The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-01

Homer meant red" when he said yell
low" II he meant red" OF course there
was a white horse in Troy. The Lady
Godiva OF ye guide olden England rode a
white horse. but Mr.. Alfred TennysOn. in
describing her hair. which reached 10 the
ground. forgot 10 mention whether il was
auburn or red.
And so. while there are traces Of the red
headed girl and white horse superstition
cropping up here and there in his
Tory, there Is. nevertheless. no
when and where it originated.
NO known work on charms. Onens and
Representation contains the needed inror-
nation Even unto this day it is not
clearly settled in the minds Of scholars
exactly what this beautiful superstition
Goes prognosucate. except that in gen
era way II IS supposed to bring good luck
The only thing really certain about this
myth Is that il has become well estab
Ilshed in the United States. where ordi-
nary charms. Omens and representations
are at a discount Long before the civil
war the superstition was current in the
south, especially in Georgia. II was
common thing for a red-headed girl TO
81 al her window and count the white
norses as they passed. Popular games
were founded on the idea that wherever
ana whenever a rcd-headed girl was seen
1neIe also would be seen a white horse
Inroughout the entire country. from
maine 10 California. this superstition or
frequently the occasion OF much ridicule
and or no little embarrassment to the red
headed girl
The idea beyond the saying is rational
enough. White horses are relatively
scarce. SO also are red headed girls.
therefore, the two might naturally be
supposed 70 be in conjunction. No say
ing Is so ridiculous as not to obtain some
believers. but no superstition can last long
without some actual signs behind 1t.
The saying Of the red headed girl and
the white horse has stood the test OF time
remarkably we'll. Indeed 1t IS surprising
now many persons-skeptical at first
nave come to firmly believe this saying.
atter they have observed for themselves
the curious condolences which Il involves.
" mas broken out violently in places, like
the epizootic. There was an outbreak Of
this kind in New York five years ago.
some OF the newspapers devoted columns
10 the superstition. and the tank drama
gave way for awhile to the red headed
girl and the white horse drama, with
real red headed girl and a real white
horse as the two stars of the show.
Some CT the believers in the supers.i-
ton have aggravated themselves into
fanaticism. They have degenerated into
cranks. There are some theoSOphists,
for example, who hold that a red headed
woman, after death. changes into a white
horse and vice versa, and infinitum. There
is one feature Of the subject which cannot
rail- TO be extremely fiattering TO the wo-
man with the auburn hair. BY common
consent the white horse is one of the most
beautiful animals of its kind. The milk
white palfrey is a steed which excites the
poet TO his EXTREMIST fight of rhetoric and
adora ton. Hence-but the red headed
woman IS we'll able TO reason that out for
herself.
A famous Snowman. now dead during
one of his pilgrimages through the coun-
try, aroused the interest and enthusiasm
of his circus-going constituents to an I'M
usual point by mounting a red-headed girl
on white horse and sending her forth
at the head of his procession of the Won
ders of the universe. She was his Lalla
Rookh, and under her benign influence his
show made more money that season than
ever before in its history.
The origin of the red-headed girl is
mystery, and so, likewise, is the origin of
the white horse. The origin of the super
sition of their conjunctive appearance is
mystery. Whether they are each of them
to be accounted for by Mr.. Darwin's the
DRY of natural selection and the survival
of the tittast remains to be determined.
isinoted for its gentleness, for its mild dis
position. Whether the red-headed girl and
the white horse appeared contemporary
eouSly on the earth, is a problem not yet
solved by geological science. There are no
fossil remains of either-that is, there is
none which has been identified as such.
Cleopatra had red hair, and modern ex-
plorations have indicated pretty clearly
that red-headed men were brewing beer in
Egypt 5000 years ago, but there were no
horses in Egypt either then or i'm the time
of Cleopatra. Therefore II is not likely that
this singular superstition had an Egyp-
red-headed girl and Whte-horse supersti-
ton is a good thing for dreams and divin-
atoms. The fed-headed girls is all right.
AS for the white horse, 1t has long been a
puzzle to astrologerS, and when not too
lean, il is q, fine guide for a doctors gig