Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1882-04-06


a Louisville Ky reporter had :
long conversation with well-known
scientific nnn of that city. and during
lhe c0nversafion the nuhieeG Of aupef<
stifious beliefs IN the changes of The
weather aud the effects Al the moon
on everything on the earth was
brought up, and the scientist remark.
ed
The people of tbs oonnirr. aud
especially of this stata. may sneeE =
much - they like at the auperalst;oua
beliefs of other countries They may
laugh = lie aoblin and fairy stories 81
the Irish and she .harpias oftke Sce1oh.
hlik a idaspxaad 81 lhesn ~ nxslik. ns
ARE. they are not 80 general as the sn-
perststions az 10 the power 81 the
moon. / took occasion 10 investigate
this matter some time aimee, and vas
astonished at the extremes to which
it was carried. especially By the
country people, who put implicit faith
in its powers. and watch is every
change with watchfnl eye rs guid-
ing star 70 their prosperity. They
only regard it in two stages, the light
and the dark of the moon the one
they regard as q signal 10 commence
work. and the other to continue il.
A large number believe that any
article s0wn in the dark Of the nn0on
will not attain the strength nnd full-
ness that il would have Il planted in
the light Of the moon. They always
plant their corn and other grains IN
.he light Of the moon. and il they Dc
not finish they will let II q until the
moon changes again, Iqua ioned an
old farmer about the matter, and he
seemed surprised that / should doubt
the effects Of the moon in the slightest.
He remarked that be had tried the
experiment on several oceaaione, es-
pecially with potatoes. and those plan-
ted in the dark of the moon never
amounted TO toanything. while the others
grew large and healthy. DO you see
that fence out there 2 he said. point
ing 70 fence under every, corner of
which large stone had been placed,
but the stones had snnk,nntil the tops
were even with thesnrface Of the land.
Well, that 10 an example. / pnt
those stones under the fence in the
dark Of the moon. and You see how
they have sunk. Jbuilt aaoiher fence
during the next change Of the moon,
and the corners never sunk particIe.
Then. again. ] have tried tie effect
that il would have on meat, and il was
wonderful. I killed several hoes once
while the moon was dark, and was
fully satisfied with the result. The
meat diminished greatly in size, and
it was almost impossible to keep il
from spelling. When it was fried it
ell dwindled away into grease. and
drew IN TO very small size. | was
astonished and amused at this aud
found that nearly al the people
around were equally spperstitioua,
and thought that everything earth.
ly and unearthly. real and unreal.
was guided By lis influence. But
this superstition in regard to the e.
feets Of the moon is not confined 90
Kentucky or to the United States.
In Ireland the same opinion in regard
to the planting Of vegetables il held.
and. ifthe potatoes are planted during
the dark Of the moon. some Of them
are said to predict an entire failure Of
the srop. While know myself that
the moon is powerful agent in re-
gard to some matters, the extent 10
which this superstition Is carried il
simply ridiculons. and does not seern
wholly civilized 10 me" it