The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-09

mitted to sit. if only for moment, as he
otherwise takes away the children's sleep
with him. Owls hooting in the neighbor-
hood of house are ominous of death. A
man whose teeth are far apart should seek
his fortune in some distant land. The
growing of a hen indicates approaching
disaster. Wien a mouse gnaws a gown
misfortune may be expected.
MYSTERIES FROM MARBLEHEAp.
Any old farmer in the interior of New
England, as well as any old sailor at Nan
tucket, Martha's Vineyard or New London,
could fill book with superstitions, most of
which thew believe. The superstitious ira
ditions of Marblehead, for instance, COM
bine stories of phantom ships seen at sea
before the loss Of a vessel, of the appearance
on the water of loved ones who had died at
home, footsteps and voices heard mystic
riously in the still hours of night conf & as
a warning from another world, whisperings
Of the wind which foreten the approaching
| death of some member of the family, and the
universal belief in buried treasures These
are some of the stories told at Marblehead.
The pecIliaritles of that quaint old town
among the maidels If the population in-
clude throwing a bali of yarn out Of a
wlndow at the time Of the new moon, in
the belief that the lucky youth who picked
| it up would be the husband OF the thro err
and dropping hobnails into boiling fat,
with the understanding that any young
man who made his appearance while the
| nails were dropping would be the future
| husband of the fair damsel who dropped
them.
| Some of the Scotch superstitions are
among the Oldest and most widespread in
the world. When baby's HAIR is cut the
flo is carefully swept. and the sweepings
burned, lest any hairs might remain aud be
| picked up by the enemy. DR.. Livingstone
mentioned the exist ence of a simi.a ar prac-
tice among some Afri an tribes. Tue same
custom obtains in regard to parilg the nails
Of child under one year old, every scrap
Of the cuttings being burned. 1t is consid-
cred very grave offence for any one other
than the mother or very near relation to
cut the baby's nails
| SUGGESTIONS OF THE BoNAPARTEs.
| 1t was stated at the time of the killing of
the French Prince Imperial by the Zulus
| that he had on his person an amulet and
that the Zulus did not take it from his
body. WHAT eventually became of it is not
known. 1t is said to have been a charm,
which had been given to Josephine Be u
harnais by a voodoo woman, and carefully
kept as a magical heirloom by the Bona
parte family. The First Napoleon was es-
sentially supersti ious, and many stories
| are told of the little red man, of demoni-
acal origin. who is said to have been heard
| frequently in conversation with him in the
still watches of the night when the emperor
was planning a campaign or a battle.
A took exists in this city entitled "The
Oracle, or Book of Fate. Formerly in the
possession Of Emperor Napoleon, and now
first rendered into English from German
translation Of an ancient Egyptian manu-
script found in the year 1861 by Ill. Sonnini
in one Of the royal tombs in Mount Libycus,
in Upper Egypt, 10y II. Kirchenhoffer.
Printed, London, 1885, This book is in
scribed by the translator under date of
| London, 1922
ex-Enpress of France, Archduchess of
| Parma, etc."
at the head of each of the thirty-two
pages of the volume is a symbol, including
the signs of the zodiac and other arbitrary
figures. Beneath are oracular sentences,
supposed to answer most any question, the
answer being obtained by curious mathe-
NAUTICAL arrangement of asterisks which
will agree with marks to be made by the
| questIoner and whic are added up and
represented as odd or even by similar aster-
isks, according to instructions duly given.
A book, precisely similar in plan, re-
| printed and published in Baltimore after
the London edition of 1880, has for its mis-
tory an alleged discovery of an ancient
black letter manuscript in an old ruin near
Bristol, England.
The astrological publications of "Zadkiep
in the form Of an almanac still appear an
nually with their curious predictions, and
are evidently purchased in sufficient guam
tity to made their publication a profitable
business
Meanwhile, there is no European or
American town of any size or prominence
which has not its regular professional as
trologers, clairvoyants and fortune teliers,
who make comfortable living by the prac-
tice of their arts. In this highly practical
and erninently money making metropolis of
New York there are hundreds of intelligent
and educated men in all the business and
professional walks of life who make fire.
queut practice of consulting persons who
follow the professions above named. This
is rather startling statement, but it can be
easily verified by application to the proper
sources of information. Nothing, then, is
perhaps more astonishing in the history of
human life, than that at this latter end of
the nineteeth century the civilized world
should be rife with 50 many and so varied
supersti, ions, most of which date back to
the earliest ages OF the worlds history.