The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1884-05-13
OMENS, SIGNS AND DOGS.
A Curious Story of an Uncanny
Mistake Some Supersti5ions
and the People Who
Hold Them.
A Sketch Of the King Of the Ca.
mines in the City Of
New York.
Cleveland, o , Sun.

CleFelhno, " sun.
Very few persons are without 81
perstition. Like Chevalier Bayarc
they may be without fear and will
out reproach," but none are withou
superstition. Nearly every one VIII
lives has certain little superstitions
make his life trouble to him at times
They may be entirely of his own COL
struction, but they are there. Tn
man who SCOTS at his neighbcrs be
cause they credit Friday with malevo
lent influences and stand in awe of tn
moons whims, may have concealed
superstitions far more absurd.
The staunchest sneerer at signs anC
omens is apt to turn pale when some
thing uncanny and out of the ordina
ry happens. heard story the othel
day that is quite outside of the limit:
of the usual iD ominous attributes
and it has the merits of being true tc
add to its interest
A woman and her daughter occu.
pied house In a modest street in this
city. They had lived there several
years, but being home keeping folk,
were unknown to any save a small
circle of old friends. One morning
after breakfast the mother said to her
daughter II believe I'll have that
old sofa in the sitting room removed,
Twice this morning when [ looked at
it seemed to be coffin. never
make that kind of mistake without
having something unpleasant happen
soon after. Besides, it needs repair
ing. Iii get it out of the way for
awhile"
She mentioned apologeticslly that
she wasn't very sunerstitious, but that
kind of an optical illusion was not
agreeable to her Something would
happen"
And so it did, and something ex-
ceedingly odd. The two women were
sitting In the same room an hour or so
later, when the door bell rang. A man
left package and speedily departed.
The bundle was nameless, and they
opened it, when 10, a shroud was un.
rolled. They stood aghast as its long
white folds futtered out and swept
the floor.
Presently the bell rang again, and
when the door was opened two men
carried in a coffin. The Mortified wo-
men protested that it did not belong
there, and they would not permit it to
be left. The men insisted upon leaving
it said they had been told to leave
it there and they intended TO obey Or
ders. 1t occurred to the distracted
mother that it might be for her hus-
band, who was expected home from
Europe on ship several days over
due. With that thought in her mind
she ceased to protest, and the coffin
was left in the spot recently occupied
by the Objectionable sofa.
1t did not belong there, as they
discovered later, neither did the
shroud, of course. The undertaker's
men had the correct number but the
wrong street, and after a while they
came and removed it; but they could
not remove the ominous influence it
had brought with it. The shock, the
suspense, the hideousnesess of the
episode were not easily forgotten |
With her mind still colored by the |
ghastly affair, the elder woman walked
out 10 the afternoon, hoping to wear
off her gloom. As many another
person has done, she walked into the
fulfllment of her fears when trying
to walk away from depression. Her
feet slipped as she was going down
the steps of friends house, and al
though she fell but two steps the &C
cident caused her death within three
days.
This incident is without any tinge
of the supernatural, and yet it was
eminous, and was followed by disas-
ter.
Touching hump-backed man for
luck is a superstition which keeps an
honored place in the minds of many
theatrical people. They will 60 to
any amount of trouble to sit near one
In a street car, or pass one in a crowd.
ed thoroughfare and manage to touch
his poor crippled back. They are
confident that virtue goes out from
him as in the days when Christ was
on the earth. Even the great Parepa-
Rosa was not above this weakness.
One of her acquaintance tells that he
was walking with her on the street
once, when she saw a poor hunch-
back on the opposite side. Without
a word or an instant's loss of time she
darted over, and with her sweet face
bent down imploringly said: 81 am
Parepa. l want you to come to my
theatre-see herel"-handing him a
card on which she hurriedly penciled