Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-02-19
Mistellanu.
Lucky Numbers.

There is widely spread tendency to
believe in lucky numbers. The mystical
properties Of numbers, and the doctrine of
chances, have both something to do with
this matter Card players have number
of crotchets Of this kind" luck under the
deuce" bad luck under the nine of dia-
mOnds, an even number for the trump
card. One theory says that even mum
bers are unlucky, because each can be di-
vided into two, thereby denoting death and
dissolution. One nation made the year
consist of $50 days, so that it should not
divide into twelve equal months. Some
of the early Christians pronounced for odd
numbers because God is in 3, and be-
cause He made holy the 7th day. The
number ! aud it's multipIes were on other
ground, made lucky because human
being sheds his teeth at I, becomes youth
at twice !, a man at thrice 7, and reaches
his grand climacterc at nine times 7. In
some parts of England, the housewives
nut their hens on an odd number of eggs );
because, with an even number, they fear
there would be no chicks. The current
year of our Lord is always lucky num-
ber in the estimation of some persons
Addison said, in the Spectator g: Il have
been told Of a certain Jealous dissenter,
who being a great enemy to Popery, and
believing that bad men are the most for
tunate in the world, will lay two to one on
the number 666 against any other num-
ber: because. says he, it is the number of
the beast" This mystical number has
played a great part in luck specula-
tons Some Apocalyptic interpreters
will have it that 666 is the Pope himself =;
while. on the other hand, Roman Catho-
lie journalist has recently striven to show
that if Bismarck were spelled Bismarck
it would be exactly equivalent to 666.
Number is greatly in favor for luck !;
school-boys insist that the third time will be
fair. or will result in success. There is an
old superstition OF maxim, call it which
We may, that three handfuls of sand on a
dead body are as good as funeral. The
Romans had notions about the breadth Of
a camp fosse measuring an odd number Of
feet the holding of markets at intervals
Of an odd nnmeer of days; the taking
of the census at intervals Of an odd
number of years the dining at tri
cnium or three, sided table the Graces
being three, the Furies three, and the
Muses. seven. Greek cities had an odd
number Of gates. The French peasan-
try have knack Of making out lucky
aud unlucky years for great person
ages, by adding together the year of
our Lord, the digits which compose that
number, the age of the individual, and the
lumber of years between MS birth, mar
riage, or some other notable event in his
lte-an elastic sort Of process, which
can be made to prove anything We wish.
The silly belief in lucky numbers has
nowhere been carried to a more absurd
extent than in reference to lottery tickets.
The state openly and avowedIy gave less
than it received; the aggregate of prizes
was far lower than the money paid by the
public for the tickets and the profit was
transferred to the treasury as revenue.
The state morality aid to the public
" We do not cheat you; you can buy
tickets or not, as you please; and what
ever prize you draw, we will honorably
pay YOU the full amount as to the blanks
you must Of course take your chance, and
must be prepared to expect that they are
much more numerous than the prizes. .
Then why did the public rush to the lot
terry Offices to buy tickets, knowing all the
time that watever the state might win by
the system must necessarily be lost by the
aggregate of ticket-buyers Every buyer
hoped that his particular ticket would be
Iucky one, and would bring him ONE
large sum. Every ticket was numbered
and he might indulge his own fancy il
selecting particular number.
As no one knew beforehand which
number would be successful, as all had al
equal chance OF success. a reasonable maj
would just as willingly purchase one mum
ber as another. But lottery-ticket buyers
were nat reasonable; they were gambler
although they did not say it, and per
haps did not know it and were temple
bv whatever superstition clung to luck i
numbers The lottery contractors o
lottery office keepers knew this well, an
made their market out of it; each on
claimed to have been particularly for
tunate in the sale of tickets which ha,
turned up prizes; and, on the princIpl
post h0c Dropter hoc. invited the publ
to believe that past good luck was al
augury of future good luck at the sam
Office One of the firms, catching holC
of an old woman named Goodluck, CAV
her $50 year for the use of her nam
as a nominal partner and for many year
the house of Goodluck 4 Co., took th
lead So large was the business done b
some of these firms, that as much a
100000 was on one occasion given 70
the goodwill of lottery office.
Ia the reign of George |, the footmal
Of lady of quality dreamed that tw
particular numbers would turn up prizes
he bought these two tickets on the follow
ing day but they both turned up blank
and he put an end to his existence, L
his trunk was found memorandum to tn
effect that, when his riches came to hin
he would marry Grace Farmer, that h
would make her wait upon him, and tina
he would eat and drink all day long. II
wards the end of the same reign, matt
ematician, familiar with the theory
probabilities, demonstrated that, in pa
tcular year, the chances were 34,99S
against a particular number wlnnlr
thetlo,0O0 prize; 1860 to l against
10000 prize; and 6 to l against obtai
ing any prize at all. But all such war
lugs were Of no use. A bankers cle1
was one day found raving mad in tt
street; he had bought ticket bearing
iayorite number, and was robbed OF il
on the day of the drawing of the lottel
that number came up 100000 priz
and crief and raoe were too much 1