Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-14

particularly stupid, tHc iNuS
Caumartin. between the Opera and the
Madeleine. the boulevards own daz-
cling zenith
The Rue Caumartin before the war
was street of dentists, tallors'
wholesale lingerie. stoves. gas motors,
paper, furs and corsets. Its two lively
concerns were a sad teahouSe ana
the side door to the underground
Taverne olympia (open all mighty ana
practically on the corner OF the pou-
levard No tourist walked the Hue
Caumartin, unless he had COOK
coupons for the Hotel St Petersburg
To the superstitious boulevard, the
Rue Caumartin had a musty perfume
of i'll luck.
The boulevard believes in luck. more
than any street in the world. There
NAV be more superstitiouS spots IN
central Africa, but for touching WOOD
whispering to cab horses: dodSine
. hoodoo and carrying juJu. the batting
OaveraCe of the boulevard remains u"-
surpassed.
The astonishing luck of the Rue
Caumartin confirms the natives IN
their thoughts
Cinderella street.
Armistice found the kue Caumartin
still dead but suddenly. when the
boulevard lit up again for the rlSn
razzle of peace, the little Cinderella
street kicked one tiny dance supper
into the ring and robbed the boule.
ward concerns for six blocks rouno Oh
their best partners.
Today the Rue Caumartin reJoices
in FIVE dance palaces, four tango teas.
four supper restaurants. brilliant CAKE
shops, the Rabbit. two fox trot hotels.
three Clubs" steen craps-and-P POKE,
flats and residential details which, an
rolled together, make a crush OF prl-
waite limousines and taxi-autos chok-
ing egress around midnight. In pan,
demonium of laughter. squeaiS anu
chasseurs calling numbers
1t breaks the slumber 1or mo
ment) of the American Womens Clup;
one-time Hotel ST. Petersburg ana
wartime foremost hostess house OF
the Y W. C. A. When they TOOK II
over. the Rue Caumartin. blen en-
tendu, was still dead-dead stih'
on Silly night. To-day. still. the
fair secretaries walk serene. unsee-
ing. like the lady in "Comus.
Now that I've said it tthe prlnclpai
thing), here is a pack of superstitlons;;
which compose. absolutelS. .S,'n,l@
p of the Paris boulevard. the queer pc
liefs of the worlds greatest prone
made, where anything can happen:
In the show windows OF pouieHaru l
Jewellers the HldSScu Nhohi "iS
every corner of the superstitious
world lie glittering- ;
There is the "swastika" or Maori
love-charm. brought over by the New
Zealand contingents Item tne
Heart of Khepera," which comes
from the east, and said to be the old
est charm in the world. Item: the
little coral OF crystal hand. from ltaiy
and Greece, making horns asaIhst
the evil eye. Item: the buckles OF ISIS
cal nrntectlOn.
Item: bits of hornbeam set in gold or
platinum so handy when 1T becomes
advisable to touch wood Item: rap
bit feet gold mounted. and tiny tur-
uuoise birds in tiny gilt cages. 1or
bangles
Judged by expensiveness, the smart
est charm must be the "ankh." which
its wearers and vendors claim cana
who can contradict them?) TO De the
exact pendant that hung on the chain
Pharaoh put around Joseph's neck.
The ankh symbolizes Twin as 10
seph's crooked brethren found him to
be- truly-what better proof do you
want?) and "the high cost of ankh'
is obvious in every shop window from
the Madeleine to the Bastille.
BY count, the equally mystical
"thau' or '.tav" stamped out in sim
pie fiat gold. is the most distributed.
Regularly. it is seen as the Hebrew
letter tau (th). with printed guaran-
tee ACCOMPANYING: 5000 years in
existence Genuine luck bearer, actu-
ally bringing happiness and success 10
those who wear it.
It's enough for most girls-they
don't ask to go into the why and
wherefc deeper. On the other hand,
some of the loveliest young things
wear rings with an engraved emerald,
which they never take of The en-
craving is a ram BY aid OF II the
patriarch Methuselah lived to be the
oldest man.
Another school holds with the anne
thyst engraved with bear. 1t was
worn by the prophet Aaron. by Sc
cret tip the whole street knows it
now) from 1.-The man higher up'-who
was. evidently, Moses. On testimony
of the Alpine Chasseurs. who were
in Macedonia. the boulevard jewelers.
add bunch of grapes to the bear
The story is curious. Up in the
mountains down there) the mules of
a supply outfit baked beside a preci-
pice, and the boys meal tickets were
saved by the nerve of young Serbian
on the edge of the abyss. II have
done no act of courage" he protested.
ct risked nothing. 1 wear charm
which protects me from falling, and
all accidents in general" With this
he showed a crystal suspended from
his neck. 1t was engraved with a
bear and bunch of grapes.
Wearers of Charms.
1ney wear the cndrNS Win OSteN-
tation. brag about their virtues; but,
from the Royal Peacock to the Cafe
de Paris off anybody still eats there),
you will find that all the girls and
half the men are lingering a simple
ball of bread crumb-the soft part of
bread. you know. kneaded in the fin
gers. it becomes like dough or putty
Dough Mysterious stuff,
All witches use dough for their
spells In old times folks made dough
dolls and stuck pins into them for
their enemies. and where they stuck
the pin the enemy got a pain,
Dough dolls are not things to brag
about. girl is proud of her jewel
charm. but the dough ball is shaped
secretly behind the falling tablecloth
"a rude heart for love. or disc for
money, or an animal (big lump for
body and four little Jumps for Iegs)
TO beat the races And as often as
not. il is the doll itself (big lump. five
little lumps). named in her secret
heart for the person loved or hated
and she pets 1t or abuses it, all on
the q. l.. while lnnOcently chatting
Anyhow. if you search the hand
bags or mems pockets (which re-
aUires some practice you will often
find simple, formless ball of dough
Many people squeeze up bread balls
at the table by pure nervousness
These don't. They slip the finished
product into the pocket to ward off
the one grand super-busaboo of the
houlevard-the guigne. or hoodoo. 1t
is like carrying potato for rheuma-
tism.
1t comes from the theater
(The boulevard is the street of
theaters)
1t is the one word of the French
language which must never be pro-
nounced. You must say cherries
1t is the one thing which the
actresses and all women of Paris fear