The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-11
MAscoT5 AND TALlsMEN.
Lucky Objects Which People Garry to
Insure Good Fortune.

A0S0J ODJSOt5 w ulCA E6OpI9 garry TO
Insure Good Fortune.
From the NeU York Recorder.
Almost every one has a belief in Iu OK,
Some call it fortune. Some go so far as to
describe 1t as providence. A lucky hit, a
fortunate chance, a providentiaI escape
these are everyday phrases by all sorts and
conditions of men. There is a story told of
a clergyman of the Church of England who.
when he was going to preach, always CON
veyed a little old-fashioned bookmarker to
the pulpit and laid it upon the desk 1t had
been made by his grandmother years be-
fore, and had the words ''turn over''
worked IN the green now faded silk upon
1t. The clergyman had possessed it from
boyhood, and it represented to him a COM
mand to proceed, to strive to succeed. It
was his mascot, his luck.
Numbers of people keep in their pocket
books little piece of dried-up stuff wrapped
IN piece or tissue paper. ASK what it is
you will be told 1t is the tip of a beef tongue
1t is carried for luck. In the records of the
lost property offices that tongue tip is often
mentioned. 1t has frequently served as a
means of Identification, for the superstition
is that the purse which contains the ''tip of
tongue that never told lie' can never be
lost. And talking of purses suggests the
ancient custom of handsel. To make any
one present of a pocket-bock without
having first placed in it a coin of some
value is to give poverty instead of wealth,
and the fortune, or LUCK, will be in proper
ton TO the value of the handseI
In England and Scotland no beggar will
start upon his tramping excursion in the
spring without half a horseshoe concealed
somewhere about his person. This is known
throughout the canting fraternity as "bek-
gar's luck" The once famous King of the
Beggars, Bemfyldo Moore Carew, was
never without this bit of old iron. as is told
by himself in his autobiography. The old
iron theory of luck is mainly practiced by
people whose business or inclination leads
them TO wander. There is a French actress
now travelling in this country who is never
without an old nail in her pocket. Among
French and Russian actresses especially the
"clou' is indispensable to good fortune.
The old idea that to carry a caul, that is,
the membranous sac in which a child is
sometimes born, is to be proof against dan
ger by water has led to frauds innumerable
A perfect caul is great rarity, yet were
they to be believed half the dealers in mar
lners' necessities in any port in the world
will express themselves as able and willing
to procure one at two days notice. SOL
diers' luck is generally dependent upon the
possession of an old button cut from the
SSN~N ~ - OS~@A oSANAcAs 1h0 IL ~ ncTo lTOtn
an enemy so much the Iuckier. This fancy
exists in all European armies, and it is quite
possible that among the soldiers OF our own
small army some similar superstition ex-
lists. A decidedly quaint superstition in
this city is cooks luck. 1t is a por-
ton of a bowl Of an old silver spoon. 1t had
been worn SO thin with age that the handle
had first been broken off and then the bowl
had split in two. A certain chef in New
York carries the remaining half of the
bowl "for luck" And he would not part
with it for anything. That a tailor should
be trif1e superstitious is not very surpris-
ing, perhaps, but the object of their fetish
worship is peculiar. A piece of white
clarified bees wax is the favorite. Possibly
it is supposed to represent the toughness of
the thread used, but at any rate in many a
ships pocket will be found the bit of wax
carefully preserved, never used except to
touch with the tips of the fingers before be-
ginning any fresh work in order to insure a
lucky conclusion.
''Shepherds' luck" consists of the thyroid
bone of a lamb. The tiny, partially ossi-
fed cartilage is carefully distracted from
the first born of flock when it is killed. 1t
must be the first born or it is Of no use.
Every lamb born thereafter is rubbed
gently with this to keep the witches away.
and'if sheep or lamb falls sick the touch
of this talisman is of more value than any
medicine.