The herald., 1897-03-09

estinr superstitions prevailing in this
world" remarked ]. G. Wadk1ns at the
Nadeau. Some border on the ludicrous'
and yet somehow, always hnd unem
more to wonder at and to pity tnan 30
laugh. Sweden and Norway, the lanus
of the ancient Morse gods, have, tnink'
more TINA others, number OF THESE
superstitions They probably come down
from very ancient times-the rellcs OF
their ancient mythology, when Cnrls
tianity has not been able to root out OF
the masses. 1t Is not strange tnat iia
ton which could produce SwedenporS
should have some such superstitions 80
ing the rounds. One of the most curious
of these that prevail in Norway is one
that associates the rooster win 'ne
dead: a fiction, like that OF the ghosts
returning to their graves at tne nrss
Growing of a cock in the early mornins'
still holds sway. Many Norwegians pc
lieve that a rooster will locate a drowned
body by growing when within a short
distance of it, When the lower classes
Of Norwegians are in search or
drowned body they secure rooster, ana
going on the water in a boat. Will row 10
and fro, fully expecting that the pro
Twill crow whenever the boat reaches
the pot where the corpse lies. Wit
messed a test of this while in Norway
seven years ago. but the cock did not
crow, nor was the body found.
"
at read an article in the Herald few
days ago while on train In New Mex
ico," said Charles c. Wapies, a recent ar
rival from DesI Moines, Iowa, ABOUT
man who has a device to prevent MN
from forgetting what he ought TO remem-
her. Now. what l would like would be
device to help me forget things Ii
man could absolutely forget all about
his business when he locks his ONCE
door at night his hair would not grow
gray nearly so soon. The secret OF con-
ttnued activity of suchmen as Chauncey
Depew and Mr.. Gladstone, who always
seem able to talk about everything ana
ANYTHING at minutes s. notice. ana VINO
have forgotten whatrit is to be tired, is
their ability to forget everything except
the one subjec in hand. The little
school child rhyme about one thing at
time, and that done WELL applies to
mental as well as physical labor. NO
reasonable man ever attempted TO 90
J two physical acts al one time, but near
| ly everybody tries to think of several
things at once. If some philosopher
would arise and ten us how to school the
! brain the same as we regulate the
muscles of our hands and legs he would
! prove a benefactor to his race, ana De
] the means of causing large nuinper Oh
vacarfcies in insane asylums ana MONIES
| bpt who, half the time, are Simply
worked to death by trying to do several
| things at once"
| "The joke market never was livelier,"
remarked H. G. Tlnsley the we'll known
newspaper man of Pomona, who was al
the Hollenbeck yesterday. mot only
| the illustrated comic weeklies, but all
| the leading weekly periodicals of the
!, eastern states now buy jokes, and many
| of the dailies are in the market, too.
| The New York Herald and Journal
cheerfully pay from 81 to 50 each for
little quibs which they publish on their
editorial pages Some jokes sell as low
as $500; some very brief but excellent
/ ones selkas high So. Many men make
business of building jokes and selling
! them; also suggesting for comic pictures.
| They reel off their jokes, etc, put
number in the corner with their address
and send them to the funny papers.
The late Philip Welch got from So to
IS for his jokes. remember that 1t is
| said the morning he was dying from
| cancer on his tongue a friend sat by his
bed and wrote down fifteen jokes which
| Welch dictated. That's S45.' said the
| dying man. and I guess 1 will have to
quit. The comic papers usually pay
s5, 81 and SO for the small pictures they
use. An illustration of a champa gne
the line of Sure Pop will bring its con-
coctor S.. I amJtold that one of the best
paid humorists In the country today is
c. B. Lewis, M. Quad who some years
ago was doing local work on the Cleve-
land (Ohio) Plaindealer, but who today,
understand. Is in New York city. re-
ceiving a salary of $500 per week from
New York syndicate"
Gao fbo Mipp op0I;e ,e
up over the arrest of several prominent
city officials on the charge of bribery"
observed a former we'll known Mime
sotan in the corridor of the Van Nuys
last evening well, there is just one
way that boodling or bribery can be alb
solutely done away with. That is by
making it Improbable to give bribes
I have heard various ways suggested
for this, but the Swiss plan really fills
the bill to a dot. This involves the sub
mission of every new law or ordinance
to the people before it goes into effect
If such a law were in force in American
cities when franchises were granted for
: secret pecuniary consideration the peo-
pie would have an opportunity of voting
aye or nay before the franchise became
valid. No one, of course, would care to
bribe members of an assembly to grant
franchise which would be subject to
popular vote, and where this plan has
been adopted it has not only killed brb-
cry and corruption of all kinds, but 1t
has also largely put stop to corrupt
practices in elections, and of aggressive
partisanship among municipal poiti
clans. The present plan of electing state
and municipal governing bodies sets
premium on bribery, because there is
practically no appeal from the decision.
and goods can be delivered quite easily
when contracted for. There is>a, general
| he fha nl1b1iO f1a