New-York tribune., 1906-06-17
on THE MISSISSIPPI.
Quaint Superstitions That PreO@l
Among RiUermen.


in a large measure the element Of chance
seem to foster a belief in the supernatural that
could scarcely have existed in the dark ages
Every gambler has his series of mascots and
hoodoos. His private ''hunch' is a thing TO be
watched for and obeyed. The men-and women.
too, we must confess-who follow the races, get
tips that come from far more trustworthy
source than the average stable boy or racetrack
tout would be- Six years ago the 'bookies" at
the fair grounds thought for awhile they were
going TO be swamped ard all because the spirit
of a departed jockey had acquired the unpardon-
able habit of visiting a party OF spirituahsts IN
seance and revealing the names of the long shots
booked to win.
Everybody has heard of the gray cat that used
TO hang around the Chicago Board of Trade and
rub her shedding coat against the left leg of
the lucky speculator The quantity of hair she
left his trousers was a fair gauge or MS
DAVIS success. Some of the members came 10
trust so entirely in this feline prophecies that
they stubbornly refused to do business on those
days when she neglected to greet them with
rub and puTT.
Cold logic may argue until it is blue in the
face II avails nothing For all the reason ana
all the ridicule. the superstitious man has the
"incontrovertible fact to offer in rebuttal. lie
knows that certain circumstances always foHoW
certain omens and that by giving heed to his
''hunch' he has snatched victory from deIeat
times without number. The man VINO mas no
patience with superstition has nothing but mega,
tive theory on his side, and it is but natural
that he invariably fails in an attempt 10 argue
with the man who has the facts.
Nowhere is this unstable element or cnahce
more constantly to be reckoned with than on
shipboard. From the admiral on man-o war 10
the oustabout a Mississippi steamer mere
is scarcely a on the water who IS without
the vein Of superstition Any old TAR you LligH1 i
chance pick up could tell you stories from ms
personal experience that would convince you Oh
the intervention Of supernatural forces. Phan-
tom ships that presage disaster, lights that glow
suddenly the masts and dreams that nave
been fulfilled to the minutest details. he VIII
relate; but the chisf prognosticator OF all the
water people is the rat. There is not a negro
roustabout the river that could be chained 10
his boat after the rats had left her
Only few years ago, when one or the New
Orleans packets making a landing a little
way below ST. Louis. moss-backed, gray whis-
kered rat marched pompously up the gang
plank, paused and lifted himself on his hind legs
emitting peculiar squeal and then scurried up
to the bank. In five minutes there was consteI-
nation on the lower deck and the mate was COM
leaving him. That rat they declared, was the
old man Of the boat They all knew him. The
thing that had happened that night would IN all
probability. have happened just the same if Mr..
Rat had made the journey $ usual. So at least
the rational land lubber would say. The river
was high and the pilot, relieved of the necessity
of picking a narrow channel. hsd difficulty III
keeping out OF the way of driftwood. for there
must always be something to worry the man at
the wheel. Toward morning, when the surface
OF the stream looked innocent q babe, sud
denly the prov of the vessel struck something.
There ripping sound. terrific shock and
for a few minutes it seemed that the boat was
submerged snag and had torn hole in her hull,
through which you could have thrown not a raj,
but a mule. All the roustabouts said, II told
you So that is. all those who were still ca
pa BILE os utterance. No enc was drowned, and
before the end OF the season the boat was run
ming again. When the disaster was found not to
declared they knew il would not amount TO much,
loT he would have taken all the rats with him
If the steamer had been doomed. He only left
in order TO escape the shock to his nerve
The rat is common property with all on board;
but the pilot has his own private hoodoo that
is of d much higher order IL s called the pilot
house spectre. and II looks very much like any
other self-respecting ghost. II never presents
Itself directly IN front of the pilot, preferring
to occupy a position his elbow, that il can
dodge around behind him he turns. On
occasion the spectre was impersonated by a
being who still IN the flesh. and il required
th@ intervening OF vast cOncourSe % genuine
spirits 20 save the pilot from greater disaster
than the real spectre had ever threatened. 1t
happened opposite Fort Pillow, down the river
an old stone fort that made memorable by
the massacre Of 4 whole regiment of negro SOL
diers during the
Al certain seasons OF the year lights seen
fitting about in the marShy ground below tho
foI;. and during the day a veil of smoke hugs
the earth. Jack Whitten had studied physical
geography. and consequently knew al about
marsh lights and the tendency of smoke to col
lect IN damp ravines, so the ghosts Of Fort
Pillow presented no terror TO him One night
ne alone in the dark wheelhouse. approach
ing the acCUrsed spot. when he felt that there
was some with him. He he had
seen q queer shape moving nOlSelesSIy about.
Like the orthodox spectre, it kept itself care
fully out Of his range Of vision. Suddenly he
turned and leaped aside not moment too soon.
for al his back stood burly negro just In the
act of lifting a corn knife. With that presence
Of mind THAI comes from long years Of training.
the pilot shouted
My God. they're after US. Run for your
life.'
with howl Of terror the would be assassin
dropped his crude weapon and plunged headIong
down the mario" stairs landing in n frightened
heap on the hurricane deck. An officer rushing
out Of his apartment in tho texas seized him
and asked what he meant by raising such a dis
turbance.
"Lemme go faw de Lawd sake! Days after
me; Doan You see de niggah regam:nt a-comin'
over de water?" And sure enough. there in The
ravine were the ghosts Of the massacred negroes
executing their lantern dance.
little cross-qpestioning revealed the fact
that the rousta boat had been hired 10 murder
The pilot and wreck the boat on the rocks of
Fort Pillow and II duo to his superstition
safety ~ 81
There IS one story the cid river men tell that
has in 1t an clement Of mysticism that is patheti-
caIy beautiful. The heroes are VIII Crbbin and
sam Bowen. intimate friends Of Mark Twain
IN the days when he was "a -iearnin' Tho riva. -
Those OF us who have followed. the work of the
mississippi River Commission knox of the slug
gish old rivers tendency to import q farm from,
the~ba1ks 0f the Missouri. carry it down stream
n lew miles and then dump IL into The first con
Venient de"p wa;er pool. A dam having beer
mus formed. more sand is piled around II lntf
a t0whead is constructed soon croD of 1,iIIoyr.
4 springs UP, and the towhcad Is transformed into
/ an island In due time the island IS named q,
numbered and placed on the map Then. the
chehces are the river viii decide II didn't really
( want an island there. after ALL ani out y ,ae tht
lslaild, 10 be deposit ed further down stream
An oasis in Tho yellow water with such ,
. history as this. was island No. 6S one nicf
/ vessel stopped here whore no freight had eT.a
/ before been landed. and a rude wooden hox ia.
tfpTled up the gangplanl;. In that box was th,
Douy OF VIII CTibbin. the junior pilot Olaran
| me vas not maintained SO strictly in thos
nays ats Il is now. aud this boat had carried IN
| yeILoW pest from New Orleans o part OF he
GAfso tnat was not listed. Many Of the neeroe
mad died and had been thrown overheard b',
the plloi must have better treatment The ON