Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-05-17
WHEN WOMAN Is SUPERSTITION s
A Few OF the Ways in Which That
Weak ness Shows Itself.
From the Philadelp hia INQUIRER

From the Phiadelphia Inquirer
we were chatting away in the cosiest sort OF
fashion when to my intense surprise my COM
panion, charming young woman OF twenty,
gave little start as if suddenly brought face
70 lace with an unknown evil, and rising hastily
from her seat deliberately made two complete
revolutions, twenty pairs of eyes looking on in
amazement at this erratic behavior.
Good gracious" gasped. as she resumed
her seat, what is the matter?''
why just look across the way" she W his
pered IN most mysterious manner. land you
VIII sec cross-eyed woman. Now don't you
know, continued the superstitious little soul,
that to meet cross-eyed man or woman is
sure 10 bring you the worst of i'll luck unless
you break the spell by turning around twice."
rev people, find. are superior to attacks Of
superstition In one form or another, no matter
no" sensible they may be upon all other points.
these strange fancies come from nobodv knows
where, and are too often INDUCED in to the
discomfort Of everybody concerned.
. luncheon, which promised to be a most de-
nShtiui analr, proved to be a miserable failure
SIMPLY because the evident distress of the
hostess at the breakage of a mirror threw out of
tune the harmony of the entire party. Really,
the poor woman was an object OF sincere COM
passion, as she declared with heartrenderinC
earnestness that she was in for seven years OF
bad luck
You cannot get some women 10 undertake.
anything new on Friday. and il has grown
10 be Tor them finishing up day of all the odds
ana ends o. the week, whether in a social or do
mestic sense. / have a friend who would feel
l am sure. were she to have the temerity to
board a train upon this unlucky day that she
was going to her doom.
Not long ago offered to help sister in dis
tress who had been suddenly and Unexpectedly
called from home, but the offer was made on
unlUcky of VA nj =
face was study to behold as she exclaimed:
Cut out new gown on Friday? Why. my
dear friend, should expect II TO be surely
ruined. Have never known il to fail" she
added IN emphatic tones. and in jIffy the goods
was whipped out of sight. Sage receipts hang
about love and matrimony that must. il seems.
receive the serious attention of both sexes if
they would not blast their hopes of happiness
for good and all. Have you a delinquent sweet
heart, one whose passion is on the wane? Then
stick shining pins in tallow candle. SAYS the
KINDLY witch" put il carefully away and YOU
will not have to wait long for your truant lover.
But, my dear girls, take my advice and do not
tempt late by putting milk In your tea before
sugar. To do anything SO rash is TO lose your
sweetheart for ever
Who among my fair readers has been guilty
of the crime of flirting and is haunted with
the miserable fear that at an inopportune
moment revengeful spirit NAV appear upon
the scene and upset all her incest calculations?
Here comes a compassionate friend who pities
her distress and suggests that she drop a silver
dime IN her left shoe and lei 1t stay there until
the nuptial knot is tied.
The girl that catches the bouquet that falls
from the hand of the bride rs she ascends the
STAIRS to don her travelling gown is the next
whom fate places on the matrimonial list.
In Baltimore at a recent wedding where
had the pleasure of being a guest the brides
bouquet was composed of as many tiny bou-
quets as there were maids of honor. Each
cunniugly concealed a souvenir. and the
maiden whose floral tribute held a ring was
Immediately congratulated and declared to be
blessed beyond compare.
A gold piece found in the heart of a rose
signified that its gentle mistress was TO be rich
beyond her fondest dreams As she was
already heiress to snug fortune / could not
see that she was very much affected by the
news. but she was evidently in the eyes of the
damsel who secured the silver thimble that
consiSns the owner to life of single blessed
ness an object to excite the kcenest envy.
Up IN the dainty dressing room of the bride
the elaborate ceremony of besJowing upon the
first maid in waiting the mystic garter that had
sustained the silkeE hose of the bride during
the important occasion is carried on amid rip
pling laughter aud chatter of grlish voices
that sounded like flock of magpies. The
bride r2akes the important transfer whispering.
as she clasps the golden-hued circet above tine
knee of her nearest and dearest friend, all sorts
of prophetic promises.
1t lis from this custom that we find the yellow
garter grazing the toilet of half the women in
the country. In Chicago lot oi merry
maldens have formed club and call it the
'J.J' The young men are puZzling their
brains In vain efforts to unravei the mysterious
problem. Now If you are clever enough 10
look in your French dictionary you will find
that the shy creatures have adopted jaune for
yellow and larretiere for garter-hence the
mystery.
pearls are stones that even the bravest hearted
maiden shrlnks from accepting an emblem
OF a pIIShted troth, and an old English super
stition insists that broken engagement is sure
to punish the lover who bestows upon his
nancee the unlucky gift of a prayer book.
Many bhthesome courtship has been rudely
nipped i'll the bud. says an authority, by indif-
ference to these garnered bits of lore
Take peep within the charmed precincts of
modern tea drinking and you will find the
staldest matrons as well frivolous maids
peering anxously down into the fragile china
cup. industriously studying their fate in the
tiny grains of tea that have collected upon the
dainty surface.
meet with so many women who refuse to
look at the cards until they are all dealt We
have adopted the Scotchman's belief in the
magical effect of the agate, and many Ameri-
cans carry one of these stones constantly about
their person. while We are indebted to the JAP
anese for our settled faith in the chrysanthe-
mum as a flower OF good fortune.
But of all the ancient bits of lore that have
been handed down to us by our grandmothers
the one which not SO long ago put the whole
country on the qui vive for white horse has
died natural death. Small wonder. for even
the most ardent devotee to this superstition
has been brought TO admit that the supply is
not equal to the demand. the red-headed within
of the hour having so completely inundated
the country as to entirely oyershadow the fas-
cinating theory of the white horse.