The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-16

they held this finger to the fire, but still il
would not burn, at which they appeared
much surprised, and one said There must
surely be some one i'm the house who is
not yet asleep. They then hung the hand
with its four burning fingers by the chin
ney and went out to cal their associates.
But the maid followed them instantly, and
made the door fast, then ran uDstairs
where the landlord slept, that she might
awake him, but was unable notwith-
standing all her shaking and calling In
the meantime the thieves had returned
and were endeaVOring to enter the house
by window, but the maid cast them
down from the ladder. They then took a
dluerent course and would have forced
an entrance had 1t not occurred to the
maid that the burning fingers might Drob-
able he the cause of her masters pro-
found sleep. Impressed with this idea she
ran 10 the kitchen and blew them ont
When the master and his men servants in
stanly awoke and soon drove away the
robbers"
Ftske says that the same event is said
10 nave occurred at Stainmore, in Eng
land Torquemada relates of Mexican
hieVes that they carry with them the
lelt hand Of a woman who has died in
her first child-bed, before which taiisman
all bolts yield and all opposition is be-
numbed. In 1891 some Irish thieves
attempted 70 commit "A robbery on the
estate Of Mr.. Naper, OF LOughcrew,
county Meath. They entered the house
armed with dead mans hand with a
lighted candle in it, believing in the SUI
peiSuuous notion that a candle placed in
a dead mans hand will not be seen bv
anyone but those by whom it is used. and
also that If a candle in a dead mans
hand be introduced in a house ii will
prevent those who may be asleep from
awakening. The inmates, however, were
alarmed and the robbers fed. leaving the
hand behind them" In the middle ages
tlske says the 'Hand of Glory'' was
used just like the divining rod for me
flfHRf1On cd fvasn
instrument consists of forked niece az
the wood of the ash or the witch hazel
and when its holder passes over conceal
ed metals or a hidden spring ii is slIppos.
ca 10 bend downwards towards the earth
The belief is still prevalent in MANY
parts Of the state of PENNSYLVANIA ana
the narrator in the nearby county of
Mont gOmery has seen diviuations nv +ba
rod practiced and has known men to he
employed by intelligent farmers to locate
springs or mineral wealth by the use Of
a twig of witch hazel. We should moi
therefore, express much wonder at an 10.
norant negro still holding belief in the
supernatural powers of the Hand OF
Glory" VI
Fiske looks upon the superstition con-
corning the Hand of Glory" as NOT being
hard to interpret. In the mythology OF
the flunS. he says the storm cloud is
black man with a brighter copper hand
and IN Hindustan, Indra Savitar. the deity
who Stays the demon of the cloud. is POL
en- handed. The selection of the hand of
a man who has been hanged is probably
due to the superstition which regarded the
storm god Odn as peculiarly the lord ~
the galoWs. This man who is raised upon
the gallowS is placed directly in the track
Of the Wild huntSman, who comes with his
hounds to carry off the victim. and hence
the nation which, according to Mr. Kelly
is very common in Germany and not eX-
tinct in England that every suicide bv
hanging is followed by storm. "
To understand all this you must bear
traces every myth and even every fairy
tale back 10 our Aryan ancestors. when