The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-30

and Of the Virgin. The carving was
done in white wood. and the Christ
head was stained dark brown. For
the Christ head there was wig OF
dark brown and false beard; for the
Virgin two wigs, one of very long, fair
hair, the other shorter and quite red in
color. These and the robes constituted
an outfit which Zaide took with great
! secrecy from village to village where
members Of the Colorum were known
| to be.
At each place a shrine was set up.
The two heads placed on sticks were
stuck on a dias, covered with robes OF
velvet and native cloth and decorated
with tin jewelry, while the dais was
deliberately draped with gilt-trimmed
/ satin.
The natives were then invited to
come to see the Black Messiah and
hear his message.
Made the Figure Talk.
Here Zaide's gift of ventriloquism
| came into play. He could throw his
| voice so that ii seemed to come from
| the lips of the black figure. on whose
| forehead We're cleverly simulated blood
stains, and whose face seemed in the
always dim light of the room full of
| tenderness.
He did not need to count overmuch on
1
hearers. for the faces are wonderfully
lifelike, showing rare Workmanship,
and the use of glass eyes perfectly set.
| with lashes and brows OF hair COM
pleted the skilful deception. The only
point open to criticism is the lack of
! proportion between the heads and the
| hight of the figures But fanatics do
not stop to consider details. and was
there not a human voice to convince
| them that this was in truth a living
| Christ?
There were messages for all, and
promises, too. Nor did 1t occur to the
natives to wonder that the promises
were large or small as the cash con-
tributions were generous or meager.
Jose Zaide grew rich For value re-
ceived in the way of protection he
gave big sums to the insurgent lead
| ers.
In the early days of the war he was
in Manila where he preyed upon the
credulous with great profit until the
military authorities coniscated his
outfit. Then he returned to his home
in Pagsanjan, where he bought new
| images, and again his purse grew
heavy with the pesos of his neighbors.
So strong was his hold upon the
minds of the natives of his own prov
| ince that many of the richest families
| OF Pagsanjan were almost ruined by
the heavy contributions he exacted of
them.
Odd Promise to Girls.
Nor was this ALL In order to gain
still stronger hold upon the people he
led various young women of Pagsan-
jan to believe that they were chosen
to become the mother of the new Fill
pino Christ by a second immaculate
| conception.
News of Zaide's practices reached
| American authorizes at Manila from
time to time. but 1t is hard to get in
formation from the Filipinos at any
| time, and the story of the Black Mes
siah, with occasional glimpses of the
images and the news of rich promises
held out to the faithful had so worked
upon their feelings that none had the
courage to tell of the whereabouts of
the deeeiver.
At last Capt. Stewart was notified at
his station, Pagsanjan, that Zaide was
there and had in his possession some
$4,000 of Colorum funds, which he was
endeavoring to deliver to the insur-
gents. His arrest was ordered.
AS usual the arrest was made about
midnight, as at that hour the people
are more likely to be found in their
homes. 2e
| During his search Of Zaide's house
Capt Stewart entered a small room,
oratory, such as every Filipino had in
his house. 1t contained two figures
OF more than life-size richly robed and
seated on a low dais One was thu
familiar figure of the Virgin, and the
other had the features associated with
the various conceptions of tn. Christ,
save that it was black The room was
draped with hangings of satin, just
and expensive patates and was light
ed by dim, rose colored night lamp.
He was impressed by the rich APP
pointments of the shrine, but paid no
further attention to the figure after
finding under the pedestal of one $500
of the sum he had been informed was
in Zaide's possession, the remainder
having evidently been spirited away
The Talking God Captured.
On reporting the arrest to the Presi-
dente next day, the first question he
asked was, where is Dios?"
who is Dios?" said Capt. Stewart,
much surprised.
Jesus Negro. the Talking God Of the
Nazareno." replied the Presidente, ex-
planning to the captain that the elab-
crate shrine in which he had made his
search the night before was the means
by which Zaide had been fleeing the
natives for years.
That night Capt. Stewart returned to
the house to find the, room bare, the
shrine dismantled, and no one in the
| house that knew that any such thing
as a shrine had ever existed. Finally,
after an exhaustive search and the
impressing of an old woman of the
household as guide. the officers made a
short march into one Of the barrios, or
suburbs, and found their dos securely
| reposing in a chest under the house OF
one Of the faithful. The images were
| seized as contraband Of war and ship
ped TO Manila, where they were held
until the Eighth Infantry sailed for
San Francisco.
If Jose Zaide ever had a conscience,
it died young. After his arrest the
| Prcsidente. the Council and the Prin-
cipales of Pagasanjan--the latter being
men who have hereditary right to a
| position of prominence in the affairs
of the municipality-met and prepared
statement of what they knew of the
life of Jose Zaide. His nisdeeds be-
gan at the age of fifteen. when he was
said to have stolen Jewels valued at
| thousands of pesos from an image of
the Virgin in a Pagsanjan church.
The statement was signed by forty
men, and had much to do with the
conviction of Zaide. who was tried be-
fore a provost court and sentenced to
two years Imprisonment and a heavy
| fine
He was considered a political pris-
| oner, however. and under President