The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-09-11

of the lives of these curios examples OF
primitive humanity is passed in the prac-
tfce of charms and other superstitious oh
servances. If one of them has a head
ache or stomachache, for example, he
cures it by putting on what would pass
In more civilized regions for his wife's
latest bonnet And they actually perform
ceremonies to increase the supply of
flies and mosquitoes.
Although America is often supposed to
be the birthplace of modern advertising
some of the most absurdly remarkable
schemes for attracting the attention of
possible purchasers have been invented
and practiced on the other side of the
water. In both London and Paris adver-
tisements have actually been painted on
the bald heads of individuals willing to
hire them out for advertising purposes,
in London an entire row of bald heads
appearing in the front row of a theatre
and each bearing one letter of the name
OF soap. In England also grol2s of
children have been formed into living let
tiers spelling the name Of some advertised
product; and small crowds have been cell
lected by young women whose beautiful
golden hair has fallen down in public
and who have promptly done 1t up again
with large ribbon calling attention to
somebody's hair restorer.
One of the characteristic street sights
of Japan just now is said to be the
presence of many women hurrying here
and there with long, narrow pieces of
cotton material in which they ask such
other women as they meet to put
few stitches. Closely examined each piece
of cloth is seen to be marked with hun
dreds of black dots and when each dot
lna IL. III ..A
each thread represents a different wo-
man the cloth is supposed to become a
Charm, capable of protecting the wearer
from all danger in combat. These charms
are forwarded to the soldiers at the front
and the bits of cloth are often surrounded
by crowds of women each eager to do her
share to complete the charm that one
| of them Is anXiously preparing for the
| protection of a sweetheart or rela tive.
The civilization of Japan has apparently
not yet conquered all of that eountry's
inherited superstition.
/ In sunny Italy If a man strikes his
neishbors as being unnecessarily naughty
| they are likely to say of him that he
| imagines himself First Mustard Maker
| to the Pope.
The saying dates back to the time
of Pope John XXI to whom cousin
from Dion applied for office.
} what can you do?' asked the Pope.
AT Dion" answered the applicant,
! I'VE all of us know how to make mus
| tard."
| Good" said the Pope. "Then appoint
/ you my mustard maker"
i A few days later. however, there ar
| rived another cousin from Dijon He also
was looking for an appointment. The
| Pope thinking that here was an easy way
I out of the difficulty, proposed the new
| applicant as another mustard maker pro-
| vided the first mustard maker had no OBJ
lection and fondly imagining that his
| first appiontee would quite refuse to
share the honors of his position. But
cousin number one agreed Immediately.
The new appointment gave him an OBJ
vious promotion to tibet title of First
| Mustard Maker to the Pope. and al
| though the emoluments were not great,
| the gorgeousness of the uniform which he
invented is perhaps responsible for the
| fact that he passed into a proverb
| Recent archaeological discoveries in an
ancient Roman fertilization In Germany
have brought to light fragments OF earth
enware pipes believed to have been smok-
| ed by the soldiers of the original garri-
son. These pipes antedote the pipes
| smoked by the American Indians and
were used long before tobacco was known
| In Europe. According to the archaeol-
ogists, hemp or poppy was what the
| cheerful Roman soldiery probably smok-
ed In them during the idle hours of their
garrison duty.