The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-22
PREsENT-DAY WITCHCRAFT.
Old flags Who Terrify North Carolina
 MOuntaineerS.

 Carolina there is district which Is as l witch ridden as was New England be- fore the Salem ,hangings. There aged hags, who have fostered for themselves
 q repute of mystery and terror, hold en- tire communities in subjection, weav- ing spells and charms, blighting with
 the evil eye and compounding potions of strange ingredients:
 Fillet of fenny snake,
 Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of hat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind worms sting Lizards leg and howlet's wing. The best known of these is called Old Nance-but only in whispers-and 1t is by no means certain to the countryside that she does not hear these whispers,
 so most people prefer the safe side and
 speak of her as Mother Nance. Five
 thousand feet high in the mountains of
 Macon county, among the roosts of the
 buzzards, her cabin clings to wind
 beaten ledge of rock, overhanging an
 abyss. No road leads thither.
 For a stranger to make his way there
 is a matter of no little difficulty. First
 of all he must find out where Old Nance
 lives, which isn't as easy as 1t might appear No native will guide him. It is
 difficult to find any one who will even
 tell where the place is.
 After considerable effort the writer
 found young woodsman who agreed
 to accompany him on the road to Old Nance's, but after some six miles of the hardest kind of tramping the youth lost his courage and refused to go any fur ther.
 You cant miss it now" he said, glancing fearfully 1p the mountain side. Tt ain't more's half mile. There's the laidge O rock, if yer sure you want to go. Don't blame me if your friends don't reco'nize yer when you come back-ef you ever do git back" he concluded with startling earnestness. {,
 Superstition Is one of the most con- tagious of ailments. It was with somewhat daunted spirit that the wri- ter proceeded, and presently came abruptly upon a small, one-roomed log shack without window or chimney. Outside a very old woman was stirring something in an iron pot hung over a fire. She was bowed down with age and hideous with wrinkles and grime, and her little eyes were bright and evil. At the sound of a strangers footsteps she whirled around with a swiftness that was uncannnily out of keeping with her apparent decrepitude, and af- ter a moments study of the writer's face, spoke in so cracked an accent and barbarous a dialect that it was hard to make out her meaning.
 Yer kin some1t."
 Assuming the meaning of this to be, You know something that has brought you up here" the writer replied:
 "No, mother; I came to hear some- thing that you know" at the same time producing a silver dollar.
 With the swiftness of a snake she darted forward, snatched the coin and hid it in her bosom
 "Yer kem fer wot?" she snarled.
 ITO find out if you haven't something to tell me; something about the days that are coming'
 She squnted cunningly over the edge of the rock into the abyss. Yer come fum below" she said. "Yer'll go back ter below"
 Isn't there some charm you could give me to make it pleasanter down below?'
 At this malignant grin distorted the deep lines about her mouth. With a l swift movement she disappeared into ! the cabin, returning with bowl of li- l quid, which steamed and exuded a ! spicy odor. This she proffered. Now | there are certain tales of people who | went to see Old Nance and never were l heard of afterward. This might be ex- | planed by the fact that they drank | steaming liquid out of a bowl. There | are many poisonous plants in the North | Carolina mountains and it seemed best l to evade the drink
 Ut isn't considered polite to drink | alone" said the writer to the witch. | After you.''
 With a snarl of rage she dashed the bowl to the ground, darted into her cabin and barred the door. This seemed to indicate that the audience | was over. The writer returned to the whence he had started and was welcomed as one from the dead, Also he learned many tales of the witch, some of which were so specially corro- borated by witnesses to the fact that | It was difficult not to believe them and mpossible to believe that the natives | had anything but the fullest faith in them.
 Here is one: A woman had daugh- .er who was in love with South Car olina youth whom the mother hated | because he came from another state, l 1uite sufficient reason i'll that region As the girl threatened to elope, the mother took her to Old Nance Now, 'or some reason the witch hates all l marriages, and will do anything to .hwart one. By her orders the trem- ,ling girl was left with her. The witch to the story told afterward | )y the girl, scraped turnip, which she rave to the girl to eat. Hardly had the yirl tasted it when her nose began to pain her, and soon it had grown far ,round upon her cheek, almost to her gar. She was taken home, and now comes the strange part, for there are scores of people in the town who are eady to swear that they saw the hide ,usly distorted organ. Her lover de- serted her, between disgust, ridicule ind horror Again she was taken to he witch, and this time ate willingly If the scraped turnip, whereupon her lose returned to it's normal shape and position.
 TT,ay ,,,ora 5raadad than Old Nance is l