The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-13
INSECTS COME FORIH
GREwsol6E STORY OF ILLNESS
 OF OLD NE0RESS.
The Synod of Alabama Opposes Co., operation With Presbyterians of
 Georgia and Florida in Estab- fishing . College.
Advertiser Bureau,

Advertiser Bureau,
 Selma, Feb. 12.
 A few days ago there was an item in these columns about an old negro wo- man at Summerfield. who was said to be "conjured." It was said that another very old negress living On the Cahaba River prepared a bottle of medicine for her. and that frogs, Hazards, and other creeping things came forth from the Summerfield negress's mouth after she took dose or two of the medicine.
 The article was published more as a good story of the superstition of the negro race than anything else. but the negroes about Summerfield persisted in the truthfulness of what they said and finally the white people of the neighbor- hood became interested.
 T. L. Barker, one of the most honora- ble and truthful men in Dallas County, was visitor to Selma today and he has verihed the statements that have been made by the negroes of summerheld. MT. Barker was recently appointed as one of the registrars of Dallas County. He gave the following statement to your correspondent this morning and says he will make affidavit as to what he saw and what he says is the truth:
 T have heard the negroes talking about the old woman that your newspaper men have been writing up. She lives close to me at Summertield. but thought the stories that were being told about the old woman emitting bugs. frogs He'd of~ her ol fairy tales, and attributed them to the superstition and ignorance of the negro race. The fact of the business was. l laughed at anybody who believed the stories
 T have a negro boy in my employ by the name of Lewellen Goldsby. If there ever was a truthful negro he Is one. would believe any statement that this negro boy made. I told him to go and see the old woman and come back and report to me what he saw. The next time 1 saw Lewellen he told me that he had seen . frog come out of the old wo- mans mouth. told him frankly and candidly that I would believe most any statement that he would make. but ] did not believe one world of the story about his seeing the frog come out of the old woman's mouth.
 He persisted that he was not lying and was so earnest in averring that he was telling the truth and seemed so hurt because l thought he would tell me . lie, that l decided to go to the old wo- mans house and make an investigation for myself. Last night I took my wife and together we went to the old negro woman's cabin and l saw with my own eyes that what the negroes had been tell ing was the truth. but 1t seems so i'm probable that l would not blame you or anybody else from not believing me. for 1t looks improbable and even foolish, but what am going to tell you is the truth. .'
 Mir. Baker then ran his hand down in his overcoat pocket and pulled a pickle jar out and showed the contents to the crowd that had gathered about him. Il contained a spring Hazard, some three or four inches long. six or eight big black bugs from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half long. and known as "bess'' bugs. These bugs were alive and crawling around in the bottle and loked exactly like the big bugs that one finds under old logs and behind the bark of old decayed stumps. The bottle also contained a root, that looked like it might have been a mulberry tree root. The big end of the root was nearly as large as lead pencil and many lateral
 
 root and all of the branches would probably have measured two feet in length, and how 1t came1up out of the old negro's throat without choking her, Is a mystery. Besides the above there was a little black chrysalis about seven eighths of an inch long in the bottle. Your Representative took the bottle and ex- amined it closely and can testify that the above described things were in it.
 MT. Baker. after everybody had ex- amined the bottle continued his story:
 When I. arrived at the old negro's house I went in and was shown a box containing a great many things that the negroes who were attending on the old woman told me had come out of her mouth. There may have been a quart or more of these bugs. frogs. Hazards. etc. I told those negroes in the room that l did not believe a word of what had heard. An old negro man in the room told me in an earnest, respectful man. ner, that everything I had heard about the old woman was true and he said he would give me the medicine that the old Cahaba negro woman had prepared and that l could give 1t to the old wo- man and then wait for the result and see for myself.
 "The medicine that the negro man nanQeQ me was m two UoLtieS. CA amined the bottles closely to see that they contained nothing but the liquid. I pulled out the stopper and smelt the medicine in the large bottle. It was a liquid about the color of whiskey, and was perfectly odorless. I was told to give the old woman teaspoon full of the medicine out of the small bottle first and then give her a wine-glass full of the medicine out of the large bottle. This Idid with my own hands. l poured out the first dose and went to the bedside of the old woman and she drank 1t down. I asked her how she felt and she replied that she feft mighty poorly then gave her the wine-glass of medicine out of the large bottle, and asked the old man how long I would have to wait for results. He told me ten or fifteen minutes took out my watch and timed the effects of the medicine and in exactly nine minutes these things commenced to come out of her mouth.
 "At the end of nine minutes the old woman commenced to get restless and toss her head from side to side on her pillow. She then sat upright in bed and gave a scream. I asked her if she was suffering and she said. Yes, I feel like something Is clawing me on the inside of my stomach She then put her head on her hand, her elbow on the bed. and to heave and gag. had big kerosene lamp and could see per