The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29
NuIEO AWATORS
 ARE SUPERST|T|OUS Famous Birdmen Have
 Amulets on Trips A GREAT VARIETY
GREAT VARIETY
Monkeys, Shirts, Slippers, Tiger Whiskers and Pictures Are All Carried by Men to
 Bring Luck
From Answe CTS.

From Answers.
 am sick and tired of believing noth- ing that can't be provedl was the re- mark made not long ago by man whose whole life is spent in mechani- cal and scientific experiment, and who would be the last you would think, to 5 bo touched by the very slightest breath of superstition.
 Many airmen are evidently of the same opinion. for they pin their faith on the oldest of charms; and many of them have the strongest, though often secret. belief in omens, mascots and luck-bringers.
 MT. Cody is at present flying a ma chine which. as he laughingly re- marks, Is a sort of resurrection pie, being made up of portions taken from many other defunct machines.
 Now, a part of a machine which has been in an accident, yet an accident without serious results. is held to be lucky. But it would take q very brave airman to use any portion of a plane that killed it's pilot.
 Le Blon was one of these very brave men, and it is said that, when his ca reer was ended by falling into the sea at San Sebastian. in April, 1910, there were built into the plane which fell with him some spars frohm the machine in which LOOT Deagrange met his end.
 It is ancient history that Santos Du- mont never went aloft without his me- dallion of the Virgin, which was given to him by the Princess Isabel. There are many other pilots who will not fly without having some similar charm about them.
 Hirtch, the well-known German avl- ator once had fall from over 50 feet srom which, by a sort of miracle, he came out quite unhurt. Since then he treasures the shirt which he wore upon that occasion. He will not allow it tc be washed. and when he makes ready to fly, he invariably ties 1t around his waist under his clothes.
 One English pilot never goes up with out his tiger whisker being safely stored in his pocket. Whether this curious mascot has. or not, any pe- cular virtue. at any rate, its owner has so far escaped any accident. The tiger wbisker is held in peculiar reverence in India, and the sportsman who has the luck to kill king of the jungle must always look after the body pretty sharply, or he will find that the na- lives have spoiled the skin by cutting off all the whiskers.
 
 real belief or no in the efficacy of q mascot. he has been known to use more than one, and use them quite openly, too. A little red velvet shoe has been noticed tied to the machine just above his head A bunch of white heather, a knot of violet ribbon, and small golli- WOE of peculiar hideousness are among his other amulets.
 Speaking of golliwogs, Wientziors will never fly without his monkey. This is a most ordinary looking child's toy, covered with brown velvet and with black, beady eyes. But Wlentzlers has e most intense belief in it's efficacy, and so far events have justified his be- lief. for he has never yet been damaged at all seriously.
 Lieutenant Conneau's cloth cap--a sort of helmet, with ear-flaps and chin protector---is perhaps the best known of all aviators' mascots. It will be re- membered that he lost it before the great Daily Mail" circuit of Britain race last year, and. in spite of that. gained on his rival. Vedrlnes. The cap was found and restored to him on Sal iabury Plain. and he were 1t to the finish of the race.
 There are also articles which are looked upon as being unlucky. Colom- bo had n watch, to which he attributed a bad fall he had two years ago He sold the article to another flying man, and shortly afterwards the latter also had a tumble. The second watch owner was so frightened that he gave away the offending timepiece to the f rst boy he met