Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-25
TRADE IN HUMAN LIFE
DREADED oBEAHMAN OF ia
MAICA KILLS FOR GAIN.
Subtle Poison His Agent-Victims Sue.
cumb Quickly, Leaving No Trace
Of the Cause Of Death.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
In Jamaica. the most beautiful Of the
West Indian Islands. there slumbers be-
meath the smiling exterior Of things vol
cano of dark superstition and savage fanat-
islcm, which occasionally becomes active
with deadly results The high priest OF
Obi, or the obeahman, as he is more COM
monty called, Yields a power in the land
that the stringent measures adopted against
him by the British government have been
unable to put down.
One may read in the Jamaica papers
quite frequently of the Imprisonment and.
where murder can be proved. the execution
of some member Of the deadly brotherhood
of Oh.
The practice of obeah is said to have first
arisen in Egypt. taking its name from the
idol OBJ. From there 1t spread over the
whole continent of Africa, and with the i'm
porta ton Of slaves from the Guinea coast
to the West Indies was transplanted to a
soil in which it f1ourishes with ever-increas-
ing virulence. The old planters were aware
of the deadly character of the Obeahman,
and as 1t was supposed that he carried his
magic. or obeah, under his hair all slaves
were shaved before being landed.
Whole Family Poisoned.
One of the most noted men of Jamaica,
Judge Joseph Hurlburt, In sentencing an
obeahman convicted of the poisoning Of an
entire family to death recently, said: 1T
is my belief that a special statute should
be put into effect against this baleful prac-
tice. I do not doubt that many men quite
as dangerous as this prisoner are at large
today. Obeah is the most serious problem
the modern West Indies have to face No
man can be said to be safe from sudden
death until this thing is stamped out by
the most stringent measures.
Outwardly there is nothing to distinguish
the obeahman from the ordinary villager,
unless It is perhaps his sinister look and
peculiar slouching gait, as. carrying in one
hand a long stick and in the other a cotton
bag containing bits of broken bottles, cats
or dogs teeth nails, bones. pins, bits Of
cloth, &C., he shuff1es along the country
roads or back trails on some deadly mis-
sion. Besides his more sinister trade Of
death. the obeahman deals in love philtere
and charms. 1t Is, too, well-known fact
that in cases Of law suit an obeahman Is re-
tanned as well as a lawyer. Usually he
works at home on the case. but occasion
ally he accompanies his client to court for
the purpose of casting spells on the prose-
cutor and his witnesses and influencing the
Judge and jury.
Cultivating Poisonous Plants.
The obeahman is well versed in all the
vegetable poisons of the island and some
times cultvates in some remote valley in
the mountains a patch or deadly plants.
He knows that the presence of vegetable
poison is much harder to detect than that
of mineral One of his favorite methods
of poisoning, which is diabolical in it's In
genuity, is to soak the undergarments of an
intended victim in strong decoction of
poisonous herbs. The poison Is of course,
absorbed by the perspiring body of the own
er of the "doctored" garments, and his
mysterious death soon follows
Equally dreaded with the obeahmen are
the "mial people" or the .fan-eyed.' The
mailman is believed to injure his own or
his clients enemies by depriving them of
their shadows. Ii is believed that once the
shadow of any one is taken he can never
he healthy, and in the event of his failing
to recover 1t he must inevitably pine away
and die. The shadow, when taken, is sup
posed to take up its hahitation in the giant
cotton or ceiba tree. This tree like the
Druidical oak. Is still worshiped in Jamai-
ca, and sacrifices are offered at its roots to
appease the wrath of the .duppies,'' or evil
spirits So great is the jamaican yenera-
| ton for the cotton tree that one is never
cut down. it being the belief that in such
q case 1.-The deaths" dwelling In its but
| tresslike roots, would enter the ax-wield-
er1s soul.
The Ceremony Of recovering the ntaksn''