The morning times., 1895-09-15

\ breast the Valkyrie has success ahead,
and when she folds her wings into black
ness there Is trouble or defeat or break
down. So superstitious have the crew OF
the Valkyrie become that when the gull
folds her wings and looks black every ef-
| fort is made to hide her from the sea sail
ors, who would be Immediately disheart-
| eDed.
| GERRY's CAPTAIN.
Commodore Gerry once had captain so
| superstitious that he set the whole crew by
| the ears looking for signs Of wonders. This
| very mystical man owned a small reticule
made of snakes skin. The snake was killed
in India by Hindoo fakir, who killed 1t
by magic. The reticule was secured around
the top by sever horsehairs out of the tail
of an Arabian steed. Inside were nine
hairs out of the tail of n Bengal lion, a
| hens tooth, a hare's foot caught In a
graveyard at midnight, and the eye of
poison snake. y
This combination worked good for its
owner and death to his enemies. When the
boat set sail from the dock this retcule
was hung over the head of the captains
bed. and it was neither touched, nor re-
moved, nor Jared until the voyage wasover.
Once it fell from its nail, and at that In
slant floating log dashed underneath the
yacht and disabled its machinery until
the bag was hung up again.
A LOVELY" ORCHESTRA.
Willie K. Vanderbilt has a singular SUI
perstition for the Valiant. He Will not al
low the boat to stir from the wharf without
its own private orchestra on board. The
old yacht, the Alva, was saved" for years
In the same way by its sweettoned music,
and the time it " ent down the orchestra had
been left ashore.
The crew of the Valiant sixty men, are
superstitious to madness about this orcbes-
ira, and frankly say that it propitiates
the Loreley with its strains. The Loreley,
they explain. plays sweetly upon the most
dangerous rocks, and SO enhancing is, its
melody that the sailors viii venture too
near for safety if they once hear the music.
The orchestra aboard the yacht browns the
strains of the Loreley and keeps the boat
from shipwreck off the rocks.
A few days ago Mr.. Vanderbilt loaned
his orchestra to cottager at Bar Harbor
for the evening, and not man of the crew
slept that night.
AsTOR,s All! CATCH-OoSl
Up the Thames there is white-sailed
yacht, the Paula, 1t is the property of
Waldorf Astor, and has lain at Cliveden's
wharf for two years past each night The
sailors aboard share Waldorf AstOr's su-
perstitious nature, the nature of which
took him from his native country for odd
trifles hardly worth considering. One OF
these is the sneezing fear Sneezing once
is lucky, but twice is bad of portent. This
paragraph is printed and hangs in the
messroOm: ?
ayr a sailor travell on thys ship ami
snese twyse, let him departe at onyce, or
else we shayl not prosper"
And below it reads: "One snese in the
night season betokyneth luck, but two
sneses signifieth damyge to thys ship"
There is an odd story Of superstition,
told of a yachting chum of Royal Phelps
Carroll, who spits upon his bait when he
wishes to land big catches quickly.
YachtsmeD are bundles Of signs and
wonders, and no one in all the world VIII
start out upon q voyage on Friday. Were
not Joan of Arc and julius Caesar killed on
that day." the best educated of men ask,
quite ignoring the fact that Shakespeare,
Napoleon and Washington started upon the
Voyage of Life on Friday.