Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-27
J0BSON AND HOODOOS

10 Oiu naOlt, she TOOK pincn OF the Spiaeu
salt between her left forefinger and thumb
and tossed it over her left shoulder. That
was done in ancient Egypt. as it Is done
the world over today. to exercise the NAL
ignant influences supposed to be assembled
around a patch of overturned salt on the
board.
Mr.. Jobson caught her in the act OF
tossing the salt over her shoulder, and he
scowled derisfvely.
II should like to inquire madam" he
said, when you are going to put hand
carved totem pole to worship in the privacy
of your room?"
Why" began Mrs. Jobson not catching
his meaning. Il don't know what you
THAT savage rite which You have fus.
MISUNDERSTANDING a pinch of table sa-.
over your shoulder-thats what have ref
erence to- said Mr.. Jobson. oracularly. IL
never knew before that you traced your
ancestry back to Zambesiland. Er-was
there any cannibalsm in the tribe from
which you take your descent, pray?'
Oh, deprecatngly began Mrs. Jobson.
that's Just an old custom"
yep. l know it's an old CUSTOM" broke
IN Mr. Jobson. raspingly. ''It goes back
to the age when human beings lived in
caves and fought winged fish by biting
their ears off. 1t hanks back to the period
when ladies swung from the topmost
boughs of trees. one limb to the other, to
avoid tweive-iegged bOa-constrictors tt
But it's hardly worth while getting ex-
cited about it. is !t?'' ventured Mrs. job
son. Il began doing that when I was a lit
Tie girl, and l used to see my mother and
my grandmother doing it. and
You are not rugged out exactly de rigueur
for the performance of an aboriginal rite
OF that kind put in Mr.. Jobson. wholly ig-
norlng Mrs. Jobson's observations What
you ought to wear. when you do thing
like that, is grass belt around the waist
line, and couple Of tigers teeth piercing
your nostrils. and necklace Of hyenas'
molars, and three or four anklets of wild
boars tusks. and your hair, soaked in CO.
coanut butter. sloping up to pyramidal
point. Then you'd look the part. Yu might
just as well give these savage ceremonials
the investiture they call for. And then.
when you toss the salt over your shoulder,
you might just as well get up and hop
around on one foot and chant the bola-
boola incarnation. If things worth doing
! at all It's worth doing right. You could i'm
part realism to the thing by making your
self scourge Of pampas thongs and beating
yourself over the back with it as you dance
the jub-jub dance Of the primeval forest
and you might buy dimes worth of green
potted lights and burn 'em while you're en-
joying yourself. Then you could make"
But" suggested Mrs. Jobson, mildly.
don't you think it is really a very trifiing
matter to waste~so MUCH
mo. madam, / do not think it is in any
respect trihing," cut In Mr. Jobson, ponder
ously. IF you think it's fun for me to sit
around this house and watch the manifes-
tations on your part of your reversion to
your ancestral types you'll have to take
another guess at it, that's all. If there S
anything on top Of the earth more fatuous
and imbecile than a superstitous woman.
want to see collection of the blue prints
| of it. 1 noticed. for example. when that
Kaystreet woman was here with her young
one the other evening, and the young one
sneezed, both of you women swatted the
kid on the back and muttered some out
| landish savage gibberish in just as matter
of-fact manner as If you'd been COM
menting upon the weather. Whether you
know 1t or not. that sneeZe incarnation that
you two women muttered goes back to the
| time when human beings did most of their
navigating on all tours. The kid-sneeze at
! that period was supposed to evoke the devil
of fire, and the only way to chase the fiend
was to club the sneezing youngster on the
back and grunt some spirit-dispelling glib
| berish. If it wasn't for the"
But. my dear" sweetly interjected Mrs.
Jobson. when you caught your first
glimpse of the new moon over your left
shoulder when we were out walking the
other evening, didn't you stick your fingers
! into your change pocket as to get the
feel Of money for good luck while looking
| at the new moon and didn't you ~
Yes. madam. did," gulped Mr.. Jobsen.
huskily. And I suppose that you think
| you've got me freed because you remember
| my doing that, don't you? You're always
| busy at that get-back thing, aren't you?
You are a dyed-in-the-wooi believer in the
! rebate SYSTEM, aren't you, especially Wnen
| It offers you an opportunity to wriggle out
Of something that you've been caught at?
OF course felt of the silver In my change
| pocket when I caught sight Of the new
moon the other evening! But I beg to
| illuminate what you please to term your
! mind with respect to that action, Mrs.
| Jobson. That wasn't any pagan rite of the
kind that you are always performing around
! here. That was little custom of the
Greeks and Romans-a harmless and rather
| graceful way they had of invoking the aid
Of the Goddess of Fortune in whatever ven
lures they had in hand. 1 suppose you'll
claim. however. that the savages of the
| forest did it-that they always had hand
| full Of gold and silver coins ready against
| the moment when they should catch sight
| Of the new moon for the first time? I want
| you to notice me with all Of the concen-
tration Of mind Of which you are capable,
| Mrs. Jobson. and any time you catch me
practicing some british and babboonish
superstition that dates back to the age
when men conquered mammoth icthyosau-
| rians by pulling their teeth out with their
naked fingers, all you've got to do Is to
| send me postal card. reminding me Of 1t.
| That's all. We're not going to talk about
| it any more. The subject is closed. have
| given my views. and nothing further re-
| mains to be said"
All of this It should be remembered, hap
pened some weeks ago.
/ Friday morning last. when Mr.. Jobson
| was partly dressed. he observed with great
glee that he had got one of his hose on
WRONG shuc Out.
| by jing". he exclaimed to Mrs. Jobson,
| st like the looks of this. Best kind of luck.
| Never knew 1t to fail. Knew a fellow
| once who was engaged in lawsuit in
| which It didn't seem that he had a possible
1 chance to win. But on the morning of the
| day when the case was to be decided.
| blamed if he didn't accidentally get both
| of his socks on wrong side out. and blamed
again If he didn't win his lawsuit that day
| hands down. I've had all kinds OF bully
! luck, myself, getting my hose on the wrong
way I'll bet somebody'll be coming and
| handing me money today"
Mrs. Jobson didn't say word
While waiting for breakfast, Mr.. Jobson
| strolled around the back yard, watching
some painters who were engaged in paint
| ing the rear of the house. tall ladder
reached up to one of the second floor win
dows. and Mr.. Jobson started to pass under
| it, He remembered in time, however, and
walked around the ladder.
"Came near making break that time"
| he said to Mrs. JObson, who stood in the
kitchen doorway. Wouldn't walk under q
ladder for million dollars If could help
it. Worst possible kind of q hoodoo to
walk under a ladder.
Mrs. Jobson smiled vaguely at her finger
nails but had no observations to make.
II intended to order me a new overcoat
today" said Mr.. Jobson at the breakfast
table, "but now I remember that it's FRI
eof, 70 fob