Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1899-08-18


belief in hoodooed vessels as were the
Poly nesien fishermen who made sacrl-
fees To Veranomautom and Torila for
IA good breeze. The modern fishermen
still make sacrifices OF horse to their
fish gods. Among the things still con.
sIdered unlucky are women. eats and
sky pilots or ministers on board ship,
and recently crew mutinied on being
ask to go To sea with a bride. Hun
dreds OF miles Of articles have been
printed to show that vessel uDucky
at birth remained so through her career,
when IN reality it is the other way.
There are numbers of instances cited
10 prove the truth OF this statement.
The present Defende- WAS doHl | ..
action, finely riveted. Is karat success
al getting into most horrible mess
from the time the Herreshotf workmen
began to wedge her up for launching
until she defeated the Goulds' Vigil mt.
and finely won from Valkyiie III. She
did more than any cup defender from
the days OF the Magic, the first boat to
deferd the trophy that the schooner
yacht America won in England for the
Defender went so f. st that Lord Dun
raven was willing TO accept any eX-
cuse to leave the country. 1t may be
recalled that the Defender while being
launched stuck on the ways at Bristol,
and it became necessary to block hen
up again before she could be lowered
TO her natural element, All the old
cronles, some Of whom wouldn't walk
under a ladder or step out of bed lrf
foot first in the morning. held up thei,
hands in horror and shouted "She's
| hoodooed." Even tars who believe
that wind always comes when one whis-
ties predicted all disasters along the
beach To the poor. misguided racer, and
took aboard fresh cargoes of water
front rum as sort Of I-told-you so
! habit when the Defender met accidents,
until on August % of the year in which
she was launched, she met with her
eleventh and ran aground near the
southwest end of Hog island at the en-.
trance of Bristol bay. AS lncky craft
since that time, nearly four weeks ago, |
the Defender has been remarkable |
She grounded at New Rochelle few
times since then, but won from the
Valkyrie III, az she liked, ard if there
be anything in sailor superstition no
unlucky boat could have that, no mat
ter how great her speed.
Another boat put down in the book |
Of supersttions as an unlucky racer.
was the schooner Columbia, the first IF |
that name to make n bid for America |
cup hOnors. All the predictions on the |
list of untimely endings were put down
for her in 1871. when she belonged to
Franklin Osgood. She and the Sappho
were known TO be the two fastest
! schooners in the world, but j. Livonia
didn't think so and challenged Tor
| the Americas cup. The Columb ia
sailed like witch in those days, but il
there was sandbar or other obstruct-
ion within hailing distance she was
sure TO cultivate Its acquaintance. Rae
ing sailors gave her a wide birth and
predicted "A sudden and possibly UNI
provided death for her crew when she
was finely chosen 20 meet the Livonia
! for the blue ribbon of the sea. The
! Columbia won the first two races with
ease, but on the third became disabled
and had 10 finish under head sails, the
Liyona winning The Sappho, which
was owned by w. i. Douglass,
stepped in, it being impossible to re-
pair the Columbia in time and made
even shorter work of the Englshman
than Osgood's schooner had done
| Lester Walack acquired the Columbia
after that and sailed her for ID conse-
cutive years without paying marine
doctors penny for any "unlucky" ex-
ploits
In the merchant marine as well as
warships and yachts, the galley yarn
of "unlucky at birth, unlucky at death"
has been knocked in the head. The
White Star line steamer Britannia has
no rival in the world at money.making
unless it be her sister boat, the Ger.
manic, and yet the Britannia was in
trouble at her launching. She had an
encounter with her mate, the Celtic, |
since known as the Amerika, of the !