The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-10-30
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS.
OCTOBER 29th, 1874.
MARTINS FERRY.

Tor the wlnQ Heno, WHO - dprOHo tnroW-
ing dust in the eyes Of luckless pedes-
trians, jerking of their hats, wrapping
their clothes around them and playing
all sorts of pranks. But tomorrow
night if Martins Ferry lads be like those
of the rest of the world where like Gus
toms prevail, we shall certainly be rous-
ed from our serenity. Hallow zen, or
All Saints night, is given up entirely to
elves, fairies, brownies, and all sorts OF
uncanny folks, and boys who are bold
enough to stray abroad. Many are the
recolIections we have Of the family room
on this evening. The open CRATE with
its blazing fire, the curtains down, shut
ting out the world outside, the table
drawn up on which lay papers, books,
and work, the good man Of the house
with spectacles firmly set, reading the
latest quotations of wool or tobacco, tie
mistress equally engaged in some late
romanceI the grandmother in her own
corner s.rsking the cat, and
we small fry on the floor looking over
the plates in the magazines, and with
great zcst picking out which of the be.
! diZcncd ladies should he us when we ar
rived at young ladyhood. Suddenly
there comes crash like unto forty hail
storms concentrated into one. Every
body looks up and some one calculates
rats" We are satisfied and all becomes
! quiet again. When the same sound
comes ten times louder than before. We
! Jump to our feet but the grand mother
! laughs aloud "a she says. "Sure children,
its the boys abroad throwing corn against
the windows" We are hardly settled
before there is terrific knock ut the
! back door and the bell at the front door
/ rings even rs it did once when a country
! man, who had never seen one ofthe kind
/ that wound around, seized hold of it and
| ground it like Il coffee mill, until some
! one could reach him. The master DASH
/ cs his paper down and with impctuous
. stridcs reaches the door, opens it eau
tiouslv and is Just reaching for little
! Sammy Tompkins. when he receives the
/ contents OF squirt gun in his face, ana
/ retreats in good order thinking that for
once discretion j. the better part of val"r.
This keeps up till after midnight,
and ii is only in the morning that the
full extent of the mischief is shown
Elder Brown opens his door, and walks
calmly into a shed that stood i'll Simp-
kins' ward, or has Il log of wood fall into
his hall. Somebody else tries to open
hi, front door, but finds he cannot, and
discovers Il rope extending from it across
the street to the house opposite. GATES
have apparently gone through "grand
right and left, a. no one Is where it be-
longs. But with signs the very dell has
been to pay. An cntcrprsing lawyer
has calls head above his door, while
the young doctor proclains to the world,
Bleaching and Pressing Done to
Order" a c"rpul"nt real estate agent
calls for " Soap Fat, and II miIlimcr store
ha. perhaps Il dozen barber poles in front
. Of it, Wagons and all vehicles left out
take unto themselves wings and fly for
all sorts of prccipiccs and impossible
places, while everybody rcjoices in cab
bagc head or stalk nj his door.
But woe bctidc,, the lucklcss wight who
I shall be- out on mi-chicvous intent after
the clock shall strike twelve OH the night
of All Hollowien, for then all elves do
hold carnival. But by divers charms as
spells mortals may then learn their fate,
even without the intervention of 'mc-
dunn" The man or woman who, a the
clock strikes twelve. shall have the hard
! ihood to stand at the gate of burlnI
! ground. shall then see all who are To he
! buried there the next year. pass III black,
| and all who are to be married, in white.
An old story is told of Il couple VIII"
uuarrrlcd continually, who each visited
| the graveyard at this hour in hopes t"
find which would bc relieved ofthc other
! before the wear wa, out. ut the gate
they met. and bein" terrible frightened
rs we'll II. relieved, rushed home. Think
! inr each that the other would sood die,
and rcmor>ctul for pat unkindnc5S, they
tried to atone in the little while left.
Each was So kind and changed
that the other forgot the bitterness,
and although neither died their hatred of
each other did, and they lived happy
ever after. Many charms arc told where
by the future partner of ones joys and
| sorrows can be known. One is To- ,wal-
! low Il thimblcful of salt, speak nothing
to any one, 90 to bed backwards, and III
your dreams, your husband or wife that
| i. to be, will come TO YOU with II drink.
| If il be in "A silver vessel he or she will
he rich; ifa glass one, comfortable; if tin,
/ poor. Another charm /, to nil three
! mates with water, one clear, one muddy,
| one blue, and put another plate on the
table empty; then blindfold the company
in the room and lead them one vt time
before the table and let them reach out II
hand and touch one of the plates, if the
clear one the person will marry a rich
person before the year is out, if the blue
u poor one, if the muddy one they will
be- dead, and if the empty one they will
never be married ut all. Another charm
is to name number of apples and put
them in tub of water, then dive for
them. whichever one named you catch
in YOUR mouth will be the lucky or un-
lucky person. Another is to walk down
stairs backwards with looking
glass in one hand and IA candle in the
other to the ccllcr, place the glass on
barrel and comb your hair before IT, when
YOUR fate will look over your shourdcr
into the glass. The last we shall nell
ton. but one we would not advise our
readers to try, is to make cake, half salt
and half flour. eat half then take the
other half to the corner of the house and
bury It; take some Of the earth from the
place where it is buried and place it
under your pillow, when your whole flu
turc life will pass before you. This Is
dangerous, however, as We heard of one
Young girl who saw n coffin carrid
through her room, followed by a man
with long bloody knife in his hand, and
she soon after died.
We have heard psOplc remark in thi.
vale of woe, that hens teeth are II scarce
article. but news items are even rarer.
We have Cauvassed the town diligently,
but beyond building and the ordinary
routine OF daily labor, there is an aching
void