The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-14

words are written on a piece of paper
and 1t is worn around the neck or over
the part affected, l have been gravely
assured of wonderful cures by these
methods.
A sure preventive of evil spells is a
paper with words" hung on the bed
post. These should be written with red
ink If. however. any one is actually
under the influence of the hex" they
shall hold no communication with any
one for nine days, neither give nor le-
ceive anything during that time. The
sign of the cross should be frequently
made and these words repeated:
'rrotter head. l forbid thee my
houses or premises. 1 forbid thee my
house and my cow stable. forbid thee
my bedstead that thou mayest not
breathe upon me. Breathe into some
other house until thou hast ascended
every hill until thou hast counted
every fence post and until thou hast
crossed every water and thus dear day
may come again into my house. In
the name of God. the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost"
While all these precautions are taken
to relieve the soul thus possessed"
the poor unfortunate who Is accused of
being hex" is socially cstracized and
made to undergo humiliations and pri-
vations worthy the days of the Inqui-
sition. In some cases the aid OF the
law had to be invoked to save them
from bodily harm. | was gravely as
sured one evening that a poor child
had been so bewitched because she had
taken some flowers from neighbors
yard without permission. that she was
forced to walk on the wall like a ny
and on the top of a sharp palng
fence, barefooted. without receiving
any injury beyond a severe fright.
One of the most celebrated now
WOW" women is known as the Wash
erwoman," and lives in Reading. Pa.
People visit her from all parts of the
county. and the veriest stranger can
End her house by asking the first man,
woman or child he may chance to
meet. Her cures are pronounced mar
velous and regular practitioners fire.
quentiy find themselves dismissed by
their patients. II their recovery eeems
slower than the disease warrants. and
advice is then taken from the great
''pow-wow" in Reading.
In talking to q remarkably Well-in-
| formed physician in the county. he
said:
II never combat these superstitions.
When ! find my patient becoming II St
| less under my care and desiring the at
tendance of the pow wow place no
obstacle in his way. Peace of mind Is
a great healer and whether he is cured
by blue mass or a wooden string is i'm
material. My mother was a pow-wow'
woman and when 1 was disposed TO
question her power she used to say
with all seriousness: My son, you may
laugh now but the day will come when
/ will cure the styei you can't And
her prophesy had been fulfilled"
This belief however. is not confined
to diseases only. Any little hitch in
domestic, affairs is settled in the same
way. If butter does not come readily in
churning there is an appeal made by
which the evil spirit Is driven away.
A jolly pow WOW" man whose laugh
could be heard a mile and the grip of
whose hand was like a wise. told ma
gravely and honestly, that, at one time
his cider failed to turn into vinegar and
he was threatened with serious loss.
He went to a ''pow-wow" woman and
she told him to get three beans and
give them the names of the three great
est scolds in his neigkborhood then
drop them in his cask. He did so and
the result was the finest vinegar in the
country.
So almost at the threshold of New
York city lies latent superstition as
dark and gross a s that which held Mas
sachusetts in its grasp nearly a century
ago, and we might have a repetition of
the Salem horrors. were 1t not for the
fact that those who believe and prac-
tice these things are held down by the
fear Of the same law that made them
possible under the rulings or Cotton
Mather.