San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-16
Had Lord Carnarvon Known
Of Their Methods They
Claim He Might Have
Been Alive and Well
Today.
BY DAVID FERNSLER.

Copyright. by The san Antonio Light
Harrisburg, Pa. April 16.-The
Psychologists of the future would
avoid the fate of Lord Carnarvon,
they should take lesson from the
PENNSYLVANIA Dutch in the art of
warding off evil spirits. When it
comes to dealing death blows to
witches and various sorts of hoodoos,
you can't beat the Dutch.
They have just weathered another
Friday the teenth"-weathere
il with sacred amulets. mystic let
tiers, the foot Of goose. or a toad.
the right eye of q wolf and three
locust wings. And they are saying
today that If Lord Carnaryon had
taken some of these simple prccau-
tons no harm could have befallen
him. Bread cast unon the Nile
might have been sufficient 10 save
him. but in ignorance he went to his
death. Conan DOYLE. is right. many
people believe. so far as he goes in
his talk of elemental spirits. but he
too, could come to the land of the
Pennsylvania Dutch and profit.
The superstitious beliefs Of The
Dutchmen of the old school are ex-
trcmely picturesque and interesting.
In their communities. an occasional
, witch doctor is no great curiosity
They still believe that animals talk
on Christmas eve, that the wild
huntsman roams in the winter. that
witches haunt many houses, crumb-
ling lime kilns and boundary lines
with clanking chains and balls of fire.
They believe that witches riding to
their midnight revels sit upon the
| backs of unbridled horses.
Bad Spirits In Pennsylvania.
| Spirits of the Nile could be no
more devlish than the ones who oc-
casionally go on foot here in the
guise Of friendly visitors. To count
eract their influence, young mothers
have been required to walk three
times around the house before the
child was three DAYS old
Had Carnarvon known enough TO
draw pictures of a toad's foot beside
the heiroglyphics of old Egypt he
might have laughed at the poison of
the tombs. Some believe Il few such
drawings should have been placed on
the sacred COW and each other object
to chase out every evil and every
curse.
But before that. the Earl could
have found the tomb with more dis
patch. He knew not the mystic
potency of three locust wings worn
in his hat. He paid for that ignor-
ance by long weary days of searching.
The right eye of n wolf. sewed in
the right sleeve of his coat would
have saved him from accidents Of all
kinds. But again. he didn't know
and never will know now of the op-
portunitics he overlooked. The foot
of a goose should have been nailed
near the entrance. Evil spirits could
not have passed such sign. To
make doubly sure that the Egyptians
demops belong TO the same spirit as
those of PENNSYLVANIA DutchIand, he
might have laid broomstick across
the inside of the opening.
The PENNSYLVANIA Dutch explorer
probably would have lost no time in
building fire somewhere in the
tomb. Into this he would have thrown
handful of coarse salt with hi,
left hand. Before venturing near the
tomb he would have dropped at least
one loaf Of bread into the waters oi
!. the sacred Nile. Probably too. his
encourage would have included a cat