The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-12-30
A FEW SUPERSTITIONS.

A FEW SUPERSTITIONS.
Their influence upon the Weak Persons
Who Are Induced by "Omens' to DO Fool
ish Things.
WALKING down Chestnut street re-
Gently in a pouring rain handsomely
dressed lady was seen to stop suddenly,
and STOPPING on the wet pavement pick
up carefully a common pin.
Accidents sometimes occur to the
feminine toilet which render a pin. for
the instant, one of the most valuable OF
possessions, and the natural supposition
was that such a one had befallen the
lady in question. But no, she merely
dropped the pin into her purse and
quietly went her way, while we recalled
the rhyme from Mother Goose, more
thrifty than practical:
See n pin and pick il up,
All the day you'll have good luck;
See pin and let il lay,
Bad luck you'll have all day.
The superstition is a common one,
shared by all classes, and doubtless orig
mated in past ages, when pins were
scarce and valuable. We often hear it
quoted rs an instance of Stephen Gil
rard's economy that he was neverknown
to pass a pin without picking it up. but
the question is an open one whether the
fact was due to motives of thrift or SIM
ply to the old superstition.
This is the season of building, and it
is curious to observe how, when a lad
der is erected against a wall, many per-
sons-in fact. the majority of passers-by
go round it, ont into the street, rather
than pass under. although danger to
life or limb from so doing there is alb
solutely none. And OF those who
sturdily walk under probably more than
one remembers uncomfortably the ill
luck which is said to attend the act.
The evil repute which attaches to
Friday is well-nigh worldwide. Among
sailors the prejudice against this day is
especially prevalent.
In order to disprove and counteract
it in some measure. n wealthy English
ship-builder once built a vessel which
was begun on Friday, finished on Fri
day, christened 1.-The Friday" and
launched on Friday. 1t was with much
difficulty that men were found to man
her, but tempted by high wages a crew
was at last obtained and she set sail on
Friday. Unfortunately for the success
of the experiment she was never heard
of again.
Besides the prominence which Friday
has attained, every day of the week has
Its su2erstitions attached and is of good
or evil omen. With most of them the
reader is probably familiar. yet an arti-
Gle of this kind would hardly be complete
without some enumeration of the most
common:
sundays child ne'er lacks in place;
Mondays child is fair in the-face;
Tuesdays child is full of grace;
Wednesdays child il sour and sad;
Thnr Iny oh IL lax-i, nd lu1.
Friday child is loving and giving:
And Saturdays child shall work for its living.
Sncezc on n Monday, you snccze for danger;
Snceze on n Tuesday, you kiss stranger;
Sneezc ON Wednesday, you snceze for a let
ter;
Sneeze ON Thurs day, for something better;
SneeZc ON a Friday, YOU sneeze to your SORROW;
sneeze on Saturday, your sweetheart to
Sneezc on sunday. your safety seek;
The devil will chase you the whole of the
week
Cut your nails Monday, you cut them fol
Cut them on Tuesday, pair of new shoes;
Cut them On Wednesday, you cut them fol-
health:
Cut them on Thursday. twill add to you,
Cut them nc on n Friday. you cut them for woe;
Cut them ON Saturday, journey you'll go;
Cut them on sunday. you cut them for evil.
For all the week long you'll be ruled by the
l. devil.
The last two omens regarding SUM-
day must have originated in the days
when it was penal offense for a man
to kiss his wife on Sunday, and when
Melchisedec Jones was put in the stocks
for calling on his sweetheart one Sabbath
evening.
There are intelligent and well-edu-
Gated people whom nothing can induce
to try on mourning garment when not
in black themselves.
The writer has heard lady upbraid-
ing herself with the keenest remorse on
the death of her sister. because few
days previous she had tried on a black
Grape hat belonging to friend visiting
at the house. 10 reason with her and
enaeavor to prove that any connection
between the two events was impossible,
comforted her but little-and to-day il
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 burying the dead with their
feet to the east, custom universal
among Christian nations, and adopted
at first that as the Lord is to come in
the east the dead may arise and stand
with their faces to Him in the resur-
rect!on. The usage of centuries has
rooted this custom SO deeply that it is
little wonder that when it is departed
from the superstitious shake their heads
and prophesy that no good will come OF
it. Some of us, indeed, who do not in
such case actually expect another death
in the family must confess to feeling as
though our dead could not rest quietly
if laid otherwise than in this time-hon-
ored position.
Probably insurance agents are the
only people who have any idea how
many men, sensible in other respects,
are kept from insuring 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 endless
litigation rather than make a 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 re-
frain from altering or adding to an old
house, and we have known man
prominent in his neighborhood, wealthy
and otherwise liberal TO his family, who
year after year lived ON in dwelling
which was continual modification to
his wife and daughters. resisting all
their entreaties to rebuild, SO fully was
he convinced that if he were 50 to do
his death would soon follow. This su-
perstition is not an uncommon one
among old people.