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II J h l - p M i Picturesque Huts of the Poor White Natives of Cuba, Whose Chidren Are Stolen by the Negroes for jHutnan Sacrifice. 1 1 Two Voodoo Priests Caught After Weird Ceremonials I and the Murder of a Little White Girl S I ' r' SHE police authorities of Cuba :! J: 9 are greatly pleased with the j! J 'capture of two Voodoo priests, h Jose de la Cruz and Eugenlo Carde- Jf 'nas. If theso two negroes can be m convicted and executed for the hu- I man sacrifice of Engeiiiu Hernandez, : ' i- the six-year-old white girl, It J3 I "hoped that it will he the entering i i wedge in breaking up the -wicked ' Voodoo ceremonials which are prac- .J iBed all over the island. 3 V It has always been extremely dlf- - Hcult to prove n case of religious t j murder, because the negroes are in ra j great fear of revealing what goes jfl on during the rites. White children II disappear with distressing iVe- 3 quency, and now and then the muti- lated body of a little white girl is ,1 ij found, after the Voodoo ceremonials js'h: are over. .icjlj- In the case of the two Voodoo Ht priests there seems to be sufficient J evidence to secure a convjction. It M fl was on the night of November 25 ' f ij that Cruz and Cardenas took little fyj Eugenia. It is claimed that the ne- n I groes obtained permission of the 'Ml. parents of the child to draw n small IAj amount of blood fvom the child's I body, for ihe purpose of curing a i sick woman named Salvadora Aro- jana. They went through the usual ' weird ceremonies and incantations, in the presence of the parents, pre paratory to taking the blood, i The little girl was raized, hut man aged to free herself and ran to her j mother, clinpdnp to her skirts. This I action was repented by the child each time she saw the knife In the "wiz- , j ard's" hands. This interference with I their ceremonials prompted the ne- j groes to try to start the child's blood running by an explosion of powder, i but the explosion proved so violent ; i that it killed the child. This explanation Is discredited by :. the police authorities, who expect to ,i show that little Eugenia was bled to I death purposely. The practise of voodooism in the I Western Hemisphere Is some 250 years old. It was brought here with the first cargo of human flesh from Ij Darkest Africa, which landed on the shores of Cuba in the middle of the seventeenth century. From the start Ihe Illiterate Span iard and the illiterate white Cuban, became fascinated by the wonderful doings of the African fanatics, and to-day voodooism is almost as preva lent among the West Indian whites as it is among the negroes. Indeed, the white fanatic is said to be even more hopeleBB than his negro co worshipper. During the years the revolting be lief has flourished in the Western continent it has undergone many superficial changes, although the foundation of the sacrifice has re mained -unchanged. Many sects have developed, and to one of these called the "Bembe," the two pris oners belonged. The sect of the "Bembe" makes a strong point of pyrotechnic displays at its ceremonials, and is the lead ing "curative" faction of the wor ship. That is, where other sects specialize "on the saltisfaction of re venge, of hatred, unsatisfied love and so on, the "Bembe" are the medicine men of voodoo. The temple and abode of Jose, where the child was killed, iE a long, narrow, low roofed hut on the out skirts of the town. Religious meet ings were regularly held there twice a week. Both Jose and Cardenas are full blooded negroes, as all the priests of voodoo must be. What actually occurred at this ' meeting is involved in a mass of con tradictory stories, but the following authoritative account furnished by a well-informed Cuban of the usual pro gramme followed, at orgies of this kind Is enlightening: "It is a fact well known to every Cuban and to everyone who has re sided in the island for any length of time," he declared, "that these fan atic orgies take place right in the ' heart of the city of Havana. "At these meetings 'el ballo del Sante,' or the dance of the Saint, ia a regular feature. "The high, priest sits on his throne, a certain prayer Is offered, and, at a nod of his head, the drums begin to beat. He picks out three or four girls the best-looking ones, as a rule. "These girls strip to the waist, pick up their skirts and tie them in a manner that leaves them bare thigh and leg, and the dance is on. They perspire, they snort, the stamping of their feet goes on with ever increas ing fury; the priest bits them now and then with the sacred stick, to urge them on; be watches them with a keen eye, notices that one -of them is near the point of exhaustion and then gives the word that 'the saint' is coming. vThe " ring around the dancers widens. A way is mado open for the priest to come to the door and wel come the saint; the exhausted dancer falls in a fit. The priest rushes to her side and carries her tenderly to an inner room fitted with an altar. She is now in a trance and 'possessed' of 'the saint.' "The faithful come in one by one and state their cases; the priest in terprets her sighs and moans as answers. The sick get his prescrip tion, the jealous husband learns whether he is right or wrong in his suspicions, the lovesick obtains a recipe for the attainment of his ends. Little by little consciousness comes back, the trance is over, the saint is gone and the orgies are on. "That little Maria was nude at the time of the explosion is established not only by Jose's admission, but by the fact that her clothing was found Intact, ""Jose declared that she was dancing nude in accordance with the rules of the ritual ceremony, but he claims that the girl's death was due en tirely to the explosion which waB caused by the ignition of a bottle of alcohol. AgainBt this, however, it is pointed out that the injuries sus tained by tho others were of the most superficial character. "Whether the explosion was the real cause of the child's death, as the voodoo priest said, or whether the incision went too far and he frightened priest decided to cover the whole thing by the explosion, which Cuban Negro Children, These Children Are Not Sacrificed. It Is the Blood of the White Children Which Is Valued for Religious Ceremonials and for the Cure of the Sick. the police say was undoubtedly caused by. gunpowder and not alco hol, is still a mystery." Those who are familiar with the orgies committed in the practise of voodooism declare, however, that if the little girl was really killed by the explosion, whether it was of gun powder, as the police claim, or of alcohol, as the fanatics contend, she escaped a death ten times worse than what she underwent. As already stated, both the word "Voodoo," and the religion, are of West Afrioan origin. The word be longs to the Ewe tongue, a language A Voodoo Taboo House in Africa. It Is from Africa ThatB Religion of Voodooism Came Which 'Is Wow Practiced in Cfl spoken on the slave coast, in the district between the Paver Volta, on the West, and the kingdom of Porto Novo, on the East. The original spoiling is "Vodu." It is derived from the verb "vo," lo fear, or to inspire fear. The na tives do not apply the name to any special god, but to all fear-inspiring supernatural manifestations. The practise of voodooism, hbflflB concentrates the fearsome H butes in a snake the pytfion. H cult inaugurated a sort of priest a priest and a priestess community, called "Papa! "mamma" by means of wm$fcB snake' deity could comriuMM with Its worshippers and deinaM murderous sacrifices. jB 1 Using Electrical Treatment for Sick and Rheumatic Dogs,. Cats and Horses I i XT"HE electric current ia being l I used with, great success foe tha treatment of many dls- ff ,jj eases of borses, catsf dogs and other ft ! animals," says Dr. W. P. Jenkins, the jf I most fashionable animal doctor Ir If1 i; New York. "The current is particularly useful in curing lameness, rheumatism, dis eases of the nerves and the cfigestivo organs Some very ingenious appli ances have been devised for admin istering the current, safely and ef fectively, as may be seen from the accompanying illustrations. Wi & Rheumatic Horse Getting an Electric and Vapor Bath. it ii "Various animals behave very dif ferently when subjected to the cur rent. One horse will kick violently when he feels the current Another will submit to it with perfect calm ness. As a rule it is wise to enclose a borse in a strongly built stall, with four sides, before giving him treat ment, as a wild horse is like ly to cause serious trouble. "The dog will usually sub mit, to a light current very easily and will sometimes show pleasure in tho treat ment. "In order to treat a cat electrically it is always necessary to secure the animal firmly, as It is cer tain to rebel against treatment The cat will never voluntarily submit to any constraint by man. "The farudlc and galvanic currents are both used to test Ihe eensitlve ness of the skin and to find out whether there is any hidden Injury to nerves or muscles. The involuntary muscular response to the current will show whether the muscles work together properly. This is very use ful with horses, for they are often permanently crippled f they are worked when one muscle Is out of order. "Tho faradic current is most valu able In treating lameness and troubles of the external nerves and organs. The galvanic current is more em ployed for the treatment of the ex ternal nerves and muscles. The latter form of current Is also used in the trea'tment of abscess and catarrhal affections, "Tho commonest troubles in horses treated by electricity are lameness of the hips, the back and the shoulders. These A Rheumatic Dog Receiving High Frequency Currents of Healing Electrictiy. Copyright, 1014, by the Star Company. Great Britain Rlghta Reserved. troubles often disappear as if by magic under the application of an induction current. Very often one ap plication of the current Is sufficient to cure a trouble that has made the poor horse unfit for work. The ani mals respond to this treatment much more readily than human beings. "Stomach and Intestinal trout J cats and dogs are frequently with the faradic current A newspaper reports that ne poodle of a Princess was cuJeH Intestinal catarrh that n1 ened his life after three appaM of the current." 'fl