Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-03-18

Lucky Objects which People Carry 20 In
sure Good Fortune.


7 uci.y Objects which People Carry TO In
sure Good Fortune.
Almost everyone has belief in luck.
Some call il fortune. Some so SO far /
as TO describe IL as providence. .
lucky hit, a fortunate chance. provi- 4
Dental escape-these are every day
phrases by all sorts and conditions OF /
men There is a story told by a clergy /
man OF the church of England, who,
when he was going TO preach, always
conveyed "A little old-fashioned book (
marker to the pulpit and laid it upon
the desk II had been made 10y his
grandmother years before, and had the
words turn over" worked in green
NOW faded silk upon it. The clergy
man had possessed it from boyhood,
and it represented TO him command
To proceed, TO strive, to succeed. 1t
was his mascot, his luck. Numbers OF
people keep in their pocl0etbooks lit
tie piece of dried-up-stuf wrapped
in piece Of tissue paper. Ask
what it is you will be told il
is the tip of 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 q lie" can never be lost. And
talking of purses suggests the ancient
custom of handsel. TO make anyone
present Of pocl1etbook without hav-
ing first placed in it a coin OF some
value is to give poverty instead OF
wealth, and the fortune, or luck, will
be in proportion to the value of the
hansel. In England and Scotland no
beggar will start on his tramping eX-
cursion in the spring without half Il
horseshoe concealed somewhere about
his person. This is known throughout
the canting fraternity as "beggars
luck" The once famous King of the
Beggars, Banfvlde More Carew, was
never without his bit of old iron, as is
told by himself in his autobiography.
The old-iron theory of luck is mainly
practiced by eople whose business or
inclination leads them 20 wander
There is a French actress now travel
ing IN this country who is never with
out an old nail in her pocket. Among
French and Russian actresses. especially
| the ''clou" is indispensable to good for
/ tune. Soldiers luck is generally de
/ pendent upon the possession of an old
button cut from the coat Of dead sol
| der, and if it be from an enemy so
/ much the lucllier. This fancy exists in
all European armies, and it is quite
! possible that among the soldiers of our
/ own small army some similar supersti-
ton exists A decidedly quaint super
stition in this city is cooks luck. It is
a portion Of bowl of an Old silver
spoon. 1t had been worn so thin with
age that the handle had first beer
broken off and then the bowl had split
in two A certain chef in New Iorl
carries the remaining half Of thC
bowl 'for luck" And he woul,
not part with it for anything
That tailor should be
trihe superstitious is not very sur
prising, perhaps, but the object of thei
fetish worship is peculiar piece o
white clarified beeswaX is the favOrite
Possibly it is supposed TO represen
the toughness Of the thread used, bu
at any rate in many a ships poke
will be found the bit OF wax CAREFUL.
preserved, never used except TO toucl
with the tips of the fingers before be
ginning any fresh work in order to in
sure lucky conclusion. Shepherd
lucll consists of the thyroid bone of
lamb. The tiny, partially ossificd caI
tilage is carefully abstracted from Tia
first born of a flock when it is killed
1t must be the first born or it is of II
use. Every lamb born thereafter
rubbed gently with this.to keep witche
away, and if a sheep or lamb falls sic
: the touch of this talisman is of nor
value than any medicine. -Housebol
Monthly.