The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-02-19

had ordered a harp from England, but
unfortunately it arrived on Friday, so
she sent it away till Saturday, though
she was dying to try it, In Ireland Fri
day is one of the cross days" of the
years, and decidedly unlucky for removals.
Mr.. Edward Clodd has recorded that a
Macclesfeld lodging house keeper, who
had taken a girl from the workhouse as
servant caught her cutting her finger
nails one Friday The Mortified mistress
/ snatched the scissors from her, crying:
rs that what / had you from the work
( house for; to cut your nails on Friday
and bring bad luck to this house?" Hair
cutting on that day or on Sunday is
equally unlucky. A Northern folk-ryhme
says:
Fridays hair and Sundays horn,
Yell meet the Mack Man Monday
morn;
or, as another version has Ii:
Friday cut and Sunday shorh.
Better never have been born.
ANON GSAILORS.
But the belief in the ill-fortune asso-
ciated with the sixth day of the week is
probably best known in connection with
seafearing men. Every one has heard Of
the bold owner who braved the terrors of
the day by having a ship laid down and
launched on a Friday. Its captains name
was Friday. it sailed on a Friday. and Of
course was never heard Of afterward!
Nowadays the superstition is continually
braved. and many ships sail on Fridays,
but formerly the feeling against the day
was very strong. 1t has been noticed as
a curious coincidence that both the Anna
zon, which was destroyed by fire about a
hundred miles to the west of the Settles.
and the still more famous troopship. the
Brikenhead. which went down off the east
African coast. sailed from Southampton
and Liverpool. respectively. on the same
day. January ., 1852, and that day was a
Friday.
In 1891. when Lieutenant Peary started
on his expedition to Greenland, says the
London Globe. the Kite sailed from sgd
ney. Cape Breton. at midnight on Friday.
June u. \ Boston paper OF the next day
had Il dispatch from Cape Breton. dated
Friday. in which! It was stated that the
original intention had been to sail earlier,
but there are several old shelbacks' in
the ships company. and the idea of sail
ing on such a trip on Friday was too
much for their nerves. They saw the
captain this morning, and called his at
fention 10 the fact that it would he a will
full flying in the face of Providence to
start today True. old salt as h. is. ne
agreed with them. and on his representa-
lions to Lieutenant PeaIy the start was
The ballad of The Mermaid tells with
sad particularly the melancholy fate of
Z shin which sailed on Friday morn:
On Friday morn when we set sail
And our ship not far from land.
We there did espy a fair. pretty maid.
With a comb and glass in her hand
This. Of course. was the beginning of the
end which was on this wise:
Then three times round went our gal
liant ship.
And three times round went she;
For want Of lifebcat We all went down.
And sank 10 the bottom OF the sea.
The immen development Of steam traf-
dc on all the oceans Of the world has done
much 70 knock old sea superstitions o.,
the head The great liners. which keep to
their scheduled time almost as closely as
the railway flyers. start from and arrive
at their various ports and destinations
with q mechanical disregard of particular
DAYS and seasons, which was naturally
unknown I'm the older days Of sea travel
The sailors who man the steamers believe
In luck. good and bad. IS firmly. probably
As their predecessors OF sailing days. but
their superstitions take new forms and
fresh directions. The old belief in the i'll
fortune attaching 20 Friday dies hard /
however Il is SIN firmly held by many
an old "shellback" and yet flourishes +.
east among the canny folk % our north /
srn shores-Chicago Inter-Ocean.