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

nave seven years trouble, once Salu
lady to the writer, when the latter had
broken her dolls looking glass. The
augury was fulfilled, but rs four of
| civil war, the trouble was by no means
confined to the unlucky looking-glass
! shatterer. a
Country folk-some in Jest, soms in
earnest-translate the voice of chick
en- cock Growing at the door into
Stranger coming to-day" and we re-
member an old lady who invariably
made preparation for company when
the warning note was sounded upon
her premises. In thirty years, she de-
clared, the sign had never failed her.
The same old lady had as pet a cat
as black as any which ever figured in
tale of necromancy. keep black
cat," she used to say, when the hue of
her favorite was commented on, keep
a black cat and you'll never lack for
money" She was wealthy, but few
miles off lived an old negro crone, mis-
tress of cat as black as her own, who
| (the negress, not the cat) had the credit
of witchcraft, and who, in spite of her
reputed connection with the devil and
the ownership of the cat, had hard work
to keep soul and body together.
There are thousand and one super
stitions strung upon the thread of our
everyday lives and which meet us at
every turn. Few of us are weak enough
to let them influence our actions, yet
most of us remember them unpleasant
/ ly 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.
81 cannot bear to have my left eyelid
quiver," said lady of cultivation and
average intelligence. "Of course l
know there is nothing in it, but then l
can't help feeling, when it does so, as
if trouble were coming"
Plenty of people who ought to know
better are firm believers in the super
stition that it is unlucky to place the
shoes which one has worn during the
day otherwise at 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 was so prevalent that it
was ridiculed bv Addison in the Spectd-
tor; but the superstition still holds its
own. The evil may be averted by
throwing pinch of salt over the left
shoulder, charm which is clearly a
relic of the old heather ceremonial of
casting rice in the air and pouring liba-
ton son the ground as propitiatory
offering to unseen spirits. Among the
signs which are supposed to foretell
death are the ringing in the ear, known
rs the death-bell; the death-watch "a
peculiar ticking noise caused by a small
| insect cutting its way through woody,
or portrait falling from its place on
the wall, and each of them mas more
than once given nervous persons fit of
the blues
When the eyes of a corpse refuse to
shut they are ghastly enough. in all
conscience, to give color to the super
stition that they are watching for some
one who is soon to follow, and if horse
chances to stumble near a graveyard its
rider may be excused if his sensations
thereat are none of the most pleasant,
| even though he is not so foolish as to
consider it an actual death-warning.
If door opens without apparent
cause the Germans have 4 saying. which
has come across the water TO their
American descendants, that spirit has
entered, and the cold, nervous shiver,
which most persons have felt more or
! less often. is held to result from footballs
over the future grave of him who ex-
perieuces it.
There are sick-nurses who. at the
bedside of the dying, never fail to open
door or window that the parting soul
may pass out The superstition is,
think, of Scotch origin, and the reader
will remember Meg Merrilics ut the dy-
ing bed of the gypsy, chanting:
| Open lock-end strife
| Come death and pass life.
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 in
telligent and educated people harboI
this superstition. Bismark, it is said,
refuses under any circumstances to sit
down to table with the fatal number,
and prominent business man of New
York is reported to owe his start in life
to the ready tact with which he sudden
ly remembered pressing engagement,
when the failure of two invited guests
to appear at dinner given by A. L.
Stewart reduced the number present to
thirteen, to Mr.. Stewards evident an
noyance. All of us number among our
acquaintance wives who never remove
their wedding ring, and who, were it to
slip off accidentally, would surely ex-
pect some dire misfortune.
81 should think his ears would burn"
is a common remark when a person is
made the subject of continued conver-
sation, and - SO many stitches you take
upon you, so many lies will be told
about you," is as frequently quoted
when rent is hastily sewn up without
changing the torn garment.
In nearly every land the moon is the
subject of numerous superstitions. She
regulates the changes of the weather.
phases must be consulted in soap max
| ing, in killing meat, in planting, in
dozens of the common pursuits of life,
and to see the new moon through trees
over the left shoulder, with no money
in the pocket, is thought to be terribly
unlucky.
Should coal pop out from wood
fire and burn a lady's dress the event
foretells n suitor for her heart and
hand, and if two spoons come together
in the sugar dish a wedding in the fam
lily is to be expected with equal GER
tainty.
Sing before breakfast, you'll cry be-
fore supper" and blessed be the
bride the sun shines on" have passed
into familiar adages.
Swallows building in chimney bring
good luck to the house, but not to the
dwellers therein if the birds be mo-
Tested.
Killing a cat is thought by many to be
dire misfortune. and he who does it
is doomed through life to failure in ev-
erything he undertakes.
If a strange cat adopts house vol
UNFAIRLY as her home she is believed to
bring good luck to the household.
Numbers of intelligent people keep a
pocket-piece of gold or silver .'for good
luck" The devil dances in an empty
pocket"
And others. generally old people,
would not for much leave n horseshoe
found living in the road without picking