MASSAGE TREATMENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1541, 24 August 1905, Page 3

MASSAGE TREATMENT.

mistaken fob witchcraft. Mary Ann Hill, a middle-aged woman, otherwise knowm as Madame Jordan (defended by Mr J. C. Martin), pleaded not guilty in Auckland Supreme Court, to obtaining £lO from an aged Maori named Ten Wmhana , by 'witchcraft. . Minai, a Maori woman of Mercer, Teri’s widow, said that last December her husband was very ill, and she , brought him to Auckland to consult Dr.' Eight. They put up at the Native Hostelry in Mechanic’s Bay, and Dr. Knight visited the patient two or three times. Then the prisoner appeared at the hostelry ,and told him not to go to Dr. Knight, but to place himself in her hands, as she was a tohunga, and could cure him for £lO. She told him he had been bewitched, l and was possessed by evil spirits (“kahanui te Taipo”), and that he had also got a pakeha disease and a chill. She rubbed in some liniment, and asked for £1 on account. She undertook to drive out all the devils and diseases for £lO, as she was a doctor. . 1 Mr. Tole: How did she proceed to do this? —She passed her hands over his chest, which was the symbol of tohungaism, and then passed them over the rest of his body. His Honor: Did your husband agree to give the £lO to have the devils cast out ?—-Yes,

Did you soo liim pay it ?—Yes. ' MrTolo: Did sho como again noxt day?—Yes. , What happenod thon?-Sho said thoro were some ovil spirits in him. 1 They were not all drivon out the first time, .then ?—No. i Did sho drivo thorn out tlio second timo ?—Sho wanted us to go and live at her house at Ponsonby and be treated there. Did you both go ?—Yes. What did she do there ?—Sho used to rub him With liniment to expel tlio evil spirits, murmuring “ kahanui to Taipo.” . , Did she pray ?—Yes. Sho put her hands together and turnod her oyes up to the sky and muttored somoDul this do your husband any goodr You remainod at Ponsonby sovoral days, I think ?—About ton days. . Did the prisoner go through this performance ovory day ?—Yes. How came you to -loavo ?—-That there (the prisoner) turnod us out. Why ?—When she found sho could not cure him sho turned us away. : What did she say ?—She said: Go homo, or I shall bo arrested by tho police.” ...... What did your husband say ? —He said, “I shall not go home beoause you promised to cure mo within two weeks ”

I What did sho say then ?—She insisted, and my husband said, “ If I go home, I shall have a relapse.” Well, go on. Tell us how you got out.—-The woman said, “ If you have a relapse you writo a lotter to mo,” So you left ?—Yes. And returned with your husband to Mercer ?—Yes. .

Witness, in further evidence, stated

that the relapse came, and a letter was sent to Madame to come, but she came not, and Teri died within a week after he return to Mercer. His Honor: Wo are not concerned in her breach of contract to cast out devils, but only with the making of such contract.

To Mr Martin : Teri had some spots on part of his body. ■ Kawhata, said he heard the prisoner tell Teri that he was ill with “ma kutu ” and “taipo,” and she would treat him in the Maori tohunga way, and cure him within two weeks for £lO.

Mr Tole : All what ?—All the spirits. Did she do anything else ?—she talked to herself. What did she say the spirits were doing ?—Killing him. To Mr Martin : She also used the words “ atua Maori,” which meant

“ Maori spirits.” To Mr Tole : It was .witness who came in from Mercer the day after sending of the letter to tell the prisoner to come up. She told him she could not come, because a boy had been shot, and there were two doctors attending him.

Mr Martin : It was her own son. Matakino. a Maori woman of Taupiri, said she was a sister of the dead man Teri. She was with her brother at the hostelry, and there met the accused, who told her she could cure her brother from his evil spirits and the efiect of witchcraft. “Give me the money,” she said, “ and he will be better in two weeks.” “Will he be as well as I am ? ” asked the sister.” “He will,” was the reply. Witness then described the treatment, passing her hands lightly over her breast, murmuring, as she flipped the devils off into space, “ Haere |te taipo ” (“ Go away the taipo ”). “ Kaha nui to taipo ” (“ too much the taipo ”). This, she explained, was the prisoner’s method of tohunga treatment, and'it was “ all same Maori tohunga.” To Mr Martin : Witness knew very little English, and most of this was interpreted to her. Poroumati, the Maori woman in charge of the hostelry, speaking in excellent English, said she remembered the accused attending Teri and other patients at the hostelry. She spoke to her patients in pakeha' - Maori (mostly Maori), and made herself understood by the Maoris. Witness had actually seen her treating other patients, but not Teri. Mr Tole : What were her methods in those cases. ; Mr Martin objected tp this question being answered, as witness was unable to say that the same treatment was applied to Teri. His Honor upheld the objection. . Maud Calkin, a young married woman, of Whangarei, prisoner’s daughter, said at the urgent request of a Maori named Peter, witness telegraphed for her mother from Coromandel to attend some man at the hostelry. The Maori man Teri then showed her his chest, .'which was spotted, and said he had given up Dr Knight because the doctor wanted him to walk to his house every day, which he could not do. Teri begged her mother to stay and look after him, and said he would pay her £lO or £2O to do so. Witness’ mother asked him if he had been to a tohunga, and rubbed liniment into his chest, but it was quite untrue that she murmured “ Haere te taipo,” or “kaha nui te taipo,” or that she sai.d he was possessed of devils which she could cast out. It was true that her mother became exhausted with the rubbing, and sat down and rested her head on her hands. Mr Tole: Was your mother an adherent of the Mormon Church?— No, sir. How did the Mormon gentleman get there? —We had some members of the Mormon Church boarding in the house. ■. ■ ' Who conducted the service -your mother ?—No, I don’t know who did. ... Do you know that your mother practises fortune-telling? , -Hr Martin objected to the question. Mr. Tole : ’ Surely I can ask. her what,, her mother’s, practices were in the spirit world. His Honor: Oh, lots of people practise fortune-telling, but don’t practise witchcraft —scores of them. After further evidence a verdict of “ Not Guilty ” was returned.