The herald., 1897-10-31
SOME NEW VACCINATIONS
DUCKING FOR APPLES OF COURSE
A FEATURE
The Old Practice of Walking Down
the Cellar Stairs Backward With
Loosened Hair

t1er prentice nan She tried on man,
And then she made the lasses, o."
This is the verse the young woman
who would see her future husband must
repeat the night of October 31st That
is the date Of All Halloween, which en-
braces the period of darkness in which
the mystery Of future events is sup
posed to be wholly swept away from
mortal eyes and the mortal tenement of
man is alleged to be released from the
thralldom of Mother Earth and given
the power of locomotion, till the hour for
the first streak of dawn arrives.
In the old days it was openly be-
lieved that the pixies, the leering
gnomes and the Titanias of every king
dom of fairyland came out from retire
ment and devoted their best energies to
reversing the ordinary way in which the
world goes. To be sure, it was the eve
of the festival of All Saints, which comes
on November 1, and popular superstition
has it that one of the things that brought
this passion for mad pranls to the "lit-
tie people" was that they all had to be
pinks of propriety on All Saints day.
To mortals, All Halloween possesses as
tonishing significance, providing they
accept in good faith the tales that have
come down to us from our ancestors.
This year of grace, 1897, young folk
with the kind permission of good Dame
Fashion, are going to celebrate the fes-
tival in manner that takes us back
hundreds of years and inspires the
thought that possibly there is Re
naissance in store for us.
That charming belief concerning
womanhood quoted at the beginning of
this article is the verse par excellence
this year. But there are circumstances
which accompany it, and to bring about
the desired results, these circumstances
must always be the same. While re-
peating the verse, the young woman
must walk backwards down the cellar
stairs of the house, if she has one, and of
the fiat building in which she lives, if it
so happens. Her hair must be loosened
and hang at length down her back. She
must wear no shoes, because squeaky
shoes and mysteries never should so
together.
Arriving at the foot of the stairs the
young woman with a future instead of a
past must turn carefully about twice.
take ten steps, look carefully over her
right shoulder, and then, holding the
candle which she must of course carry
In her hand, look directly into a glass,
which, during some hour of the previous
day, should have been hung on the
cellar wall at q designated point. If
fate has a marriage in store for hcr,
when she looks into this glass she will
see, instead of the reflection of her own
face, that of the man who is to be all
in all to her. This experience should
take place as close to the hour of mid
night as possible, for mysteries are par
tial to that hour, and on such an occa-
sion it is always well to consult their
wishes.
There are other tests of the powers
Of Interpretation of the future which
are supposed to descend on us all on
such occasions. One of them is shown in
the accompanying illustration by the
young person who is in the act of what
Is called "ducking for apples" This is
accomplished by filling a pan not less
than three and half inches deep with
water, placing therein two apples, and
then forcing the person who seeks to
solve the mystery to close his eyes, open
his mouth, and then endeavor to pick the
his teeth.
Not so easy as it sounds, by any means.
If the reader doubts this fact, let him put
his face downward with open mouth into
any water and see what happens. The
art of this accomplishment lies in being
able to pick the apple up three times in
succession within five minutes. This
done, the person who does it will dream
of their future wife or husband when
once they go to bed. Sometimes, and al
ways long ago, tub was used to contain
the water instead of pan, but modern
custom has substituted the latter for the
former.
Another opportunity which the young
woman may seize to learn how long it
will be before she is to be married is
found in the burning of a hair. Take a
hair from the back of the head. Light a
match and let the hair take fire. If 1t
burns an inch and then the fire dies out,
marriage will come within year. After
that year should be counted for every
half-inch which the flame destroys. This
is said to be absolutely positive, and if
the experiment ever proved unsuccessful
there is no record of it.
The young man also has his opportuni-
ties. He is not so ready to yield to super
stitious fancies as his Ducinea. The
chance that will be given him this year
lies in dark room which he must enter
alone and, standing directly. before a
looking glass placed therein, repeat this
verse:
ITO see her is to love her.
And love but her forever;
For nature made her what she is,
And never made another"
When the door is opened leading from
the room after this verse has been re-
peated, If the young mans hopes have
been realized, he will see outlined upon
the looking glass series of numbers,
each number indicating the position in
the alphabet of the letter of his future
wires name. If he can remember these
numbers, he can figure the whole story
out of the alphabet
Then there is the lead dropping, which
involves more reading of history. For
this 1t is necessary that at least six
people should be together. An ordinary
lump OF lead Is taken and melted. Then
each person present dips spoonful from
the molten mass and drops it into n
pasin or water, where 1t, of course in
stantiy cools. When all have done this.
ana each piece of lead is in the possess
sion OF the person who dropped it, the