The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-01-07
LUCK GOOD AND BAD.
SOME SIGNS AND oMENS THAT ARE
ATTENDANT THEREON.

Queer superstitions That Take Rect
In the Mind of Man, with Some Oh
servatiOns on the Way They Work
Themselves Out.
Superstition Is the one thing that
Christian and unbeliever unite in at
tacking; yet, despite the onslaught Of
pulpit, press and platform, it survives.
not perhaps as openly, but none the
less strongly, even IL shamefacedly
feared.
The Witch of Endor may be but a
classical remembrance, and civilization
may have convinced the Salemites of
the futility Of the brand and the fagot
as an exercising medium, but few Of rs
have not some hoodoo or some belief,
however slight, In fate and fortune. :.
The literature Of superstition as ex-
pressed In the proverbs Of every land is
not usually given the attention 1t de-
serves. These maxims, representing
the tested and accumulated experience
OF mankind, have had their effective
ness destroyed by familiarity. But
take the majority of the aphorisms.
and 1t Is not difficult to trace them
back to q superstitious origin or for.
ward to a superstitious moral.
The more haste the less speed''
finds expression In the belief that it II
unlucky to turn back from q journey.
The individual who has been half way
to his work with q few minutes to
spare and has had to turn back for
some essential he had forgotten real
lied the Ill luck when he was 'docked"
for being late. The man who hurries
to catch q train or to see q show and
leaves his money or his ticket In his
other clothes also adorns the illustra-
ton.
/ II q man walks under q ladder and
the careless painter above upsets the
paint pot upon him, the victim prompt
ly forgets both his religious teaching
and his materialistic reasoning. and all
the preachers In the world could not
convince him that it was not unlucky
to do as he had done.
Splitting a box Of matches Is q sure
sign Of a row In many househ6|1s. II
it is the man Of the house who d6es the
spilling, the row doesn't tarry on the
way while he picturesQuely blames his
better half Tor leaving them upside
down or placing them in an awkward
corner. Spilling the salt was long re-
garded as 30 unlucky that unspillable
salt shakers were invented to dodge It.
The cat has long been the symbolic
superstitious animal The black cat
which crosses the path Of the pedes-
trian brings him Ill luck. This il espe-
cial|yut truN Z ShA threatened victim
WA ~ 3 shoolns the cat
Is its ~ With ones eyes on
eAt one may easily trip up on OBJ
Dtf6ctions and break leg or q neck.
But the cat Is not always an omen Of
evil. II he or she squats at your door
and news Justify at night, It means
good luck to all within the house. To
chase such a cat away is to chase away
ones luck. 1t Is terrible to think Of the
amount of luck that has been chased
away.
The dropping Of q knife in many
houses is regarded az so certain an in
dication Of the arrival Of a man at the
house that preparations are atnfRe
made to evade the ice collector q
installment man or to be out Hhed 1e
tax collector calls The dropping OF a
fork equally foretells the visit Of wo-
man, and the lady Of the house imme-
up. -
All people do not know that the DROP
ping d a comb while combing the hair
indicates that the person dropping it
will soon hear Of q death. An instance
Of this occurred not long ago. The comb
was dropped on a Tuesday. Friday a
friend Of the family, writing from
Ohio, incidentally mentioned the death
Of the mother Of the grocer the family
used to buy from. The comb was thus
corroborated, despite the fact that the
known.
The barking or bowling of dog at
night is a sign Of death. 1t ought to be
that of the dog. An old lady was
much concerned over the fate Of some
body because of a dog bowling under
her window one night and expressed
her convictions that it meant some
thing unfortunate. During the day she
triumphantly pointed out In q news
paper the account Of q man dying in
Philadelphia
For friend to meet or pass you and
not recognize you means that you will
be married within a year. The fact
that you are already married does not
matter presumably. You must get
divorce and make the prediction good.
Fortunately this axiom is more honor
ed In the breach than in the observance.
Opening an umbrella in the house is
unlucky. Any person who has hoisted
his or her umbrella in the house and in
so doing has knocked OF lamp globe
or shade never doubted the wisdom OF
the proverb maker. Dropping an um.
brella presages a disappointment. he
who has tried to brush the mud OF has
many of them before he gets it cleaned
| again. There is, however, no Ill luck