Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-07-20
MASCOTS In REAL LIFE.
SOME OF TIE sUPERsTiTIoNs OF
soBER-MINDED MEN. !.

A Talk with n Man Who Believes In
Mascots-His Story of tho Little old
Woman On an Oak Lcaf-Good Luck
Coos with Good VIII.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, July 12.-"A mascotl What
Is a mascot77
"a mascot is a mascot"
This is the very definite definition given by
the owner of the mascot in the opera of that
name. Yet the word, though so far unac-
rnowledged in Webster's Unabridged, is in
\ popular use, and mascots are becoming more
numerous every day. Like the expensive
| e.ghtrday clock of fifty years ago, every am
ly must have one, no matter what else it
lacked.
Yes, mascots are indispensable institutions
Just now, especially with theatrical people
and baseball clubs. Players of the national
game are tho most superstitious of men. an
their opinion skill has but little to do with the
result of a match, > says one who has studied
| into the matter. "a bird flying over tho
ield, the flag blowing in a certain direction,
| q little 10y picked up by onc OF tine mines, a
| goat Gf a dog wandering across the diamond
while tho game is going on-these arc the
things which incline victory to one side or
the other
Managers arc in favor of nascots. They
/. ,ay that the idea that they have n mascot
makes them play with more confidence and
spirit. This may be tho true secret of the
superstition. When we believe we shall sue
| ceed wi seldom fail. A mascot causes us >
believe in ourselves, to win tho battle in
mind even before it has begun, and so mcA--
us strong and courageous. Hence n mar~
has most noble uses. Il
Talking on this subject with a wise rich
man the other day, ! asked him if fle did not
think the world was growing more snpersti-
tious,
"No," he said, 'but / believe II is growing
a little honester, and perhaps a little Drawer.
1t espouses the poetical side of superstition
openly, the unpopular side secretly. The
world was always superstitious. Even they
who boosted of being without superstition
1uailed when evil omens and unlucliy signs
came to their own door. And who is so self
secure that he feels and shows no elation
when good luck is on his sidez''
aFor my part, / believe there is something
In mascots," continued my friend. II was
never one of those fools who thought / knew
all things, and could manipulate the universe
to my own satisfaction and the possible hu-
initiation of others. l always realized that n
thousand influences we canno see and do not
dream OF are at work on every affair Of life
in which we arc interested; that nothing de-
ponds entirely upon ourselves, although we
think that many things do. 1 have n mascot
myself. Twenty-Five years ago started in
business for myself-had a modest music store
down town. / hadn't money to push the bust
ness and it went slow. A year slipped away
and had kept afioat and hadn't made a cent.
| began to see that / couldn't go on at that
rate. l would soon be without a dollar to
live on. One afternoon the store was as soil
tary as an anchorite's cave, and ! was doing
away behind my desk in nodanger OF being
| disturbed. While I dozed 1 dreamed-one of
those queer dreams that seem to have an i'm
portant meaning, which you can't for the life
| Of you solve. A little old woman no bigger
than a small doll came flying in on an oak
leaf. She nodded to me Familiarity, and said:
You'll have good luck yet if you don't turn
1t away from your door. | am a fairy
princess. When I send a messenger to you
receive her with due kindness Then she
breathed on a rose which she carried in her
hand and the oak leaf floated away, carrying
her with it, laughing and dancing.
~ awoke with the little old woman and her
message clear in my mind. A schoolboy's
IIISuii, YOU IL S2tys Ol COuTse. Vei, 4 uuullG
it. l wasn't 80 then, and I always had q
hinge of the poetical in my temperament.
While I was thinking what a pretty fairy
little boy, a thin, shabby looking woman, with
n limp, entered and asked for work. She was
not a laboring woman, but belonged to the
genteel poor. She had some musical knowl-
edge. She could try pianos for purchasers
and could keep the music in order, and do
many q little thing to help business on.
"It was a queer thing to do, but the words OF
my dream fairy kept ringing in my ears, and
although l didn't know where / was to get
the money to pay her with, / hired her. So
far as l could then see, / didn't need her,
either. She took Off her faded little bonnet
and went to work, happy as a bird. An hour
later q man from the northern part of tho
state ealse in to talk about buying a piano.
A customer was q phenomenon then, / can
tell you. Well, my new employee tried the
piano for him, and, much to my establishment,
he bought it and paid the cash for it. You
laugh at me, of course, when I say that luck
tnraed in my favor that day, and I believe
The shabby little woman brought it.
e.She has been i'll my store ever since, and 1
have continued to have good luck. The en-
ployment / gave her was q godsend to her rs
| afterwards learned; and she was a godsend
10 me.
II pay her a nice little salary, and don't ex-
pect her to do anything much but stay in the
affice of the store and tinker around trying
new music or doing anything she pleases.
She is an old woman now, and she wasn't
very young when she came to my place. i
should actually be frightened if she were, to
lie. I should be afraid of losing my luck.n
II suppose it wouldn't do to mistreat a mas
cot in any way2, asked.
AMistreat u mascotP almost shrieked my
uperstitious friend. aWho would be SO lost
to his own interest as to wan to do such a
thing2 Lose his luck2 OF course he would.n
"Mascots are apt to be rather lowly crea-
lures, aren't they'a - lame dogs, poverty
stricken old women, hunchbacks, or IN
thing of that sort?'
"Yes, they are apt to be, though they come
in more imposing guise sometimes. Fact is,
you never know who is going to bring you
good luck. The mascot idea has filtered down
10 us through fairy lore. The lucky fairy
always came in humble or needy disguise to
test the kindness of mortals. 1t is an old
country superstition, you know, that simple
minded or deformed children bring good luck
with them superstition fraught with
mercy, for it insures good treatment to the
poor little helpless creatures, and for that
reason is sent from God, and should be fos-
tered
How Is one to know who may bring him
good luck2 is there any means of knowing a
mascot at sight7"
"Ah, there's the divine wisdom in this sl-
perstition," said my friend. aAny one, the
least among us, may DO the one to bring us
luck. We can only leorn who the uotent. one