Evening star., 1934-01-07
BY MADELIN BLITZSTEIN.

BY MADELIN BLITZSTEIN.
Who steals my purse steals trash;
'Tis something, nothing:
'T,oas mine: tits his, and has been sIape to
thousands; -.
But he that flches from me my good name
Robs me of that ,phich not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
40 WROTE Shakespeare in "Othello"
centuries ago. Today Capt. John
Houston Craige Of the United States
Marines, ex-gambler, ex-heavyweight
boxer, examiner Of gold in Alaska, ex-
newspaper man. sailor soldier, author,
6auntless gentleman of fortune and q veritable
D'Artagnan of the twentieth century, goes
Shakespeare one better by shouting:
"I care not for my money, but he who steals
my wanga shall be visited by horrible triaS,
tribulations and misfortunes for seven years.
at the end of which time he shall perish
through unspeakable tortures."
However in spite of the warnings Of Jack"
Craige who has been picturesquely described
as the gentleman with two caulifower ears,
the treasured wanga, peculiarly valuable
charm to its original owner. has not been
returned to him. And, without the protec-
ton of the potent voodoo object to keep Ill
luck away from the Craige threshold calami-
ties have come a-knocking repeatedly and al
together too often at the Craige door.
THE story of this wanga is one of those rare
] tales which stretch the credulity of those
to whom only seeing Is believing and yet can
not be disputed because of the mass Of strong
circumstantial evidence which upholds them.
It emanates from that fascinating island of
the West Indies Haiti where magic Is the
science of the jungle" and voodoo Is prac-
ticed not only as superstition but religion.
There the capital city Of Port au Prince IS
6xyo horly n1,nd ~ mir md
supernatural mysteries
In the dark forests and the "uncivilized"
countryside, the natives believe that they can
wish death upon an enemy, Voodoo priests and
witch doctors lead the people in primitive sacrt-
fetal orgies to their innumerable obscure gods
men and women engage in dances that are
imbued with savage rhythm which makes
them leap and scream Historically as II pos-
sessed, and wangas or cursed objects are used
to effect love, to produce hatreds, to bring about
the birth Of children to the hitherto childless
and to protect from harm, as well as to end
in murder.
To this strange, eerie place went Capt John
Craige a few years ago. Haiti was occupied
by United States Marines in 1916. Today there
are TOO of them in the army Of occupation,
which is due to leave in about a year.
Now Capt. Craige, q Marine, was assigned
to the gendarmerie at Haiti, was put in COM
mand of a regiment of black troopers in the
interior and became chief of police of Port au
Prince. He spoke an excellent French and was
able to converse freely with the intelligent
upper classes, soon becoming adviser to the
mayor.
He grew to understand Creole, a corrupt
Norman French spoken in the countryside, and
later became an authority on the Dahomean,
an African dialect used by the inhabitants Of
he jungle hills and valleys. He attended native
funerals and weddings and was taken to weird
rites which few white men have ever witnessed
and which the upper-class Haitians, one-haf
Of per cent of the population of 100000,
refuse to admit exist.