Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1876-02-23
The Legislative Thief.

The following Is CO!. Crlttende0 eVtuence
10 the case OF R. D. Rufin, the negro member
Of the House Of Delegates who was expelled on
Saturday, as stated 10 the Gazette of that date:
The Coloael testified that he keeps his
book of receipts trou members of the House
q Delegates alphabetically, and he exhibited
the same to the committee. From an lnspec
ii Il Of the book 1t appeared that the oame of
r. D. Rufin was Oh the left-hand page, and
that the Dame Of Archer Scott was on the suc-
ceeGng right hand page of the book. Cuonel
Nrittenden stated that the amounts respective.
ly due to 4. D. RuthH aud Archer Scott, con-
sisting OF a Gve-dollar note and one-do!ar
uole due Rufin, and Of ten-doar note and
twenty dollar note due Scott, were placed be-
rween these pages of his rnceipt-book; that he
went to Rnfin's seat 10 pay him the amount
due him, aud opened his book SO as 20 obtain
his recent; that whilst Ruhin was signing
the receipt his attention. was called OF.
and that, shutt up his book, he proceeded
to the discharge OF his duties Saturday being
very busy day with him), oot noticing that
the thirty dollars due Scut were missing.
Afterwards, upon being applied to by Scott tor
the payment Of the amount due him, he found
bis account short by thirty dollars, and became
apprenensiye that he had lost or mlslad tue
warrant for the amount, but after more 'tl'c-
tlou, aud consultation with the second door
keeper and Others. be became satisfied that
Ruth bad the money. He Immediately, upon
arriving at that conclusion, sought Rutho, but
learned that be had LETT the city, and would
cot return until Monday. % Ruthu's return
to the House, after o'clock Monday he ap-
preached him add charged him with haviLg
gotten the thirty dollars to which he Was DOT
entitled. Rnfin appeared agitated and con-
fused, and said that he wuuld examine his &C
cuuats and see how the matter stood. NO
suution of the matter WAS then arrived at.
After a short interval Coopel Crittendeu
again sought an Interview with Ruthu, accom-
panied by the second doorkeeper, and after
short conversation, in which be reiterated the
charge be informed Ruttin that he would wait
Tor him iu the rctunda Of the Capitol. ln
short time Ruffn came out and gave HIM an
order for five days pay, which was paid 90 the
18th iusaut.
Col. Cr!tfenden was entirely confident that
the money 1885, lying upon the page OF his re
c,ipt book wneD Rufio signed the receipt for
SIX dollars was absracted by him, snd not hand
I'd over to him. The second doorkeeper, Mr..
Sulhvau testified that 10 the conversation be-
tweeo Crittenden and Rufiin, at which be was
present, Rufin said his account showed an ex-
cess of eight dollars, and that the way he ac-
counted for it was that on his visit home he had
received portion of debt due him from
society 10 which he belonged, and supposed
that there had been some mistake 10 the pay
mAui; that he spoke of writing TO the Secretary
aud making inquiries about 1t.
SUpERSTlTIONS REGARDING SPLITTING AND
SNEEzING.-The Corohlll Magazine bas the
following:
Tho belief in evil spirits affords the best ex.
Co. of lacsp
Than disagroeable and ridicu Gus. We alude
10 tho world. wide superstitions connected W tn
splitting and sneezing. Many Eng glishmen spit
i: they meet white horse. u squirting man or a
single magpie, or it, inadvertently, they step
under ladder or wash their hands in the same
BASIN with friend. In Lancashire boys spit
over their fingers before beginning to light;
trave ers on leaving home spit on stone ARD
throw it away; mar ket people spit on tae nFst
money they receive in the day Swedish peas
ants snit thrice if they cross wster after dark,
and even the aesthetic Atbehian used to s:lt II oe
met msdman So the savage New Zealand
rest spits on the two sticks which, acco ordlng
one of them falls uppermost, are to ioreshoW
the result of a coming battle Indeed, this un-
pleasant habit seems universal charm lor
bringing good luck or averting bad. but Tor
what conceivable reason than that the mouth
regarded the portal by, which evll
spirits got into man and by which alone they
could be forced to make their exltf Inc Mes
ssians used to make splitting and nose blowing
part of their religion, for they hoped tnereoy
to free themselves from the demons with when
they fancied the uir to ba full This single case
contains, probably, the key to all the olhers.
}ut why should sneezlng be SO generally re-
rsrIed as bad omen, and one to be aVerted, II
possible, by Fluctuations and blessings one
exclamation is that rs it WAS the sign OF return
Ing ccnvalescence during the plague at Athens,
coNgra;u ations were offered when the crisis
was past; another, that during great plague
that rsgod in Germany in the sixth century,
b.. ,a,f So IA n
il WAS usual to exclam MAY God help you
n"w," rs soon ss the sad death signa was heard.
'ut the custom is of far wider extent and
older lineage than such explanations imply. and
the only possible hypothesis Is one that adapts
itself to sll races and all times In New Zealand
mother repeats charm when child sneezes,
lest any evil result in consequence, and Engiish
Nurs"s do just the same. In the Netherlands
sn'ezs gives witch power over person, unless
S'Ine one invoke u blessing from heaven, and IN
these tscts probably lies the real explanation
for taking into account that every bodily de-
IangemeEt is regarded by savages as possession
oy evil spirits and that sneezing is always the
precursor of th> SO temporary bodily derange-
ments, often very severe, which we know AS
cods' may it not be thst in those early times,
when TO precede is the same rs to cause,
sneezlng fl WAS set down as the sign or cause OF
>uch possession and charms were employed 10
c"untersct its effects If cold was ever feld
10 b. q bewitchment, we can understand the use
VI charms snd blessings at the earliest stage OF
The premonilory symploms As an involuntary
act sneeze would, like all other natural phee-
nomens, DC u portent significant of, and entail.
ing, series of consequences; and in course OF
ume, as men improved in observations and dis
nhctions, it would grow to be even suspicious
under certain circumstances Thus in our own
country 1t lsa good sign on some days OF the
Week, but Ii bad one on the Others and in Scot
tsnd an infant is under fairy spells until it
sneezes, belief apparently connected with the
ABSURD ides of the ncapacity of idiots to sneeze.
In Greece, also, the distinctions drawn about it
raised sneezing TO an art !; for while it was un.
lucky in the sfternoon, or when food was being
eeared away, or if it occurred three times or
more than tour, or on the left hand side; if it
Occurred among persons in deliberrtrn, or two
Or tour times or in the morning, on the light
nshd side, it was accounted lucky omen We
sesd that Themistocles by iudicious snoeze on
ss sls right haud side, persuaded his soldiers to
ught and Xrnnnhon bY q similar act in tha