Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-02
0MBNS OF BAD LUCK.
Events Which Are Believed to Pre-
sage Death or Misfortune.
STRANGE ACTIONS OF CLOCKS.
Including q Story of a Timepiece That Was
False Prophet.
Odd IDEAS AND 'sUPGRsTIT1ONs
rwnrrrrN ron THE DrsrArcH.1

speculate regarding what they fear, by in
dulging the imagination they gradually
come to look upon every extraordinary oc-
currence as an omen of approaching disso-
luton. Hence it is that there are countless
superstitions, not by any means confined to
the ignorant or associated with the last stage
of life. Beliefs are widely current that
those intelligent animals, the horse and dog,
are intuitively aware when those to whom
they are attached are nearing their end.
Even the wild birds are thought to be gifted
with similar knowledge, and stranger yet,
inanimate objects, such as household furni-
ture, are thought capable of presaging
death.
That familiar superstition that the howl
ing of dog forebodes q death in the family
had its origin thousands of years ago. The
ancients believed that the animal could see
the spirits, which hovered about the house
of the sick, ready to bear the soul of the de,
parted away. The sound is often mournful
enough to suggest such thoughts. 1t was
also a common belief that dogs could see
ghosts. A gentleman who had been much
annoyed by dog belonging to his neighbor
and friend found the animal bowling in
front of his stable door one evening, thing
that was of frequent occurrence, and went
over TO his friends house to see it he could
ascertain the cause. He learned that his
neighbor had been away from home for sew
eral DAYS, and concluded that the animal
was merely lonely and trying to find his
master. The dogs owner spent great deal
OF time at the house of the neighbor who was
making the inquiries, and for several weeks,
while his own buildings were being re-
paired, had been accustomed to put up his
horse in his friends stable.
NEEDLESS ALARM.
1t is probably true, though it would be
hard to convinc6 the superstitious, that the
actions of dogs, which are at times SEEM
ingly inexplicable, could be accounted for
quite as readily snd easily as in this case.
If q strange dog comes and hoWls before
your door it is not sign that you are about
to die, but rather certain indication that
the animal is looking for friend or food,
or perhaps both.
Many people look upon the family clock
with superstitious awe. In the country dis
tricts almost every family has its stories of
the queer actions of timepieces preceding
death in the house. The belief is very
strong with many that clocks convey GER
tain warnings of the coming Of the grim
messenger. The counterpart of the clock
that stopped, never to go again, when the
old man died, can be found in many a
farmers house.
A very intelligent lady of the writer's ac-
quaintance was alone one evening at
her country home when an ancient time
piece, a family heirloom, that had been
silent for years, suddenly started ticking,
and presently struck 13 times No one had
been near the clock, and there had been no
jar to set its machinery in motion. Natural
ly the lady was perplexed and somewhat
alarmed. There was diphtheria in the
neighborhood, but her children had so far
escaped the disease. Her Oldest was boy
of 13, and she could not help thinking that
the clock had given her warning that he
must die. Her husband returned presently
while the clock was still running. II
NOT A TRUE PROPHET.
He laughed at his wife's fears when she |
told her story, though it was evident he was
quite uneasy. But the warning, , in this |
instance, was entirely gratuitous. The boy
was not taken ill-he is now strong man |
and there has not been death in the family |
from that day to this.
There are omens, for those who seek them,
in other articles of furniture beside clocks.
Everyone has heard that breaking looking
glass is a sure sign of bad luck, and some |
say of death. once saw a child kissing its
own image in the mirror. The mother, who
was present, sharply rebuked the little one
and sent her out of the room. Then she sat
down and cried. I couldn't understand it
at all, and asked what was wrong-I thought
the child's action very pretty one, even if
it did seem like vanity.
ITO kiss glass is sure sign you won't
live year." replied the woman.
But here also the 'sign" failed. The
child who kissed the mirror is now a hanu-
some woman, who laughs when reminded of
her carly vanity.
Chairs, tables and beds are also associated
with many curious superstitions. To sit
crosslegged in a chair is sign of good luck
gamblers sometimes try this position to
bring them luck at cards. Many old card
players prefer seat at the end rather than
the side Of the table, the superstition being
that good luck goes the way the grain of the
wood runs, and that those who play across
the table are at disadvantage.
odENs OF ILL LUCK.
It is bad sign for person, on leaving a
house where he has been visiting, to replace
his chair close against the wall; the proba-
bility is he will never sit In that chair
again. There are people who say that
bedstead must be set parallel to the cracks
in the foor-if crosswise, the person occupy
ing it will not sleep WELL The belief that
The head of bed should be set to the North
is something more than superstition-at
east. it is held by many medical men.
Getting out of bed with the wrong
loot foremost" has passed into an adage. It
originated in belief that it was unlucky
10 place the left foot on the floor before the
light on arising, and that things would
surely 60 wrong during the day with the
person who did so.
To return to the house for some forgotten
lrticle after starting on journey is an
,men of misfortune. I have seen a woman
top her husband, thus returning, before he
crossed the threshold, and beg to be permit
ed to bring the missing article, that he
night not enter the house for it. It is also
lnlucky to enter a house by one door and
lepart by another. BARNEY.