The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-06-04

Slt opposite the llNSeSl lOCdlty Caleu the "jimmers," of the table when play ing at cards, Old Aubrey, the old anti quary, more than two hundred years ago noted that when one had bad luck at cards it was common for him to say that somebody was sitting with his legs crossed, and had so brought him ill-for- tune. This was revival of a supersti- tion which dates back to the days of Roman organism, and may possibly account for some of the contempt so freely and proverblally poured out upon tailors, who sit cross-legged at their work.
 Habitual card players often have re- sort to strange methods of propitiating the goddess Fortune or Luck whom they worship. Du Boisgobey, in one of his sensational stories, remarks: All heavy players believe in some kind of fetich Some put faith in a ring others in the pendants of a watch chain; some will only stake with their hats on or when chewing a toothpick. Others again insist on wearing spectacles, al- though they possess excellent sight, while some, before Venturing to enter their club, will walk for hours in the streets hoping to meet hunchback person and gently touch the hump Fetich worship is by no means confined to Africa. Burglars have more than once been found carrying coal in their pock- ets,which was supposed in some myste- rious way to help them in their nefari- ous trade, and many people who have nothing in common with lawbreakers save superstition make practice Of carrying this or that intrinsically worthless thing to bring them luck.
 Among English card players of the last century what was called carp bone"-that is, the curious fleshy palate of the fish-was supposed to be of sin gular efficacy in bringing luck at cards An aristocratic devotee of the green baize table, Lady Mary Coke, wrote to friend something more than a hun dred years ago: "The carp bones are intolerable; in the evening lost eight and twenty guineas at Lady Hert- ford's: have thrown one'-carp bone in the fire; but whether 'tis yours or Mrs. Jackson's I can't tell" Was not this just like the African fetich wor- shipper? The untutored savage, when things go wrong with him, beats his fetich; the English lady, when her fet- ich failed to bring her luck, threw it into the fire.
 Again, the African beats and mal- treats his fetich, but continues to wor- ship it or another; Lady Mary Coke clung to her belief in the virtues of the
 "carp bone" Six years later than the
 date of the previous extract she wrote to a friend concerning another card party: q lost fifteen guineas, though the carp bone lay upon the table; but l fear the ess"-Amelia-"ha has taken
 away the virtue for she unfolded the
 paper, took it out, and called it an old tooth, which diverted the company
 more than it did me, for from that time lost At cards 1 am superstitious, and as it it only at play 'tis pardona-
 ble." Lady Mary was candid, although her reasoning is open to question. Two
 centuries earlier Reginald Scot, the fa-
 nous authority on witchcraft, had written that "a bone taken out of a | carp's head stancheth bloud." There is no obvious connection between this piece of superstition and Lady Mary Coke's absurd fetich, but, in folklore, luck, like other mysterious virtues, is apt to be transferable, and an object 1 which. is considered "good for" some particular purpose gradually acquires a character for virtue of general appli- | cation.
 Even the cards themselves are some times liable to be treated the way Lady Mary treated the treacherous carp l bone Edward Fitzgerald, the transla' | tor of Omar khayyam" was well ac- quainted with the custom of the Suffoid coast folk, and in some notes on their l words and phrases which he wrote many years ago, he remarks that all | though cards were often carried on board their boats by the fishermen to pass away the time at "All-fours, Don, | or Sirwiser '--games unknown to the | London card rooms~-yet they were re-
 garded with some suspicion when busi- ness did not go right. "A friend of mine" he says, vowed that if his luck continued, over the cards should go;
 and over they went" Once more the fetich paved the penalty.
 | Card sayings or proverbs are few.
 Everyone is familiar with "One, two three, four, if the cards are so played | in succession, kiss the dealer" Tocut an honor for the trump card is unlucky | for, says country proverb, When quality opens the door there is poverty behind" Cornish folk say that "good luck turks under black deuce"-it should be touched by the cutter. An | other proverb familiar in Lyonesse I says, Good luck in cards, bad luck ir | a husband--or wife, But this is nlon- strous, and may be relegated to the limbo of those very numerous proverbs
 which may not unfairly be defined as condensed foolishness.