THE ALLIANCE HERALD. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1921
COMMENT & DISCOMMBNT
Just as an ill
- . v ir
frood men may go wrong, we will turn
back to the written records of the
early New Knglanders, a God-fearing
people who much desired to do right,
but who occasionally guessed wrong.
Herewith is presented "Some Evidence
lnat Susanna Martin Was a Witch"
from the pen of Cotton Mather, one-;
time pastor of the famous old .Vorth ;
church in Boston. It seems stride, :
in the light of present day knowledge,
how so intelligent a man could go so '
far astray mentally. Cotton Mather.
Was a Harvard crrndunto an.l f
v, . 1 VI wile VI
the strongest leaders in the movement
to retain the old beliefs, and the old
prerogatives of the ministers.
TUtCLM
left him, leap'd on the Floor, and flew
.. t the Window.
"And there also came In several
Testimonies, that before ever Downer
" n word of this Accident, Susan
na Martin and her Family had related,
now Ui Downer had been handled!
Susanna Martin was found guilty of
being a witch, largely on such testi
mony as that which follows, carefully
collected by such men as Mather. It's
just barely possible that people who
argue for movie censorship and three
or four dozen kinds of welfare laws
may be just as mistaken as this
staunch old minister, who never had
any other idea than that he was abso
lutely right . Other people remon
strated with him, and told him he was
t narrow-minded, too radical, but he
couldnt the light. And now comcth
the testimony of one John Atkinson, as
transcribed by Mr. Mather:
"IV. John Atkinson testified, That
he exchanged a Cow with a Son of
Susanna Martin's, whereat she mut
tered, and was unwilling he should
have it. Going to receive this Cow,
the' he Hamstring'd her, and Halter'd
her, she, of a Tame Creature, grew
so mad, that they could scarce get her
along. She broke all the Ropes that
were fastened unto her, and though
she were ty'd fast unto a Tree, yet
she made her escape, and gave them
such further troubles, as they could
ascribe to no cause but Witchcraft.
"V. Bernard Peache testift'd, That
being in Bed, on the Lord s-day Night,
he heard a scrabbling at the Window,
whereat he then saw Susanna Martin
come in, and jump down upon the
Floor. She took hold of this Depon
ent's Feet, and drawing his body up
into an Heap, she lay upon him near
Two Hours; in all which time he could
neither speak nor stir. At length,
when he could begin to move, he laid
hold on her Hand, and pulling it up to
his Mouth, he bit three of her Fingers,
as he judged, unto the Bone. Where
upon she went from the Chamber,
down the Stairs, out at the Door. This
Deponent thereupon called unto the
People of the House, to advise them
f what passed; there being a Bucket
at the Left-hand of the Door, there
was a drop of Blood found upon it;
and several more drops of Blood upon
the Snow newly fallen abroad : .There
was likewise the print of her 2 Feet
just without the Threshold; but no
more sign of any Footing further off.
"VI. Robert Downer test'fied, That
this Prisoner being some Years ago
prosecuted at Court for a Witch, he
then said unto her, He believed she
was a Witch. Whereat she being dis
enticflot cnirl TVint some She-Devil
would shortly fetch him away! Which
words were heard by others, as well
as himself. The Night following, .as
he lav in his Bed, there came in at
the Window, the likeness of a Cat,
which flew upon him, took fast hold
of his Throat, lay on him a consider
able while, and almost killed him. At
length he remembered what Susanna
Martin had threatened the Day before;
and with much striving he cried out,
Avoid, thou She-Devil! In the Name
of God the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost, Avoid! Whereupon it
"IX. Sarah Atkinson testify d, That :
usanna Martin came from Amesbury
to their House at Newbury, in an ex
traordinary Season, when it was not
fit for any to Travel. She came (as
she sa;d, unto Atkinson) all that long
way on Foot. She hrrg'd and shew'd
how dry she was; nor could it be er
reivedlhat so much as the Soles of her
Shoes were wet. Atkinson was amazed
at it; and professod, that she should
her self have been wet up to the knees,
if she had then came so far; but Mar
' n reply'd, She scorn 'd to he Drabbled!
It was noted, that this Testimony upon
her Trial, cast her in a very singular
Copfu-non. "
This is only a small part of the case
against Susanna, some fifteen or
twenty witnesses altogether furnish
ing a most complete line of evidence
that convicted her without a shadow
of a doubt. It was proved that she
had caused the death of a large herd
of cattle by bewitching them, and all
in all, she must have been a most
wicked woman, and it must have been
a great relief to the pious citizenry
when she was out of the way. The
style of argument has a strangely
familiar sound. The witnesses were
sober, God-fearing men and women,
and they really believed the stories
they told, much as thousands of wit
nesses before and after their time.
All of which goes to show that the
testimony of interested parties, who
wish to compass certain things, is
likely to be colored. This poor old
woman, whose only fault probably was
that she looked like a witch, was con
demned because a cow got a case of
nerves and refused to be led peaceably
along the King's highway; because an
old man had a nightmare and
dreamed that she attacked him, and
because a cat jumped, in at a window.
Some of the testimony of modern re
formers is almost as flimsy. The dis
position of a few of them is quite
similar to that of men who fought
witchcraft in the early days. There
are a number of other morals which
might be drawn, but we simply haen't
the time to do it.
Edgar Howard, whose ideas are al
ways interesting, plans to print the
names of all the men and women in his
community who pay over $ 100 income
tax. provided, of course, that the gov
ernment will give permission. Edgar
doubts at the outset whether he can
secure the necessary permission, but
argues that if the names are printed
this year, there wjll be more of them
next year.
As an instance of the value of pub
licity in matters of this kind, the
PnlMimhna mnn tplls ft storV Of a coun
ter oAitnr nf his nrnuaintance who
, once printed this sort of an item:
j "There is not one real diamond in
this village. I went with my wife to
;a party last night, and saw what
llooked like fifty thousand dollars'
I . 1 A. 1 1 1 J
wortn or diamonds on me nantis mm
in tVa un nf ihp women at the nartv.
But all ofthe glittering things were
either glass or paste. The county as
sessor was at the party, and he told
- . . tf
me so. He ougnt to Know.
tViprp was all sorts
of diamond talk in that town, and a
year later the same editor published a
list oi forty-six owners oi uiamonu..
Stock hops wanted by the Nf
hraska Land Co. 103-tf
Imperial Theater
TONIGHT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11th
SPECIAL PRESENTATION OF
GEORGE MELFORD'S production
"BEHOLD MY WIFE"
From The Translation of a Savage.
11th Episode "Lost City" Comedy "The Road to Ruin" n
OPENING of NEW ORCHESTRAL ORGAN
PROGRAM
1 STAR SPANGLED BANNER
2 March Selected -J. M. Fulton
3 Evening Star Tanhauser
4 Traumerer Schuman
5 Silver Threads Among the Gold Request number by
II. A. Dubuque, played on Vox Pipes
6 A Wee liit ()' Scotch-
fa) Annie Laurie
(Vj) I Love a Lassie
7 Chorus from Popular Songs of the Day
8 Two Movements from William Tell Overture Rossinni
STARTING PROMPTLY AT 7:30 P. M.
Admission 22c and 50c and War Tax
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12th
- ROY STEWART in
"THE LONE HAND"
COMEDY "WHEN THE WIND BLOWS"
MUTT and JEFF "HARD LUCK SANTA CLAUSS"
Matinee and Night Regular Admission
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13th
OLIVE THOMAS in ,
"OUT YONDER"
COMEDY LARRY SEMON in "HOME, SWEET HOME"
Matinee and Night Regular Admission
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14th
HARRY CAREY in
"HEARTS UP"
FOX NEWS
Matinee and Night Regular Admission .
DISCHARGE CERTIFICATES
HELD IN WASHINGTON
The war department has just pub
lished a list of fi.fiOO discharge certifi
cates held in Washington because the
department has not got the proper ad
dresses of the owners and therefore
cannot deliver them.
By far the greater portion of these
discharges were sent in with claims
lor bonus, travel pay, or hack pay.
They were sent out to the addresses
given when the claims were made, hut
the owners had moved.
The owners may get their disrharg-,
es ny writing to the "Miscellaneous
Accounts Division, Finance OlTice, U. i
S. Army, Washington, I). C," giving
sufficient data to identify. them as the j
proper owner of the discharge certifi-1
cate. The data required to le given
is: Full name; rank, organization, and
station nt time of discharge; army
serial number; d:ite of enlistment and
date of discharge; present address;
and address to which the discharge is
to be mailed. This must be in the own
er's handwriting and signed by him.
Anv one interested may see the list
at the local army recruiting station.
The war department has suggested
that the informaion required may be
given in the following form:
Full name
(Christian Middle Surname)
Rank, organization and station at time
of discharge
(Rank)
(Organization) (Station)
Army serial number
Date of enlistment
Date of discharge
Present address..
AH dre sa to which discharge certificate
should 6e mailed
(Number and street)
"(Cit'y)" "(State)
(Signature of Owner)
Wanted to buy both your fat
and stock hogs. O'Bannon and
Neaswanger. Phone 71. lotf
A blind and armless Englishman
says a cable, has become an expert
typist. This will be consoling to many
a business man who finds "horse in
his letters spelled with a "q."
MARSLAND
Tom Hunsaker is on the sick list
this week.
Wm. Andrews has been on the sick
list this week.
Dick Furman visited with his par
ents in Crawford over Sunday.
Mrs. Many Crane of Girard was in
Marsland on business this week.
Miss Clara Tollman and little sister j
Alice, visited relatives in Chadron the
past week.
August Rhodes came down from
Crawford Monday morning to look af
ter renting his farm.
Engineer Witty oi Crawlord was in
town between trains Tuesday, visiting !
Ernestine McLaughlin. 1
Va. Gregg are again busy with the j
ce harvest, having received a large '
order from a Lincoln firm. j
Little Pansy Poole has been quite
sick the last few days with a bad cold
which threatened pneumonia.
Mrs. TownleV Anil Mrs. Cnrrr u-m-
passengers to ivigemont. Monday, re
turning home Wednesday morning.
Ernestine McLaughlin was a pas
senger to Crawford Saturday evening,
returning home Sunday morning.
Mrs. (ill. IlolTmnn ' cixfpro uhn
have made her nn extended visit, re I
turned to their home in Chicago I t;
Monday. i
The second and third truk opera- j
tors were laved off Saturday n:ght. I
Mr. Flem ng is tnking care oi" nil the
work row.
Mrs. Enrl Gregg and Mis Holen
Hu-ts were passengers to Crawford
Thursday where they visited with Mr.
uregg, wno is employee mere at present.
hood held a meeting Saturday after
noon, county Agent laylor had charge
of the meeting and gave an interest
ing talk.
VALENTINES j
OF JEWELRY '
THE Youny Lady who
opens a package and
finds it is a gift of jewelry
certainly will be delighted
with the way you express
Valentine greetings.
It is a real 1921 ideaa
fine opportunity to show
that friendship is held par
ticularly high.
You will find at Thiele's,
innumerable dainty articles
of jewelry not too costly
for Valentines. We will
wrap the package for mail
ing if you wish.
Thiele's
Drugs and Jewelry
Boys and Girls
Ask Yourself These
Questions
And Then Answer Them
What are you going to do when you grow up?:
Are you going to be your own boss or work
for someone else?
Will you be independent and have your own
home, or will you be one of the many who just
scrape and manage to make both ends meet?
It all depends on you.
Nearly all of the great men of this country
began to prepare for success when they were
young like you.
The first step is to save what you earn and
are given. The folks at home will be glad to
help you.
Then, when the time comes for you to go to
college, or start out for yourself, you will be
equipped for the fight
Every penny you save now puts you that much
ahead of the boy or girl who does not save.
Children's accounts are always welcome at this
bank, no matter how small they may be.
First National Bank
ALLIANCE
NEBRASKA
r" -- j
I c
i
- - - we have just received
A Big Shipment
of Ladies'
SPRING HATS
HOOSING the first spring hat is always an adventure that is looked forward to by
.every woman. The new colors, the new combinations of fabric and straw, flip tU.
tinctive trimmings afford much interest to the woman in quest of a new chapeau.
i
I
I
I
This season there are many bright-hued
hats, although the all-black or black and
white model is al.-o in evidence. The shapes
are decidedly varied, while the trimmings,
too, show a variety that is quite inter
esting. ..f
In our assortment are several types of
headgear that invite the attention of those
in search of new millinery motifs. It is
noteworthy that the crown is rather low,
but this merely adds to the charm of the
new hat.
M lift I
1
Oirr late shipment, direct from New York, includes clever combinations of
Straw, Flowers and Cire Braid. We are sure you'll be immensely pleased and in
vite you to see the selections.
PRICES RANGE FROM
$G..-)0, $8.50 AND UP
HORACE jBOGUE STORE, Inc.
I