The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-22
THE HEATHEN1sM OF HAxrr.
Cannibalism. Cruelty, Filth and Dis ease are Rampant. r ;
Jeremie, Hayti. Letter to Houston Po'
 by Frederick I. Haskin. ls


 Jeremie. Hayti. Letter to Houston Post
 by Frederick I. Haskin. ,...
 Hayti is the degenerate of the West Indies. It is the black sheep of the Antillian family. It has had tindepend- ence for nearly ninety years and. yet 1t Is still gropinK in the darknesa of bar baric night. Although the waves Of civ ilization are washing its shores on, all sides, African savagery is as rils as IT skeptical concerning the benshts as 9 result of American occupation. and who Is inclined to clamor about their sell government. has but to visit Hayfit Tor an object lesson that will silence him for
 Ii is called the 'black republic,%' but there is no semblance of law and order. Everything bends to the power of brute force. Tho lives of men are taken as cooliy as if they were so many flies The pot of political intrigue simmers so steadily that only one Of seventeen pres idents has lived to complete his time in offce It Is here that the saying "un- easy lies the head that wears crown Is exemplified to the utmost. "
 The dreadful rites of primitive barbar- ism are practiced in their most revolting forms. When the voodoo drum beats Hayti bends the knee. Voodooism lifts its hideous head and there is none pow erful enough to strike 1t down.. Neither, the officer, the editor, nor the citizen dare oppose 1t. for terrible things happen to
 
 occurrences in Hayti which are horrible enough to disgust the devil. In the sac. rifice of the goat without horns a voodoo priest. surrounded by worshippers' dances to the low throbbing of drum and a crooning chant, until. in the height of fanatic frenzy, with eyes uptuSned and lips frothing. child Is seized and stabbed, Its blood. -sueked, and Us oocY ment is powerless to prevent cannihalism when 1t Is practiced as a. religious rite, for the priests. In an unknown way. arS always successful in defending thefr vo- taries against punishment. .%,sr Voodooism is terrible on account Of it's stealth. It stalks under cover. and the blow it strikes Is always unseen. Poison is the weapon and the priests are past n asters in It's use. Strange disease af- fict those who oppose the voodoo or of- fend it's worshippers. Sometimes the vic tim becomes blind in single night, an warning. and still another suNers the | tortures of the damned from some loath- some skin disease. The victim Is seldom killed outright. but afflicted in such a i was told of the pitiful case of one man | who had unintentionally offended an old | woman They were neighbors for great many years and had been the best of l friends vet she turned upon him for a slight offense and poisoned him. It seem: 1 inc old woman had several pigs that were all the while getting, cut aud run | ming over her neighbours place. He com piained and each time she wouN apolo- eize and promise to fasten them more securely. One day the man came across them again; he picked up a club, threw | ii at them more to scare them thar with the intention of doing them any In. inrv However, the club struck one of them in vital spot and killed it. He went at once to the old woman and of- fered 10 nav for the pig he had acci- dentaliy Killed. saying 1t was her faYI' ing more vas tho .;ht Gt the iS. mstssr s,,n, 9n til n few days later. ,s wnnn tne ,h nap aass, sr given him by. the old woman, began to saei- in "a strange manner. He was first noticed down eu his hands and knses. ..a,,th snd tr,1ne to cat grass. He had | been poisoned with some mysterious veg