Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1898-12-14
SUPERSTlTlONS ABOUT IRON
were Prevalent In Ancient Time. and
Stiii Have Local Existence.

hh y hNient mes uuu
still Have Local Existence.
In Egypt iron was nominally accurs.
ed, even when people used 1t all day
long and every day. 1t was the i'm.
pure metar'-"the bones of Typhon "
father of evil. No man could touch II
without sin; he must do penance and
make atonement That wns the theory
as long as the Egyptian race endured;
III practice iron had been handled free.
ly for several thousand years. The only
piece of metal found in the great pyra.
mid was an Iron bar. The same con.
hict of ancient faith with growing con.
venience was urged everywhere, no
doubt; but the record does not exist. II
was lost before the classic time. and 80
Greek and Roman sages puzzled over
odd little customs handed down from
days of Old. Cicero asked In vain why
tool of iron must not be brought In
to the sacred grove of theAryals-or if
brought by accident. must be expated
by the sacrifice of pig or a lamb; and
Plutareh wondered why the Archon OF
Plataea might not touch iron except at
the yearly festival commemorating the
triumph of Greece. There Is no end to
such instances. The sacred old Pops
Subllcius had to be repaired without
using iron; SO had the ancient temple
Of Jupiter Liber-ln imperial times,
when the meaning of such rules was
lost, special law abrogated them.
One may survey mankind from China
to Peru and find the same superstition
everywhere Iron tools were forbidden
In the building of the temple at Jeru-
salem, The late Rajah Vizanagram, a
member of the council, man of great
learning and enlightenment, would not
allow iron TO be used in any building
throughout his territory. He believed
that an epidemic would follow. Ne.
groes Of the Gold coast must remove
any particles of iron on their persons
when consulting the fetish Upon the
other hand, a sikh must always have
a piece of steel or iron about him. Bur
ton tells how the pious Moslem
stretches out finger exclalming, Iron.
OH thou ill-omencd one!" when dust
storm approaches the carayan--beliey-
ing II TO be directed by Djinn.
In Scotland many traces survive. TO
use iron in kindling the "needhre" was
awful impiety. When fisherman
swears during bad weather at sea his
comrades still grasp the nearest bit OF
metal, crying ''Cauld iron" 1t Is not
so long since people thrust n nall or
~ noI, AL y
food in the house. or dipped it in the
liquor, when person died. This Is
enough-persons interested in the sub
Ject Will find reams of evidence In
books devoted to folklore. We may
credit that the superstition arose every
where at the time when fierce invaders.
armed with iron oyerran the country.
massacring the helpless people and
destroying the antique religion. 1t was
the accursed metal. Afterward, by a
natural process, the evil thing often
came to he regarded as protection
against other evil things-witches and
demons and charms and death itself.
English babies We're defended from
fairy kidnapers by putting key, knife,
pair of tongs, above all, scissors, In the
cradle. In many of these pretty tales
dealing with swan maiden" the girl
cannot recover her plumage because
it is locked In chest with an iron key
sometimes she gets mortal to open
the chest, and flies away upon the ln-
slant. In other stories she is released
by touch of iron; in one favorite yer
sion by the husband throwing his
bride at or to her-the iron bit is fatal
London Standard.