El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-12

FRANK G. CARPENTERS LETTER.

out you use the name of God in the
sentence containing the compliment.
Such expressions are bound to bring
misfortune and possible trouble and
death. If you call a boy or girl pretty
its mothers heart is filled with terror
and she straightway throws out her
hand, extending the index and little
finger in such way as is supposed
to ward off the devil and the evil con-
sequences of your remark. If you wish
TO remark upon the beauty of a child
you must begin the sentence with,
May God surround thee" and you
may then go on as you please. If you
should pat the child on the. head and
fail to use this sentence. the mother
upon returning home will take the
child into room and @put it in the
middle of the floor. She will then
shovel up some dust from each of the
four corners, and throw it into the fire,
crying. File on thee, evil eye
Similar precautions should be taken
in admiring a horse or a donkey. If
man has a spirited horse which he
fears the people may admire he car
ries with him some salt AS he rides
through the crowds he will now and
then sprinkle a little salt under the
feet of the horse, especially if he sees
the crowd looking at it. If any one
asks whether he will sell the animal
he must answer yes, but if asked what
he will take he makes the price so
high that the man cannot buy. At
such times he usually requests the
would-be purchaser to stop thinking of
his horse for fear it may bring mis-
fortune.
Another superstition in regard to
salt relates to babies at birth. 1t is
sprinkled over their bodies to keep off
the devil, and it is used at all other
ceremonies connected with children.
Spirits Who Live Under Ground.
The evil eye also is possessed by
spirits who inhabit human beings. The
people here believe in one class of
spirits who live underground, but who
are fed by those who live upon earth.
They come up and take the wheat from
the thrashing floors and the bread
from the ovens, and the only way to
keep them from doing so is to utter a
sentence from the Koran or Bible as
you put the bread in. These same
spirits hover about the fire, and if you
quench it without asking Mahomet to
protect you the spirits are liable to
beat you or perhaps lame you for
life.
These underground spirits are known
as the Jan. Their favorite place of
residence is below the front doorsteps
and for this reason women are not
allowed to sit on the doorsteps. The
Jams are supposed to be an organized
body, having a sultan, court and
regular officials. They keep guard on
the food stores and are on the whole
fairly good fellows They are said to
be fond of human company, and it IS
whispered that they sometimes assume
human shape and marry mortals. They
are most common in Egypt. One may
attract a Jan by whistling and it is
said that the girls here frequently
whistle. Some of the men Of Palestine
are jealous of the JAMS, thinking they
have association with their wives. and
some will not look at a real woman
for fear the Jan girls, whom they sup
pose to be in love with them, will OBJ
ject.
Married In a Cemetery.
One Of the queer superstitions which
prevails here in Jerusalem is that a
marriage in a cemetery will propitiate
the Lord and cause Him TO favor His
people. This is believed by the native
Jews, and instances of it have recently
occurred on account of the drought.
We have had no rain for weeks. and
the crops are drying up. People are
crazy over the prospect. There is also
an epidemic Of infantile paralysis,
winch mas Deen carrying off the chill
dren. The people think that God is
angry with them, and perhaps wroth
because the marriages have been few.
To pacify Him they have had weddings
in the cemeteries, which is considered
a most unlucky place for starting upon
the life matrimonial. Indeed, it is so
unlucky that they have had to hire
people to get married there. At a we'd
ding which took place this week the
couple received $500 in gold and also
food for two years, as a present for
having the ceremoney there. In this
case the groom was a Jew from Ye-
men, Arabia, and the bride Jewess
from Aleppo, in Syria. The bride was
late coming, and the 5000 worshipers
who had assembled to see the ceremony
had to wait for two hours. She was
finally carried in under a canopy, and
took her place on one side of an open