Omaha daily bee., 1899-04-02

Power"
Soon from all the church spires of Field
kirch the bells rang out joyously. The
street became thronged with worshpers on
their way to church. Louder and more tri-
umphanty pealed the bells as they rang out
the glad message and the hills, putting on
their new green, echoed back, Christ is
risen. He is risen from the dead"
The French army heard the sounds OF re-
joicing and Massena concluded there could
be but one reason for 1t. He was sure that
the Austrian army had arrived in the night.
He ordered his men to break up camp and
almost before the bells had ceased ringing
long before Easter services were over. the
French army was in orderly retreat
By noon not a tent, not a soldier not a
glttering bayonet was to be seen on the
heights above Feldkirch.
Enstcr Superstitions.
Every day of the year, almost, brings with
1t the superstitions and folklore of the com
mon people. Thus Easter has its own super
stitions, with bit of weatherlore also,
wholly its own. The old-time prophet of
the weather, for instance, declared in
rhyme:
If 1t rain on Good Friday or Easter day
It's a good year for grass but a sorry year
for hay.
Another rhyming superstition of Easter
weather Is obscure that it is really dis
appointing, but as an unique gem of choice
poesy 1t is we'll worth repeating here:
If Easter he early,
or ff II he late,
1T Is sure to make
The old COW quake.
In all the world there is not a more su-
perstitious people than the peasants of
| Pennsylvania. According to their ideas the
greatest luck that could befall mortal is to
! be born on Easter Sunday while the church
| bells are ringing, but, on the other hand, it
| is not lucky to die on that day. The spoon
, with which the Easter eggs have been re-
| moved from the boiling pot is carefully
treasured by the Transylvanians and is worn
J in the belt by the shepherds The super
stitous shepherd believes the spoon gives
him the power to distinguish the witches
who seek to molest his flock.
In certain parts of Germany the smaller
children are told on Easter morning that
the wild rabbits lay the colored Easter eggs
and in following out this apparent super
stition the children find great pleasure in
hunting for the nests of the wild rabbits on
! Easter day.
Hot cross buns have been church super
stition of Good Friday ever since the day
was first celebrated by the church. Every
one knows the old rhyme:
Hot cross buns, hot cross buns,
one a penny, two penny,
| Hot cross buns.
| If your husbands don't eat them,
| Give them to your sons:
| One a penny, two a penny,
| Hot cross buns.
1t is said that hot cross buns recall the
| offerings made at the doors of the temple at
Jerusalem. Here is one of the most inter-
!
| bun on Good Friday your house will be pro-
tected from fire during the ensuing year.
The custom Of women appearing at Easter
! in new bonnets is founded on an ancient su
perstition.
| At Easter let your clothes be new
or else be sure you will it rue,
Superstition believes that i'll will befall
you unless one or more of your garments at
Easter are new.
In olden times Easter and Pentecost were
considered lucky" days for baptizing chill
dren and the time between those days found
favor for marriage. In the ancient days
slaves were given their freedom on Easter
day as sign of good luck" for the slave
/ holder.
In Scotland to gather the eggs of wild
fowl to be eaten at the Easter breakfast is
considered to be very lucky
In Guatemala it is particularly unlucky to
I tell lie to strike any one on Easter day
or Holy Thursday.
Easter Monday Love Test.
In Cires les -Melio, a small town of the de-
partment, or county as we should call it, Of
/ Disc in France, they have a strange method
of testing fate on Easter Monday. To under
stand the custom it is necessary to glance at
an incident in French history. When the
Constable HpnTi-Annp of MOntmOrpnpy
owner of the chateau at Mello, was so pur
sued by the hatred of Cardinal Richelieu
that he was at last beheaded for the crime
of high treason at Toulouse, his wife had a
little chapel built in the park of the chateau
and begged the cardinal to permit her to
place the remains of her husband in it,
Richelieu and Louis XIII denied her prayer,
and she retired in sorrow to a convent,
where she had a sumptuous chapel built, in
which now stand statues in marble of her
and her husband. But the little chapel or
Cires- les -Mello, though empty, became the
center of the pilgrimages OF lovers on ac-
count of the affection which had prompted
its erection. 1t is to this modest place OF
worship that youths and maidens resort
from miles away on Easter Monday to learn
; their fate.
The mode OF divination Is most curious.
} The entrance to the chapel Is protected by a
grill work through which 1t Is easy to pass
your hand. The young man or woman who
wishes to learn whether the chosen one will
wed him or her during the ensuing year
takes sou penny in hand, and putting
the arm through the grill tries to cast the
/ sou on the altar If the sou falls on the
altar and stays there 1t is thought certain
that the saint will intercede for the lover
and bring him or her the happiness of mar
riage within the year. IT, however, the coin
: should not fall on the altar or should roll off
adieu for long time to all hope OF mar,
riage. The sous of fortunate and unfor-
tunate alike are gathered by the priest after
J ward and devoted to the purchase of masses
; for the unhappy.
This is certainly the strangest love test
!; on record, but its foundation on the beauti-
full story of a wife's devotion to the
/ memory of her beloved husband is far more
} reasonable than nest superstitious prac-
tices.
Easter in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is the ideal city of all other.
for the celebration of the Easter festival
Christ stood upon the hill of Calvary 1,S9I
years ago and looked down upon the towr
where he had labored and been betrayed