The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-05-26
The Popular Faith in Luck and Omcns.

| IL necessary to rcmOnstrate against the
newspaper jokes which attribute 10 her the
power Of causing conllagratons wherever
she goes Having been ON the stage of the
| Brooklyn Theatre when that establishment
caught fire. and again, an inmate of the
Southern Hotel at st. Louis the night Of its
destruction by the flames. ii was an obvious
pleasantly to remark upon her i'll luck, and
| to prophcsy future calamitics from hcrprcs-
cncc. But the sport. she AYERS is anything
but sport to her. She finds that people
really believe her 60 he fatcd, and the pcrsc-
BUTTONS she is subjected to are becoming So
rou- We do not hear that she has bccncX-
clu'lcd from any theatre or hotel as an in
ccndary but her coming. she says, Is sig
nal for general alarm, and II busy prcpala-
tion ol rope ladders and fire escapes.
This popular faith in the good and bad
luck Of Individuals. aud the mysterious but
certain fortune or misfortune that attends
them. has the same root as the belief in
omcns and like IT, stuhbOrnly rcssts all the
attacks Of reason and science. Many in
trll1cnt and wcll-cducatcd people, for cx-
ample. hesitate to sit down thirteen at
table lest one ofthc pnity should die within
the year. The splitting of salt on tho table,
cloth IS carefully avoided, as likely to give
rise 10 a quarrel between those who sit on
either side Of the spot where the salt falls.
\ Kilt u knife or scissors Is regarded "a
tending to sever friendship hctwccn the givcr
and the receiver shipLuldcrwill launch
ship ON Friday and no Captain will
begin long voyage on that day ii hc can
help IL. Children are taught. if they put on %
garment wrong side ont. not To take it on
ID. d . L. L.. H..
they should turn their luck for the day.
/ 'lhcn there is the misfortune supposed to
attend the breaking of a locking glass. SEQ
/ Ing the new moon over the left shoulder. and
/ other things Of the same kind. all Of which
are set forth at length in books which have
"a large and constant sale. II would seem
that the most enlightened nations Of thc
| present day are as -upcr~titipus as ever
We're any Of the heather Of old.
There il this to be- said however. in behalf
Of the believers in luck and omcus. that their
faith il the result Of correct principle
wrongly applied. All that science can tell
liz Of the relation Of cause and effect il sim
ply it, observations Of the invarinhc follow
Ing OF one event by another. The scientific
investigator finds that under certain condi-
tions certain things take place. and the OK
pertinent being often repeated, that the
same Consequences always result. He.
therefore. concludes that they always will
50 result. and for practical purposes we ac-
ccpt his conclusion; hut We are only rcla-
lively. not absolutely. justified in doing it,
| The supcr~titious man hears that two build
ings which have sheltered Miss CLAYTON
have been burned TO the ground, or that In
several Instances one Of IA dinner party II
thirteen has died within year following it,
| Hence he nfers that the next building in
| which Miss CLAXTOS takes shelter will also
b." burned, and that the next dinner part Y
made up Of thirteen guests will ho fatal to
the life Of one of them. His error lies not in
his mode of reasoning, hut In not first lay wing
a foundation for it. He should consider that
many theatres and hotels which have had
Mi-s CLAXroN for an inmate are yet stand.
Ing, and that thirteen people frequently
dine together without i'll consequences. He
Assumes that to bc a fact which Is not a fact,
namely. that one given event has invariably
been followed by another; but If he were
right in this respect, We should have to CON
cclc that he was right in the other, however
difficult it might Toe for Us to explain the
| connection II the two things.
II must hc remarked. too, that science has
sometimes denounced a. -uper9ttiuus, plac-
ticcs which after Investigation We're found
90 10" based on sound reasons. ForcXamplr,
IL is a tradition among English farmers that
wheat must not hr planted ncara certain
Kind of hedge because, II it Is, it will ho
affected with rust Now. h0tansts know
that rust IN wheat -a species Of fungus, and
az the hedge supposed to produce it shows
no Indications Of that fungus, they de-
nounccd the farmers rs supcrstitious fools
A more philosophical inquirer however. ox-
amiuing into the matter, discovered That
while tho obnoxious hedge did not bear the
rust fungus, it did bear seed that fer
th2cd the immature germs of that fungus
IN wheat growing near by, which otherwise
would have remained undovcloped. scatter
all, the farmers were wise and the hotaui-tS
We're the fools. in like manner what Is called
luck in mcu Is often the result Of sagacity
and good judgment. he RorllscHrLDs, il
j. salt, never keep IN their employ an un-
lucky agent. This means simply that whrt
they find that "A man j, Unsuccessful they
10 not wait to inquire into the reasons OF
his want Of success, but dismiss him hoior,
Doe docs rrcpnrahlc mischief. Probably, il
tl.e matter could bee scientifically invests
Sate. it would bee found that he lacked thi-
or that instinct on iacultVuccc-sa to make
good business man. and the precise reaSoI
might be- given why his employers wcr
right in getting rid Of him, though wroui
= in calling his unlltness a want Of luck.
, None Of these considerations, however
apply to Miss CLAxToN's case, and we trus
that she may hereafter be permitted e
travel about and practise her profession
without exciting alarm. Tho only flame
she is likely TO kindle are those metaphysi
, cal ones, treated Of IN poetry, which are The
gloryof pretty women md the delicious tor
/ mcnt but not often the death Of their victims
. New York Garbage.
The authorities Of this city have no RICH