The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-06
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success. When q gambler meets a man
who has given him a couple tof good
things" that did not go through, DO will
| single him out as a Jonah and will never
| Afterward make a bet that the tipster adj
vises. 1t Is the same way in other matters.
He will play horses on their names. He
will play colors. He will play at certain
figures on betting. He will play particular
owners. The gambler will tell you this is
"system.h He says there 10 nothing like
playing a system. He never considers his
fanaticism in this respect TO be superstition
pure and simple, and all the wealth of
the Indies couldn't make him think
he was doing anything whatever to dodge
the hoodoo. He fools himself into the be-
lief that when he gives blind man aims he
will have luck because he is charitable. He
has no more idea of the charitable part of
that performance than a dog has of Sun
day. He simply gives his money to the
blind beggars because he knows gamblers
believe it Is lucky. The blind men who in
fest the trains running to Morris Park and
other courses know this perfectly we'll.
They will tell you that all the "charityn
they receive they generally get before the
races. No one stakes them afterward. Not
even the winners.
Actors are proverbially superstitous.
They will not do anything to secure an
engagement on Fridays or ON the 18th Of
the mouth. These men and women who
make our lives happier and brighter are
racked with the most surprising dread of
incidents that may in their peculiar in
depreciation point out hard luck in the
future. Portly Harry Miner surprised
everybody on Broadway a few weeks ago
by tearing down the street after a
dilapidated looking cat He ran the poor
thing to standstill, and as be turned glee
fully to the crowd of wondering prom
enaders, cried: There, some - fool
turned this cat out Of my new theater. I'd
never give a nickel for its prosperity II
did not recover that cat and bring him
back" Sure enough the cat is a
Fifth Avenue theater now, and
things seem to be running to Mr..
Miners entire satisfaction. Actors have a
treasured list OF mascots and hoodoos in
their minds. Sometimes there are hoodoo
towns. There are hoodoo theaters, and
there are hoodoo dates on which they will
not play for love or money. Kate Claxton,
1.-THE fire queen" as she is called, ia respect
fully looked up to by every actor and actress
in the profession. They all credit her with
being the living embodiment of the power
of a mascot; but Kate herself never could
explain the phenomenal immunity she and
her companions have enjoyed In the vari-
Gus fires that have ragged around them, be-
ginning with the dreadful Brooklyn theater
cuppObo us Su6
leuRhingly says. THAT'S all the mascot I
know about"
Sailor men are not 30 superstitious to-day
as they were q score or two years back
This is in great measure due to the revoln-
ton in the methods Of blowing the briny
deep that has followed in the wake of the
steamships that are now used for the traffic
once monopoliged by the great wooden
barks briggs and other sea craft It is a
difficult matter for even Jack tar OF to -
day to connect a modern iron steamship
with such q thing as sentiment, but some Of
the old timers still cling TO their beliefs in
the superstitions of the good old days. Jack
is getting In line with the land lubbers,
however, and is willing to take things as
they come. No well-regulated skipper
would think OF putting to sea on a Friday
a couple Of decades back. There are hum
dreds Of sailors to-day who do not ask
whether they will set sail on Friday or Mon
day, and they do not seem to care either.
The old fellows still reel Off a list of vessels
that went to the bottom that sailed on
Friday, but they never give the lists that
went TO the bottom which put to sea on
Saturday or Monday or Tuesday.
There are cherished beliefs still rife in the
minds OF sailor men. They reverence those
little birds of she pillows, the stormy petrels
which they have dubbed Mother Careys
chickens" Woe indeed to the sailor who
would dare kill one OF these little creatures.
If shark is In sight and follows the ship
any distance it tells Of death, and should
a nervous fellow be aboard il is more than
likely his death would result on account of
the shock the belief in the shark omen would
create. No sailor will ever ship on a vessel
when he gees rat or any other live animal
leave it. He makes up his mind that the
rat knows all about it, and is satisfied the
ship is doomed. No sailor will ever go more
NhA a fhan NH haA g,Ao h.
captain has got red hair. No good sailor
will ever allow any part of the forecastle
mess TO be returned to the cooks galley,
because he knows il this should happen ali
hands would go hungry before the voyage
would be completed. These are some OF the
pet beliefs of all sailors. and no captain ever
tries to interferes with them.