The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-07-06
SOCIAL SYPESSEIER1SS.
Their General Prevalence sn Various
Parts of Inc World.
From the New York TigncS.1

From the New York Ti.ncS.l
Several correspondents have written t. ask
for Information regarding the popular super
stltion concernlng lbilteen at table. 1t is
very commonly believed that | Le assembly OF
thirteen persons at table eLsur 5 the death of
one OF the party before the years cad. Like
many other social superstltlons, this foolish
notion has probably survived thc strange de-
luSions which existed i'll the world during tie
dark ages that interviewed bt uWeeu the fourth
century OF the Christian Ella and the revival
of Christianity. 1t is curious to observe how
many of the superstitions which exist in the
minds of intelligent men are traceable to the
age when the Christian religion had become
as complete 4 mummery, even in many parts
OF Europe, as the Fetic!lsm of the penlghteu
African. This may be a crlMb of comfort
TO the ingenious gentlemen who are now ell
gagged in scattering to The winds, with great
laughter and amusement, what relnalnS of the
wreck of Christianity. The birth, suffering
and death of our Lord nave furnished innu-
merabie incidents on which mysterious super
stitions and sayings have been founded. For
example, i'll many parts Of England, am in
New England states, it is believed the cattle
kneel in their stalls on Christmas eve at mid
night in remembrance Of the Nativity. Pos
sibly some of our readers remember how they
were wont, in their childhood, under the di-
rection of ignorant and superstitiOuS servants
TO go in the SnoW-bOunG barn at night ''tO see
the cattle kneel = on Christmas eve.
Many OF these perverted beliefs come from
over the seas. As our tOreiathers brought
with them the superstltiouS notions of old
England, SO later Immigrants have brought
the supersJitions Of other lands. The Cor
nish miners in the Pacific states, for example,
say that they hear on Christmas eve far down
in the depths ii tie mines supernatural
voices singing "NOw we'll! now nell!' One
authority says or Lord was cglcitied on all
asheu tree, wherefore, Il, is known. snakes
show such q dread Of that tree mat they may
be driven from their Aatnts by chips and
slivers Of ash. luG another equally learned
authority declarr> That lightning Lever strikes
the elder for the reason that the cross was
made Of the w0ud Of that tree, and therefore
it is haIlowed TO- al time. Nevertheless, it
IS popularity believed thai the leaves of tie
slight quiverln- aspen sh.vcr and shake
because the tree is in agony for the shameful
death of the Savior wrought upon it in the
time of PLATE. and The belief that some Of
a party of thirteen at ii table viii die before
the year is out is founded upon the rctaeul-
ORANGES OF our Lord and His twelve disciples
at table when the Last Supper was eaten.
A ~fanciful writer has defined superstition
to be that which survives when It's compan-
ions are dead, the derivation being traced to
the Latin word SODCrStO. Those who escaped
from battle were called sUperStiies. Thus,
argues this ingenious person, superstition is
that which remains when real religion is dead.
Fear, awe and worship are paid 10 religious
impressions which remain ii tie mind when
right notions Of the Deity no longer exist.
1t is notorious that the boldest agnostic is as
susceptible to the influence Of signs, onlens
and popular superstitions as the humblest and
most unlearned of Christians. Indeed, we
should expect to find that the man who has
abolished God from his universe, and has
burned his bridges behind him as he advances
into nothingness, would naturally incline to
the superstition Of a dumb, unreasOning faith
in an underlined and nebulous supernatural
ism. But there are muititudes OF intelligent
people who hesitate to sit at a table with a
party of thirteen, although the objector does
not know whence his idle superstition began.
He has heard of Instances OF persons dying
soon after being one of thirteen at a dinner
table. lie does not believe in The slIpersti-
ton, but he would rather be on the safe side
so he declines to sit. How many people do
not like to see the new moon over the left
shoulder? How many fail to turn over in
their pockets the few coins that happen to be
therein when they see the new moon through
glass? II is not an uncommon thing for sem
sible men and women to defer commencing a
piece Of work which might have been begun
on a Saturday until some other day, on ac-
count of the pop~ula"belief that work begun
on a Saturday will never be finished.
The homes of New England, and of New
York and other states for that matter, are
filled withwith signs and wonders. omens and
superstitions- 1t is uniucky to weigh new
born children; they will not thrive, and they
may no live. When children are first taken
from the room in which they were born they
must go upstairs before they go down stairs !;
otherwise they will never rise in the world.
Very likely some of our readers have seen a
nurse mount q chair, with a baby in her arms,
when there was no room in the house higher
than the baby's birth place. 1t II is difficult to
trace the origin of this superstition, but 1t
must have been derived from some pagan
nation. The popular saying in England that
when a girls p~etticost is longer than her
gown her mother loves her less than her
father, need not be relegated tothe Dark Ages.
The breaking of a l~ooking-glass as an omen OF
death in the family is easily explicable. Itis
the breaking of the image of some one in the
household But why a tranger is expected
to arrive very soon after a fork, a pair Of
scissors or ether s~harp-poisted instrument,
falls and sticks upward in the floor Is not to
be understood. Yet multidudes Of women
set their houses in order when such warning
comes TO them. A strangers approach is also