AFRICAN SUPERSTITION

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 17 October 1921, Page 5

AFRICAN SUPERSTITION

SACRED GOLDEN STOOL

BY CABLE—I'RESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT (Times.) ■ T (Received Oct. 17, 9 a.m ) . A i# LONDON, Oct. 16. An extraordinary light is cast on African superstition by the discovery! of. the # mysterious golden stool of the1 Ashantis.- A special despatch from the uol£. Coast announces that several murders have occurred. It is reported that the stool was originally concealed by four^men, three of whom were" immediately decapitated, and the fourth died without revealing the secret. The stool was accidentally discovered during road construction. Two chiefs of; JNkoranza, near Cdomassie, took possession of it and stripped off the gold, and fearing the consequences fled to Coomassie, where they surrendered to the authorities. One golden hell was seen in the possession of a northern native, who has since met a peculiarly! painful death by poison. The three custodians of the stool, fearing the re- • suits of negligence, fled to Coomaßsie! and surrendered. They are guarded by West African frontier troops, all of whom are standing to arms and picketing public buildings. The Ashantis demand the release of the prisoners In. order to put them to death by the prescribed tortures. The prisoners beg! their guardians to kill or .allow them! .to commit suicide, and resolutely withhold information of what they have done _with- the relics, fearing the authorities are not strong enough to pro-t tect them, for if the hiding place is | revealed nothing can save them from the ultimate unpleasant death threatening tfiem. The situation between the Europeans and natives is now less serious than it was^ The chief fear is Tetributory vengeance among the "tribes.