The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-10-07
QUEER BELIEFS OF NEGROES.


"It will be hard for most North
erners to understand that" said
Southerner, who pointed out brief
news despatch telling of the arrest of
negro burglars by the police and ex-
planning that their extraordinary
boldness was due to their confidence
in the hoodoo bags which they wore
and for which they had paid as much
as $I25 each.
But" he went on, it is easily
comprehensive to those who know
the negroes. A very large part of the
fight for the betterment of the negro
has to be made against his blind super
stitions, to which he holds as firmly
as he did in the old slavery days.
Indeed, there is very much more
OF it now than there used to be, be-
cause the smart negroes, especially
the so called doctors, play heavily
upon the credulity of the less inteili-
gent of their raoe and multiply the
charms and things which they sell.
The doctor in the Florida case made
a small fortune by the saleofthe hoo
doc bags. This is not a single or all
exceptional case.
"The negro doctors who flourish
best do not deal in criminal hoodoos,
but play safely upon the affections
and love aspirations of their race.
The sale of love powders for instance
is large source of income 10 thou
sands of the doctors They always
charge good prices, and the colored
men and women who buy them will
not complain if the little doses of flower
fail to produce the expected results.
The doctors cannot be prosecuted,
simply because they have no accusers.
Then there are the good luck charms
and the health charms and the thou
sand aud one mixtures of herbs which
will cure strange diseases. Indeed,
there is scarcely town or village be-
tween Mason and Dixon's line and
the Gulf of Mexico that has not its
herb doctor and its professional inter-
prefer of superstitions.
Zone thing that cannot be eradi-
Gated from the negro in this genera
ton at least is his fear of graveyards
and houses in which supposed crimes
have been committed. Irecall going
hunting with negro who had belong
ed to my family. We were very
late getting home on account of the
tides and the wind. At bend Of
the river we could have made half
mile, but Bob insisted on keeping
close to the further shore, and in re-
ply to questions he said he was afraid
of the 'ha 'nts.' Argument made him
admit that ghosts did not exist or that
if they did they were harmless, but
nevertheless he wanted to keep away
from dead people. Every old negro
will tell you of the 'ha'nts' he sees
when he walks too close to grave
yard.
1--WE have in our family today a
negress of intelligence. One of the
children she nursed has become a
leading surgeon. The old woman be-
came i'll, and the surgeon, being very
fond of her, went ahead and made
arrangements for taking care Of her
in the finest hospital in the largest
Southern city. He explained that
he himself would perform the opera
ton and that she would have private
room.
"When the hospital ambulance
came for her we found her door lock-
ed and heard her in an agony of pray
er within. She clung to the skirts of
my wife and promised to be her slave
forever if only we would save her
from the hospital. She believed
| firmly that hospitals were places
where they cut colored people up
on the dissecting table, and the
surgeon has never been able to
try his skill upon her. Some of these
coiored people believe that if sur
geon operates upon them they will not
be able to take whole soul to heaven
They think he may cut some ofit oil. :
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