Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-03-29
FAITH IN 0MENS.
Strange Fancies Of Some Foremost
Public Men.
csfeId's Belief that a Certain Course
Would Lead Him to the White House
---Chandler Counts White
Horses---Thad Stevens
Picked Up. Pins.

he had no doubt the result, and when asked
why said: "Oh, it's just my luck" This
may be apocryphal, but it expresses aeon
mon view that Mr.. Cleveland believes firmly
in his good angel and trusts to her. But ii
this be correct, the President will not have
far to look to find men Of force Of character
and Eublic repute who guide their conduc
to a greater degree than they would care to
admit by equally unreasonable, or raher
unreasoning. influences. The whims
superstitions, freaks, or whatever they
be called, of mauy men OF good,
hard common sense, who have become con
spicuous in public or business life, are more
| uotent forces than would be supposed The
experience of such alienists as Dr. Ham
mond or the late DR.. George NJ. Beard would
Unpublished, make most curious and In
teresting story. For these physicians there
is 10 surprise when a shrewd and wealthy
fnapcier or successful politician hesitating,
u confesses that he is controlled by some
fancy that seems childish but is none the
| lers potent. They meet so many such cases
that they are inclined to think that If al
most ali men would make confession they
would admit that some kind of fancy or be-
lief had possession of them.
Br. Beard once said TO the writer that one
of the most successful inanciers Of Wall
street had confessed to him he was convinced
that If he walked on the right hand Broad,
way book bttween Houston and Prince
streets he would meet some terrible calam-
iiy, either in bUsin SIS or personally. This
| banker vas accustomed TO wrlk down
| Broadway for exercise, On the right hand
side, and when he reached Houston street
he crossed over walking the block to Prince
| on the left hand Then he would cross back
again perfectly content. Satisfied that the
Sc eming conviction was mere whim, ne
orce. by force Of will, went on few steps on
| the block but he suffered suCh an agony
OF fear that ne gave it up and crossed the
street.
Another of DR.. Beard patients, W ell
known lawyer, who lined in Brooklyn, would
Fever cross the ferry unless ne could get to
a certain spot on the rear deck so that he
could stand with one foot on the big iron
clamp. He believed that if he failed 10 so
he would meet with misfortune OF some
kind.
That men susceptible to sentiment should
be dominated by these Authorizations, as
DR.. Beard called them, is more easily ex
plainable than the cases Of men of practical
hard sense with no nonsense about them
Yet DR.. Beard asserted that in his practice
he did not see that one class was less
liability to notions than the other. Presi-
dent Garfield, for instance, who. was Of
keenly susceptible temperament had
a profound conviction that the figure 10
would be associated strikingly with the
events of his career He was born in the
10Th day of the month. and died on the l9tF.
1t was known by Garfield's friends that he
was firmly convinced that he would one day
become President. Some incident that hap
penei while he was in the army fixed the
conviction in his mind that he would be-
come President, provided he never strayed
from the path the omen pointed out. His
friends, not knowing Just what the omen was,
were satisfied that in obeyiug its dictates
Garfeld's inexplicabe course in some
things of mparatiyely petty consequence
found explanation.
Speaker Carlisle is as practical and un-
sentimental in temperament as Garfield was
the opposite; yet Mr. Carlisle is dominated
by one notion, if not by more. He will be-
gin no new thing on Friday. When he
came to Washington TO manage his canvass
for the Speakersbip, year and half ago,
he arrived one day later than expected,
much TO the disappointment of some of his
friends. 1t appears that be had made all
his arrangements to leave Covington Friday
night, but on the evening Of that day Just as
| he was about to star he remembered that
it was Friday and he at once deferred his
departure. He couldn't have been induced
to start that night.
1t is elived in Wall street that the cool,
imperturbable jim Keene suffers torture
from the fear that poison somehow or other
has got into anything of a liquid form that
he drinks, not Intentionally put there, but
there by accident, and he would not dare
drink glass Of water, wine, or coffee with
out going through some secret performance
that wards off the danger
Commodore Vanderbilt was a firm be
lever in luck and lucky men, but the d
Commodore was shrewd enough to see tha'
lucky men generally did their best to make
themselves lucky. Senator Miller, of Cali
foruia, is firm believer in his own luck, and
has perfect faith that any business he
| goes into will be successful because he
IS lucky He has had fifteen years OF
Confrmatory experience. Before that
everything he attempted to do turned out
unfortunately, and he firmly believes that a
single, simple little incident, unconsciously
done while he was Collector Of the Port Of
San Francisco, changed his luck.
Mr.. Blaine, with al his common sense,
will never turn back TO enter his house after
he has Quilted it, in csse he has forgotten
something, not at least until he has walked
few PAGES on the sidewalk, and he is not
free from a few other Authorizations, if that
is the name for these mental phenomena.
Who would think that ex Secretary Chand-
Ter woul permit himself to be bothered by
such visionary Influences as counting white
horses for luck? He counts every one that
he sees until he reaches thirty-nine, and
then he begins over again. Speaking OF
ibis once, he said he lad often wondered
why be did so, for his reason told him that
it was nonsense; yet he felt uncomfortable
unless he did. When President Arthur
went TO Florida with Mr.. Chandler the
party arrived at Jacksonville in the even
ing. The President entered carriage drawn
| by four horses, aud in moment the boom.
ing OF a cannon frightened them and start
ed them on run. Mr. Chandler stood up
in his carriage, we'll frightened. He saw
hat one of the horses attached TO the Presi-
dents carriage was white, and counted it,
making the thirty-ninth. all By an iustan-
taneous process of the mind. In MON snt
the horses were quoted down. Mr.. Chand-
'er said that his judgment tod him that
there could be no possible connection be-
tween his counting OF the horse, which he
had failed to do when he first saw it. and
the prevention Of runaway with the Presi-
dent, and yet somehow he trembled when he
thought what might have happened.
The late Secretary Folger sll his life be-
Al Il = L.