The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-11-14
oMENs ON WARsHIPs.
superstitsons which Govern the Old
slnlts Of the Navy.

supcrstitsons which Govern the old
i,nlts Of the Navy.
The most picturesque superstitiors
of The seas are those which govern Il
modern inan-of-war. Every old sal,
IN the navy believes In hoodoos End
spells which may work all sort.s OF
evils on his ship and must be carefully
guarded against.
The powers Of ships hoodoos CON-
mence before the ship has entered the
water. 1t Is generally accepted super
stition that IL the first blow which is
struck the Keel brings sparks the ship
is destined TO suffer from raking fire
from the cl}emy.
The old time practice Of stealing a
piece Of wood and Embedding 1t in the
PROV for good luck Is. of. course, i'm
possible I'M the case Of steel ships,
though it Is considered lucky to have
n piece of stolen wood on board.
Another old superstition Is satisfied
by placing silver coin in some crevice
Of the fighting tc; oe the mainmast or
some place below decks where It
touches the steel mast. Originally IL
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 q
sailor would hesitate to sail on m
ironclad without such protection.
Thc ccTemony OF launching ship is
merely concession to an old supersti.
ton. The various formalities of shin
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 meg. :fs.
variably consisted Of eggs and sulphur.
From this custom bas come the pres,
ent day practice Of providing cake and
wine for the crew. And the old liba-
ton which the priests used to pour
over the Prov OF the ship as she slim.
ped into the water has been replaced
by the breaking of bottle of cham.
pagne.
The modern man-of-war dashes into
the water with flags waving from
every masthead. In order to crafty
this old superstition 1t is necessary to
eXpend hundreds Of dollars for the
christening of single ship. But no
one begrudges this extravaganza. In
a way 1t Is necessary.
The good or Ill luck OF certain days
is still belief among the sailors.
Friday is 81 day Of Ill omen, and Sun
day is usually q lucky day
"A superstition about women is q relic
Of the old belief in -witchcraft. II IS
thought that woman by throwing
sand In the air on shipboard can pro.
duce violent storms. Not many wears
ago some women who Travelled on
English warships were tortured during
q storm to make them quiet the waves.
These barbaric beliefs however. are
partially compensated by the supersti-
ton which sailors have held for centu.
rles that beautiful children bring n
oiessing to ship. Our old snlts haye
especial confidence In ship which IS
christened by child.
The average sailor is superstftious
about the ringing of the ships bells.
IN olden times the bells were blessed
before they were used. At present. if
q mistake is made in striking the hour.
the sailors insist that the bells at once
be struck backward to break the spell.
and II by any chance the wind should
catch t!ia bells anu swing them all the
way round or IL they strike nine bells
1t Is believed that It will be the last Of
that ship.
All good warships so to the shores
OF Fiddler's Green" as a final resting
place. Just where this mythical har-
Dor is situated no geographer has vet
decided. It Is In every way the an
tithesis of ''Davy Jones' locker A
warship which goes down In battle
with her flags flying. ns occurred sey-
erai times during the civil war, goes to
"Fiddler's Green"
The tattooing habit is, OF course. very
common In the navy. It is believed
that an arm Or leg decorated with
the design OF gun or sword or some
such design win never be lost In battle.
San Francisco Call.