New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1929-01-15
Amazing Faith In Witch Doctors
Exist, Among Pennsylvania Dutch


men in one town. sufficiently free
from superstition to form an i'm
partial jury. Tennessee's anti
evolutionists are no more bigoted.
ignorant, superstitious or prejudiced
than Pennsylvania believers in the
mystical powers of some tottering
old man with a chew of tobacco in
his mouth and the smell of liquor on
his breath, who makes strange
passes with his hands. the while he
speaks unfamiliar and meaningless
words, taking for his fee whatever
the patron feels inclined to give, and
usually getting a generous supply of
liquor as well. This type of pow
WOW doctor usually is some decrepit
old man, or some wrinkled old wom-
an. resembling the bag in the witch
stores of childhood.
Story of BeWitched Cat
Even newspaper men, that class
of human beings who are supposed
to be as cynical as one can be, are
not free In Pennsylvania Dutch COM
munities and the writer clearly re-
members a story which went the
rounds of all the papers within a
certain region telling of fer
hexed" or bewitched cat.
The story published some years
ago and occupied front page space
in at least a dozen newspapers.
which faithfully chronicled the
death of the unfortunate feline,
after it had finally been shot with
a silver bullet, the only kind of a
bullet which was proof against its
supernatural powers.
The situation caused by the York
murder is a tragedy. which accord
ing to a Pittsburgh paper has
brought to light an evil which has
been tolerated as a joke rather
than the menace that it is" An
other Pennsylvania newspaper, the
Philadelphia Record says THE ig-
norance and fears of savages have
not been uprooted by our boosted
civilization. In some communities
We find they still rule the thoughts
and actions of large numbers OF
people"
The writer has had much person.
al contact with people Of this type.
He grew up with them. Old school,
mates, next door neighbors, rela-
lives in fact so many Of his acquain-
tances are believers in the curative
powers of the pow WOW doctor that
it would be exceedingly difficult to
find many unbeiievers after living
among them for more than a quar-
ter century.
People Otherwise Normal
Yet these people are normal per-
sons. They have gone to school
high schools. Many of the younger
element of professional people, law
yers, doctors and ministers are sons
and daughters of those who still be-
lieye, though their children may not.
They read books, magazines and
newspapers: have their radios and
drive their own cars. They own
their businesses or hold responsible
positions in mines or mills. while
many own their farms or work on
railroads. They 60 to church and
theaters, but their belief remains
! mistaken.
For obvious reasons names used
in the following incidents are not
the correct names. although the in
cidents are chronicled accurately.
A group of school friends of the
writer has never ceased to hope
some day of finding certain missing
chapters in the book of Moses.
which will give them magical pow
ers. they believe.
Among the so-called "cures" of
the witch doctor one finds that
when he or she repeats "Sanctus
Storius, res, call rest" local inflam-
nation, burns and gangrene will dis
appear. If a Pennsylvania has
warts and is a believer in the al
most universal superstition he cuts
potato, rubs the open side on the
wart, then buries the vegetable
where the rain drops from the roof
will reach and rot it. AS the pota-
to rots. he expects his warts to dis
appear.
If this fails he calls in the pow
WOW doctor. who requires some
roasted chickens feet. These he
rubs on the warts and then buries
under the caves. In due time. he
says, the warts will disappear.
Cure for "BIuc Cough
If one has 'the blue cough" the
witch doctor prescribes as follows:
Cut three locks of hair from the
head of a child who has never seen
its father, place these in a piece of
unbleached cloth and hang about
the neck of the child who has the
blue cough" Even the thread
must be unbleached. Another treat
ment consists of sticking the child
three times through a blackberry
bush, taking care to start always
4 from the same side. and making
sure the child is not washed until
| the treatment is finished
Another witch book called Him
melsbrief' or Heavenly Letter" is
found in hundreds of Pennsylvania
homes and its owners read it with
the same faith with which they per-
use the family Bible. In these
homes beliefs in heXes are accepted
| without questioning. Witchcraft is
as implicitly believed in today as in
the witch burning days Of Salem.
! cople starting on journey will
turn back if a black cat darts across
the road. Cow sheds and horse
/ stables bear strange marks. crosses
and horscshoes TO ward off witches.
A loop of string is passed three
times around a child suffering from
malnutrition, then is wrapped
around an egg and laid on hot Goals
by the pow WOW doctors. IF the egg
chars but not the string, the child
has what the hex doctor calls
B m