The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-05
STOLE TO BUY A DEVIL.
THE RUSSIAN PEASANT HOPED TO
GET RICH VERY QUICKLN.

ests, But In the End He WINS PAM
fshed For Ii and Jailed for steal
ing His Fathers COw-Queer Hus-
sian Beliefs.
From the New York Sun.
Isn't there something slightly humorous
In the idea of buying a devil for 81 Is
New Workers lived near odessa they might
be looking for drop in prices and f5. Inc
chance, later on, of picking up 1a.ra-
bic, Industrious devil on the bargain ,alu-
ter, greatly reduced, at $4ss. 1t was poe
served for Russia to bring the barga De- and
sale of devils down to date, though the
treatment lately received by the old WOO
man of Lyme Rock from the Holy Gao--
tiers" of that neighborhood shows that
Connecticut can still lay claim to a devil
or two. The assistance sold by medicine
men of savage tribes may be CONSIDERED TO
be practically out of the market when the
extra human powers Of business Ioylng de-
wills may be had at prices ranging from 50
90 $50. OF course, this could be possible
only in country like Russia, where devils
are very common and where the belief in
them is peculiarly complete.
Considered in the mass, Russians firmly
believe in the devil and tremble when be- is
mentioned. They usually allude 70 him
the Cunning one" and except in the
army, where the blight of skepticism is dee
stroying the beliefs of the simple peasaa-
try, they would rather die than reHnquish
their belief in their "Tshort.V And the au-
thorities are doing their utmost TO pre-
serve this chidlike simplicity. The folk
lore is fun of stories of alarming encoun-
tiers with the Cunning One" who as
sufnes no end of shapes in order to effect
his wicked purposes. In children whom he
wishes TO destroy, for Instance, he appears
an the fanciful form Of dogs seniity"
The Odessa News and the Graschdan.n
have chronicled a care in point which has
far more of tragedy than OF comedy in ii.
A postoffice employe had a boy who fell
i'll and died, and as the doctors certificate
attributed his death to "scarlat,na," TWO
sanitary officers were sent to the house to
disinfect it, They entered into CONVEX
sation with the mother of the child, who
told them the story of its illness
Two long years / suffered with my lit
tie darling" she remarked
Then it had not scarlatne all the
time?"
"oh, no; it had dogs senility, from the
very first"
Dogs what?" asked the sanitary man.
Dogs seniity, don't you know. 1t
grew old and crabbed-like. and knew more
than We did and wasted away. It was the
Cunning One that got into II and made il
pine away"
Did you take any measures against the
disease2''
why, we did everything we could think
of. We took it to all the doctors around;
hIIf ma a =
self?' A wise woman near here advised
me to do the only thing that could have
helped; and even that was useless, because
when we heard of 1t the dear child had
gone too far"
What was that?"
"Well, we heated the oven there and got
it ready just as if we were going to bake
black bread. Then we made a second lit
tie fire before the oven door. When This
was done we strapped the child to the
shovel, just like a piece of dough, You
known, only taking care that heshou.d NOT
get uneasy and roll Off, and then We put
him over the second fire into the oven and
then drew him out. One of the two wo-
men who were present had to call out
each time: What are you baking Then
the other woman had to say: Bake it
well.' We did this three times, as the
wise woman told u.s. but it didn't help at
all-at least it didn't save my darling's
NC0
days later"
Another form which the toHl now as
sumes pretty often is the cholera, which is
supposed to be a female. In the district
of Barnaul the other day the peasants
were determined TO make short work of
the Cunning One in this odius role of his
They gathered together and lay in wait.
Later some one said that the Spirit of Evil
was on his way to destroy them with a
fearful epidemic. He was riding in a ia
rantass-a sort of springless cart covered
with canvas-disguised in the form of a
female. The Waterman refused to allow
the tarantass to enter the village of Pras-
loukha. The woman inside protested bat
had to turn back. The peasants assem-
bled, gave chase to the tarantass sur
rounded it, and called to the cholera de
VII" TO disappear. The poor woman said
she was as human as themselves and
could not vanish miraculously; but they
shouted. prayed and closed in. A few
shots were heard, following by a piteous
moan, and then a desfening shout of tri-
umph:
Pray to God, brothers, and thank Him;
for We have killed the cholera"
The womans name was Kondratieff.
Her body was not allowed in the viii
lage.
Another woman was throttled and tram.
pied upon by her best friends, who really
wished her well and were DESTROYS of free
ing her from the devil who had. in their
belief. taken possession of her When
they had finished the operation of exor-
cising the woman was in a dying condi.
ton. Il felt as If my soul was being
crushed out of me along with the Gun.
ming One" said the woman, who was
questioned on the subject a few minutes
before she died in the hospital
These things occur periodically. the ex
orcism generally proving successful
enough, though the possessed Christians
rarely survive it. Now, if it were posi-
BILE to devise some means to enforce the
evacuation of the devil without DESTROY
ing the human bodies he selects as his
temporary dwellings, the inventor woul5
deserve the undying gratitude of the nos.
sessed: and if the ingenuity Of the Gun.
ming One could be utilized for the purpose
of increasing private wealth, his name
would be blessed-the name of the inven
tor, of course. And this is precisely what
a pious woman in the south Of Russia late-
~ announced.
In the Tshirigin district government Of
KiefD this well-meaning woman, meeting
a hungry Observation-Disclosures peasant
told him to be of good cheer, as she had in
in her power to make him rich in a twink
ling so TO say.
well mother, you won't come acrose "a