Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-12-10
cHILDREN's suPERsTlTIoNs.
Many of Them Are Very Grim, but Nono
 of Them Are Disregarded.

Sucn SuperSt1tlOuS as are passed down from their elders to the children in family, such as it is bad luck to dream of a wedding or to turn chair the wrong way, or to break looking-glass or to start any enterprise on Friday, or that it is good luck to pick up pins, to see the new moon over the right shou1- der or to have a cat come to the house. No; there are superstitions which | belong distinctly to the period | of childhood, and which exercise shaping influence over the actions of those who firmly believe in them. With | view to ascertaining what supersti- tions are current among the children of the present day, gave over one hun 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 accompanylng 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 a tumble of signs and wonders, of omens,
  One boy gravely assured me, and his experience was vociferously corrobo- rated by score or more of other boys, that ito spit on the bait brought good luck in fishing" and that eff you spit 'n the chip in hop scotch you'll hardly ever miss.'
 That the darky should be considered a mascot will occasion no surprise to
  of superstition. But the schoolboys of this city certainly have peculiar way of testifying their participation in the belief. ''1f you get nigger to spit in your hat" said one boy, in a 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 darkies in the school-yard, and re- spectfully request their dusly 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 1 to bring quick sales and pleasing profits l 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 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 gam bier must fortify himself with such mutter- ings as 'Chesa terra" or "Gip," "Geno" or "Jono," the last malediction evident ly being 8 corruption of the word Jonah "a modern allusion to an ancient affair, to the hoodoo of mariner, whale and Nineveh!
 Childhood being a prolonged period of teething, many beliefs regarding those important factors are current. For instance, tooth pulled out and cast away, and then swallowed by a dog, is sure to be replaced in the mouth
 of it's former owner by a 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 a corner, insures the full
 fllment 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 it's owner makes
 a wish. If it is puffed off at the thirG blow, sure sign that the wish will come , true. Of course the wish bone supersti tion holds it's sway.
 Another superstition which seemed tc be highly popular among the children
 questioned was to this effect: Let
 child take a piece of paper and bow tt every child he meets, W neither acquaint
 ed or not is immaterial, and check of : each bow until he has counted one hun ' dred on this slip of paper. Then le ! him bury the paper, making a wish a he does so, and if on returning to tn spot week later he can excavate tn 5 paper hls wish will come true. Sever bows to the new moon will also insur
 the coming true of wish.
 s Among all children it is consider e, 8 very bad luck to turn garment whic1 has been put on wrong side of it, or t go back after something which ha
 been forgotten. Both of these super
 stitions may be regarded as protectiv O measures adopted by children to re k strict the exactions of too caption @ parents and guardians. Any accoun IS of the 7.2rstitions of childhood woul t be fal complete were no mentio Il to be of the belief that to step O e the era .>~ >f the sidewalk means fai
 ure in lessons. So. if you see childre d tiotoeing to school, you will know tha ,r they are looking out for their monthl, 7. reports.
 'e Warts, those most aggravating ez a- crescences on the hands of youth, ar