Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-01
QUEER BELIEFS OF NEGROES.
Hard to Break Their Faith in Hoodoos
and Ha'nts.

"It will be hard for most northern
ers to understand that" said
southerner who pointed out a brief
news dispatch telling of the arrest
of negro burglars by the police and
explaining 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 s125 each.
But" he went on, "it Is easily
comprehensible 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 superstitions, to which he holds
as firmly as he did in the old
slavery days.
Indeed, there is very much more
of 1t now than there used to be,
because the smart negroes, especially
the so-called DOCTORS play heavily
upon the credulity of the less intel
ligent 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
the hoodoo bags. This is not a sim
gle or an exceptional case.
1.-The negro doctors who flourish
best do not deal In criminal hoo
docs, but play safely upon the affec-
tions and love aspirations Of their
race. The sale Of love powders, for
instance, is large source of income
to thousands Of the doctors They
always charge good prices, and the
colored men and women who buy
them will not complain II the little
doses of -four fail to produce the
expected results. The doctors can
not be prosecuted, simply 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 q town or village between
tor and its professional interpreter Of
Mason and Dixon's line and the Gulf
Of Mexico that has not its herb doc
superstitions.
"One thing that cannot be eradi-
Gated from the negro In this genera
ton at least, is his fear Of grave
yards and houses in which supposed
crimes have been committed. 1 re-
call going hunting with a negro who
had belonged to my family. We
were very late getting home on ac-
count of the tides and the wind. At
a bend of the riv"r we could have
made a half mile. but Bob insisted
on keeping close to the further shore,
and in reply 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 a graveyard.
I'VE 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 Ill, 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 a pri-
vate room.
when the hospital ambulance
came for her we found her door
locked and heard her in an agony
Of prayer 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
colored people believe that If a sur
geon operates upon them they will
not be able to take a whole soul to
heaven. They think he may cut
some Of it off. New York Sun.