Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-01-18
SUPERSTlTIONS OF SAILORMEN.
The Cat NJ n PropitiatOry Offering 60
the Demon Of the Mighty Wind.
From the Alta California.


'Yes SIR, that is a very pretty cat" said q lady
10 an Alta reporter yesterday, referring 10 fine
Persian cat coiled up on a rug. But often
wonder how managed to get her home safe.
You see, ! bought It in Calcutta. and came home
on sailing ship around the cape. Well, sir, every
time we Were becalm. ID the sdors would try and
get my cat to throw 1t overheard for they think
that doing so Will bring wind"
This is an old superstition Of the sailormen. It
would IT, hard 20 say how it originated, but IL is
probable that tt was originally intended as
sacrifice 10 Neptune, the god OF the sea; as land
the gods were propitiafed by offerings OF the
devout, 20 Jack sought TO calm the sea gods ire
by Offering him Cat. The Old sailor, even In this
advanced age, regarded the cat as a veritable
weather gauge. The old landSman Is often puzzled
TO account for some OF the strange sea terms, and
questions are often asked as to the meaning OF the
word "catspaw." IL Is Simply a quaint idea OF the
mariner, who sees in the sudden and peculiar
zephyr that ruffeS the water a resemblance TO the
froics OF the cat. Does pussy jump around good
humOredly there Will be good breeze and fair.
But when she arches her back and swells her tail,
then look out. for her scOwling look will be as
calm TO the storm 1t foreshadows, and the flashes
from her eyes but as sparks TO the blue StreakS OF
Zigzag lightning which will certainly soon illumi-
nate the sky.
There IS nothing 50 tedious, so aggravating to
the sailor as dead calm. Let it blow never SO
hard, let the thunder roll and the lightning fash
as II may, yet the sailor, wet to the skin and
wear1ed with toll, prefers IL to three-weeks stay
In the ''dOIdrums." In a storm the ship seems at
least to be doing something, though that some
thing may be nothing but steady drift TO the lee
ward as the ship lays close to under clOSe-reefed
tOpSallS. But in a calm she lies like log on the
water, heading all around the compass rolling
gently In the ocean swell the fiap-fap OF the great
sails alternating with the swisl-swash OF the
wayeletS as the vessel laves her sides In the water
only an occasional catSpaw dsturOS the surface Of
the water, hIiing IL for a moment like passing
breath on lady's mirror. Drift, DRIFT. drift, day
after day, the great burning sun overhead re-
1ected on the waters until the eye becomes
Weared with the eternal b1 shtnesS The sailors
20 about their work lStleSSy. Not so the officer
o. the deck He does not heed the heat nor the
stream OF persplratiOn pouring down his face He
PAGES the poop with gu ct, nervous tread, whist
ling Tor "A wind. Yes, he Is scanning the horizon
north, south, east, and west, and with his whole
soul whistles for a Wild
This is another Old old belief OF the sailor. This
superstition az least cannot be traced to the prop
tlatlon OF the gods IL probably had its origin in
the Impotence OF the mariner, who, while his YES
sci lay becaimed, remembered with regret the
hoarse moaning and shrieking and whlstling of
the wind, and tnyoluntarily tried 70 initiate 1t.
And this supposition is strengthened by the char
aeter OF the whistling. The sailor does not
whistle ''Anne Laurie" or any other popular song.
IL Is a series OF snort and long sounds now high,
now low. like those produced by the wind blowing
IN It's might through the ropes and rigging.
Only little while ago
Twas whistng to san Antonio
And instead of q breeze he has sent gale.
SO says LOngfellow in the "Golden Legend"
having doubtless often heard OF the sailors
superstition. Whistling While the wind is blow
ing Is thought To increase the gale. The privi-
ltge Vi Nnl>Jg Is generally cOnIneQ TO the Onlcer
OF the deck and the captain; not that 1t is actually
forbidden TO the seamen, but nothing annOyS an
officer more than 10 hear sailor boy whi5tling,
and II Is generally stopped by the polite gift OF
rope yarn and the dry request TO ate that Cp."
Sir Walter Scott In "Rokeby" has the passage:
What gales are sold on Lapland's Shore
How whistle rush bids tempests roar.
The custom OF selling the wind Is probably here
referred to- This Is almost altogether In the paSt
still in the north OF Europe and the British isles
there is a belief among the fishermen that the
Bessie Miller, late 1914, sold wind TO the
fishermen OF the Hebrfdes for the SUN OF sixpence
q head
sailors have other superstitions in regard to the
wind Perhaps the most common and possibly
the eeSt founded Is in the action OF the sea birds
When they begin TO circle around the vessel In an
uneasy and restless manner, seldom alighting on
the water 1t is regarded a sure sign OF the ap-
proach OF storm. though on shore In some paris
OF England there is a rhyme which says:
When the birds fly low,
Look out for a blow,