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HAftpSTON \*fHE JOURNAL.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF HARRIS COUNTY.
VOL. XIII.
BARBARA FISCHER
The Witch of the Allegheny
3Ioimtaiiis.
[Columbia, Penn,, Special Times-Star.]
The bringing of a lawsuit in a J .is
tice’s court in one of the back re¬
gions of this county by a young man
against his mother to recover dama¬
ges for the loss of a dog, which he
claims she bewitched so that it ran in
a circle until it died with exhaustion,
brought in notice the fact there are
many old women who are regularly
consulted by young and old. and in
whose arts vnd supernatural powers
they put the greatest faith.
At the trial, or law suit, mentioned
several of these “witch-women” tes¬
tified in the case, and the curious
S were
ive in gre a ft ail. The principal
one, and the ft most sought for ad
vice and council by the community
for miles around, is Barbara Fischer,
who lives in the Dunkard settlement,
five miles from Reinholders, in a
small cabin in the mountains. She
is a shrewd, cunning old woman
and lives alone.
She is so independent that she will
take the case of no one who is a
neighbor to her. or who she thinks
lives in a large town, unless the ap
plic&nt only wants her to treat for a
common ailment, requiring uo “won
der working.” A sufferer from hurts
fits, burns and similar ailments, she
will treat at once, and men, women
and children come from far and near
to seek her aid. If a child is deferm
dcmented or afflicted m any way,
H is taken to Dame Fischsr. If a
farmer has a horse stolen, the first
thing he does is to consul this old
woman. and implore her to aid him !
m recovering the lost animal and de- j
teciing the thief. j
f here is troubb with cattle, u
crops look had, Dame Fischer’-* aid |
HAMILTON, GA., APRIL
s the first thing sought. She stands
eady at any time to extend her aid,
an 1 if she tails, it is attributed unani
mously to lack of faith in her on the
part of the person she is working
with. In her healing operations she
has no medicines, but depends upon
her “charms.” Her “pow-wows”
consist of breathing on the afflicted
waving the hand over it, ac
companied by a few muttered words,
T'he conditions for operating are im
pheit faith, confidence in the operator
and a strict following-ot her direct
ions. She will then promise radical
cure, and after over half a century of
“wonder-working” in that comm uni
ty she enjoys an almost universal
reputation lor infallibility. She is
one of the many “witch o nen” who
are consulted by credulous
neighbors.
By far the most interesting feature
this backwoods healing art is that
part which pretends to work magic
speTs, charms, curses, bad or good
luck, or objects of hate or love. J he
most of these women live alone,
Each has a “ mystery book,” which
is an ancient volume, printed in Ger
™an language, which is consulted
when charms are to be worked. Old
Mother Roske, who lives near Rein
holdsville, had the entire farming
ncighoorhood working every night
*° r wee ^ s ln search o 1 gold, and when
lhc ) r failed to find shc S avc as a
reason that some of them had a cow
with blood in its horn, and until that
could be found and killed, and the
blood drawn Irom its horn and spill.
ed on Ihe ground in the moon’s first
quarter, it would be useless to look
further for Lie treasure. The farm
spent much time trying to imd
a cow among their stock, and
in case a cow r> killed in that victm
v to this day the horns are sawed
in hope the blood may be found. :
NO. 11).
In answer to questions asited at
the trial of the case of the old woman
and her son mentioned above, the
following were given as some of the
methods used by the witches in vork
ing their chaims: If a horse is stol
en, the thief may be caught, and the
horse recovered if there can be three
hairs from the missing animal’s tail
found in the stall. 'J he three hairs
must be cut into equal lengths, knot
ted in the middle and knotted at
both ends.
This must be done at sunset, while
the hairs are held on a shovel near
the stable. Whichever way the two
ends of the hairs point or turn, as
they burn, will indicate the direction
taken by the thief. The stub end*
are to be buried i e the ba nyard
where the sua siii « This 50
upon the thief that he cannot go be
vend a certain limit and involuntari
ly turns the horse hacit to the spot
from which it was stolen,
j witch To hazel make a well forced run in dry, tae ashes mouth of
, are
of a toad, which is then dropped into
the well Cows may be made to give
j bloody milk by obliging them to
| trample toads under their feet. Dry
cows may be made productive, light
ning strokes warded off, enemies be
witched, crops increased, and evils
and blessings laid upon persons at
will by these wonder-workers by the
usc ° f similar charms,and they under¬
take all such jobs. They will guar
antee to stunt the growth of a baby,
destroy a rival's beauty, separate
man and wife, settle lover s qaaricls,
produce desired marriages, or any
other thing equally absurd on receipt
of a fee for the purpose.
In the potency of the witch hazel
the wonderworkers chiefly rely, it
is burned to ashes and the blossoms
used. » Young women carry
in their bosoms as a love charm, and