Evening journal., 1898-04-27
THAT NUMBER THIRTEEN

InHI NUmDEn l1lRlEBN
SUPERSTITION REGARDING IT isl
STRONG IN EAST AND WEST.
IT is OMITTED FROM HOUSES IN
FRANCE-ITALIANS NEVER USE
IT IN LOTTERIES TURKEY
THE NUMBER THIRTEEN Is AL
MOST EXPUNGED FROM THE
VOCABULARY OF THE PEOPLE.
Threatened superstitions, like other
! things which are menaeed with extinc-
ton, are apt to live long, says the
London Daily Telegraph. Indeed, it
has been often noticed that after
/ periods of rationalism there come In
the history of the world stages, pro-
duced, no doubt, in accordance with the
law of reaction, when superstition OBJ
| servances recover something more
than their old influence over the hu-
man mind-when they have power to
| transform domestic life into a dreary
| catalogue of terrible eventualities. to
! >
| doubt at the present day we are in the
condition which St. Paul noticed with
] regard to the Athenians-tOO much in
clined to credulity. In the contest be-
| tween Mr.. Stoddart's eleven and the
Victorian team at Melbourne, the Eng
| lishmen's want Of success in the first
inning has been explained on very easy
| grounds. IL was noticed that three of
the team-Prince Rangitsinhjl, Mr..
Druce and Mr.. Northumberland 12
| runs, while two others-Mr Maclaren
and the captain, Mr.. Stoddart-made
twice IS. How could an eleven, how
| ever enterprising and courageous
stand up against a fatality like this?
| Much the same thing was observed
about the parliamentary exploits of the
present administration in last years
session.
BRITISH LEGISLATION.
1t was discovered thatin the queens
speech the ministry had committed
themselves 20 the fatal number Of thir-
| teen bills. The unlucky number ap-
pears to have dogged their footsteps
J throughout all the early months Of
1896. On the 18th OF February Mr..
Chamberlain communicated to the
! House his abortive invitation to Presi-
! dent Kruger to visit England: on the
18th Of April the Irish land bill was
introduced: on the 18th Of May the i'll
J starred education bill was read a sec
ond time; in June it was decided that
/ the discussion on the same measure.
which had been suspended, should ba
| resumed on the 18th of January, 1897;
and, finally, when the government sur
| rendered its own amendments to the
| Irish land bill. the decision was made
known on the 18th OF July. No wonder
that the cabinet had a somewhat check
cred career after omens like these.
On the other hand, the issue in both
the parliamentary instance and that OF
the Australian cricket match was far
better than could have been reasonably
anticipated Lord Salisbury's admin
istratiOn still remains one of the most
powerful OF modern times despite its
last years fondness for the unlucky
number; while Mr. Stoddart's team
not only made ample amends for their
failures in the first innings before the
Melbourne match was over but look
as If they would repeat their success
against the strong team opposed Ia
them by New South Wales
OTHER EUROPEAN EXAMPLES.
For good or for III, the superstition
to which we have alluded has chung To
the thoughts and Imagination of men
from a period Of remote antiquity. II
would be difficult to exhaust all the diff
ferent forms which this obstinate delu-
sion has assumed among various ma
| tions, both OF the East and the West
Everyone knows that it is highly mex
pedient. II not dangerous, to sit down
thirteen at table. and there are q large
number of intelligent men and women
in the metropolis who under no cir
cumstances would consent to be in
cluded in the precise number Of guests
There are streets in Paris. as we'll as
elsewhere in France. where houses are
numbered u bis and 112 bis, while in
many American hotels no room has
Is painted on the door. The Partisan
who makes his living by dining in
other peoples houses goes Familiarity
by the name Of the Quatorziemo, be-
cause It is the chief function to add a
welcome fourteenth to the unlucky
number. The Italians never use it 10
making up their lotteries. and in one
of their games the thirteenth card
bears the figure of death Similarly. in
? Turkey, the number Is is very nearly
cAbdhsOu from tHe FocdDuiafy OF Lhe
people. Nor is there any lack CT
explanation Of this almost universal
idea. At least two are furnished for
our choice.
In the old Morse mythology, when
the gods In ValhaIla We're holding high
revel LOki came In as an uninvited
guest. The consequence was that as
( soon as Baldur arrived he made the
number Of guests thirteen. and fate de-
creed that he should die.
= Christians refer to another and
more solemn incident. There were thir-
teen who partook of the Last Supper
; and Judas who left the table first. went
: NO HEART TOO Pad 10 RIz