Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-12-17
cAlLpREN,s supERsTlTIoNs.
Many OF Them Are Very Grim, but None
of Them Arc Disregarded.

kIlHi, RTtWSOilc anu hDburu. i rcunclli-
Der many of my own: do not mean
such superstitions as are passed down
from their elders to the children in
family, such as il is bad luck to dream
of wedding or to turn chair the
wrong way, or TO break looking-glass
or to start any enterprise on Friday, or
ythat it is good luck to pick up pins, to
see the new moon over the right slioul-
der or to have a cat como TO the house.
No; there are superstitions which
belong distinctly to the period
of childhood, and which exercise
a shaping influence over the actions of
those who firmly believe in them, With
a view to ascertaining what supersti-
tions are current among the children of
the present day, gave over one hum
dred children, of varying ages and at
different times, an exercise in oral COM
position, in which each scholar in the
class was called upon to give testimony
as to what cobweb had been spun across
his brain. The tradition concerning
the spider, with its accompanying his
torical fact concerning the Bruce's in
spiration of courage and perseverance
from the spider in the hut of hiding,
holds first place in their minds AS
for the other superstitions they were
jumble of signs and wonders, of omens,
of talismens, of mascots and hoodoos
One boy gravely assured me, and his
experience was vociferously corrobo-
rated by score or more of other boys,
that "to spit on the bait brought good
luck in fishing" and that ''if you spit
on the chip in hop scotch you'll hardly
ever miss" t'tt- .it
That the darky should be considered
mascot will occasion no surprise to
those who know aught about the lore
of superstition. But the lschoolboys Of
this city certainly have peculiar way
Of tcstifying their participation in the
belief. IF you get niggerto spit in
your hat" said one boy, in tone of in
tense conviction, 'it will bring you good
| luck" And whether or not it receives
credence, the fact is that before going
up to their rooms on examination days,
or befor engaging in games of contest,
the white boys present their hats to
the darlsies in the school-yard, and re-
spectfully request their dusSy brethren
to use them as cuspidors, for the sake
Of bringing their wearers good luck.
Boys who sell newspapers believe
that the first nickel received in pay
ment for paper must be held in the
hollow of a clinched fist and blown up
to bring quick sales and pleasing profits.
TO insure success in playing marbles,
they must be blown up, both to keep
them from slipping out of the hand or
into the pockets of the other fellow
To bring good luck take an adobe mar
ble-one of clay is meant-and attempt
to throw it over a house. If it is like
vaulting ambition and overleaps itself
to fall on the other side, success is as
sured. While playing marbles, to pro-
tect ones own stock and to get posses
sion of more than he carried into the
game as stakes, the youthful gamb bier
must fortify himself with such mutter-
ings as 'Chesa terra, or Clip" "Geno"
or 'Jono," the last malediction evident
kly being corruption of the word Jonah
"a modern allusion to an ancient affair,
to the hoodoo of mariner, whale and
| Nineveh! sss- r-,r ,..-.
Childhood being prolonged period
of teething, many beliefs regarding
those important factors are current.
For instance, a tooth pulled out and
cast away, and then swallowed by a
dog, is sure to be replaced in the mouth
of its former owner by dog tooth!
To throw a newly-extracted tooth over
the shoulder at once, find it; repeat the
operation a second time, then third,
and not find the tooth after the third
throw, means good luck will follow
with all the teeth. Too much elation
of spirits is followed by correspond.
ing fit of the blues-so to sing before
breakfast is. to cry before dinner. Tc
see load of hay, ''go wish on it," and
to watch it until it gets out of sight
or turns q corner. insures the full
tiilment Of the wish. When an "eye
winker falls out it should be placed
on the palm of the hand, or or
the back; and blown at three times by
a second person, while its owner make!
a wish. If it is puffed off at the thirt
blow, sure sign that the wish will com,
true. Of course the wish-bone supersti
tion holds its sway.
! Another superstition which seemed II
be highly popular among the children
questioned was to this effect: Let
child take piece Of paper and bow t.
every child he meets, whether acquaint
ed or not is immaterial, and check of
each bow until he has counted one hun
dred on this slip Of paper. Then lie
him bury. the paper, making wish a
y he does so, and if on returning to tn
spot week later he can excavate tn
paper his wish will come true. Sever
bows to the new moon will also insur,
the coming true Of a wish.
Among all children it is considered
very bad luck to turn garment whicl
has been put on wrong side of it, or t
go back after something which ha
been forgotten. Both of these super
stitfons may be regarded as protectiv
measures adopted by children to re
strict the exactions of too caption
parents and guardians. Any accoun
of the superstitions of childhood woul
be far from complete were no mentio
N to be made of the belief that to step o.
the cracks of the sidewalk means fail
ure in lessons. So, if you see childre
tiptoeing to school, you will know tha
. they are looking out for their MONTH,
reports.
Warts, those most aggravating es
} crescences on the hands of youth, ar
regarded with deep superstition. T
( get rid of them their unfortunate po.
Il SCISSOR must steal piece of meat, or a
onion, rub either upon the warts. wish
ing at the same time to have the wart
., disappear. Then the meat or til
|, onion must be buried, and the wart
: will disappear Lastly, to count wart
insures multiplication. Beware Is
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