The Tupelo journal., 1906-05-04
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER.

edged tool. l know several otherwise
sensible people who tell me that some
| of their most priced friendships have
been cut in two because they gave or
received a knife. !, myself would not
| object to receiving a knife as a gift,
whether it were intended for carving a
| roast, or dividing the leaves OF a book.
| All sorts of knives from those OF finely
| tempered steel, intended for the table,
to dainty little rearl-handled affairs
| that may be carried in the pocketbook,
appeal to me as particularly desirable
| possessions. Yet I know very few
persons who do not like to add a bit OF
| silver or copper TO such an exchange
that it may seem to be a matter OF
barter and sale, rather than OF gift
making.
Don't give Mabel a knife on her
birthday" l heard Priscilla's mother
gravely say, to her daughter, for as
surely as you do you and Mabel Will
quarrel"
The same superstition about spoil
| ing friendship clings to the spilling
| of salt on the tablecloth. 1t is held to
be most unlucky to do this, and 1t is
| supposed that it forebodes friction be-
| tween those who are sitting nearest
| the spilled salt. O. course, this super
| stition and the other date a long way
back to those primitive times when
men settled everything speedily by
knife thrust or blow, so that knives
were dreaded weapons instead of use
| full tools. This superstition harks back
to the period when a man pulled on
| his glove in greeting a friend or neigh
Dor in token that he had nothing con-
| cealed, and so gave the naked hand.
| The other about the salt has an orien-
tai origin. In the tent OF the ARAB,
| though he might be a Iobber, there
was hospitality for the wayfaring
| guest, and if the latter shared bread
and salt with his host, his life and
property were sacred. SO you may
| easily read between the lines that salt
| Is an emblem of friendship, and that
its splitting signifies a breach of friend
ship.
should be sorry to think that the
| girls of to-day, who will be the women
of tomorrow, were in the least under
the bondage of silly traditions in
which there is very little common
| sense.
Why should anyone dread to pass
| under a ladder except for the reason
| that the ladder may fall? Why should
| the bowling of 4 dog give one uneasi-
ness or there be any meaning attached
| to the dropping Of spoons and forks?
| Why do some people hesitate to sit
| down at the table when the company
numbers 10? If the family should hap
pen to consist of father and mother
| and IL children, would there always be
| one who had to wait for the second
table? This latter superstition is sup
| posed to recall the last supper of Je-
sus with His disciples, when one of
the group proved to be a traitor.
Nearly everything we do, say or
| think, strikes deep roots into the past,
Ii we can find and trace them out.
In my school days girls put them
| selves to an immense amount of trou-
| BILE when walking on the street that
| they might avoid stepping on a crack
in the pavement. 1t was sure to aus
| trouble in the schcolroom in the way
| of imperfect recitations and badly
| drawn maps if one unfortunately
| touched a crack with the toe of her
boot. Older persons were sometimes
| surprised at the cratic progress of
| children who were bending their en-
| ergies to this careful sort of walking.
A school friend of mine had a theory
| that nothing would prosper with
| night in a particular spot, and set
| them precisely side by side. 1t took
her a long time 10 get settled in bed,
as she had to jump out a number OF
| times in order to be sure that her
| shoes were standing exactly as they
| should to a hairs breadth.
There used to be. too, & proverb re-
| garding Indian elvers. These were
| generous in making presents, but they
| regretted them afterwards and wanted
| them back, a sorry thing in itself and
| rather mean. Bargains cnce conclud-
| ed should stand fast, as We all know.
| Some of us had delicious fears that
we greatly enjoyed about passing a
| certain place in a forest not far from
| the school. Here there was a tumble
| down cottage falling into ruins, the
| haunt of bats, rats and spiders. We
| scurried past it with frantic haste,
lest something we knew not what
should spring forth and seize us. You
| remember James Whitcomb Riley's
poem with the line.
1.-THE COLLINS will catch you if you don't
watch out"
That was what we dreaded and yet we
had great fun IN running races past
| the enchanted corner and eluding the
witches and elves who were hidden
behind those broken window panes.
Superstition Of every kind is a sort
of poetry. This is why unlettered
races deal SO much in beautiful folk
lore. AS we become learned in math-
ematics and science we cease to be-
| lieve in fairies and elves. For my
part, l am glad that a great throng OF
schoolgirls have gone to see the pretty
drama of .sPeter Pan" There are
some Illusions that never ought to be
WTYl-klAn xyAv orRan with