The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-10-22
PET SUGGESTIONS.
Business Men Who Are Slaves to
Odd Fetishes.

Business Men Who Are Slaves to
Odd Fetishes.
Nihety-nine men out of hundred get
mad or scof loudly, if they are ae-
Cused of being superstitious-yet just
as surely 80 out of every leo are super
stitious-and / suspect the other fell
low
It is remarkable how little super
stitions, little tricks which men believe
bring them luck" or good fortune.
permeate the business world. 1t is my
business to call upon business men
not heads of departments. but the
heads of firms themselves-and 1 have,
during the last four or FIVE years, since
the matter was called 20 my attention
by an ObseFVant friend made il a prac-
tice TO watch these men, and laugh
inwardly at their pet superstitions. l
have seldom found a business man in
whom l did not discover some little
trick or some superstitious belief in
some ordinary or extraordinary fetish.
confess that this has almost destroyed
my belief that the dried up buckeye
which carry in my left hand trousers
pocket will cure rheumatism-or ward
it off-and 1 know it has in my case,
for / have carried that buckeye for
tWeuty-siX years and never felt d
tWinge of rheumatism.
One of my best customers, head of a
big department store, never viii sign
a contract until after he has placed a
small cross Of ink down in the lower
left hand corner. l learned this one
day when he signed a contract for some
work-and j started toward the eleVa-
tor congratulating myself on closing a
big deal. While ! was waiting at the
elevator he came rushing from his Of
flee.
Hey. come back" he called. went
back.
Wen have TO make out a new CEN
tract" he explained.
What's the trouble?" I asked an
XiOusly.
Il forgot to put my lucky cross on
that before l signed it" he responded
seriously.
I'm sorry to delay you But it
might be bad luck TO break that habit"
Another friend of mine, a wholesaler
in the clothing line, we'll known in
the wholesale district, insists that two
crossed red threads be seWed into the
right arm of every coat he sends out
of his establishment. / wondered at
that for a long time and finally asked
about IT. He told me that. once. when
he was threatened with ruin, a gypsy
fortune teller told him that if he sewed
two red silk threads i'm cross shape
into the right arm of each garment
they would sell-and he vows that from
the minute he tried il he began TO pick
up business.
"Of course, don't believe in it," he
said. But still. what's the use OF
taking any chances? And, besides, it's
a good mark
One of my friends in the board OF
trade district-one of the biggest trad
ers in the wheat pit-neYer undertakes
an important deal until ne puts on
shoes that are not mates. / have seen
him go into the pit with one patent
leather shoe and one Superior luck,
because on the day that he made his
first big stroke that established his
fortune he happened to be wearing mis-
mated shoes. There is another friend
of mine who believes that he cannot
do anything successfully unless he
wears a red necktie, and ] have an
other one who never wears a hat that
fits him. He insists on buying hats a
size too large and then putting in felt
fillers-just for luck.
There is a man in Chicago-Who en-
ploys hundreds of men and is rated a
millionaire-Who never sees a white
horse without splitting over the little
finger Of his right hand TO ward off bad
luck. Another man. a merchant prince
he is called, always carries a bit of
soft brown sandstone in his pocket.
He lives up my way. on the north
shore. He usually comes down town
between s and 9 in the morning-and
| seldom leave before 1920. ] was sur
prised one morning TO meet him at a
late train and inquired the reason.
stone he explained.
It's my luck stone" he explained.
4 have carried it ever since / was
a boy, and it brings me luck every
time. ] have an important deal on
today, and / came away and forgot
it, leaving it in the pocket of another
pair of trousers"
Most of these things. when l come
to trace them back. l find are the
results of early experiences in business.
There is a big corporation president
who will not have any stenographer in
his Office who is not fat. He doesn't
want plump ones he wants girls who
would make advertisements for fat
producing medicines. No matter how
Old, or ugly, or incompetent a stenOg
rapher may be, if she is fat she can
get a job there and it is all the result
OF the fact that a fat stenOgrapher
gave him a valuable business hint
early in his career.
| know seven men who use rabbits
feet. two who smear the caul of a coon
on the edge Of their desk blOtters and
three who turn up their left trouser
leg before admitting an important bus
mess caller.
But one of the queerest fancies is that
of a big corporation lawyer with whom
/ have business dealings. He will not
attempt TO write a brief or petition
or anything important unless, at some
time during the writing, he plucks
hair from his head. puts il in the ink
and makes a blot on the paper | saw
him do it twice and inquired the cause
Re confessed, rather shamefacedly
that one time when he was a struggling
young lawyer, his pen caught in a hair
and blOtted the paper, and, while
studying over the blot the whole situa-
ton suddenly cleared itself-and the
idea that resulted i'll a big legal
triumph resulted.
Since then he has always had in
finite faith IN the blots.