned the
I secret from q farmers wife while boy,
| and when asked by your correspondent
| to teach him. replied that he could not
the power must pass to a person of the op
, pOste sex. When asked If there was any
| black art in it he emphatically said
there was not, but that he called upon
God. The person who is being treated need
not believe in the healing power of the
operator, nor is it necessary for the latter
to see the sufferer, but he must know the
/ surroundings and be able to bring the
patient before his minds eye In these
two essentials it differs widely from the
faith cure.
Strangely enough. the same power is
poss essed by a man whose mind is in
many things in a sad tangle and whose
only aim in life seems to be to tangle
further by drinking bad whisky. His
name is John Burkley, and he is well
| known to almost everybody in Southern
| Indiana and Northern Kentucky. John
! can also take off warts which he does by
| making passes with his fingers over the
obnoxious growth. He always refuses to
accept even drink as compensation
though ready enough at other times to
take all he can get In fact. every person
whom I have found possessed of the mys-
I FERROUS power in every instance declines
to accept pay or reward.
The faculty of blowing fire. is "a SINH
lar gift. and is exercised where some one
/ has been burned or scalded. The operator
blows his breath gently upon the injured
part, while repeating some secret for
mula, and the pain and Inflammation
leave
In the stopping of blood remarkable
cases have come under my observation
! but whether the blowing of fire" would
be efficient in serious cases / cannot tell
! although it unquestionably so in slighter
! cases
Undoubtedly there powers are survival
/ of what is called sympathy" in Ger
many, which. be 1t superstition or some
thing else. has many followers, even
among intelligent people there In times
! past il might have subjected the operator
! to an unpleasant trial for wttchcraft.
Unfettered by secrecy or the transmits
| sion from male to female, or vice versa, is
/ the power Of finding subterranean streams
of water, nor are socalled water witches"
| at all rare, this country alone boasting of
at least dozen men who can locate never
| failing wells.
! Among those who have experimental
with the water witch Is the eminent
/ Shakespearean scholar and jurist the
Hon J. Fl. Stotsenberg of New Albany.
/ He is a gentleman Of the highest intelli-
gence and not at all liable to be taken
/ in yet he believes in the matter
/ Your correspondent was told some time
/ ago that the Hon. Alexander Lutz Of
I Charlestown, a wealthy farmer and OK
/ county commissioner, a man of the highest
standing was q water finder. and he was
/ seen upon the subject. He spoke freely
and stated that there was no particular
secret in the matter and that everything
connected with it could readily be learned
/ in half hour.
The modus opsrsndi is simply to cut
torked stick-peach or hazel nv prefer
ence-trin II down until the forks balance
exactly, then grasp the ends firmly with
clinched hands, finger tips up. thumbs
turned in. and the joint of the fork up-
ward. Holding the twig thus the water
finder starts. AS soon az he passes over n
| subterrauean stream the twig begins TO
turn down in spite Of any resistance of the
part of the bearer, and often the subtle
force is so strong that the fork breaks In
the hands holding IT, by making a mark
at the place where the twig begins TO bend
downward. aud another AZ the point
where the twig breaks the depth Of the
ground 10 be penetrated can be ascer-
tanned TO within few feet and by the
violence Of the force exerted It Is known
whether the well win have TO be sunk
through rock or soil.
Please do not publish anything about
this IN the local papers" requested Mr.
Lutz, FOR / am already pestered enough
20 md water for people. and. A. J charge
nothing. Il takes too much Of my time