The Centre democ 2 2 2 _ \B lat ion, Over 3400. « WHA1 VITCH k ING IS LIKE Testimony in a West Virginia Murder Case. was Suspected of Being a Witch— Tell of Midnight Trips Forced to Take With her. {One-half the world knows little how the other half lives, is an old saying, and applies to our own country. Stories of West Virginia mountaineers, depicting the life of a people who are a century be- hind the times, crude, ignorant and sup- erstitious,are not new to most of our read- ers. The mountain fastness of that sec- tion recently has been entered owing to | the wealth of fine timber and rich coal de- | Josie, Quite a number of Centre county um ber men are operating in West Vir- | ginia all of whom relate the same story | The following | icle was sent us from Shelton, W. Va., | by W. D. Walker, formerly of Yarnell, | who is near Clay, and | vouches for the accuracy of the same:) of the native population. this county, Salem itself in the old days held no | firmer creed of witchcraft than obtains | to-day in the mountain districts of this | State. ridden and At times whole valleys are witch the Clay county, thirty miles up Elk River from here, and one of the poorest and most ignorant counties in all the moun. tain regions, is sorely beset by the super- natural, sort for the powers of darkness, and there now lies in the Clay court house | jall one Old Man Cottrell, in whose pending trial for murder witchcraft will play a curious and important part. Old Maun Cottrell—he probably has, or had at some time, a given name, but no- | body regards it—is the head of a clan of Cottrells, Lyonses and McCombers who | live up Big Otter Creek, several miles | back from Elk. Sand-diggers they are | Jruntly by trade, if collecting herbs and | grubbing for roots may be called a trade. In the winter they live as they can, miserably enough. A little hunting, a | little charity, perhaps an occasional odd job, keeps them alive through the cold months, Generation after generation they have intermarried until the type has become | incapable of mental or moral effort. They make no effort to improve their circumstances ; reading and writng are ; lost arts to them. When a schoolhouse was put up on the | property of Squire Boggs, a mile up the creek from them, they declined to take | any interest in the opportunity. About a year ago there came to Squire | who is one of the few intelligent and well-to-do men of that locality, a * seventy-year.old woman with her eigh. teen-year-old granddaughter. They had come from back in the country some. where and they had no home. They asked permission to occupy the deserted schoolhouse, and this was readily granted. Although the old wom. | an was rather feeble she contrived to break ground for a little garden in which she grew corn and tobacco and a few other necessaries for home use. The Squire helped her through the | winter and she announced her intention of staying as long as he would let her. Known at first as “the old woman at Bogg's'’ she soou got the name of Moth: er Boggs. i In the spring the rumor began to Nspread that Mother Boggs was a witch, It was said that some kin of the Cottrells had sent the message from over in Roane county that she had been run out of there Ror the practice of witchcraft. \ Her appearance and manners bore out the accusation, for she was very bent, very wrinkled, very sharp of feature and very silent— four standard characteristics of a witch, All the Cottrell. Lyons. Macomber clan began to make their enmity felt, By day they flouted the old woman as they passed and saw her at work, By night they shunned the locality of the old schoolhouse. Some threats were made but Squire Boggs soon let it be known that he would not have any per. ~ secution of the harmless pair of women. ~ So they were left very much to them- selves, except that it was said that one scattered inhabitants | cower in their hats after dark praying | against the visitation of the evil women. | It has long been a favorite re- | In time | the school passed out of existence, dying | inanition,and the building was empty. | Marshal Dan Cunningham, who is prob- ably the best detective in West Virginia, | was in the locality at the time, and he was sent for, told him that they had been fired from a rifle specially bored out for that purpose, He made inquiries and found that Old Man Cottrell had borrowed such a rifle a few days before from a neighbor. The old man and the nephew, who had been paying attention to Mother Bogg's grand- dauyhter, were arrested and taken to Clay court house, where they had a pre- liminary hearing before Squire Shannon. anything about the old woman's death, and both as stoutly averred that she was a witch, It was the examination of Old Man Cottrell that brought forth the most interesting testimony as to witchcraft, The court room was filled with the members of the clan, who had left their | of two of their number—by request. The Court—You say that you had no part in the killing of this old woman? when it was done. The Court—You knew her well ? The witness—I knowed her as well as I wanted to. She wa'n’t no company to me, A voice—She were a witch, she were, { Right pert job sombody done, a.shootin’ of her. The witness—Aunybody were a witch, The Court—How do you know she was a witch? The witness — Lordy! witchery on me ? The Comt—What witchery ? The witness—She ridden me night, The nephew— An’ me the same way, A niece of Old Man Cottrell's—8o0 as { their hands was full of briers an’ bram. | bles when they come back. The witness, holding up his knows she Didn't she do many a | There's the witch marks, squire, The Court--Give me an instance of | bow she rode you. | The witness— The night the thunder. { cloud broke an’ the high water come | down Big Otter she were out a-ridin.’ : A voice—-That were a witch night! 1 | heard her a-goin’ screechin’ past. The witness—She come a-callin’ for ime an’ for the boy. It were a ha'sh | night an’ she wanted a team. I expect she were in a hurry, The Court—And you went ? The witness, in a great surprise—She called me, I tol’ you, "Squire. She called me with a witch. call. The nephew--No matter how hard you try to bol’ yourself you gottogotoa | witch-call, The Court—Then you got up out of | bed and went out into the night ? i { don’t go. You just lies abed shiverin’ an | sweatin’ an’ asleep all the time, It or any other night. another of me. the window. That boy there, Linn, he It war my seconds, up with a rope of poison oak. my neck yet, The witness—She hitched me to bim moon. When we went too slow a buzz up. doctors. Them was witch flies, doctors that’s real don't fly nights, The witness—Whatsever they was i they stung right hard. She drove us to | Blue Knob an’ hitched us to a pawpaw bush an’ left us there, A man in the audience—I'm from Blue Knob. I heard her that night screechin’ like a big ow! between the thunder claps. I knowed it were a witch, but I thought it were the witch from over Strange Creek, the one that strangled Neel Russell's litter of pigs. The witness—That were ber you heard screechin’, She always screeches when she’s witch.ridin’, The Court—What did she go to Blue Knob for ? . The witness—Maybe for a ride, just, Maybe to meet some other witch, Then I expect she did a little pelverin’ [pilfer- log ?] thereabouts—eggs an’ milk, or maybe a strip of meat, The Court— What happened next ? The witness—We was left there fast to the pawpaw bush, moania’ an’ cryin’ with the wind an’ rain an’ cold, an’ not knowin’ what minute the lightnin’ would hit us. A woman's volce—You can't get struken by lightnin' when you're bein’ witch.ridden. Lightnin’ don't hit witch horses, The witness— We was hitched an’ she was away. It might have strucken us, The Court Well, what next ? A woman's voice—I wouldn't tell ary thing about it. It's mighty onpearten Continued on 4th page. FIRES OVER The nature of the slugs | Both prisoners stoutly denied knowing | | no hay down went to the haymow and | proceeded to throw | burner of the lantern was a poor one. It The witness—1I wa'n’t nowhere about | | caused by throwing the hay passed the The witness, after a pause for consid. | eration—No ; it ain't just that way. Youn | | ance of $1,000. wa’'nt exactly me that went that night | | Senser's coal books and accounts. So I flew out through | was standin shivers’ outside, all hitched | | mear Rock Springs and owned by David The nephew The streaks of it is on | | year's crop, a new binder, new harness, | {a horse and a pig were burned. The | an’ we went up in the air nigh to the | Origin of the fire is unknown. of snake doctors [dragonflies] stung us | A voice—Them wa’'nt no real snake. | store room of B. J. Bathurst & Co., at | Snake. | BELLEFONTE, PA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1902. { THE COUNTY Several Costly Conflagrations the | Past Week. VALUABLE PROPERTY LOST THE HUNTERS. Engineer Wm. H. Housel, of Monu- | ment, shot a deer while the train was | { ranning at a high rate of speed, A man from Pittsburg was shot in the arm in Mifflin county by one of his own | PENN’A R.R. IMPROVEMENTS | Important Plans for Enlarging their Facilities. party just as a deer was coming along, | realizing that it was a rare opportunity | he raised his gun with his wounded arm | and shot the deer. Bathurst's Store at Unionville—Pecu- | liar Fire at Philipsburg —Two | Large Barns Burned With all | Their Contents. The valuable barn belonging to Mich- | acl Williams was destroyed by fire. On Saturday evening at 5:30 Mrs. Williams’ | son Clemson returned from Philipsburg | with a load of coal. | team up in the stable he went to the | | house for supper and then he lighted the rifies and shotguns outside under guard | After putting his lantern and went (o the barn and finding down hay. The is not known whether the current of air lantern or the poor burner caused the lantern to explode. It burst and fell to the barn floor. Clem quickly tried to smother the fire but was unable to do so, and narrowly escaped being burned, In the meantime he called for help, his | father and Henry lowry were close at hand but seeing it was impossible to save it with so much hay in, took the stock set of harness from the stables and one A crowd quickly gathered but were un- able io save either the barn or wagon shed, About 100 bushels of grain were burn. ed, several toms of hay, corn fodder, straw, two chests of tools valued at $200, two sets of harness, quite a lot of valu. able lumber, about 40 bu. potatoes, and many other things. There was a small | insurance on the building but not enough bands | { which were seamed with old scratches— to cover the loss. The beautiful country home of Wil. liam T. Senser, a short distance west of Philipsburg, was totally destroyed by | fire on Saturday evening, together with all the contents. The fire was ungues. tionably the work of an incendiary. Mr, and Mrs. Senser left the house to come to town, About 5:30 John Shimel, a neighbor, discovered the house to be in a perfect sheet of flames. He started on a run, giving the alarm as he passed along, and finding that the building was too far gone to save even anything in the house, he went to the barn to turn out the horses and cows. Just as he came near the barn he was shot at by some one three different times, fortunately none of the balls took effect. Other neighbors were soon on the ground, and the big bara was saved which was full of bay, straw and grain of various kinds. The loss will aggregate some. thing over $3,000, with only an insur. In the loss were a good many valuable articles that cas never be replaced, together with all of Mr, Tuesday morning the large barn lo- | cated on the Cooper farm in the Glades, | Miller burned to the ground. All this The loss is placed at $1500, with $1200 insurance in the Patron’s Insurance Co. On Tuesday night about 11 o'clock the Unionville, was burned to the ground with all its contents. It was only by the | most heroic efforts of the bucket brigade that the residence of Wm. Peters was saved. The post office and other build- ings near had to be closely watched, Origin of fire is unknown. The store was managed by Joseph Barton. For full account of fires at Union- ville and Hannah, see correspondence, Cuts Out Small Offices. One of the unexpected results of the extension of the rural free delivery ser. vice is the discontinuance of postoffices in the smaller rural communities. Asa result of the extension of the service las year, 1906 postoffices were discontinued, effecting a saving in the salaries of post. masters aggregating $116,807. ——— A — Rabbits May be Sold. The open season for rabbits began on November, 1, and continues until Dec. ember 15. Secretary Kalbfus, of the game commission, in a recent interview, stated that rabbits could be bought and sold, likewise squirrels; as neither are included in the list of game that cannot be sold or offered for sale. Advertised Warning Insufficient, Judge Bregy, of Philadelphia, has de- clared that the advertised warnings of husbands not to give credit to their wives do not absolve them from their obliga. tions to pay debts contracted by their || : | tain district about killed and taking the rest of the country | {as good results, | dentally and fatally | bridge on the West Branch railroad a The father of the boy | {was in a buggy and the young man | Thus far 35 deer have been shot and killed in what is commonly called the | | "Scootac region and the season is but half | over, trapped this fall, of Centre county, there must have been | | almost 45 deer killed thus far. They brought with them two G. M. Walk, of Hannah, has shot his third bear this season. The last animal to fall before his aim was a cub, Rev. J. E. B. Rice and Sam’! Bennett hunted on the Bald Eagle ridge in the neighborhood of Port Matilda on Friday. Two wild turkeys and a Jot of rabbits and squirrels belonged to their credit at the end of the day's hunt. Saturday a big five-pronged buck fell a prey to Charles Hess' well $ aimed rifle all out in the forest east of Ohmeis’ clearing in Sugar valley. For years many buniers eagerly sought for this deetr’s magnificent antlers Robert Wolf and party, who have been in the Big Run hunting grounds the past week, returned home to Mill Hall with two deer, The Lingle brothers of Eagleville kill- The Dorman of ed ome depr. party I Hublersburg shot 2. Wm. B. Strunk and Mr. Strawhecker, who are with the W. I. Harter party at the “Soldier's Home," each shot a deer. Chas. Heinkle and party at the head of the North fork of 'Scootac creek have killed 2 deer. Never before was the woods so full of deer hunters as thisseason. The reports indicate that the number of deer killed this season will surpass that of any one season since the act of the Jegislature was passed prohibiting the pursuit of deer with dogs. — An 01d Hunter. George Kunarr, of Troutville, Clear field county, who lacks but a few weeks of being 80 years old, is still an active nimrod. He went to Clearfield county with the pioneer generation, when every man was a hunter. Every fall he has devoted some time to his favorite recrea- tion, the chase, until now so fond of it, advancing vears fail to keep him from it. He has not missed his annsual bunt for big game for a period of 65 years. | He accompanies a party to the moun. tains each fall in the deer season and | spends a portion of the season at the | bunting camp and enters upon the hunt | with as muoh enthusiasm as any other | | member of the party, and usually with able to stand a day's hunt well and has | lost none of his ‘reliance upon his trusty rifle. Fatal Shooting Accident. Ray Young aged 14 years was acci, shot at Quaker day or two ago. | threw his double-barreled breech load- | | ing shotgun in the back part of the The stock hit the seat and | both barrels, which were pointing full at | vechicle, the young man, were discharged. His liver was shot away and a great hole was torn in his right side. He died about five hours later and was conscious up to the time of his death. Eh I i Died Suddenly in a Hunter's Camp, Al Herr, of Beech Creek, Monday, took a load of provisions to a hunters camp, at a place called “Oak Flat,” about fifteen miles distant, Shortly after his arrival, about § o'clock, he be. came sick with a heart affection and died about 7 o'clock. He was about 15 years old and was unmarried. He was a son of John Herr, of Beech Creek. The body was brought to Hayes Run station and from that place was brought on the train to Beech Creek. ~-L. H. Democrat, —— From Burnside to Cherry Tree. Grading has begun on an extension of the New York Central railroad to Cherry Tree. The road will follow the west branch of the Susquehanna river and will connect with the Penosyl. vania railroad. The contract calls for the completion of the line by June, 1903. Fifteen bear have been killed or | In the Seven moun- | 20 deer have been [to relieve congestion | around the Horse Shoe Curve He is yet physically | | NEW LINES WILL BE BUILT | Between Pittsburg and Philadelphia so that Increased Traffic can be | Handled —$3,000,000 to be Ex- pended for this Purpose. The Pennsylvania Railroad, in order the main line | between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, will re] oa | build a low grade freight line from the | doa | Susquehanna Daniel Gorman, Toner Wolfe and G. | 5q | M. Raup, of Lamar, have re mn, : | Mu Ps Amar, have eturned from | include a new bridge across the Susque- { Big Run where they were hunting a | | week. | deer and a number of pheasants. river to the Delaware, The line will cost about $1,000,000, will hanna and will be completed within two years. This announcement made in the Philadelphia Ledger, is high officials at Broad The new is part of an extensive plan which the company an- pounce for shortening its line from Pitts- confirmed Street by Station. road will soon burg to Philadelphia, and which includes the building of cut-offs between Harris Pittsburg that greatly iessen the time between those cities The freight which has existed for more than sg burg and will congestion and has caused much ials, can never be relieves sylvania offic 50 railroad say, unless the line affords more track room ling the trains which go into an The tr to Pittsburg, accor More are on every mile of line between Philadelphia Pittsburg yuble ‘is not confined to Pennsyivania led ling officials tracks nee and Pittsburg, and so long as present prosperity continues, congestion at Pitts- burg will not be greatly relieved, in the opinion of railroad men, until the main line is kept yards just as clear as Pittsburg For this reason President Cassatt has determined to build small lines to take freight traffic from the main line, one of which is the new road from Susque hanna to the Delaware. Marysville, in Perry county, at the western end of the new $2,000,000 stone bridge across the Sus- quehanna, which the Pennsylvania lately completed, is the point where the Penn. syivania and Northern Central meet, and here the Pennsylvania's new freight roads east of Downingtown, at Glen Loch, connection will be made with the Trenton Cut-Off, and this will give a low grade freight line from the eastern side of the Susque. haona to the Delaware. The Pennsylvania is now boring a new tunnel through the Alleghenies at Galit. zin to Hollidaysburg. This will be com- pleted by Dec. 31, 1992, and will avoid the long haul through Altoona and The | company has already in operation a cut. | off between Hollidaysburg, Blair county, and Petersburg, Huntingdon county, which does away with the long haul | through Tyrone. This was opened less than a year ago. Itis sald that there is in contemplation the buiiding of a new | short line between Petersburg and | Marysville, through Huntingdon, Mifflin and Juniata counties. Should this be done, the Pennsylvania would have a practically new freight line from the Alleghenies to the Delaware, YOUNG MAN SHOT. Wednesday afternoon a fatal hunting line will begin. Just | accident occurred near State College, re. sulting in the death of John Kline, of that place. Yesterday afternoon Di. Kline, three young men of State College borough, were hunting rabbits, The ac- cident happened in Thompson's corn field near Penna Furnace. It seems that young Sowers was walk- ing along close to John Kline and was carrying his shot gun, cocked, under his arm with the muzzle pointing towards Kline who was but a few steps from him. In some manver Sower's gun was acc. dentally discharged, the contents of the load, a charge of fine shot, striking Kline mn the right side above the hip. The young man exclaimed “I'm shot!” and sank unconscious to the ground. The result was fatal, death was instan- taneous. Dr. Robluson was a short dis. tance away, but his assistance was of no avail as the wound was of such a nature as to destroy internal organs. The young man was about 18 years of age, and a son of Geo. H. Kline, a steam fitter, at the College. 0 Collection Agency at Work. The West Virginia Collection agency, which has been stirring up trouble for employes of the Pennsylvania Railroad company in various places, has struck Williamsport, and as a result about 15 employes of the Pennsy in that city are asked io settle claims against them which local merchants have trans ———— a ferred to the collection agency. : { lar fine was Jobn Robinson, Elliot Sowers and John | | favor of discharging the school teacher at, i VOL. 24. NO. 4m FACT, FUN AND FANCY. 4 Bright Sparkling Paragraphs—Select- ed and Original. A fellow doesn’t have to be taut to get tight, Some people do all their fighting over a telephone, When a pen goes wrong you can’t make it write, Even the religious girl may be a sort of church belle, In sowing a crop of wild oats there is | generally a lot of rye. The thought of what might have been keeps some people cheerful, You can’t tie up a bundle of music | with your vocal chords. A man doesn’t amount to much un. less he can prove it, The successful borrower is often able to live on Easy street. Where a crank is concerned, one good tarn-down deserves another, There are men who could loose their reputations and not miss them. Money burns a hole in a man’s pocket and in a woman's stocking. dollars can afford to scorn common sense. The because be hasn't anything to kick about. The man with a million chronic kicker will kick Charity with some people con \ bs h gists of ng obligations to them. Bg O placi under “1 woman who wears a decollete gown evidently has no fear of the back- biter, Two than one when it comes to being the head of the beads are not better house We are told the noblest work of God is man, difficult to make some married women believe it. but it’s A New Jersey police justice recently fined a young man $10 for kissing his sweetheart in a public park, and a simi. directed from the young lady. Jersey justice is peculiar. A man in Moon got and change of the moon. In due time his wife presented him with a new daughter and that Then he went to town and got druuk for joy and that was a fall Michigan by the name of married, 1 that was a Was a new moon moon. When he started for home he had only 25 cents in his pocket ana that was the last quarter, His mother-in-law met him at the door with a rolling pin and then there was a total eclipse, and he saw stars. Bill Arp has a homely way of saying things, but be usually manages to ex» press a good deal of truth. Here is one of his latest : “Once I was young, but now [am old, and I never have seen a girl who went back on her mother, who ever came to be worth a one-eyed button to her husband. Is it the law of God. It 1s not exactly in the bible, but it is written large and lawful on the lives of many misfit homes. If one of you chaps ever run across a girl with her face full of roses, who says to you whea you come 10 the door: ‘I cannot go for thirty minutes, for the dishes are not washed,” you want to wait for tnat girl. Sit right kown on the doorstep and wait for her, because some other fellow will come along and carry her off, and then you will lose an angel. Wait for her aud stick to her like a burr to a mule'’s tail.” Iii ti at —— Scored the Slouch. Dr, Horace F. Livingood in an address before the Berks connty teachers institute scored the teachers of that county for their slounchy appearance in the school roomy. Dr. Livingood said: “I am in who is neglectful of his personal appear - ance during professional hours. Some teachers look as though they had mot taken a bath for a week. Some affect paper collars that are much the worse for wear. Others cling to linen that fre- quent trips to the washtub have carried past the point of respectability.” A resolution was adopted urging the Assemblymen of the district to enact a law requiring a standard of qualification for school directors and recommending that teachers be employed upon merit only, “without reference to political sectarian or other consideration.” Mail Carriers Appointed. Postmaster Bolger, of Philipsburg, re- ceived word from the First Assistant Postmaster General, Monday, notifying him that the following persons were ap. pointed letter carriers for Philipsburg under the free delivery system to be in. augurated there on December 1st, viz: Charles T. Waring, of North Ninth street; J. H. Harpster, Allport, and Geo, A. Wilson, of Tyrone. The latter was & carrier in Tyrone for three years. There were 22 applicants, only # of, whom pass. ed the required examination, C—O i, It is doubtful If even the political Hot Alr Trust.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers