Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1903-10-15
AMuLErs WOMEN e
Variety Of Lucky Articles Deposited
With the Bath House Keeper.

With the Bath House Keeper.
New York Sun: That many women
habitually wear amulets to bring good
luck is well known to the bath house
keepers, to whom patrons turf over
their v%aluables before taking a dip. Acc
cording to these authorities. the belief
bits of metals stamped with quaint
markings, little strips of sheepskin or
leather bearing a coupiet or the symbol
Of q heavenly body are deposited along
with money and keys and other VAL
tables, to say nothing of rabbits feet,
four-.eafed clover, w%ishbones and other
witcheries in one guise or another. And
the wearing Of these averters of evil
is not confined to any one class OF a
tionality. The well-to-do I'M and
the well instructed is as apt to nave
the quaint goods upon her as the un-
tutored.
More mascots in the form Of orna-
ments, gems and precious metals are.
being mounted by the jewelers. all the
time, and mere symbols Of occult mean
ing are ordered by customers to be set
in such shape and fashion that they can
be worn laand!ly. The summer girl
has her priced piece of jade or magic
,moonstone locked on q bracelet that
cannot slip over her hand and be wash
ed off by the waves, as a ring might
be. This sort of bangle charm is worn
openly, even boastfully, as betokening
a careful ord cautious young person,
but dozens OF charms are worn secret
ly safe within the waist front s
pscted until injury OF accident betrays
their presence. The use of charms and
alnulets has been stimulated lately by
the interest taken in psychological top
les and the fad for consulting. fortune
teller. II c-lairvoyants.
I've got a mole directly on the back
of my neck. IN omen of successful
fortune, also threatening sudden acct
dent of n sort or another" said a
girl student the other day as she fing-
cred the charm that hung at her wrist.
This is an old Persian stone celebrated
as potent in averting evil and impart-
ing security and self-possession to the
wearer. The symbols upon 1t all have
their meaning. 1 got it from the pro-
fessor who read my character through
three different mediums and observed
this menace of sudden disaster darken-
ing what was otherwise q most auspic-
lou fortune"
1t is held that persons born under the
two extremes of planetary influence are
most addicted to carrying mascots.
Thos born under the gloomy spell of
Saturn wear charms to neutralize the
malignity that ever threatens to en-
compass them end those born under the
beneficent influences of Jupiter and
Venus carry amulets to insure their
continued run of good fortune.
The Italians of both high and low
degree are inveterate believers In the
efficacy of charms to ward off evil and
invite good. The old spell of the ma
diaeval mysteries still holds them In
thrall. People of Spanish and Austrian
descent are likewise given to charm
wearing. Many Americans have Of late
caught the infection, purchasing birth
stones and ancient talismans with
avidity, and paying more and more at
tention to personal characteristics and
their meanings as demonstrated by
studens of the occult. Even the de-
,artment stores now sell charms.