The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-25
A BOGUS voUDoU QUEEN.
New Orleans Police Capture a Queer
Character.
From the New orleans Picayune.


A negro woman named Annie Gould,
who claims to be possessed Of voudou
charms that will drive the evil spirits
from ones home, reconcile couples who
have been separated. secure employment
for the idle, cure the lame. and. in fact,
perform all kinds Of miracles, was ar
rested at , O'Clock yesterday afternoon
and now languishes in the fifth precinct
police station on the charge of being a
dangerous and suspicious character The
prisoner Is nearly 30 years of age, a dark
skinned mulatteress, while her husband is
of ebony color and nearly the same age.
The place where the unSOphisticated
visited and related their tales of woe, and
had their ills cured, as they thought. was
the rlckety and dilapidated shanty on
Margny, near ROYAL street. IL is owned
by the woman and her husband, stands
about ten feet from the street, is sur
rounded by large, high weeds, and may be
said to be almost isolated The couple
have been operating their vOudOu seances
for nearly two years, and stories of their
alleged cures were circulated through the
city among the cOlored people The
prisoner and her husband decorated the
wall of the front room of their place with
all kinds of theatrical pictures, while in
one corner was erected an altar, while
another corner was set aside
to perform the charms and burn candles
The other three rooms were used as bed
chambers, dining room and kitchen. The
days set aside for the voudou dance and
the performance of miracles was gener-
ally on Sunday and Wednesday. and some
times Saturday On these days the house
was well filed with negroes, who paid
from 80 cents to S2.50-in fact, whatever
they could, for admission The alleged
cures performed by Annie and her nus
band attracted considerable attention
even in the country, and her mail from
the different parishes was almost equal to
that of a commercial mouse. Many con-
tanned money.
Several of the dupes spoke about not
having received any relief after having
said the prayers and burned the candles
as advised by Annie's husband. Others
begged that the one they wanted be-
witched would be tormented for the bal
ance Of their days and requested Annie
and her husband to preform the charms
on them Some stated that their hus-
bands played poker and lost heavily and
wanted to have their luck changed
Those who visited the house paid a
certain price for an ordinary candle
which was in tin candlestick, and the
wish desired was then written with pen
and ink on piece Of paper by Annie's
husband. This piece OF paper was placed
under the candle which had previously
been lit and the person then walked
over to the altar which was concealed
from view by two white lace cur
talus, to pray. When the curtains were
drawn back from the altar the victims
eyes were greeted by a horrible spectacle.
Surrounded by lighted candles were two
large bottles covered with red cloth, a
human skull covered with tin foil, dogs
skull several large ANIMALS bones, ar
renv ID S,.s41r g.
large sealed jar and three smaller lars
containing several varieties of snakes and
frogs On the upper portion of the altar
were lot of glass beads, two large relig-
ious pictures, a small dollbaby dressed in
red, several candles filled with pins and
covered with tinfoil. At the base of the
altar were a bundle of mems underwear
literally filled with pins ana glass dish
filled with corn.
The house and what its occupants did
for livelihood was we'll known to the
residents in the neighborhood, but hav-
ing become frightened at the woman, and
fearing she might voudou them if they
said anything about her, they kept quiet.
She, however, was considered to be a dan
gerouS woman, and those who did not seek
|. her for advice and consolation avoided
her, but finally her modus operandi was
exposed to the police by colored man
named DR. G. NJ. Turner, residing corner
Dryades and Common streets. AS soon
as the police learned that the vOudou
dances given at the place were Of an indie
cent character and the woman was feared
by everyone, it was decided to raid the
place and arrest everyone caught there
1t was about o'clock yesterday evening
when Sergeant Hevron, Corporal Devaney
and Officers Larenzo and Thomas boarded
the fifth precinct patrol wagon and
drove to the house.
On their arrival they saw Annie at the
gate, and when she saw them she ran
into the house, followed Immediately by
the officers, who placed her under arrest.
Her husband was found in bed, and
as he was complaining of being i'll with
rheumatism he was not molested. The
man claimed that his wife was the one
who performed the charms and he had
nothing to do with it. The officers gath
cred up all of the skulls, bottles of snakes,
bones, lot of slips of paper that were
lying under burning candles on the floor,
and mass of letters and other voudou
paraphernalia. The articles filled sack,
and, together with the woman. were
locked up and the letters were exam
ined and found to be from people in this
city, AlgierS and other places.
Some of the slips of paper found on the
floor bore the following: In God trust
that this powder may disturb Clara Pres
ton and Howard Leonard and make them
fight in three days time" Another read:
In God ! trust that Annie Davis may be
disturbed and move away in nine days
time" Another read: IN God | trust
that Alcide Boutee may drown himself in
nine days time, or go as far as wind and
water will carry him. - From the tone of
the letters they were principally written
by negroes, but one was found that had
been written by white woman conduct
ing a bOarding-house in the Third district,
who stated that her boarders were leav-
ing her and she wanted advice to have
them remain with her"