Waterbury Democrat., 1901-04-08
HAMP sCoTT's METHODS.

q witnessed very remarkable ex-
 ism or some other uncanny power
 about a week ago. said T, gentleman
 from South Georgia who is guest of
 one of the hotels "The negroes of our
 neighborhood are holding series of
 'protracted meetings out in the woods,
 and a sort of inner circle, who call
 themselves the spirit seekers, get to-
 gether every few nights and have ser
 vices at country church. Their leader
 is an old preacher named Hanip Scott,
 who has been famous for years as an
 exhorter, and it wouldn't surprise me
 in the least if the craze he had started
 spread all over the state. had heard
 some curious stories of the proceedings
 at the seekers meetings and, last
 Sunday night, I drove over to the
 church to see for myself what was go- ing on. The little house where they
 assembled holds only about POO, and
 found 1t packed to the doors. man.
 aged to get good seat in front, how ever, and for an hour or so thought
 had been badly buncoed. The ser
 vices, which consisted of short talks and prayers, seemed to be about the same as those of any negro congrega- ton, and was preparing to make my escape, when an old cotton-headed darkey started camp-meeting hymn. He sang in a wailing minor key that went straight to the nerves, and, be- fore he got through with the first stanza, could feel the tension in the atmosphere When he finally ceased, Scott himself jumped up and began to intone another hymn--a typical negro composition, with the refrains
 '' An de sinner Is a-burnin' in de pit"'
 He droned each verse in Q thrilling undertone that was almost a whisper, everybody joining, but when he came to the climax he suddenly straightened up and rolled out the refrain like a clap of thunder. The effect was cleo trical, and in five minutes half the con- gregation was on verge of mysteries. Then followed the most remarkable part of the whole performance. As the hymn died down. Scott set up a sort of chant. As nearly as I could make out, he simply repeated the words Oh! Lawd! Oh-h-hv at the same time swaying his body back and forth; RAI etAA tAiG ACSAONS .1CO1A Al 5up &kAtAt tAC monotonous reiteratioh had q strange mournful cadence that reminded me somehow Of the breaking of waves at sea. Whether 1t was some peculiar quality in the voice of the leaders or the weird surroundings or mere cum ulative excitement I can't say; but the chant soon had everybody under it's spell. Some of the darkies fell back, staring and rigid like cataleptics, and others writhed on the floor; foaming at the mouth and tearing at their clothes. Still others wept and shouted, and all the while the chant continued, rising and falling like the wind in the chimney. It was really an appalling spectacle. have witnessed some wild scenes at negro camp meetings, but this transcended anything in my ex- perience. I left while 1t was at it's height, and it was some time before I could shake off its eerie influence. Scott started the seeker movement only few weeks ago, and there is no telling how far it may go before it runs it's course. It bids fair already to demoralize negro labor in our sec ton for the entire winter. New Or leans Times-D Democrat.