Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1899-08-19
DEVILS AND THE LIRE.
MEXICAN PEOPLE HAVE QUEER
BELIEFS.
A Woman Suspected of WitehcrAft Put
30 Death Near the Capital of Our
Sister Republic-Ghosts and Haunted
Houses Galore.

Su ituS case Oh SUPERSTITION Oc-
CURED the other day on a lonely ranch
In the state of Mexico. Senine Geoaro,
a poor woman. wife of one OF the la
borers on the ranch of Suchi. was sps-
pected by her neighbors of being a
wltcn. She was accused of casting
spell over people and making them Ill,
anc OF breaking up love affairs. The
TALK grew In the cabins of the place,
snd indignation waxed high. IT was
finally decided that the witch must die.
and four men were selected 70 dispatch
ner. they went to her in the advanced
hours of the night, put a knife to her
husbands throat to stop his giving an
alarm, and dra sged the witch woman
out into a lonely field. cut off her
arms and stabbed her many times,
leaving her dead. All the assassins
have been caught and will surely be
shot, the state government being in
censed at this outbreak of barbaric
cruelty. But it is worth remarking
that this lynching was not done in the
hight of day, and no trains were run 10
take the best citizens of 2 town with
church steeples to see the murder. In
the remoter parts Of Mexico the poems
believe In witches as implicitly as did
our New England forbears. and as do
the negroes of the black belt OF the
American union today. Among the
lower classes belief in the evil eve is
universal. and many hold the belief
tnat witches exist and can upset ones
internal economy. / have seen a man
servant brighten a household of wom-
en- servants by pretending to a power
OF enehantment. threatening to con-
vert them into cats and dogs. or to
make them do strange things.
Spiritualism is fiourishing in the
City Of Mexico. even under the shadow
OF the church. and there are nightly
seanees in that city, of which marvels
are related. Astrology is heard Of oc-
casionally, and palmistry is coming in.
/ should say that an ACCOMPLISHED
palmist, knowing Spanish, could make
a great deal OF money in the Mexican
capital.
IL IS curious custom there. even
among wealthy people. 10 leave their
Old home when a member of the fam
lily dies. Often homes of almost a gen
Grafton are leased 10 strangers BY peo-
PIE who have lost a father or mother.
There exists a remarkable horror. al
most childlike, Of death. And vet in
the November feast days one sees
candy skulls and collins. tin funeral 4
cars, toy collins of wood. and in |
genious wooden skeletons. sold In all /
the children from the great booths
hurriedly set up in the great plaza.
But undeniably. death is regarded /
with z sort of blank horror by LIE 1
mass OF people. although they meet it
braYely enough. A well known gen. /
tleman died in Mexico CITY the other 1
Gay at past 10. He was not supersti- !
uous or inclined to any morbid fan
cies, but eight days before being taken l
MORALLY i'll he told his friends. as he !
went from house to house, that he was |
going to die. He looked the picture
OF health and was, despite his age.
most active; but he had so strong a
premonition of his departure from this
life that he could not refrain from
bidding farewell to all his friends.
This case has been much commented
on
People there often leave alleged
haunted houses, and in one recent case
a family who abandoned house they
had just rented and handsomely fur
f-hn
were opened, things dragged about,