Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-02-07

YOU superstitious? Do you experience
Ia strange thrill OF Apprehension
when you spill salt, or when a black
cat crosses your path, or when Ell
day, the thirteenth, m around IL
the calendar? Do you carry a rab-
| bits foot in your pocket, or wear a
charm on your Watch-fob! III 30
YOU can console yourself with the
thought hat your secret
is shared by at least 95 per cent. OF
mankind, and probably more, ac-
cording to the recent announcement
Of a prominent psychologist, there
are only two kinds of people: Those
who will admit they're superstltious,
and those who won't.
Not long ago,'a large New York
department, finding that a new line
of Oriental jewelry had failed to
make itself popular with the feml-
1 nine public, changed it's advertise
ments to read: New lot of Chinese
lucky pieces that will charm away
i'll fortune" AS a result the next
day, the aisles around the Jewelry
| counter were blocked with a mob OF
enthusiastic shoppers. eager TO op-
| tain the magic baubles. Further
more, the mob was not entirely fem
mime, but contained many men.
Other stores, witnessing the sue
cess of the 'lucky line" have now
taken it UP, aud in a single block or
| Fifth avenue you can find half a
dozen shops with conspicuous win
dow~-displays of "lucky charms. Inc
fashionable leather and gilt shops
have them in ivory and amber and
Jade at very high prices; while the
drug stores have the near jade n
composition amber kind which lie on
the same counter and blend very
nicely with the toilet articles.
THE wearing of charms one
dealer says, has become especially
popular since the war when many
soldiers adopted the habit OF carry
ing lucky Enthusiastically trlnkets
given them by their best girls-as a
protection against the enemy's gas
and bullets. Well. many of them
who wore the charms came safely
home. and YOU can't persuade them
to discard them.
A Superstitious Agnostic
81 know a man who has one OF
the highest minds I've ever met.
He's a big engineer with a big repu-
tation, and he also has a Weil-de-
veloped taste for books and pictures
He's an aguostic and he swears ne
doesn't even believe in Fate, but ne
carries in his pocket a little gold
hand that was presented to MN oy
elm old woma near the INES
in France. He never goes anywhere
without it, although. he says he
doesn't exactly believe in 1t.
"The old lady gave it to him just
before he took a detail of engineers
IN to bridge a stream. The enemy
vas waiting for them on the other
side. and every man felt sure that
the building of that bridge would
be the last work he would ever DO.
But lust before they reached the
stream, a thick fog descended upon
the place and completely hid them
from the enemy until the work was
finished. Every mar returned saie
and sound. After that. the chief n
gineer carefully treasured his little
gold hand"
The fact that superstition often
has a strong hold upon men or hlSh
degree of education and intelligence
was definitely proved some years 6
by IL. Arlington Bruce, who conduc-
ted an investigation of the preva-
lence of superstition among the
teaching staff of Harvard. He him.
self was astonished by the results
which showed, he says. that 1874
per cent of the faculty We're either
consciously or unconsciously under
superstitious influence.
Said one Harvard professor: I
must say that 1 don't think I should
feel very comfortable if seated thir-
teen at a meal, or living in a house
numbered thirteen"
Another confessed that he always
picked up pins when he found them
lying on the floor or on h side
walk. ut seems to me-" he said.
that l do this automatically, but
there may be a superstitious REM
nant in it."
MY one superstitions practice, If
| you can call it SUCH" wrote still an
| other is to knock on wood after
boasting of my health or good for
tune"
One instructor admitted that he
he had a certain amount of faith
in the truth of the old saying. "Sing
before breakfast. and you will cry
before night
Another said: 81 have an instinc-
! tive dislike of seeing the new moon
over my left shoulder"