This probably won't help, but at reconstructed Plimoth Plantation in
Massachusetts in the late 1970s (at least) there were a few chimneys that
had broken necks of stoneware jugs hanging in the chimney throats for demon
protection.  This was a continuation of British practice, as researched by
somebody, Glassie? Deetz?  Semi-anonymous staff researchers?  Seemed to
work.  Certainly I didn't see any demons on the rooftops or wherever, when
I spent a month in costume there.

In a more serious vein (?), Vance Randolph reported in the early 1900s that
in the Arkansas Ozarks one could find a shoe or white buttons or various
other objects placed under the front steps for protection.  I've looked on
ocasion at fallen down houses but haven't found any shoes yet.  My sample
size is pretty small, though.

At 10:44 AM 10/26/1999 +0100, you wrote:
>This kind of thing is also known in Britain. In an early 17th century
>context in Ely, Cambridgeshire, two Elizabethan children's shoes were found
>in a house chimney. The usual explanation is that they wrere placed there to
>ward off the actions of witches.
>John Carman
>
>
Leslie C. "Skip" Stewart-Abernathy
Arkansas Archeological Survey