11

W.Brown interviewing Susie Zosak -8-
8/12/72
Tape 3-1

WB Now I wanted to ask you about that chalk mark that intrigues me now first of all tell me about the chalk, it was just regular chalk?

SZ It was just chalk and we had it blessed.

WB And the priest would bless it?

SZ It was in the basket that we had blessed, you could have it blessed on the Blessed Mother's Day when they blessed flowers and things you know and they blessed Palms you could have it blessed then you know but we used to put it in the basket when we had that cheese made from eggs and butter cheese, cottage cheese, whatever came from the cow, you know, and bread and we'd put salt do you know what my father used to do, he'd take a quart and a pint can and put salt in, he was like old people he came from over there and I guess there was witches there, I don't know but he would always put some of that salt in the chop or bran, some cows you'd gather up slop and spill everything but when we had a cow we never did that we never had slops like that so we would just give her maybe pour that water into the chop or give it to her dry, she would eat it dry, you couldn't give her too much because she would blow up, you know but some you'd put the chop in the thing, he would even go down to the stable and with that blessed chalk he'd make crosses over the door and when the priest comes

WB And that would bless the cow then?

SZ That wouldn't bless the cow but it would keep the witches away but there wasn't no withches, there was no witches in Humboldt

WB How about Eckley, were there any witches in Eckley?

SZ Oh no, I don't kow but snyway there was a family(?) and we got that guernsey cow and she gave a bucket full and I don't know when I was goin' up the goin' up the thing I even showed it to them and I'd say now that's what you call a cow, it was we never had a cow that good and that good of a milk, their cow didn't give that much I wasn't even afraid to show it to them