The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-20

ing den as it has ever been my fortune u
behold ,,...a
The apartment was naturally lncl'neo
to he dark for il had no WINDOW ana 'ie
only light came from the front iooili
Around the wall and dangling by strings
from the ceiling were curious objects
skins skulls of bird and beast odd bones
and other nameless relics. on deal taD4e
in the middle of the floor stood the stuilea
figure of a great horned oWi-one Oh tnose
fine fellows one encounters IN the UpAsi
parts of Louisiana, and especially veneer
ated by the apostles of voodoo over III
the most distant corner glowed an ORDINARY
gas stove and upon this was POI. "hd'
decoction the vessel contained / know not
but exhaled an unpleasant, nauseating
odor. and the old doctor varied has occu-
patton of preparing my charm by sur
ring it vigorously at intervals.
DESPITE the commonplace gas stove,
could not help recalling the witches in
Macbeth and their ceuldron, as / gazed at
and smelt the voodoo doctors mixture
1 was not allowed to approach any nearer
than the dividing curtain to examine the
interior decorations of this six by nne
apartment of the black ar. Every time
that l made a motion to cross the pre-
scribed limits my colored guide tWitcheo
my sleeve by way of warning.
THE doctor went to shelf ana TOOK
down sundry bundles of what looked 70 me
to be punches of dried herbs. These ne
mixed in a small teacup and poured over
them a glass of water. Mumbllng a rev
words (unintelligible to me, ana which
l strongly suspect to be gibb.rish, ne
strained the decoction through piece of
cheese cloth, bottled the liq~. portion and
presented it to me with bow.
Dat ar said he, am de strongest
chah'm 70 love. 70 steep de young lady's
han'kchlef in dat chah'm an she love you
fo' suah.'
'"The consultation appearing to be at an
end, was forced to depart; but not until
l had made another effort to study the
'fixings' of the inner room at closer range,
This time 1 positively identified a coon
skin. the skin of several rabbits, and sill
YER foxes and what looked like the skull
of a dog. The old doctor was suspicious
of me to the last, and kept between me
and the cauldron
1.-TWO years ago got a negro to get me
a love charm in Philadelphia, and in that
way opened up an acquaintance with the
notorious DR. Massey already mentioned.
Massy's method Of preparing a love potion
differed considerably from that of his Chi
cago fellow practitioner. Having first
paid over 81 by way of fee, the client was
| called on for IS more. This latter sum was
| expended in purchasing five-quart bottles
| of whisky or rum and one empty bottle.
| The full bottles Massey placed in circle
| on the floor of what he called his office
| Then he filled the empty bottle with water,
or with some fluid that closely resembled
water, and stepping into the circle, went
| through a long rigmaroe, and waving the
| sixth bottle to and fro in time to his mo-
notonous chant.
| This ceremony completed he corked up
| the bottle of water carefully and presented
1t to his client, bidding him administer Sc
cret doses to the lady whose affections he
| desired. The five bottles of whisky he re-
| talned for use or sale.
"All voodoo doctors keep in stock a
number of the ordinary charms priced by
negroes, such as rabbits feet, owls ears
| bones of the loggerhead turtle, rattlesnake
skins and such lucky objects There Is
! the briskest kind of trade In all these
| things. The rattle of a rattlesnake or the
ear of the horned owl fetch good prices.
| l knew of a voodoo practitioner who hired
| a hunchback of his own race for the bane-
fit of sporting negroes superstitiously in
clined, it being esteemed particularly good
luck to touch such a PERSONS hump before
| betting on the races or stalking ones
money in policy.
Policy, indeed, Is the great aid to VOC
doc in the North. Colored men and women
will bet their all IL in possession of some
good piece OF 'conJun IN. Wherever you
hear of negroes being gathered for pur-
poses OF policy poker, or craps you may
feel fairly positive that there Is a voodoc
doctor doing a rushing trade some where
in the vicinity. 1t Is now but a month
since a negro voodoo doctor was arrest ii
and fined in the New York police courts.
1.-The police officials tell me that four Gu,
Of every five colored persons arrested IN
the big Northern cities carry wooded
charms about them, ana are most anxious
TO keep these articles when searched.
myself know of a colored jockey--one oi
the best American professional riders OF
his day-who never takes an important
mount without first of all consulting q
proficient In the cult Of voodoo.
1T is next TO impossible TO crush oul
voodooism by force. One can only hope
that the spread of education among the
colored people will In the long run destroy
this survival of their primitive African
days"