Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-12-23

There are intelligent and well-educated
people whom nothing can induce to try on a
mourning garment when not IN black them
I selves.
The writer has heard a lady upbraiding
/ herself with the keenest remorse on the
death of her sister. because few days pre-
| yious she had tried on a black Grape hat be
| longing to a friend visiting at the h',use.
| To reason with her and endeavor to prove
that any connection between the two events
was impossible, comforted her but little
/ and to-day it is probable that none Of the
family would upon any consideration do the
same thing again.
| Every one knows the origin Of the custom
| Of burving the dead with their feet TO the
/ East, a custom universal among Christian
nations. and adopted at first that as the Lord
! is 10 come III the East the dead may arise
and stand with their faces to Him in the res
direction. The usage OF centuries has rooted
this custom 80 deeply that 1t is little wonder
that when IL Is departed from the supertl-
tious shake their heads and prophess that
no good will come Of it. Some of us, in
deed who do not in such case actually cx-
pect another death IN the family must con
Tess to feeling a. though our dead could not
! itHA HiHthAN 81 AaAhA haNf ANAN aA NA'iF
iime-houored position.
SETTING THE HOUSE N ORDER
Probably insurance agents are the only
people who have any idea how many men.
sensible in other respects. are Kept from in
suring their lives by the fear, either on their
own part or on that of some member Of
their families. that the act might shorten
their lives. and there are sober business
men who die and leave their estates To end
less litigation rather thaS make will, be
cause OF the vague fear lest thus setting
their house IN order" hasten the day Of
death.
From the same fear many men refrain
from altering or adding to an old house. aud
~c have known man prominent in his
ncighborhooJ. wealthy and otherwise liberal
10 his family who year after wear lived On
in 4 dwelling which was a continual nortif-
cation To his wife ana daughters. resisting
all their cn,rcaiies to rebuild. So full, was
he convinced that Il he we're 50 10 do his
death would soon follow. This .upcrs,ition
Is not an uncommon one among old people.
"Say YOUR prayers, child You'll have seven
yeaI's trouble" once said lady TO the writ
cr. when the latter had broken her dolls
looking glass. The augury was fulfilled.
bu, a. four Of seven we're the black wear. of
the late civil war. the trouble was br no
means confined to the unlucky looking -gia>.
. shaiiervr.
Country folk-somc in jest. some in car
ncs;-iranslatc the voice Of 4 chicken cock
Growing al the door into Stranger coming
to-day and We remember All old lady Who
invariably made preparation for company
when the warning note was sounded upon
her premises. In thirty years, she declared
the sign had never failed her.
The same old lady had a. a pet q cat a..
black as auy which ever figured IN tale 81:
nccromanc, Keep black cat" she used
10 say. when the hue Of her iavoric was
commented on, keep i black cat and YOU n
never lack for money" She was wealth,
but a few mlles off lived an old negro cronr.
mistress Of cat A. black as her own. who
tthe negroes. not the cail had the credit of
wiichcrait and who, in spite of her rcpuicd
connection wiih the devil and the ownership
Of the cat, had hard work TO Keep soul and
body together.
MT AT EVERY TURN.
There are a thousand and one supersti-
tions strung upon the thread Of our every
AAfAH AAAAs NA4tN4a Ai4tfh A~ At tNtAt t+.l "a
Few OF u are weak enough 10 let them in
fucnoe our actions, vet most OF Us rcmrm-
Der them unpleasanily now and then, while
very many Of us, did we own the truth, have
one or more omens which We would prefer
not TO encounter.
Il cannot bear TO have my lef eselii
quiyer," said lad, OF cultivation and aver
age intelligence. "Of course ! know there
is nothing in it. but then cant help feel
ing. when 1t does so, a. il trouble Werr
coming"
Plenty of people who ough, TO know bet
ter are firm believers in the superstition
that It is unlueky to place the shoes which
one has worn during the day otherwise Al
night than with the toes pointing TO the
door. and cannot sleep IN peace unless they
have done so.
Years ago the belief in the evil omen Of
spilling salt prevalent that il was
ridiculed BY Addison in the Spectator; but
the superstition still holds its own. The
evil may he aserted BY throwing pinch Of
salt over the left shoulder charm which i,
/ clearly relic of the old heather ceremonial
of casting rice in the air and pouring Ii
/ baiions ON the ground as a proprietary Of
fering TO unseen spirits. Among the
/ signs which are supposed TO foretell death
are the ringing in the ear, known as the
death-bell the death-watch Ia peculiar tick
| ing noise caused by small insect cutting
its way through wood. or portrait falling
from its place on the wall. and each of them
has more than once given nervous persons a
| fit of the blues.
When the ewes of corpse refuse to shut
they are ghastly enough, in all conscience,
10 give color TO the superstition that they
are watching for some one who is soon TO
| follow, and if horse chances to stumble
near graveyard its rider may be excused
If his sensations are none of the mos, pleas
ant, even though he is not so foolish as to
consider it an actual death-warnlng.
If door opens without apparent cause
the Germans have a saying, which has come
across the water to their American descen-
dants, that spirit has entered, and the cold.
nervous shiyer, which most persons have
felt more or less often, is held to result from
footballs over the future grave of him who
experiences IT,
There are sick k-nurses who, at the bedside
of the diving, never fail to open door or WIN
dow that the parting soul may pass out.
The superstition is, think, of Scotch origin,
and the reader will remember Meg Merrilies
at the dying bed of the gypsy, chanting:
Open iock-end strife
Come death and pass lite.
DINNER PARIIEs.
Tragic stories are related in various parts
of the country at home and abroad of evil
resulting to the unlucky guests at dinner
parties of thirteen. Many intelligent and
educated people harbor this superstition.
Bismark, il is said, refuses under any cir
cumsiances to sit down to table with the ia
tai number, aud prominent business man
of New York, is reported to owe his start in
life to ready tact with which he suddenly re-
membered pressing engagement, when the
failure of two invited guests to appear at a
dinner given by A. I. Stewart reduced the
number present to thirteen, to Mr. Stewards
evident annoyance. All of US number
among our acquaintance wives who never
remove their wedding ring, and who, were
it to slip of accidentally, would surely expect
some dire misfortune.
IL should think his ears would burn is a
common remark when a person is made the
subject of continued conversation, and $50
many stitches you take upon you, so many
q r