Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-09-13

as a secret police for the native chiefs,
smelling out as witches any person
whose destruction may be desired The
same brotherhood runs the machinery
Of the Voodoo faith all over the
West Indies, particularly In Haiti and
Jamaica, where the blacks are descend
ed from the Zulu and Matabele races.
In Southern Africa the wise men"
speak to pair Of yellow serpents,
which tell them secrets. ON the eastern
coast Of the dark continent where
the people have come into contact with
Orentals and are nominally Mohamme-
dams, as these OF Haiti are Roman
Catholics In outward appearances-the
serpent-god Is said to wear q golden
crown and to hold court. Among our
own southern negroes, belief In the
wisdom of this particular serpent is not
uncommon. The special variety OF SER
pent depends upon what part of Africa
the ancestors Of the believers came
from. OF course deyil-wOrship Is the
most primitive form of religion, for
man naturally worshipped what he was
afraid Of and must propitiate long be-
fore he learned to revere Deity OF
good This Precipitation OF the powers
of evil requires sacrifice, and from
earliest times the most acceptable, from
the view point Of the liend, has been
living human flesh and blood. In Haul
the great yellow snake IL never thor
oughly satisfied unless gorged with In
fants--tte lighter-skinned the more ac-
ceptabie Hence the frequent murders
Of children In various provinces OF the
black republic, especially at certain
seasons of the year, one OF the most
remarkable features of the business Is
that mothers often connive at the
Strengthening Of their own offspring
but perhaps not stranger than the re-
liaous mania that incites the Hind0o
mother to throw her baby to caymen
In the yellow Ganges. A few years ago
eight persons were shot In Port au
Prince, for killing a little girl, The
child was strangled by her own aunt,
with the full consent Of the mother,
and was subsequently eaten. Less than
a year ago a Voodoo temple In the
neighborhood Of the island capital was
raided and a package OF salted human
flesh was found rolled up In banana
leaf Persons accused In this connee-
ton boldly declared that members OF
the best families in the city were mem
beers of their society; and " proof OF
this were wanted It was only necessary
to beat the ceremonial drum when
would bring them into court immediate
". II appears that no believer In the
cult dares dsobey the Gimmons. IL Is
very curious fact that the negroes
have grated Catholicism upon Voodo0-
ism, so as to make blasphemous mix
ture OF the two. The Voodoo temples,
located In every province of Haiti, are
adorned with pictures Of the virgin and
the Saints, and candles are burned at
the shrines Of Obea as part Of the cere-
monial
Notwithstanding all these horrors
iand the uncertainty of life by reason of
constant revolutions, there is lu-
dicrous side to most things IN Haiti
For example, toxic the plug-hat habit
which has fastened itself upon most Of
men. The sable dandy may not have
money enough 10 buy a pair Of shoes
and certainly not coat, but II his hat
ia n tall sllken one, though napless and
obsolete In style. the cast-off relic Of
some departed missionary, or Yankee
trader its wearer Is au fait The WOO
men go in for powder and roughe to an
astonishing extent, and the blacker they
are the deener the drifts Of snowy pow
der while their woody hair is decked
with caudy ribbons or natural flowers
and each fat finger sticking out by
itself, stiff with its burden OF brass
rings. The FIRE department OF Port
au Prince consists OF three old engines,
drawn by mules: yet water has been
piped down TO the city for Its use and
water plug is on nearly every corner.
FANNIE B. WARD.