The Lampasas Daily Leader. (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 143, Ed. 1 Friday, August 21, 1914 Page: 2 of 4
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Lampasas Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Lampasas Public Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE LAMPASAS DAILY LEADER
Ss ®
-
%
HE witch still lives,_as court
records in widely separated
parts of the world bear testi-
mony. True, these women
who work magic do not use
a broomstick as a means of
transportation, especially
now that aeroplanes monop-
olize the airways and be-
cause the automobile is much
to be preferred. The emotional Celtic
mechanic in Massachusetts, who in-
voked the law to free himself from
the thrall of a woman, working a
"Witch spell on him from Pennsyl-
vania, was not laboring under a de-
lusion, according to some of the best
authorities on the subject. He was.
Indeed, bewitched, just as much so
as the victims of centuries ago, when
they had a discouraging custom of
burning the fell enchantresses.
Furthermore, within the last few
months a "witches' league” in Sar-
dinia has felt the heavy hand of the
law; a Wisconsin spell-worker, in
court, has told with undisguised pride
that she is a witch and can wish
■upon any one good or ill; a man in
Hoboken, N. J., charged with working
witchcraft and conducting a school
jfor instruction in the art, women
ibeing his pupils, frankly has con-
fessed he possesses supernatural pow-
ers; a Paris witch has indicated the
Iplace in which the body of a missing
man was to be found and described
the person who slew him.
There are unquestionably hundreds
of other cases to be uncovered in the
most advanced centers of civilization
—black, white and gray workers of
the spell; for psychological research,
far from shattering some of the rec-
ords of the past, goes toward making
them credible and to demonstrate
how a woman, be she siren of look or
malign of visage, may place others
tinder her domination and so bend
them to her will that they are sick
or Joyous according to her command.
It is surprising to know that even
today among the great number of ap-
parently enlightened people, the color
echeme of witches still persists. “The
[popular theory divides witches into
three classes,” observes John Brand,
an his work on sorcery and witch-
craft, “of which the first, powerful to
hurt but not to help, is appropriately
called black; the second, of directly
opposite quality, helpful but not hurt-
ful, is called white; and the third,
potent as well to help as to hurt, is
istyled gray.”
And it is the gray witch that flour-
ishes today for profit, and for power.
iShe is the crone dragged to court, or
rthe abundantly fleshed and bejeweled
“seeresB” who rolls to the house of
[Justice in the latest model of motor.
INor has the “dvil eye” been rele-
gated to that past which it filled with
terror and death. You may test its
baleful influence fsom the glance of
beauty and of tragic age. It all de-
pends upon your “psychic receptibil-
4ty,” the condition of your mind
which leaves It open to the occupa-
tion of a will stronger than your own.
The revelation of hypnotism and
the study of nervous disorders have
done much to make the witch of the
past understandable and to show us
that, despite the boastful declarations
of supernatural power made by some
of the commercial cult, there are just
iae many, if not more, of them with us
today than there were at the time
[when thousands of so-called witches
'were condemned and executed, the
last in Great Britain and Scotland be-
ing In 1722. /„...
By far the mostf remarkable case'of
modern record is that of Mrs. Sarah
iBennett, the “Witch of the Adiron-
dack*,” committed to the insane asy-
lum in Utica, N. Y., in May last. Her
borne was on a lonely mountain
8n Hope township, and she was the
[mother of five children, all of whom
prere under her mesmeric Influence.
' The eldest son broke away from the
thrall, a daughter died after years of
slavery to her mother’s eerie moods,
and three strapping sons, under,, the
imposed belief that they were con-
sumptives, were kept in bed for
12 years, until recently liberated by
the law. The physicians found them
still under their mother’s influence,
but .could discover absolutely no trace
of organic disease. The witch’s hus-
band had also been bent by her will,
and she rarely left the place, warning
off with a shotgun inquisitive visitors
who approached the “house of mys-
tery.”
It was an unusual sight, one bit-
terly cold day' of the present year,
when Mrs. Margaret Pileon of Cran-
don, Wis., accused of getting $6,000
from a credulous bachelor in payment
for “immunity prayers,” rose and faced
the judge. She was a gray witch,
and, though she did not desig-
nate the color, she impressively ad-
mitted that she was a witch and
could wish any good or evil. She
had been giving Bachelor Morin “im-
munity prayers” for 18 years, and, at
last, he wished to be free from her.
In the assizes court at Sassari, Sar-
dinia, last spring, a more striking
setting by far for the trial of a witch,
RoBa Artura, venerable, imposing in
appearance and speech, and known
as the Saint of Sassari, held the whole
place under her spell as she declared
herself. She had been arrested along
with 80 other women accused of be-
ing in a “witches’ league.” Twenty-
five of the prisoners, during a secret
magisterial examination, declared that
they were compelled to work under
the powerful spell of six leaders, who
professed mystic powers in locating
treasures, to work miracles, to call up
spirits of the dead with the certainty
of the Witch of Endor. Several hun-
dred persons believed them and paid
to them thousands of dollars from
small earnings.
One of the victims who gave evi-
dence, was the former governor of
the prison, who had been threatened
with dismissal because of the escape
of a ferocious brigand. His guards
failing to capture the fugitive, and
anxious to save his position, he con-
sulted the witches. Certainly they
could aid him—in fact, they were the
ohly ones who could give him the par-
ticular service he needed.
The witches promised to overtake
the brigand in his mountain fastness
and have demons seize him, and
speeding through the air, return him
safely to his cell in the prison.
“Heaven be praised!” exclaimed the
distressed governor. “You are not
witches—you are angels.”
But it proved that he was the “an-
gel,” for he spent all of his pri-
vate means. Each day he went to
the cell to Bee whether the trained
demons had done their work, and
found it empty. When his pocket
reached the same condition and he
lost his job, he raised his voice in
lamentation, denouncing the witches.
When stately Rosa Artura rose to
Bpeak, the sun glinting on her snowy
hair, her form erect, and a natural im-
pressiveness mingled with her kindly
manner, the spell of silence fell upon
the place. She refused a lawyer’s aid,
declaring that St. Thomas and St.
Augustine had been sent from heaven
to defend her; that they would advise
her, unseen and unheard by others,
and speak with her voice.
Her speech was eloquent, carrying
the spell of conviction with It. It
seemed entirely believable, as Bhe
claimed that she was possessed of
supernatural powers, which enabled
her to heal scores of so-called incur-
ables, even raving maniacs. The Saint
of Sassari spoke with the inspiration
of belief, it is said; but, though the
court waB not insensible to the mystic
power of her presence and of her
speech, still the failure t^ explain why
\
- I, V
^4'/
fR
the demon pursuers did not bring
back the ferocious bandit, according
to contract, weighed against her and
her associates.
A close observer tells that the
woman possesses undeniable power to
influence others, by powerful sugges-
tion, and that she unquestionably be-
lieves she has the gift of working
miracles. This man, who is conceded
to be a person of iron will and with
a keen eye that “looks one through
and through,” admits that he could
not sustain his glance when his eye
was met by the even, steady gaze of
the Saint of Sassari.
“I felt as if, in that look, she had
taken something out of me,” he testi-
fies, “and I was as one with a strong
will who had been beaten into sub-
mission.”
Frederick Thomas Elsworthy, In his
remarkable work on the “Evil Eye,”
in discussing cases similar to this
says: “The more imaginative races,
those who have been led to adopt the
widest pantheon, have been mostly
those upon whom magic has made the
most impression; and what was once,
and among certain races still is, a
savage art, lived on, grew vigorously,
and adopted new developments, among
people in their day at the head of
civilization.
“Thus it has stood its ground In
spite of the scoffs of the learned, and
the experimental tests of the so-
calfed scientific research, until we
may with confidence assert that many
practises classed as occult, and many
beliefs which the educated call super-
stitious, are still performed and held
firmly by many among ourselves,
whom we must not brand as ignorant
or uncultured.
“No doubt the grosser forms of en-
chantment and sorcery have passed
away; no doubt there is much chican-
ery in the doings of modern adepts;
yet, call It superstition or wThat we
may, there are acts performed every
day by spiritualists, hypnotists, dow-
sers (handlers of dividing rods) and
others -which may well fall within
the term magic; yet the most skepti-
cal is constrained to admit that in
some cases an effect is produced which
obliges us to omit the word pretendu
from our definition.”
A Political Murder Society.
A political secret society, which had
for its object the murder of 23 per-
sons, has just been broken up in
Portugal. Before this was accom-
plished one victim had been put to
death.
The organization is called the White
Ants, its headquarters being in the
village of Alcabideche, on the outskirts
of Lisbon. The chief government au-
thority of the town, himself a member
of the White Ants, and a number of
his underlings, all of them members of
the'society, are accused of seeking to
do away' with certain members of the
Moderate Opposition Republican party.
The White Ants belong to the Demo-
cratic Republican party. The first vic-
tim was murdered on his way home
from a ball. A party of five of the
White Ants had secreted themselves
behind a wall near the man’s home,
and as he was about to open the door,
they fired upon him; He fell mortally
wounded. The chief authority of the
village, later was questioned and then
arrested. A list of the 23 persons to
be murdered was found In his posses-
sion, the list being headed by the mur-
dered man’s name.
A Sympathetic Court.
“A westerner who narrowly escaped
being run down by an automobile
pulled out his pistol and shot the rear
tire full of holes.”
“I presume he was fined heavily In
police court?”
“No. Another speed fiend came
within two inches Of getting the Judge
the eame day.'”
IP
COPyx/GffT£? aOPOE AO?
The New Fable of the Lonesome Ride
on the Sprinkler.
One pleasant morning the Chief of
the Society for Promoting the Impor-
tation of Scotch Merchandise awoke
after a Balloon Voyage which began
8 Feet below Sea Level in a Rathskel-
ler and finished 2,000 feet above the
Altitude recorded by Lincoln Beaeh-
ey, the Man-Bird.
When he Came To he discovered
that the Pillow had climbed over on
top of him and was trying to work
the Half-Nelson, while a large Pile-
Driver, of the kind used along the
Water Front, was beating a rhythmic-
al Tattoo on his tender Bean.
He had & Temperature of 102 and
his Ears -were hanging down. Also,
during the Period of Coma some one
had extracted the Eyes and substitut-
ed two hot Door-Knobs. Further-
more, his Dining Room Floor was
covered with a Plush Rug.
In a little while he remembered that
he was a Resident of the Planet
known as Earth. Soon after that his
Name came back to him and then he
recalled his Boyhood and the Fact
that when he passed the Parsonage
the Presbyterian Minister would ask
him to pick some-of the Lilacs and
Snowballs and take them home to his
Sister Alice.
From that Point he groped through
his Life History up to the Twilight
on which the Regulars had arranged
a Send-Off for Old Buck, who was
pulling out for Seattle. In order to
help Buck to remember them as True
Friend*, they had covertly planned to
get him Stewed to the Eye-Balls and
then ship him on to his new Home,
spread out in Stateroom B, with long-
stemmed Roses laid across the Re-
mains. This form of homicidal Gaiety
Is perpetrated under the name of
American Hospitality.
Our Hero remembered the polite
Getaway on the Low Speed with
everybody Respectable, after which
the Fountains started to gush and
Waiters began to come up out of the
They Saw Him Go Home With a Mag-
azine Under His Arm.
Ground bearing Fairy Gifts of a
Liquid Variety. Somewhat later in
the Evening he found himself bal-
anced on one Toe on a swiftly-moving
Cloud, announcing to the Stars of
Night that he was a True Sport.
In other words, he realized, as he
sat humped over In the Morris Chair,
holding on to the Head, lest it should
fall off and roll across the Floor, that
he had been Snooted for Fair, Plas-
tered, Ossified, Benzoated, Piped,
Pickled, Spifllicated, Corned, Raddled,
Obfuscated, Soused and Ory-Eyed.
Six hours before, he had stood on
a Table and declared for the Brother-
hood of Man and now he craved but
one Companion and that was old
Colonel R. E. Morse.
Standing over in the Sunlight by
the Window, where he could see the
innocent Shop-Girls going blithely to
their $6 a week, he lifted the trem-
bling Right Mitt clear above his Head
and then and there declared himself
to be on the Cart until the great Ce-
lestial Bodies should skid in their Or-
bits and the Globe itself dissolve into
Vapor.
Just a* he pronounced the Words,
”Nev-ER A-gen”, he felt a great Flood
of worthy Resolution* arising in his
new Moral Nature. He would buy a
Winchester Automatic and devote the
remainder of bis wasted Life to shoot-
—
ing up Barkeeps. And when he died,
the whole "Estate would go to the
W. C. T. U.
That afternoon the Survivors of the
Midnight Massacre got together at a
Club to compare Hang-Overs and find
out what had happened after the Roof
fell in.
Our Hero appeared just as the Boy
was getting ready to throw a Life
Line. He was greeted with a ribald
Shout and told to come running and-
Save Himself.
The Moment had arrived for him to
be a Man. Surrounded by Ice and
Squirters and Mixing Spoons and
Orange Peel and Jiggers and Jaggers
he drew himself together and mado
the Announcement.
For a Moment they were stunned;
by the Impact and then every Son of]
Peoria leaned back and let out a.
Yowl. To think that a real up-to-date
Fellow would pull any of that Old'
Stuff!
They told him to forget it and quit;
his Spoofing and remove his Over-i
shoes and ease a couple of Gills into*
his Reservoir and try to be a Human.]
Being, however painful the Effort.
He came back with a few Gems,
from the Family Medicine Book about]
the Effect of the Accursed Stuff onj
various Organs. He did not propose*
to feed himself -anything that would-
cut the Varnish off of Wood-Work.
The Hard Stuff had passed out of!
his Life.
The Cackles died away and were
succeeded by looks of Blank Dismay.
They saw that one whom they had
long regarded as a reliable bench-
working Union Lush had turned in
his Card and deliberately made him-
self an Outcast.
They smw him order Vichy and go-
to it as if It -were a Beverage and,;
then they tore up his Credentials and;
burned his Photograph and told him
to go out into the snowy Streets and i|
find a new Home.
He sat back and pulled the Grim
Smile which Savonarola wore when,
they piled the Fagots around him. He
was a Martyr and proud of his Job.,
By the same Token, there is no Brand
of Rectitude that grades so pure and
spotless as that exhibited by the disin-
fected Dove who has not touched a
Drop for nearly 24 hours. \
They saw him go home with \a
Magazine under his Arm and then\,
they sat around until all Hours, lap- \
ping it up and progging his Finish.. )
They said he never would last a Week ^
and when he Fell it would be Some /
Splash. <
They began to issue daily Bulletins
and watched the Case with much
Anxiety because they really liked the
Old Scout in spite of his Eccentrici-
ties. When they learned, at the End
of a Week, that he had played Butter-
milk to a Standstill all up and down
the Quick Lunch Circuit and was at
his Desk every Morning-with his Face
clean and a Flower in his Coat, they
called a Meeting of the Vigilantes and
decided that the Joke had been car-
ried far enough.
In the meantime, Our Hero had
learned two new kinds of Solitaire
and began to call around for a Dish
of Tea with some distant Female Rela-
tives who had long supposed him
Dead. Along about the Cocktail Hour
he would find himself sitting first in
one Chair and then In another but he
Cashed big every Morning when he
awoke and found that Henry Katzen-
Jammer was not sitting on the Foot-
Board making Faces at him.
Only, sometimes he would stop on
a Corner and look all about him and
up at the Buildings and wonder if the
Town had always been as Quiet as at
Present.
After he had stuck for a Fortnight
the desperate Envoys from the Indian
Camp went after him for Keeps. They
held it in front of him and splashed it
on his Clothes and begged him to step
aboard with them and go right up to
the 18th Floor.
Probably if they had let him alone
he would have come sneaking back
into the Reservation to watch the red
Whirligigs and pick a few of, those
Night-Blooming Martinis but when
they tried to Stampede him, the old
New England Stock asserted itself, so
he substituted Rivets for Straps.
He is now the honored Associate of
those who play Cribbage in their own
Homes and eat Apples before turning;
In. But if you want to get a Line on
his Real Character just ask the Wet
Brothers. They will tell you that he
wasn't there with the Strength of
Character so he simply sank out of
sight.
MORAL: The Way of th« Eg*
Transgressor is Hard.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Vernor, J. E. The Lampasas Daily Leader. (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 143, Ed. 1 Friday, August 21, 1914, newspaper, August 21, 1914; Lampasas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth897105/m1/2/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lampasas Public Library.