The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-12-07
Fl %STRANGEST WHIMS,
Many People Who Have supsrstitions of
All Conceivable Sorts,

Many People Who Have supsrstitions Of
ALL Conceivable Sorts.
Actors and Gamblers and Members Of
Other Professions" Influenced by Alleged
Omens-A Napoleonic Bslief-The Infu-
encs Of superstitions-Belief Upon men.
II don't believe there arc any peo-
pie as superstitious as that in this
country" said a lady to her escort one
evening at the theatre, while listening
to the droll sayings of the superstitious
porter in q play. Everybody in the
audience had been laughing heartily
at the old man, who was as full of
superstition as an egg is of meat, and
who for the two hundredth time had
just. been interposing an objection to
the doing Of something because it
would ''be bad luck" Absolutely
nothing, in fact, was done or was pro-
posed during the whole play without
Jonah Juggling in one of his innumer-
able superstitions.
Was this lady right? The Chicago
Herald has been at some pains to find
out, so far at least as Chicago is CON
cerned. And the conclusion arrived
at was, most emphatically, that she
was mistaken. There live to-day so
many forms Of superstition that it
would take the compass of a good sized
tome to mention them all.
Everybody knows, of course, that
the theatrical profession is extremely
superstitious. Not even the most en-
lightened of them are quite free of this
feeling, since it has crept into their
very blood and marrow through the
force of time-honored traditions and
early training. Theatrical managers
are aware of this and always respect
these beliefs. It would not be safe for
them to do otherwise. Here is a case
in point:
About a year ago, while Julia Mar
lowe was filling an engagement at Chi
cago some of the scenery used in the
play fell on Miss Marlowe's aunt and
almost killed her. Last Tuesday night
the stage carpenter, Mr.. Ricketts,, ap-
preached this manager, and told him
he must insist on new ropes being put
on all the scenery to be used during
the same play, which was to be given
by Miss Marlowe the next night. And
he had TO give in, though he knew the
ropes were as strong as first-class hemp
could make them and though there was
quite a needless expense involved in
the purchase of a new set. But not
to have yielded meant "bad luck" for
sooth! And that is a thing anxiously
to be avoided.
How very superstitious gam blers
and card-players in general are, is
likewise a thing Of general record.
Not even the most daring of these
knights of the pasteboards would vent
ure, for instance, to sit at a game with
his hands closed, the idea being that
luck could not then fly into their hol-
lows. To hold their thumbs for a brief
spell. on the other hand, e good
luck for the party it is done for. A
run of bad luck, as every n knows,
can be best broken by changing chairs
Or by twisting ones own chair around
once or twice. The worst omen,
though, that can befall a gambler is to
have a long succession of black cards
(spades or, clubs) dealt him. For that
presages his own near death or the
death OF a member of his family. Vet
eran gamblers disregard any of
these warnings which fate, through,
the medium of the cards, is supposed
to be tvouchsafing them.
=, AS with actors and gamblers. so it is
with nearly every other profession or
calling and life-each has its own set of
superstitions. And it is safe to say
that those men or ONE who are alb
solutely free of every form of SUPER
stitution are probably so rare that
they are never heard OF. Those minds
who have shaken off all religious faith
are quite frequently more prone to
superstition than the rest of mankind.
It is stated of Colonel ''Bob' Ingcrsoll,
the great intidel, that he believes in
omens and warnings OF all kinds. And
history teaches us that other gifted
men did likewise.
I'll is we'll known that the great Ma.
poleon was O firm believer in various
forms of superstition, particularly in
clermonaco. A curious book on divina-
ton was found in Bonaparte's cabinet
of %curiosities at Leipsic during the con-
fusion that ensued there after his fight
from that city and the rout of the
French army. It was looked upon by
him as d sacred WORK, and he was &C.
customed to consult it prior to his
most hazardous undertakings.
This Napoleonic incident, however,
forms but n link in the endless chain
Of stories that might be stretched out
illustrating how even the most pow
erful minds in modern time could not
divert themselves of every trace of
superstition. Frederick the Great, an
other great warrior and as pronounced
a ~fatalist, as Napoleon l., might be
cited. as we'll as Sir Walter Scott, in
whose tomb at Melrose Abbey a set OF
books on magic-in which he believed
was laid to rest along with the body
of the great writer. Superstition, in
fact, appears to be the common inher-
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