The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-12-18

k&s5Ss4tt " court Ol TuiSut- meanors, the tri a& bunal presided over by that unique judicial genius, Judge H. B. Abernethy.
 It Is a matter of common knowl- edge around the courthouse that Judge "Ab" is the first on the job in his particular court every morn- Ing, and by the time the court at- taches have arrived the judge has taken his seat and generally has made the preliminary preparations for his daily grind.
 On the morning referred to, as Judge "Ab" approached the portals of his court room he found the door locked and a large concourse of ne- groes in it's vicinity all in more or less A state of excitement, and an old frosty headed negro janitor. who an- l swers to the distinctiYe appellation of Pap" seated on a nearby bench with a look of grave concern upon his ebony countenance.s
 What Is the matter, PapT' iqueried Judge "Ab." Why is the court room not open?"
 Hedge, If yo' has got de nerve to look in dat room, yo' will sholy see why" replied the old janitor in trem- ulous tones.
 "what in the name of Halifax do you mean?"
 ledge. yo' knows I'se CT trufful nlgger, an de reason dat door ain't open is dat" here the negro's voice sunk into a hoarse whisper, "some- one has done 'conjured' yo' cote room"
 If that Is the case, then, a mat ter of so great an importance de- mands my immediate attention. Open the door,"
 Pair of Cross-Bones.
 The old janitor compiled with the order and as the door swung open Judge "Ab" saw that the room had not been cleaned and was-in a state of unusual disorder. His attention was attracted to a stream of whitish powder which led from the door to his bench, where the powder was plenteously bestrewed in and around his chair, while under the chair was a pair of small cross-bones tied to- gether by 8 strip of leather.
 Judge "Ab" gazed on the couture with some amusement and called Tor the old janitor to come Into court and clean up the debris.
 "Jedge, if yo' honah please, Ise bin in dat cote room onct this morn in. an I ain't got ovah hit yit, so axes yo' toe please 'scuse me rom comin' in any mo. Why, Jedge, de nigger what done conjure dis yere cote room has done even stopped oe clocld"
 Judge "Ab" glanced at the clock and 1t had stopped dead at l2 o'clock inidnighti He called on the negroes to come in the court room. but they fa over the strealsof white powder.
 Now there is no man with a wider knowledge of the follies and foibles of the negro than Judge An' so with a twinkle in his eye he ap- preached old Pap and said;
 For every poison there is an anti dote, and for every 'conjure' there IS a means of throwing it off. Now Fap' you are well informed on these things so tell me how to break up thls 'spen.'"
 Being as how you axed nah 'pinion, Jedge, dar is only one pusson I knows dat kin cast dis spell oft, and dat is Kid wonder. Yo' thought send forz him.
 Break Up Spell
 Knowing the reputation the so- called Kid Wonder enjoyed among the negroes in dealing with things super natural, Judge "Ah" sent for the Kid, who promptly arrived on the scene. Judge "Ab" described the situation to the Kid, who by the way is negro of more than ordinary intelli- genoe. and told him to break up the spell in order that the court might proceed with it's business.
 The Kid advanced to the center Of the court room, and standing on the powdered line, he muttered a lew weird and unintelligable impreca- tions, and in deep sepulchral tones he slowly recited:
 By the witherin powers of hell
 Thus I crush this potent spell"
 Then with his somewhat elongated pedal extremities he stamped on the powder line and made a double cross with his toe,
 The effect of the words and this performance on the listening negroes on the outside was decidedly marked. A low murmur that was a cross be- tween groan and chant was plain ly audible, and the countenances of even the blaekest in the crowd turned to an ashen hue.
 Walking to the judges bench the Kid picked up the crossbones and holding them aloft he said, There are the bones of black cat that was killed in a cemetery at midnights and tied with the skin of smoccasin." Again advancing to the center of the room the Kid threw the bones on the powdered line and again in super natural tones recited:
 "Bys the great Josephus Jones
 Thus l crush these moldly bones."
 He followed the words by real ac- tion. crushing the bones with his heel. Seizing a broom he swept up, with .rfe ctr fho daT pd bones and declared that the power of the spell had been broken for ever and ever. amen. With this assurance the negroes on the outside relaxed the tensity of their worked-up feel ings and a sigh of relief, like unto the opening of a relief valve of hot blast stove at the blast furnaces. came from their midst, and if one sigh was louder or more fervant than the others, 1t was that one which came from old Pap. The crowd of negroes all filed into the court room.
 Took Up Docket
 The court was soon placed in order by. the janitor and some volunteer as- sistants, and Judge "Ab" took up the docket for the day
 The first case called was that of Malinda Jane Jenkins, a buxon negro woman of gamboge Complexion who was charged with the larceny of watch from Tobe Jackson, negro whose ebony .countenance contained enough black pigment to paint hearse
 The state put quite a number of witnesses on the stand. but in spite of the skillful examination of Solici- tor Dixon not one of them seemed to know thing about the case. Then Judge "Ab' took hand and called Kid Wonder to the bench and ad-