The herald., 1896-06-28
SOME CURIOUS sUPHRSTITI0NS

A woman was buying oranges from
O stand when the good-natured foreign
er said:
Il gif you a bakers Dozen"
Not for the world" answered the
purchaser, and she actually thrust her
hand into the paper bag and took out
the thirteenth orange.
The foreigner, who thought he had
discovered q great trick of trade to in
duce further custom, looked on aston
ished at the Americana" who refused
a free Offering, and he is no doubt Won
dering yet why she did it.
But those who knew were familiar
with her especial reason. Thirteen had
always been a fateful number in her
family. She avoided it as she would the
plague.
1t seems strange that any fatality
could follow custom which was estab-
lished by conscientious men to fulfill to
the utmost the requirements of an old
law which attached a heavy penalty to
the offense of selling bread under
weight. This was the origin of the
bakers dozen" many years ago in
England. 1t has not been customary in
any other than a bread transaction, ex-
cept in a case in this country, where it
was used to add insult to injury. At a
whipping post in Delaware, the sheriff
ordered another lash added to the twelve
prescribed by law. 1t was remitted by
that the prisoner could not get credit
for the extra lash, the thirteenth, unless
he had done something to deserve an
other dozen.
Even level-headed business men be-
lieve in the potency for evil of the num-
ber thirteen. Chauncey Depew says he
would not enjoy a dinner where the
guests numbered thirteen. At the year.
ly disposition Of the brokers' numbers
on the clearinghouse sheets of the
hTNxxr V~x.1r <xk, IL
have been known to refuse No. 13 before
one was reached who would accept.
A list of the different superstitions
that dominate men and women of all
conditions today would be both inter-
esting and astonishing. 1t often happens
that some well-dreSsed, intelligent per-
son will spill the salt at a public table,
and at once throw pinch over the left
shoulder to propitiate the fates, and
avoid quarrel. If a guest at the table
of the Dey of AIgiers spilled salt, the
breach between him and his host could
never be closed. But If you accept
pinch of salt offered you by an Arab he
will always be your friend. 1t is not
considered thoughtful or polite to ask
any one to pass the salt at table and
to take the salt cellar from the hand
presages i'll luck. Spiders are said to be
susceptible to coming misfortune. and
swarm into house where death is ex-
brushed out Of the way, as that is to in
vite further trouble. 1t is unlucky to
kill black spider.
He who would live and thrive
Must let spider run alive.
Four-leafed clovers are among the
good luck omens. But they have no
luck in them If they are sought for. To
be lucky they must be accidentally dis
covered. If young girl finds a four
leafed clover and wears it in her shoe
she will marry the first man she shakes
hands with
But the charm of charms is the plac-.
ing ourselves SO readily in the hands
Of complaisant fate, and in believing
in it. Who would not little rather
see the new moon over the right shoulder
than over the left? Who wants to hear
a strange dog sit on the doorstep and
howl at midnight?
There's luck in odd numbers" said
Rory O'More.
An old lady said: IT always follow
that rule instinctively. If L were count
ing out some peppermints for child I'd
be sure to give her an odd number of
them. If were called away while count
ing I'd try to leave off at an odd num-
ber."
Look at. the veins ON the inside of your
left wrist. If they form letter it is
the initial of the man who is going to
marry you. If there is q letter M in
the palm Of your left hand that means
matrimony
If cobwebs gather readily in a house
1T means that there is no kissing done
there.
Theatrical people are very supersti-
tious. If the first ticket presented at
the door on the occasion Of new play
is a deadhead the manager fumes and
frets. A person with a squint has been
known to stop a performance A baby
almost a ic
considered so unlucky, and to take
money from a crippled person will in
sure no end of bad luck.
How many children are there who
wear amber beads for a sore throat or
to prevent one? There is no virtue in
amber but any jeweler will tell you that
he has constant demands for the beads
as charm or amulet. This is akin to
the potato superstition for the cure of
rheumatism.
If you want good luck never have
anything to do with peacock feathers.
There was a time when over the glass
in the living room a gorgeous bunch OF
the peacock's sweeping tail hung as
species of decoration. In the course Of
time the "eyes,' as the spots are called,
fall out, and the superstitious say that
they eat each other, a sort of Kilkenny
cat performance, which relates to the
marvellous.
dence. She who cannot cut a pie
through in a single sweep of knife is
destined to die an old maid.
Girls must be careful not to drink
cup and a half of tea as a rule at a
meal unless anxious to live and die in
single blessedness.
If your left palm itches
Money comes your way;
If the right palm itches
Strangers come today.
Uhep your nOca itchas saws be r1I1a