Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-28
BELIEFS OF SOUTHERN NEGRO
Mighty Hard to Break Their Abiding
Faith in HOOdOOs and Incan-
tatiOns.

at will be hard for most northerners to
understand that" said southerner, who
pointed out a brief news dispatch telling
of the arrest Of Legro burglars by the
police and explaining that their extraordi-
nary boldness was due to their confidence
in the hoodoo bags which they wore, and
for which they had paid as much as $125
each.
But" he went on, 1T is easily COM
prehensible to those who know the ne
groes. A very large part of the fight for
the betterment of the negro has to be
made against his blind superstitions, 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, because the
smart negroesrS especially the so-called
DOCTORS play heavily upon the credulity
of the less intelligent of their race and
multiply the charms and things which
they sell The doctor in the Florida case
made a small fortune by the sale of hoodoo
bags. This is not single or an excep-
tional case.
THE negro doctors who flourish best
do not deal in criminal hoodoos, but play
safely upon the affections and love aspira-
lions OF their race. The sale OF love
powders for instance, is a large source
of income to thousands of the doctors
They always charge good prices, and the
colored men and women why buy them
will not complain If the little doses of
flour fail to produce the expected results.
The doctors cannot be prosecuted, sim
ply because they have no accusers. Then
there are the good luck charms and the
health charms and the thousand and one
mixtures Of herbs which will cure strange
diseases. Indeed. there is scarcely a town
or village between 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 eradicsted
from the negro, in this generation at
least, is his fear OF graveyards and
houses in which supposed crimes have been
committed. I recall going hunting with a
negro who had belonged to my family.
We were very late getting home on &C
count Of the tides and the wind. At a
bend in the river we could have made
a half mile, but Bob insisted on keeping
close TO the further shore. and I'm reply
TO questions, he said he was afraid OF
the 'hants. Argument made him admit
that ghosts did not exist, or that II they
did, they were harmless, but nevertheless
he wanted TO keep away from dead peo-
pie Every old negro will tell you OF the
'hants' he sees when he walks too close to
a graveyard.
I'VE have in our family today a ne
gress Of intelligence. One Of the children
she nursed has become a leading surgeon
The old woman became very 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 operation
and that she would have a private room
When the hospital ambulance came for
her, we found her door locked. and heard
her in an agony OF prayer within. She
chung 10 the skirts OF my wife and prom
ised TO be her slave forever, II only we
would save her from the hospital She
believed firmly that hospitals were places
where they cut oolored people up on the
disssetiRE tARls. and the suTEs0n has never