3LUMN XV.
fjjmon Superstitions of the South.
T M. Peacock, in Southern Ruralist.
Tn nearly every human heart
jre is a trace of superstition; this
more strongly in evidence it tn
e
learned and ignorant. The South
darkey possesses this trait in a
iked degree.
jhe screech owl, with its shrill,
jvering crying coming around
home of a darkey at night will
e him horrors' as he considers
Js a sure sign of the death of
e member of the family. You
II see the shovel and tongs quick
thrust into the fiee, pockets
rned inside out, or cuffs turned
these being the charms sap
led to drive the unwelcome in
?der away.
uj jes' knowed Sarah Ann's little
fie gwine die," said old Aunt
Joe to me on hearing of the death
I little negro girl of the com
nity, "case I hearn dat old
tech owl hollerm round de
ise several nights while she was
iy old nurse would never sweep
ler the bed in which any one
lying sick, nor would she pour
ler on the fire in the room of a
i pei son, as these things are
light to exercise an evil in
Dce over the disease, possibly
lieing a fatal termination.
Jomething bad is surely expected
fappen to the person who sees
Ifiew moon through the tree
i or over his left shoulder.
darkey never turns back for
fething forgotten without first
ing a cross mark on the ground
spittiDg on it to prevent bad
a some districts, jthe darkies
fe a strange custom of laying a
Inborn baby on the floor and
epiDg around it, thus, as they
j sweeping away all cares and
Jblea from its future life,
la rabbit crosses the road in
it of a darkey and goes to the
I
t, the darkey proceeds on his
rejoiciug, expecting only the
resQits from his errand or
uey; but if the rabbit goes to
left he loses heart, thinking
bad luck will come 7 to him.
I considered especially desirable
e the possessor of the left hind
of a graveyard rabbit; but no
key would kill a graveyard rab
to obtain one.
Miss Marthy, company's corain
inner,' said the cook one day,
se I drapped de dish cloth on
loor, and de old red rooster, he
I up on de fence and crow'd
38 times."
ther sign9 of company coming
the scissors dropping and stick
up in the floor, or a chunk of
d falling down from the fire,
aere is a burning, tingling sen
)n of the ears, a darkey will
you that some one is talking of
j if of the right ar, they are
hg 8ometing good of you; if of
Jeft ear, something bad. To
p the toe of the right foot,
think, is a sign that you will
I welcome visitor at the place
hich you are going; to stump
foe of the left foot, you will be
slcome.
Aunt Chloe finds a pin on the
with the point toward her,
icks it up with a smile of
faction that is good luck; but
I head of the pin is toward
shc thinks that is bat luck;
jhe wards off the evil by walk
ground until the point of the
& toward her and then picks
uthern Cooks always insist on
g hog jowl andjpeasjon New
fs Day. This U suppotedto
e you against want during
tear. There is a couplet om
fy quoted: I
I "Eat hog jowl and peas
And live at your ease "
nt Chloe always saves the
of the hog iowl to rub her
f" "when I hasderheumaliz,"
aid, T alwnva rnha xrirfripm
to ease my pains."
Many darkies have a habit of
wearing silver dimes in their shoes
as a charm to keep away witches
and evil spirits.
Jt is considered bad luck to meet
afnueral procession. I havtf known
darkies, to turn around and go a
mile out of their way rather than
meet and pass one.
The negroes have a peculiar
superstition that when a person is
buried the tools used in digging
the grave must not be carried from
the cemetery until the day after
the burying. They tell you some
one in the community will die soon
unless the tools are left all night in
the cemetery.
A negro will never burn the
wood of a tree that has been struck
by lightning; to do this is thought
to bring the worst kind of luck,
The old darkies are strong be
lievers in "conjuring," as they call
it. A negro woman living near
my home came over one day in
great distress to tell me that she
was being "conjured." She said
that every morning when she arose
she found something white like
flour sprinkled around her house.
She had an enemy, she said, who
was trying to bring her under an
evil spell. So firmly was she con
vinced of this that she left a good
place and moved to another part of
the country.
I have seen old darkies whose
limbs were drawn witn rheumatism,
who would tell me with the utmost
. . - -
sincerity that they had snakes,
frogs and lizards in their limbs and
body placed there by the "con
jurer." ;
A few years ago there lived on
my uncle" plantation a stout !
healthy negro girl of about seven
teen years of age. Coming in from
the field one day and, being warm
and tired, she lay down on some
planks in the yard and fell asleep.
While she was sleeping a negro
boy came by and, in a spirit of
mischief, cut off a lock of her hair
and ran out of sight before she was
sufficiently aroused to see who it
was. Placing her hand upon her
head and finding the lock of hair
gone, she made a great lamentation
and would not be comforted, say
ing that some one had taken her
hair away to "conjure" her. From
this time ehe grew sad and melan
choly, lost her appetite, and finally
grew sick of fever. In her delirium
she would start up wildly and beg
some one to bring her hair back to
her.
One day, in a conscious interval.
she called her mother and said:
"Mammy, I'm dying, but if you
will jes' git me back that lock of
hair I will get well." But her
mother did not know who had the
the hair, so in a few days the poor
girl died, a victim of her delusion.
Poor Uncle Solomon Johnson tor
a number of years had been crip
pled with rheumatism, and, as he
was not able to work, the good
things of life were very slow about
coming his way. At last he died,
and, as is usually the case when a
1 1 f.inndl tlltfl
negro dies, an i" 'cuua
kindred gathered from near and
far to enjoy the "eettin up" and
the funeral. . "
Uncle Sol having suffered with
rheumatism for so long his knees
were drawn up. and when he was
dressed they found it impossible to
straighten them; but, at night,
alter he was laid out and they were
waiting for the coffin, the watchers
in that little hillside cabin witness
ed a strange sight. Uncle Sol's
knees suddenly straightened out
and his feet slipped to their proper
Places. Immediately the supersti
tion in the darkey nature asserted
itself. : . ,
.Did you see dat!" was; asked
"My Lord, what's dat!"
. -VT sna PSL ted to answer ques
XX U wuv
... There was a rush for tne
"l; the little cotton patch
atound the cabio gavrevidenoe of
MOCKSVILLE. NORTH CAROLINA. WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 28, 1914.
the haste with which the panic
sticken darkies fled, for the white,
fleecy locks were scattered over the
field.
The preacher, being a good run
ner, was a little in advance of the
others, but. taking a short cut
through the branch, he became en
tangled in some bamboo vines, and,
being in a hurry, he could not
extricate himself. Having a dread
of being left alone so near the fear
ful cabin, he endeavored to" stay
the fleeing darkies. '.'What you
niggers runnin' for!" he asked.
"Dere ain't nuflfin to be feared of.
You all is just de biggest fools I
eber seen in my life." It was in
vain he called to them. They left
him to his fate and tarried not un
til the doors of their own homes
closed upon them.
Superstition is dying out to some
extent. It is not so common h if
was a few years ago. Education is
doing much to relieve the' neTO
mind of those old foolish supersti
tions.
Will Grow 'Possums For Market.
Asheville Citizen.
Believing that there is always a
market for a well fed, fat 'possum,
Thomas Israel, of Henderson coun
ty, has conceived and put into
execution the novjl idea of raising
possums to order, and to carry out
his idea, has enclosed a large plot
of ground on his place near Hen
derson ville, stoeked it with 'pos
sums and is sitting back waiting
for his profits to materialize.
Members of the opossum tribe,
made famous by former President
Taft, multiply very rapidly, Mr.
Israel says; and he also thinks that
the presence of the domesticated
animals will attract large numbers
of their brethren from the nearby
hills and vales. Figuring all these
factors into the proposition, he.ex-
pects to have about 2,000 'possums
of marketable age at the end of
two years.
'Possums now bringing from four
to six bits (fifty to seventy Ave
cents) apiece, and their skins, when
properly prepajed, bring an equal
amount. Figuring everv possible
catastrophe into the account, Mr.
Israel thinks he can raise the
savory delicacy at a cost of about
twenty-five cents a head. Based
on his other figures, this would
give a net profit of from a dollar to
a dollar a quarter on every animal.
Mr. Israel has not decided to at
tempt to corner the 'possum mar
ket as yet, but he is in deadly
earnest about raising the animals
for sale, and declares that he will
make money at it. . He is showing
his faith in the venture by spend
ing bis money for supplies to start
the farm.
The Spread of Pellagra Alarming.
Washington Dispatch.
Pellagra, unknown in the United
States seven years ago but now
pronouced a greater menace than
leprosy, which it closely resembles,
has proven such a baffling problem
to the public health service that
Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo
will probably ask the present Con
gress to appropriate a sum to es
tablish a hospital for the study of
this new menace.
This was announced by Assistant
Secretary-of the Treasury Newton.
He said there are now 600 cases in
a single county of South Carolina,
and if a research hospital is estab
lished it will probably be located
in that part ofnhe country.
Since the first cases of pellagra
in this country were discovered in
A labaruar in 1917, there have been
5$t)0(f "persons' stricken, 35 per
cent of whom have died and many
of whom Save gone insane.
Though confined argily to (he
South, cases have been reported in
44 States and the District of Co-
To Cure a Cold in One Day ; w
Consrh and Headache and works off the Cold.
Cong" nn-v if i fails tn cure.
g w7 GROVE'S signature on each box. 25c
lumbia. In many sections of the
counrry, Mr. Newton declared, the
disease now exists in epidemic
form and is menacing the life and
health of the entire population. It
affects chiefly the poorer agricul
tural classes, but does not spare
the well to-do. 4
How Long, 0 Lord!
.During the holidays The Obserr
saw in a New York paper an appeal
from a Northern school teacher for
contributions to make glad the
hearts of a lot of children 41 who
haye never known Christmas."
This latest discovery of objects for
Northern charity is located on
"the ridges around Mount Airy,"
the abiding place of the desolate
folk more commonly knows as
"Georgia Crackers." Mount Airy,
be it known, is a well advertised
resort on the Southern Bail way
and is in the heart of one of the
most civilized sections of the be
nighted South. But this evange
list ': has uncovered conditions a
mong the natives that are well
calculated to create a shudder.
'Perhaps you will realize their life
a little," she writes, "if I could
tell you that few among them have
ever tasted candy, but they know
well enough how to manipulate a
quid of tobacco. Babies who have
never seen a toy will drink deep of
firey corn whiskey. Look inside
one of these wrethed cabins that
house 15 or 20 persons, half naked
children crawling on the floor dip
ping snuff, . chewing tobacco, or
sucking clay. From the rafters
hang Revolutionary muskets; out
side, the ugly hounds and the ra
zorbacks, all lean and .diseased,
keep up a continual howling."'- -
Then she follows up this rot with
a heartrending appeal for contri
butions of any sort of trash or tin
sel "to make these bleak souls
happy." How long, O Lord! how
long, is this sort of thing to con
tinue! The intelligent poroion of
the North years since happily
came into a better knowledge of
conditions among the mountain
people of the South. This soggy
minded variety of sentimentalism
now arouses disgust where once it
aroused resentment. Is there no
way in which to stop it! Seems
almost hopeless when we reflect
that Ochs, in whose paper the
"appeal" was made, is not only a
Southern man and publisher of an
influential Southern paper, but
got his education in a mountain
school. It is to be hoped the
Christmas box sent to make the
season a joyous one for these
crawling Cracker babies, carried
no superfluous supplies of whiskey,
tobacco and snuff. They are well
provided with such delightful
commodities, you know commo
dities absolutely necessary to the
enjoyment of juvenile life in the
South. Charlotte Observer.
May Be Too Strong For Some of
Them.
Durham Herald.
When the Anti Saloon League
tries to secure a law preventing
the shinment of whiskey into tne
State we are afraid that it will find
that some of its erstwhile friends
have grown lukewarm.
King of Externalo
Is Security for your
loved ones. Ethical
physicians say Gow
ans is the - Best. It
positively Cures all
ills arising from In
flammation or Con
gestion such as Pneu
monia, Croup, Colds.
Hare fziven Govrans Preparation
'& thorough test. It is th BEST
preparation on the market for the
relief of Pnenmonia, Cronp, Colds,
Coughs. JAS. P. SMITH, M.D.,
A ugasta, Georgia
BUY TO-DAY! HAVE IT IM THE KOUE
AIlDrmiftiats 1. SOo. 25.
G0WAN MEDICAL CT . r.. . l
CmtmIm. aai montf nfouitt ly year Dragglst
Particularly Pointed.
But what we don't understand
is, where did those Asheville peo
ple have all that likker last sum
mer duricg the press convention!
They must have thought the Edi
tors were a vejy religious people.
Judge Carter seems to be going
after, the "higher up" in Asheville,
but if any of them, are sentenced to
the roads, Governer Craig will per
haps take care of them with a par
don. It's hard to , separate some
Democrats from their likker.
If the price of cotton, stockd and
bonds keep coming down, and the
price of everything we eat and
wear going up higher, it will not
be a'great while before somebody
is going to get hungry and cold.
And now the Democratie papers
are admitting that by removing tie
tariff from beef that they Lave only
helped the beef trust, and the con
sumers are no better off than they
were before the great Democratic
tariff bill went into effect. The
price of beef is goiug still higher.
What are you going to do about
it Woodrowt
We told you more than a year
ago what was coming to pass dur
ing the reign of Woodrow, and we
are still standing pat. The things
that we wroanto you about is
not far off. A Democratic admin
istration has never failed to bring
on hard times, then why should it
fail this time! Just wait and see.
The Democrats promised to kill
all the trusts in short order, and
now comes the appauling news that
after Secretary Daniels sent clear
to Australia to get away from the
beef trust, he found out after he
had bought a big supply for the
Navy that it all came through the
much hated "beef trust." -Let the
poke berry j uict flow; - Joseph us J
-Ex: - .
ALCOHOL 3 PER CENT.
1 """" " r""i
AVcgetablerVeparaltonrorAs
simitating tteFoodandRcgula
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ii q 'if--:
AW,
Promotes Dig,cstionhccrfuf
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Opium-Morphinc norMiucraL
Not Narcotic.
ttofoUitSMiLrnnint
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Aperfect Remedy for Consfipa-
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' Facsimile Signature of
NEW YORK.
: z z.
s?fli liirviivrrra'v-'vL-naKVtKS mm i i u ii mm
Exact Copy of Wrapper.
"The Besf
Men's and Boy's Clothing
nd Furnishings j j
Are Always To Be Found At
MOCK-BAGBY-STOCRTON CO. '
- ' - i
418 Trade St. . Winston-Salem, N. C
NUMBER 30
I Can't Be "Intellectually Honest" in
Congress.
In announcing that he'vtould not
be a candidate for re election, Con
gressman J. J. Whitacie, of the
eighteeth Ohio district, declared
that "no man who wants to be
intellectually honest has any bu&i
ness in Congress."
"All I've done since I've been
down iu Washington," said Whit
acre, "has been to sit around and
try to look wise, and that's what
any man has to do who isn't will
ing to barter his convictions for
political expediency.
'Today I got a letter from a
fraternal organization asking m
to vote for the pending immigration
bill. I voted agaiust the bill once,
but if I played the Washington
game I would write my correspond
cut that I would carefully consider
the matter, then I would keep
bluffing until it came to a show
down. After I had voted against
the bill I Mould hurry around and
explain that matters arising at the
last minute bad made my acl
necessary.
"I can't stand that sort of busi
ness. I had thought there might
be a chance for an honest, wide
awake, frank business man in Con
gress, but I was quickly disillusion
ed.
Whitacre is serving his second
term. He was elected as a Demo
crat.
lie is an unusual man who will
sharpen a pencil at the gilt lettered
end.
One sided arguments never be
come strenuous enoughtoreqqiro.
the presence of the police.
3i
(FWTIPH
ft
For Infants and Children.
The Kind You Have
Always Bought
Bears the
Signature'
of
iii
Use
For Over
Thirty Years
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