The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-22

Some of the modern professions, that
| depend in a large measure on the ele-
ment of chance, seem to foster a be-
! lief in the supernatural that could
| scarcely have existed in the dark ages.
Every gambler has his series of mas
cots and hoodoos. His private ''hunch'
| is a thing 10 be watched for and
! obeyed. The men--and women, too,
we must confess-who follow the races,
| get tips that come from a far more
| trustworthy source than the average
| stable boy or race track tout" would
! be. Six years ago the bookieS at the
! fair ground thought for awhile that
| they were going to be swamped, and
! all because the spirit of a departed
| jockey had acquired the objectionable
habit of visiting party of spiritualists
in seance and revealing the names OF
the long shots were booked to win.
Everybody has heard of the gray cat
that used to hang around the Chicago
Board of Trade and rub her shedding
coat against the left leg of the lucky
Spectator. The quantity of hair she
| left on his trousers was a fair gauge
of his days success. Some of the
members came to trust so entirely IN
| this feline prophecies that they stub
bornly refused to do business on those
with a rub and a purr.
Cold logic may argue until it is blue
in the face. 1t aVails nothing. For all
the reason and all the ridicule, the
Superstitious man has the "lncontro-
Vertible fact to offer in rebuttal. He
knows that certain circumstances al
| ways follow certain omens, and that
by giving heed to his 'hunch' he has
snatched victory from defeat times
v11n q
patience with superstition has nothing
but negative theory on his side, and it
is but natural that he invariably fails
| in an attempt to argue with the man
| who has the facts.
Nowhere is this unstable element or
| chance more constantly to be reckoned
| with than on shipboard. From the ao-
| miral on a man-o' war to the roustabout
| on a Mississippi steamer. there is scarce
| Nv q man on the water who is without the
might chance to pick up could tell you
! stories from his personal experience that
| would convince you of the intervention OF
supernatural forces. Phantom ships that
| presage disaster lights that glow sudden
| ly ON the masts and dreams that nave
! been fulfilled to the m1nuteSt detallS, ne
| will relate; but the chief prognostlcator OF
all the water people is the rat. There IS
| not a negro rouStabout on the river VINO
| could be chained to his boat after the
! rats had left her.
Only a few years ago. when one of the
New Orleans packets was making lano-
| ing little way below st. Louis, moss
| backed, whiskered rat marched pom,
! pously up the gang plank, paused ana
| lifted himself on his hind legs, emitting a.
! peculiar squeal and then scurried up to
| the hank. In five minutes there was con-
| sternation on the lower deck, and the
mate was compelled to use his ak to pre-.
vent all his men from leaving him. Tnat
| rat they declared, was the old man OF
the boat. They all knew him. The thing
| that happened that night would, in all
probability have happened just the same
if Mr.. Rat had made the journey as usual;
! say The river was high and the pilot,
relieved of the necessity of picking mar
| how channel had difficulty in keeping out
always be something to worry the man az
| the wheel. Toward morning, When the
surface of the stream looked innocent as
a babe, suddenly the PROV of the veSsel
sound, terrific shock, and for few
minutes it seemed that the boat was
| seized with a swamp chill. She had run
into a submerged snag and had torn a
| hole in her hull through which you could
have thrown, not a rat, but a mule. All
| the roustabouts said, II told you So that
| is. all those who were still capable, OF
| utterance. No one was drowned. and be-
| fore the end of the season the boat was
running again. When the disaster was
| found not to be so great after all; the
| friends of the cid man declared they kne"
! If would not amount to much. for he
would have taken all the rats with MIN IL
| the steamer had been doomed He only
left in order to escape the shock to his
| nerves.
The rat is common property with all on
! board but the pilot has his own private
| hoodoo that is of much higher order. Ii
| is called the pilot house spectre. and II
! looks very much like any other self re.
| specting ghost. 1t never presents itself
directly in front of the pilot. preferring to
| occupy a position at his elbow, so that 1t
can dodge around behind him as he turns.
| On one occasion the spectre was imper-
sonated by being who was still In the
vast concourse of genuine spirits to save
| the pilot from greater disaster than the
real spectre had even threatened. 1t hap
| pened opposite Fort Pillow, down the
| river, an old stone fort that was made
| memorable by the massacre of whole
| regiment of negro soldiers during the war.
At certain seasons Of the year lights are
seen fitting about in the marShy ground
below the fort. and during the day veil
had studied physical geography and con-
sequently knew all about marsh lights and
the tendency of smoke to collect In damp
| ravineS, so the ghosts of Fort Pillow pre-
| scented no terrors for him. One night he
| was alone in the dark wheelhouse, ap-
! preaching the accused spot. when he felt
| that there was some one with him. He
was sure he had seen a queer shape, NOV
! ing noiselessly about. Like the orthodox
spectre, it kept itself carefully out OF his
| range of vision. Suddenly he turned and
| leaped aside, not a moment too soon. for
at his back stood hurly negro just in the