The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-08-06
HOW HE BROKE THE NEWS.

A Disquisition on Superstition and the
 Making of an Important Announce
 ment.
 He was a law student, and happened to be spending a part of his summer vacation at the home of country cousin. It was a big farm, and Ethel Eliza and Fillmore, the three daughters of the family, had shown him around the pasture, apple orchard and vineyard half a dozen times the first day of his arrival Eliza was just the age of the young New Yorker, Ethel was several years older and Fillmore was somewhat younger.
 The eldest had been the most active in entertaining the young man at the beginning of his stay, but had now practically withdrawn from the field and in a confidential talk with her sister Eliza had said that she really be- lieved that The didn't have heart Eliza quietly acquiesced in this opinion but further interchange of views was suddenly terminated by the sight of the law student and the youngest sister slowly approaching the house from the neighboring lake.
 The three sisters and their guest hap pened to be sitting out on the porch that evening, when Ethel said:
 "Oh, I was so frightened coming home from the prayer meeting last night. The moon came up so suddenly over the patch of woods to the east that I turned the wrong way, and saw it over my left shoulder. Then only this morn- ing dropped my mirror, and it broke all to pieces. It makes me think that something dreadful is really going to happen"
 "so you're superstitious," said the student, as he lit his pipe.
 No, I'm not superstitious," replied Ethel with some spirit, but don't like things to happen that wayl that's all"
 You ought to get over having such ideas" remarked the young man, as he quietly puffed his pipe, Why, if you only knew how grossly superstitious some barbarians are, you would rid your mind of such notions in no time. For example, in a course In ethnOlogy last year we learned how the people of Mendiland, in West Africa, are so su- perstitious that they are afraid to touch anything with a charm attached to it. The owner of rice, trees, goats, poultry or hogs decks them with some charm which, according to common belief, will secure the identification and death of the one who steals them. To provide against the contingency of an enemy coming to SOW weeds where rice has been sown, mysterious talisman is buried in the ground and covered with sand. that the rains shall not wash it away. With all these occult forces ar rayed against them, persons of an evil disposition deem it prudent to assume the honesty they otherwise would lack
 Then I should think that 1t would be a good thing to be superstitious, inter rupted the eldest sister triumphantly.
 How so?" he asked, as if spreading the net for himself.
 Why" she exclaimed, 'if the people of our country only believed in charms, We would not need any policemen, there would be no more thefts or burglaries or murders. There would be no anarchy. Everybody would fortify himself with a charm against evil."
 But some people, even in this coun- try, possess charms" replied the young man, as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe and glanced in the direction of the youngest sister. Then he added: Eli nore, you might as we'll tell them. "- New York Tribune.