The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-08-30
OMENS ON WARSHIPS.
6uPERSTITIONS WHICH GOVERN OLD
SALTS OF THE NAVY.

Hoodoos aud Spells Which May Work All
Sorts of Evils on Board and Which
Must Be Carefully Guarded Against.
The TattOoing Habit.
The most picturesque superstitions of
the seas are those which govern mod.
-ern man-o' war. Every old salt in the
navy believes in hoodoos and spells
which may work all sorts of evils on
his ship and must be carefully guarded
against.
The powers of a ships hoodoos 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 a raking fire
from the enemy.
The old time practice of stealing a
piece of wood and Embedding it in the
PROV for good luck is, of course, impos-
sible in the case of steel ships, though
it is considered lucky to have piece of
stolen wood on board.
Another old superstition is satisfied
by placing silver coin in some crevice
of the fighting top of the mainmast or
some place below decks where it touches
the steel mast. Originally t was a very
common custom to ilnbed 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 a ship is
merely concession to an old supersti-
ton. The various formalities of ship
christening have been followed with
little variation for centuries
In the early days of shipbuilding it
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
water has been replaced by the break
ing of bottle of champagne
The modern man ofwar 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 single ship But no one be-
grudges this extravaganza. In a way it
is necessary
The good or i'll luck of certain days
is still belief among the sailors. Fri
day is day of i'll omen, and Sunday is
usually lucky day.
A superstition about women is relic
Of the old belief in witchcraft. It 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 a storm
to make them quiet the waves
These barbaric beliefs, however, are
partially compensated by the supersti-
ton which sailors have held for centu-
ries that beautiful children bring a
blessing to a ship The Neck was a
handsome boy with golden curls 1t is
said that he is always accompanied by
black lamb and carries with him
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 a
mistake is made in striking the hour,
the sailors insist that the 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 go to the 'shores
of Fiddler's Green" as final resting
place. Just where this mythical harbor
is situated no geographer has yet decid-
ed. It is in every way the antithesis of
"Davy Jones locker. A warship
which goes down in battle with her
flags flying, as occurred several times
during the civil war, goes to 'Fiddler's
Green. y
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 a gun or sword or some such
design will never. be lost in battle
San Francisco Call