The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-04-23
Court Gossip of Interesting
Events on Two Continents

| Hudson Bay, Nova Scotia and Newfound-
land
In 1513 Henry VII defeated the French.
, 1t was tragic year for Scotland. for
1913 was the year of "Flodden Field" when
the English defeated the Scots, killing
James ". with 10000 of his men.
The superstitious of England point
triumphantly to 1913, when Robert Bruce
drove the English from Edinburgh and
Iverness.
Referring to the present year, 1t is in
teresting to note that President Woodrow
Wilson laughs at the idea of 1913 being I'M
lucky. He regards it as the luckiest year
of his life, and he shows that thirteens
always have been running through his
career The year of his nomination to the
Presidency produced thirteen by adding
the digits O912), the name Woodrow Will
contains thirteen letters; he was thirteen
years professor at Princeton University.
was elected as thirteenth president of that
establishment. and presided over about
300 students. And it was on December
10, that DR.. Wilson found a purchaser
for his book, The Life of Washington"
The first instalment of which was publish
ed on January Is.
1t remains a remarkable fact, how
ever. that the feeling regarding the num-
Der thirteen is so strong in England that
the London County Council actually has
given way to superstition. At q formal
meeting a short time ago. it was rec
commended that No. 13 Stanhope Place,
Paddington, should be changed to No. IA,
and although the superstition was ridi-
culed and it was pointed out that there
were thirteen letters in the name Of the
applicant, thirteen letters in Stanhope
Place. and thirteen letters in the name of
the chairman Of the committee, the re-
numbering proposal was carried. Nor is
this the only instance of REMEMBERING of
houses in London on account of the fig
ure thirteen. In several cases in the
West End, houses previously numbered
thirteen have been remembered LA. For
some time many of the larger European
hotels and steamship companies had no
number thirteen on their rooms; but the
altering Of numbers of houses, because
OF this superstition, frequently has led
to the Intervention of the borough coun-
ellis. who have been called upon to see
that the original numbers were restored,
owing to the confusion which arose in
the books Of record and assessments.
Many eminent persons have believed
that thirteen always is productive of bad
luck. Queen Victoria once refused to
sit at table of thirteen. King Edward
was similarly superstitious. Mr.. ParneTl
was very superstitious about the number
thirteen, and, on the eve Of an cleo
ton. in 1888. he refuse/ to sleep in a
hotel bedroom numbered thirteen, Mr.
Healy changing rooms with him. When
the home rule bill originally was intro
duced, 1t was put down for March Is, and
the session was begun on March ID But
there were so many murmurs that for
the first time in 100 years the date of
converting Parliament was changed and
the House met on February IA instead.
Apropos of the superstition which ex-
lists regarding thirteen sitting at table, an
interesting case is that of Sir John
Everett Millais, who on one occasion
found himself with twelve guests at his
table, one of them being Matthew Ar
mold. To soothe the perturbed feelings
Of a lady, who declared that she could
not sit at thirteen table, the artist
persuaded one of his sons to take his
meal in another room. That son returned
10 the room at the end of the dinner to
hear Arnold say: The idea is that
whoever leaves the table first will die
within the year: so with the permission
of the ladies. we will cheat the fates for
once. L and these fine, strong lads
pointing to two of his fellow-guests.
will all rise together. and / think our
united constitutions will be able to stand
the assault of the reaper"
Alas, six months later, Arnold. appar-
emily in the best of health, died sud-
denly: the second of the trio came to
a mysterious end in New York, being
shot through the head. while the third.
making a voyage to Australia for HIS
health, went down with the vessel, which
foundered on one of the New Guinea
Copyright. 1913. by Court Gossip syndicate)
reefs. FLANEUR.