The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1920-01-13
CLING TO BELIEFS
Few People Today Are Without
Pet Superstitions.
Although Not Carried to Extremes
That Have Marred the Pages Of
History In the Past, They
Are Still With Us.

1
! We constantly hear It said that "this
/ IL the twentieth century; superstition
I and all that sort Of thing died out long
/ ago" Yet there Is hardly person In
/ the country without his pet belief
| that misfortune follows STOPPING over
a baby or spIlllng srlt, or that a black
cat brings good luck. for example.
Hence. too. the universal practice Of
wearing mnscots "for luck"
These however, are not very seri-
Gus beliefs. being merely personal fads.
! Superstition of deeper rooted and
more unpleasant type Is still common
In the more backward rural areas,
however. Only few weeks ago an
old dame I'm the Fen country was boy
cotted by the whole countryside be-
cnuse she had the reputation OF being
witch and Of throwing spells over
peoples children, stock and crops. No
one would 90 near her or let her have
food or clothing. and she nearly
starved to death.
The cold, legal atmosphere Of the
courts would be thought unfavorable
to belief In wltchcraft, and yet farm
er-by no means an ignorant man
stood up the other day in Norfolk
court and Informed the bench that
someone had bewitched his cows. He
cured the evil spell by thrusting red
hot poker into his churn. when the
evil spirit vanished in bright flame.
Years ago any old crone who was
cross grained with the neighbors stood
good chance Of being tried (and
hurnt) for witchcraft. and cases are
even known where animals were SOL
emnly brought into court and tried on
similar charge.
A tough old cock at Basic. In Swift
er'and. was accused Of laying eggs
most serious offense, as such eggs
were used only for making witches
ointment. The unhappy bird was hailed
before the justices, and one OF the
eggs produced as proof Of guilt. In
the face Of such evidence the ROSTERS
case was hopeless. He was convicted
and he and his miraculous eggs SOL
emnly burnt at the stake In the town
square.
A SOW and six young pigs were ac-
cused OF witchcraft towards a child.
and were brought. protesting loudly
before the "beak." Amid great sensa-
ton. the sow was found guilty and
publicly executed. hut the porkers
were acquitted on the ground Of ex-
treme youth. AZ late as 174O. COW
was accused of possessing devil.
and after a long hearing, was found
guilty and condemned to death. "Rats
and mice and such small deer" have
been summoned on numerous occA-
sions. but almost invariably failed to
put in an appearance at court.
In the fifteenth century. the peas
ants Of village In the south Of France
took legal proceedings against
plague of iOcusts which trespassed
on their fields and devoured their
crops. As the case was still being
fought nearly half century later. the
modern gardener can sympathize with
the unlucky plaintiffs, but would prob
ably prefer the more up-to-date appli-
cation of lime or mustard.
Another action was brought against
a pest of leeches swarming in the
ponds and streams of another country
district of France. The Judge issued
a decree against the leeches trespass-
Ing further on the disputed territor-
les, but history Is silent as to whether
the Injunction was obeyed or ignored,
with resultant punishment for con-
tempt of court.
Animals have even been admitted as
witnesses In the courts. 1t used To be
considered no offense to kill burglar
trying TO break into house. There.
arose the difficulty that one man living
alone might ask another to his house,
and then murder him, pretending that
he was a rohher. To get over this, II
was decided that any domestic animal,
such az n cat or dog, present M the
time might bear witness. If the ami
NAL on heing questioned, satisfied the
court that his master had acted in good
faith. the killing was held to he iuSti-
fed. There are not many instances