The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-09-14
ON EMS ON WARSHIPS.
supERSr,TloNS WHICH GOVERN OLD
SALTS OF THE NAVY
Hoodoos and sp~,is wbich MAY work Al,
Sorts of Evils on Hoard and which
Must Bo Carefully G~a,.'cu 'gninst
The Tattocirg Habit.

The most picturesque surerstitions IT
the seas are those which govern Il mrG
ern man-o'-war Every old 80 ~ the
navy believes in hoodcus and spells
which may work all sorts of evils on
his ship and must he carefully guarded
against
The powers of q ships hocdoos com
mence before the ship has entered the
water 1t is generally accepted super.
stition that If the first blow which is
struck the keel brings sparks the ship Is
destined to suffer from raking fire
from the enemy
The old time practice of stealing
piece of wood and imbedding it in the
Prov for good luck is, of course, impos.
sible in the case of steel ships. though
1t is considered lucky to have a ,'iece of
stolen wood on board.
Another old superstition is satisfied
by placing silver coin in some ,orevice
of the fighting top Of the mainmast or
some place below decks where it touches
the steel mast Originally it was n very
common custom to inbed q silver coin,
and preferably Spanish coin, in the
wooden steps near the mast
Figureheads have been in high favor
with sailors from remote antiquity
Originally they were carved to repre-.
sent some god or saint Even today a
sailor would hesitate to sail on an iron.
clad without such protection
The ceremony of launching ship is
merely a concession to an old supersti.
ton The various formnlities Of ship
christening have been followed with
little variation for centuries.
In the early days of shipbuildinR il
was the custom for the captain and the
crew to eat their first meal slowed away
in the mold loft Their meal invariably
consisted of eggs and sulphur From
this custom has come the present day
practice Of providing cakes and wine
for the crew And the old libation
which the priests used to pour over the
PROV Of the ship as she slipped into the
wafer has been replaced by the break
ing of bottle of champagne.
The modern man of war dashes into
the water with flags waving from every
masthead In order to crafty this old
superstition it has been necessary to ex-
pend hundreds Of dollars for the chris.
tening of a single ship. But no one be.
grudges this extravaganza. In n way it
is necessary
The good or i'll luck Of certain days
is still belief among the sailors Fri.
day is a day Of i'll omen. and Sunday is
usually lucky day.
A superstition about women is relic
of the old belief in witchcraft. 1t is
thought that woman by throwing sand
in the air on shipboard can produce
violent storms Not many years ago
some women who travelled on English
warships were tortured during storm
to make them quiet the waves.
These barbaric beliefs, however, are
partially compensated by the supersti.
tion which sailors have held for centu-
ries that beautiful children bring a
blessing to a ship The Neck was
handsome boy with golden curls. It is
said that he is always accompanied by
black lamb and carries with him a
golden harp. Our old salts have especial
confidence in ship which is christened
by child
The average sailor is superstitious
about the ringing Of the ships bells.
in olden times the bells were blessed
before they were used. At present, If o
mistake is made in striking the hour,
the sailors insist that tho bells at once
be struck backwards to break the spell,
and If by any chance the wind should
catch the bells and swing them all the
way around, or if they strike nine bells.
it is believed that it will be the last of
that ship.
All good warships 60 to the "shores
of Fiddler's Green" as final resting
place Just where this mythical harbor
is situated no geographer has yet decid-
ed. 1t is in every way the antithesis Of
"Davy Jones locker" A warship
which goes down in battls with her
flags flying, as occurred several times
during the civil war. goes to "Fiddler's
Green -
The tattooing habit is, of course, very
common in the navy. 1t is believed that
an arm or leg decorated with the de-
sign Of O gun or sword or some such
design will never be lost in battle
San Francisco Call.