Pueblo chieftain., 1922-02-07
By Frederic ]. Haskln.


NEW YORK CITY. Feb. Are you
superstitious? DO you experience a
strange thrill of apprehension when you
spill salt. or when a black cat crosses
your path. or when Friday, the
thirteenth comes around in the calen-
dar? Do you carry rabbits foot in
Your pocket. or wear charm on your
watch-fob? II so, you can console your
self with the thought that your secret
weakness liz shared by at least % per
cent of mankind. and probably more.
including the greatest modern scien-
lists and intcllectuals. In fact. accord
Ing to the recent announcement of n
prominent psychologist. ,ncrc arc only
two kinds OF people: Those who VIII
admit they're superstitious, and those
who won't.
Not long ago. q large New York de-
par,ment store. finding that n new line
OF Oriental jewclry bad failed TO mako
itself popular with the feminine pub
lie. changed Its advertisements TO
read: New lot of Chinese lucky pieces
that will charm away I'll fortune" As
result the next day. the aislcs around
the jewclry counter were blocked with
a mob OF enthusiastic shoppers. eager
to obtain the magic haublcs. Further
more. tho mob was not entirely femin-
inc but contained many men.
Other stores. witnessing tho success
of tho lucky line nave now taken
it up. and in n single block on FGth
Avenue you can find half dozen
shops with conspicuous window-dis-
plays of lucky charms The fashion
able leather and gift shops have them
IN ivory and amber ana jade at very
high prices; while the drug stores have
tho near jade in composition amber
kind which lie on the same counter
and blend very nicely with the toilet
articles.
''Thc wearing OF charms" one deal
or sayi. has become especially popu-
lar since the war when many soldiers
adopted the habit OF carrying lucky
tokens-usually trinkcts given them by
their best girls-as a protection against
the encmy's gas and bullets. We'll.
many of them who wore the charms
came safely home. and yosi can't per-
suadc them to discard them.
A SUPERsTITIoUS AGNoST1C
II know n man who has ono OF the
brightest minds Ivo ever met. He's a
big engineer with a big reputation and
he also has a well-dcvoloped taste for
books aud pictures. He's an agnostic
and he swcnrs he doesn't even believe
in Fate, but he carries In his pockc,
a little gold hand that was presented
to him by an old woman near tho front
lines in France. He never goes any
where without it. al,ho. he says. he
doesn't exactly believe in 1t.
The old lady gave 1t to him just be-
fore hc took detail of engineers up
TO bridge a stream. me enemy was
waiting for them on tho other side. and
every man felt sure that the building
OF that bridge would be the last work
he would ever do. But just before they
reached tho stream, thick fog de-
scended upon tho place and complete
10 Ia ttrt,t f-aV hn ...tN st.,
work was finished. Every man return
cd safe and sound. After that, the
chief engineer carefully treasured his
little gold hand"
The fact that superstition often has
"A strong hold upon men OF high de-
gree OF education and Intelligence was
definitely proved some years aEo by H.
Addington Bruce. who conducted pn
investigation of tho prevalence of su-
perstition among tho tenching staff OF
Harvard University. Ie himself was
sstonished by the results which show
ed. he says that 80 Per cent or tho
faculty were either consciously or un-
consciously under superFtitious influ-
/ encc.
Said one Harvard professor: II must
say that I don't think 1 should fcrl
very comfortable ~ seated 10 at a
meal, or living in house numbered
I13."
Another confessed that he always
picked up pins when he found them ly-
| ing on the floor or on the sidewalk.
''It seems to me-" he said. that / do
this automatically, but there may be
q supcrstitious remnant in it,
My one superstitious practice: If you
can call It such.' wrote still another.
l''is TO knock on wood after 'boasting
of my health or good fortune"
One Instructor admitted that he hal