The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-05
BLACK LOUIS HYPNOTIC POWER.

Old Black Lou was out looking for blood.
| She had sworn to eternally blot out OF ex-
/ istence the Advanced African Society of
| Psychological Science of Sunny Side. 1t
was a terrible determination but the old
| darby felt justified in her violent purpose.
| She intended to entirely exterminate the
| society that very night. 1t had insulted
! her religion and outraged her views of de-
cency and had trampled on all her good
old-fashioned ideas of right until she could
stand IL no longer. She had vowed ven
| geance.
Old Louis religion, that had been insulted
| by the Psychological Society, consisted
mainly of creed OF hate containing three
articles of faith. or rather three articles
! in which she had no faith. In plain words,
| her creed was made up of the three things
| she despised most in all the world In
/ her own picturesque language these were:
1. "Er yaller. cross-b iooded, straight
/ haired. edjercated Niger.
2. Err low down white man whut
wuzn't wuth er cent TO de wah, but wut
sneaked outer de fightin' an got rich vile
udders wuz er gittin kilt fer dey kentry;
or emmy kinfoses tew sich er man.
3. "Er Yankee. er anything er Yankee
hab got de las thing tew do wild.
This creed exactly fitted the Advanced
African Society of Psychological Science of
Sunny Side, or at least Black Lou made it
fit.
Nearly every member OF the highly cul-
tured society was FER yaller, cross bIooded,
straight-h Niger" but the educated
| part did not apply to all. Consequently the
members were comprehended in the first
head Of her creed. The character of white
man she hated so bitterly under the sec
ond article, was typitied in Christopher Co.
lumbus Christian, the Caucasian organ
izer OF the psychic society. His fortune
dated from the time his father lodged the
conscript men In grey and traded instead
of fought. Old Lou all the more bitterly
described Christopher because he was the
political boss of the Barlow county ne
groes. Hypnotism, psychology. and all kin
dred sciences were to Black Louis I'M
schooled mind all products of Yankee land
and therefore to be intensely hated under
the sweeping provisions Of her third and
last article of faith
So 1t happened that when Black Lou
found the three things she most abhorred
all united, mingled, and amalgamated in
the Society of Sunny Side Scientists, she
could hardly summon enough hatred to
satisfy her own feelings, and do the sub
)ect justice. For the three weeks since
the society had been organized she had
been using double-distilled venom in spie-
ing all her words and thoughts of the So
ciety.
But her hatred was further intensified
by the attitude of the society toward
herself. She had always scoffed at all
spiritualistic demonstrations EXCEPT that
kind where the spirits stroll through GEM
eteries; in that sort OF spirit she firmly
believed. She had heaped the most scath-
ing ridicuie upon Lum Christians preten-
tensions as hypnotist ever since he
had got interested in the subject in At
lanta and had come back and started what
he called the Colored School of Hypnotic
Suggestion. She had always hated him
and when he began to brag that he could
hypnotic her, she swore to get even. He
had actually dared to send her a special
invitation to attend a seance to be held
that night under his auspices at the Sunny
Side Colored Academy, at which he pro-
posed to make her subject to his will
ITS wuss'n bein hit by er common mu-
latter Niger" snapped out Black Lou.
''Jes' tew think dat yaller skinned Lum
Christian whut 'ud steal nickels often err
dead puss'n's eye=, an dat passed. ub hen
roos' niggers, hab got de face ter ak
me tew dere sneakil' doin's; specify at
ter l done said uz jes' eachin' ter git
hoP on EN- wild er battiin' stick.
Dem niggers d better be plowin'
stead er foolin wild sperrits an SIGH lax.
Dey's ghostes ernuff er prowlin' rour' de
buryin' groun' 'thout 'suadin' EN- tew
show dey sevs at de school house
But Izer gwine ter be dar ter night,
an show Lum Christian dat lie not err
'frald er muffin whut wawks de airth. He
can't put nobody ter sleep
Black Lou had all along branded Lum
as fake and fraud, and she had preach
ed as hard as she could against his school, |
Notwithstanding this opposition, the |
school had thTived; new converts were
gained daily; Lum issued pamphlets |
which the negroes as general thing could
not read, but which were full of wonder
full pictures; Lum offered to teach any one |
to hypnotic in five lessons at 80 cents a |
lesson; Lum founded the Sunny Side So |
ciety of Physiological Scientists; in fact |
Lum ran the negroes crazy over the sub |
ject of hypnotism. He so thoroughly |
hypnotized them with his wonderful school |
that every negro in four militia districts |
made an effort to become a Cagliostro |
He promised that they could do marvellous
things with the power he could give them
They we're made to believe that they
would be able to go into any store and
hypnotize the keeper into a state where
he would voluntarily offer credit; that they
would have no trouble in hypnotiZing
election managers so that they could vote
a every precinct in the county, thereby
multiplying the value of their vote many
times.
Even Sol Green, a negro who did not have
sense enough to know whether he was
walking backward or forward, was so i'm
pressed that he broke his farming contract |
and started in for a course at the School |
of Hypnotic Suggestion. Sol wanted to
learn the art so that he could apply it in |
therapeutics; he had always had a wild |
ambition to be a doctor Old Lou was al |
most the only negro who had steered clear |
of the Christian school of scientists. She |
had cursed 1t until she was tired and now |
the society had insulted her by sending |
her this special invitation to the forth |
coming seance.
Tier gwine ter that seeaunts." repeat
ed the old darby, after few moments OF
Tuning over the success of Lum's scnool.
"Yas lee shore gwine ter be dar dis very |
night an show dem niggers sumpen dey |
amt spectin'."
Old Lou carried out her resolution. J