The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-28
MYSTERfE 5 OF v0UDOOISM.
BLACK RIT as THAT STILL PREVAIL
II PAIlTs OF THE. SOUTH.


From the New YcGk sun
. New or Sans June 20.-The .2ith Of June
is a gree Z day IN the religious world with
the Chu ron OF England ami that Of Rome,
for 10 is H-he feast day OF s.. John the Bap-
list. lt@is also a day Of much moment
. 10 the Masonic brotherhood. But Il IS
the day of days with another cult connn-
ed 10 tn negro believers. In the faith of
the Nouc CO. Summer now is at its glori-
Us Hight All nature in the far south has
- aimed Is grand climacter.c. The poi
. plants are now fullest Of their sap
w., Iify,, blood has grown thick, strong
"A II. rgid under the semi-tropic heat
re thir1.-s hat feed upon them are swol-
L., and failss Of their deadly quality and
,,os powerfm in malign instincts of de-
80, 4ion. So. far from civilized touch,
,-,.,oi the reno lest wilds Of labyrinthne
ba,oue sluggish. make their bends and
conr a. 81 rear cur, lous Islands, where the
-. ~ me swa mps but seldom wan
ders. VIII ere mighty all-sat9rs i've without
fear I'm n faces like 1ese' me MoEshlppers
- ~ - ,nent meet on the night of St.
~ 3b We - ana enaic. their savage rites
and stranger incansatt MS aS oio as ther
n t. ,lo,,btf al If any W hite man ever wit
,e-, - V-ouloO celebration. On
each night az ST John certain negroes
meet near New orleans "a ma profess to
practice the rites IF the N0.i oVo. but me
real mfstresses an masters--'OF a IeW
men are among the Initiates, having
passed tbs neOph.7 stage-iaugn At us
/ puerile trifiing, only lndulged IN Iof ieNc77
| nue.. lust as a real X. night Templar We uld
scorn a lodge or ord er that worked ina
public hall with an audience looking on
| that had been admitte q az % cents a head. |
| The very little that IL known or Noudoo
| rites or OF what happt ms at these annual
| meetings has been glea ned from the acct
/ dental words by old al d confidential ne
| groes to their truste, white people. /
| Neither money nor whis Sy-the two most
| potent influences with a average plan
tation negro Of South ca rolina, Georgia,
| Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana-will |
| open the mouths Of those who could ex-
| plain a good deal Of this st range curious
| worship, which stil exists to a greater
degree than is imagined in early all the
' southern states
1t came originally from the banks Of
| he Congo with the first impo rtaton of
A 'rican slaves, over 200 years ago. All
| the negroes brought to the United States
| We're from the weaker and less Warlike
tribes of the Guinea country, along the
| west G. 1ast of Africa and the river Congo.
| The san ue tribes furnished the slaves of
/ the Britt sh West Indian islands and Cuba
| and Port, Rico, as we'll as Martinique
| Thev broul nit with them the customs and
| worship OF 'heir native land.
| Whefher We NoudOo worship and its
rites were pra eteed 20 any extent among
| the negroes Of NeW Eng-a@G' New ork
| New Jersey De aware and Maryland can
| not now be- told deiinitelys But Il -four 4
/ ished in spite of Stempts to repress 1t in
4 the warm states of the S0ht nern Atlantic
/ seaboard. south car 'olina, Florida, GeOr-
! gia and Louisiana furnishing the best
natural conditions. Tor ITS l'racuces; In
| Jamaica to-day Il cont Nues win an us
| revolving features, even, u IS declared, TO
/ the extent OF human sac vihctas (See Sir
Henry ST. John in jamaica Free. fhere
| are erewsome tales current .Nmt 'hs LOUIS
| lana negroes in the Mississi, 9pI loWlands
of orgies ending In the sacrfc,s O White
| male child. In 1863 hunting p an IN the
| almost impenetrable swamps o. Lake
| Borgne, in the parish Of st. .Sel m Iu ~
ing about thirty miles from New . reahs'
| came upon the Bemains OF what h.N been
| q camp fire of an unusual charac,4 T. Ii
| was not hunters camp; that was GER
tain, for it had been made in sunni Aer.
| The cane and thick underground had be, en-
cleared away, ana under four great IN e
| oaks the fire had been made A partialL v.
| effaced ring-made by the tramping OF
| many feet-was distinctly traceable, andA
| IN examining the spot more closely the
bones of the rattlesnaBe, the owl and the
| dog We're found, with others so charred
| by the action of FIRE and hot water as to |
be unrecognizable.s Finally one of the |
gentlemen discovered portions Of the skull
of something.
What's this. doctor?p he inquired OF a
physieian-who has since become a cele-
brated surgeon in New York city-a crack |
shot and famous fisherman
Where? Let me see it. Why, good |
GodV' he said, with look of horror on |
his usually cheerful face, that's the skull |
of a ehildl"v
He kept the CHASTITY thing for a clos er |
| examination, and finally said IL was the |
skull of a child about year and a hal |
old. OF course, 1t was impossible to dis
| Germ anything of race or sex but that Il
had been subjected to the action of fire
| was clear. The discovery made some To- IL
cal sensation. There was another the
DRY besides that of human sacrifice by
| Noudoo worshippers. 1t was to the eff
feet that an ilegitimate child had died {
somewhere near. in New Orleans perhaps, |
and as a burial permit might induce I'M |
desirable developments, the body had been |
/ given to Voudoo woman to be made |
away with and had been burned at the |
annual meeting. But this view had but !
| few believers. 1t was not their way of |
{ doing things, to begin with. Then there |
were many more expeditions and less |
troublesome methods of disposng of a |
| baby. The leaders of the Voudoo are |
pretty well known in every southern COM
munity. Those nearest the locality
! where the relic was discovered were ques
| toned but they swere they knew nothing.
is the second instance in which a child S
? skull has been found with the same sur
e | roundings and under like conditions. The
truth of the matter will never be known.
Passing from the Noudo0 worship and
. rites it is pertinent to consider in what
manner they have obtained their COM
f handing influence, what their cult is and
a their power. Preceding this few words
Q of general explanation may not be with
out interest
. There is scarcely a great city of the
e world where the Hottest civilization and
the lowest features of that time when the
= -world was young do not meet. New Or
l. leans is no exception. Here there is a
z well-endowed college for the education
= of the negro in the higher branches of !
g professional or scholastic life. In this
city may be found, too, men and women of
color who are well trained mentally and
l. in polite usage Here, too, are the lowest
d and most ignorant of the negro race In
i deed, there are some who have advanced
hardly a degree beyond what their ances-
tors were when imported from the west
coast and the banks of the river Congo,
It / two centuries ago Like all people who
e have very nearly behind them a barbaric
# ancestry. certain classes of the negro
race are as secretive as they are ignorant
Particularly is this true of the blacks
from certain sections of Louisiana and
the sea island plantations of the Carolina
- and Georgia coasts. In these communi-
- ties the worship of the evil spirit and
= Noudooism are very much alive, and these
= nanlIlla rlN 8 rrl.an rites haNa haan LraI.s-