Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-11-07
IRON suPERsTITIoNs.
The Metal Was Retarded by Esyp
tians NJ Accursed and Impure.

The Metal was Me8uFoe0 ny ESSp-
tians NJ Accursed and Impure.
In Egypt iron was nominally accurs-
ed, even when people used 1t all day
long and every day. 1t was 1.-THE i'm
pure metal'-"the bones Of Typhon,
father Of evil. No man could touch 1t
without sin. He must do penance and
make atonament. That was the theory
as long as the Egyptian race endured.
In practice iron had been handled freely
for several thousand years. The only
piece of metal found In the great pyra'
mid was an iron bar. The same conflict
Of ancient faith with growing con.
venience was urged everywhere no
doubt, but the record does not exist. 1t
was lost before the classic time, and so
Greek and Roman sages puzzled over
odd little customs handed down from
days Of old.
Cicero asked in vain why tool of
ircn must not be brought into the sa-
cred grove Of the arvals, or, if brought
by accident, must be expiated by the
sacrifice of q pig or lamb, and Plu-
tarch wondered why the archon OF
Platea might not touch iron except at
the yearly festival commemorative the
triumph of Greece. There is no end to
such instances The sacred old Pons
Sublicius had to be repaired without
using iron; 60 had the ancient temple
Of Jupiter Libee. In imperial times,
when the meaning Of such rules was
lost, a 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 Jerusa-
lem. The late Rajah Vizanagram, a
member of the council, man Of great
learning and enlightenment, would not
allow iron to be used in any bdilding
throughout his territory. He believed
that an epidemic would follow. Negroes
of the Gold Coast must remove any ar
ticles Of iron on their persons when con.
sulting the fetch. Upon the other hand
a Sikh must always have piece of
steel or iron about him. Burton tells
how "the pious Moslem stretches out
a finger exclaiming: Iron! Oh, thou i'll
omened one r." when a duststorm ap-
proaches the Misunderstanding it to
be directed by a jinnee.
In Scotland many traces survive. To
use iron in kindling the "ueedfire"
was awful impiety. When a 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 nail or
knitting needle through each article Of
food in the house or dipped it in the
liquor when a 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 everywhere
at the time when fierce invaders, armed
with iron, overran the country, mas.
saoring tho ie4pless people and destroy
ing the antique religion. It was the 40
cursed metal.
Afterward BY natural process the
evil thing often came to be regarded as
protection against other evil things
witches and demons and charms and
death itself. English babies were de-
Tended from fairy kidnapers by put
ting key, knife. pair Of tongs and above
all, scissors, in the cradle In many of
those 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 instant. In other stories she is
released by touch Of iron, in one IA
7orite versi',n by the husband throwing
his bride at or to her-the iron bit is
fata!.-London Standard.