The Omaha Sunday Bee
EDITORIAL
AMUSEMENTS
VOL. L NO. 42.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL
1921.
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OF FISH DAY"
IN BUSINESS
.TRANSACTION
H 1?T T A M TTTCHMAM
iO(UPERSTITI0US? Me? 1
should say notl Why, the
-' very ideal" . '
All kinds of disclaimers, ranging
from the lofty to . the indignant,
greeted the question put to prom
inent Omahans: "Are you supersti
tious?" "You ought to know I'm too in
telligent to be superstitious!" was
the general attitude and yet (
Nine out of every 10 men and
women interviewed confessed that
they wonldn't:
Walk under a ladder
Postpones wedding
Open umbrella indoors
Start anything on Friday
Turn bac,k on journey
Wear peacock feathers-
Remove wedding ring
Give knife to a friend, and so on,
ad infinitum.
"That would brin bad. luck!"
they chorused. But even those who
avowed themselves free from any
real superstition still admitted to a
playful half-belief, . not unmixed
with a feeling that it is, on the
whole, safer to conform to the dog
ma and rituals.
Sign of Quarrel.
Spilling salt at the table is the
sign of a quarrel to be; a blister on
the tongue is prima facia evidence
you ve tola a lie; if your cars burn,
somebody's talking about you and
if there are bubbles in your tea or
your skin itches, it means visitors
or you're going to kiss a fool.
Of course a kitchen expert would
submit that bubbles in the tea means
the water therefor is not properly
boiled, but such commonplace testi
mcv would not convince the great
uiass of occult believers, v
The crash of a mirror was the
starting point in the marital unhappi
ness of Mrs. Blanche Waterman Pat
terson, the beautiful Omaha divorcee,
firmly attests.
It happened in a tiny little cabin
in lonely Colorado mining town,
where young Ronald Patterson, scicn
of a prominent Omaha family, teok
his bride, a reigning social favorite.
It was a far cry frqm the lighted
dinner board, the music and the
dance and the comforts Of civiliza
tion to the bleak, wind-swept, primi
tive conditions of the mining center,
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Si llft YOUNG OMAHA . -AS
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but the husband's business took him
there and his wife went willingly.
Dusk Comes.
"The first day we arrived I set
out to explore the little cabin which
was to be my home for two years,"
relates the beautiful Mrs. Patterson.
"There wasn't much to explore.
There was scarcely anything pretty
in the cabin but one piece of fur
niture, a lovely mahogany dresser,
left there by a Chicago bride who
preceded s. Dusk came, so I light
ed an oil lamp and, being unfamiliar
with the lamps and the heat they
generate, set it unfortunately near
the mirror.
"That evening my husband and I
were sitting in the adjoining room
when we were startled by a loud
crash. My heart contracted. It was
the mirror of the beautiful mahogany
dresser flung to a thousand bits!
"A broken mirror bad luck
flashed through my brain, though be
fore that time I was not aware I
held that superstition. I tried to
dispel the thought and feeling of im
pending trouble, but I couldn't. I
was keenly conscious that I wished
it had not happened, especially on our
first night there."
Devoid of Comforts.
The two years that followed, filled
with alleged hardship for the shel
tered society girl brutalities, orders
to' cook for miners and other hired
help, a cold winter, life devoid of
comforts, of long silence and brood
ing discontent, culminated in her pe
tition for a divorce.
"I don't know whether the mirror
did it or not,' muses the beautiful
woman. "Probably not, but the fact
remains we were very happv until
then."
To spill salt is another bad omen,
according to a pretty general belief.
To beat the evil spirit, you must
throw a pinch of the spilled salt over
your left shoulder. - ,:
In the south of England, the love
sick maidens have an unique way of
drawing their swain to them. Each
Friday night for three successive
weeks they throw salt on the fire
and repeat the following rhyme:
Try it, girls!
It is not thl alt I wish to burn,
It Is my lover's heart to turn;
That he may neither rest nor happy be,
Until he comes anil i.pcnks to me.
If you can resist the exclamation:
y
frost to rear louise shumate, florence
shames, mildred otumer.roth Robertson
eleanor dickman, edith rnlayson
city mall girls who figure that
they are jinx busters-
"That's the sign of a wedding!" when
four persons, in shaking hands, cross
hands, or the exclamation: "Some
body's walking on your grave!" when
a person complains of cold shivers,
then indeed you may boast you are
an unusual creature not given to
superstition at all!
Or if you don't "knock on wood!"
to prevent reverse fortune.
Mrs. Charles T; Kountze, social
leader, will never seat 13 guests at
her table, according to her friends.
"Iftit she used to defy the super
stitions in a high wayf her brother,
Robert T. Burns, testifies. "There
yere 13 girls in her class at board
ing school. They observed gradua
tion ceremonies by breaking mir
rors, dancing under ladders, defy
ing black and white cats and de
liberately walking into all sorts of
.uperstition."
Mrs. Ward Burgess defies - the
opal superstition by wearing a most
beautiful plaque set-with opals.
Believes in Omens.
Mrs. Howard Baldrige, however,
believes in omens, according to the
war workers associated with her in
the Red Cross warehouse.
If something unpleasant hap
pened in the morning, Mrs. Baldrige
would exclaim: "This is going to be
a bad day. We've started out
wrong."
Men are just as superstitious as
women are.
Witness George Brandeis, Omaha
merchant, financier and promoter of
many "Onward Omaha" movements.
Friday is Mr. Brandeis! pet aver
sion. -'
He will neither sign impor
tant papers, iuitate new ventures or
start on a long journey on Friday.
Recently Mr. Brandeis was inter
ested in a $250,000 deal. The men
involved were all assembled in his
office, the details had been thor
oughly discussed and Mr. Brihdcis
declared himself in favor of the
movement. ' '
"But we'll close the deal to.
morrow and sign the papers then.
This is Friday and. I never make
important decisions on this day, he
explained.
Joseph Barker shares ' the same
4
HEYN
PHOTO
( ,
dread for doing anything important
on Friday.
Harry B. Zimman, city commis
sioner, on the other hand declares
himself to be absolutely . immune
from superstition in any way, -shape
or manner whatsoever.
"I even registered to run for city
office again on Friday deliberately
chose to do so on Friday in order
to defy the superstition," he an
nounced. Many men carry iniases of St.
Anthony in their pocket to ward off
harm. Sailors submit to tattooing
to protect themselves from storm
and gamblers and speculators in
variably pin their faith to a lutiiy
charm or mascot. Grain men, too,
and others at the mercy of uncer
tain ventures are strong believers
in luck" and signs. i
Athletes have a whole, category of
superstitions, according to Ira Jones,
city recreation director
New things are taboo, also wash
ing the towels in the gymnasium,
he confides.
Sox Jinx on Gaiwv
"Once when I was playing foot
ball the coach made me put on a
pair of new socks before the game.
We lost. 1 still believe the socks
were the jinx," he related with a tear
of reminiscence in his eye.
The only time they wash towels
in a gymnasium is after they've lost
a game, according to Jones.
"Then the towels are washed to
get a-change of luck."
On the other hand, there are the
superstitious optimists like the fat
lady who stoops puffily to gather
four-leaved clovers, horseshoes and
pins in the hope they "will bring
good luck."
Among old jiegrcsses in the south
the belief is strong that a rabbit's
foot brings protection from all evil.
Many wear a rosary or other holv
object of charm for the same pur
pose. It was common during the
war. The familiar "charm" worn
with one's watch is a survival of the
old belief.
Babys rattle and drum, now his
undisputed property, were once osed I
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by ancient medicine men . to drive
out bad spirits.
Rabbit's Foot Is Charm.
A reference to the left, shoulder
reverses the meaning or averts the
consequences of falsehood. The left
hind foot of a rabbit is a lucky
charm. .The finger of a criminal, cut
off, is a preventive of evil. If a girl
finds a horseshoe the number of
nails in it indicates the years before
she will marry.
Children "wish" on the appearance
of the first star of evening. If they
do not speak thereafter until they
are spoken to the wish is sure to
come true I
As for the wishbone, who has not
wished upon its merits Jor "making
dreams come true?" "X
Where is the byide who walkVd to
the altar oblivious to the" injunction
to wear:
Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue.
Tliere never was one.
Buttons on girls' dresses or coats
have a weird fascination for Mrs.
F. E. Miller in the department of
justice office, federal building.
"Let's see who you're going to
narry?" she invariably begins and
repeats the following gamut of pro
fessional possibilities for bridegrooms-to-be.
Itleh man, poor man,
Beegarman. thief.
Tinker, tailor.
Soldier, sailor,
Doctor, lawyer.
Merchant, chief.
Sneeze Superstitions.
To sneeze is "to make a sudden,
violent, spasmodic, and audible ex
piration of a breath, chiefly or whol
ly through the nose, according to
the ccebrated Mr, WcUlcr. "It i t
uc
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Onawa Girl
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Rinehart-Marsden
usually a reflexaction, due to irrita
tion of the nasal branches of the
fifth pair of cranial nerves," he goes
cn to explain.
But a far simpler explanation is
that of the superstitious family, with
members all over the world. Their
explanation is that an evil spirit is
leaving the sneezer's body, and mak
ing .quite a demonstraton of temper
las he does so. Therefore the Ger
mans utter the fervent "Gesundheit,"
and the Italians, as devoutly "Feli
cita!" Miss Rose Bernstein, teacher in
the Cass school, ungraded room for
foreigners, has a whole pack of
sneeze superstitions, in fact, one for
every day in the week, as follows:
Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for clanger.
Sneeze on Tuesday, see a stranger;
Sneeze on Wednesday, expect a letter.
Sneeze on Thursday, something better.
Sneeze on Friday, expert sorrow,
Sneeze on Saturday, joy tomorrow;
Snooze on Sunday morntng, fasting.
Joy through the whole week lasting.
Her Lucky Number.
Thirteen is Miss Grace Sorenson's
lucky number, she avers.
"I was born on June 13, I always
get scat 13 in the theater and many
of th.e nicest things that ever hap
pened to me are associated some
how with" "13." Notice that poems
or stories I have written are accepted
generally reach, me on the 13th and
frequently by manuscript is printed
on page 13. I'm going to,' keep a
record of my lucky thirteens."
Miss Sorenson, who edits Every
Child's magazine, ""also believes in
dreams. "Many things have turned
out just as I had dreamed they
would," she states.
Mrs. W. J. McOaffrcy alo be
lieves in drc'ain&y' Muddy water ap
pearing in drwfiis means the falsity
of a friend oV death in the family,
lie says.
A whole m,0ir, oi superstition fol-
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Superstitious
Hum Neaply All of
Declapcs Qomance
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tooooo Signs Ake Mamy and
Omahans Piar'em - On tkOtkh
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Par
lows in the wake of pic-
ture taking.
A camera appearing on
a horse race track prior
to the event is a deadly
omen of ill luck and the
camera man had better in
sure his life, or at least
his camera, heavily be
fore he makes his appear
ance on the turf.
Blame Camera Man.
The death of many an
Photo
auto driver has been ex
plained by the presence
of a camera on the track
in advance.
North American Indians refuse to
have their pictures taken on the be
lief that they are parting with a part
of themselves.
Mirrors are covered at a funeral
from the belief that a spirit may at
tach itself to the image. , '
Dwellers on the heights of the
sixth floor city hall, where the Board
of Education holds forth, declare
themselves impervious to the infiltera
tion oi superstitious ideas.
Miss Belle Ryan, assistant super
intendent, passed a rapid fire tele
phonic examination involving super
stitious beliefs 100 per cent impervi
ous. "If you lose a hairpin, do you lose
a inena.' she was asked.
"No. my temper," she returned
serenely. '
Superintendent Bcveridtre hasn't
'any superstitious, she said, and she
hasn( t been able to discover any in
Leon Smith and J. L. McCrory, she
bore witness. 1
This "high-brow" crowd con
stitutes living proof of the fact that
superstition is eradicated by educa
tional atmosphere.
Says They Don't Work.
Miss Clara Brewster, athletic di
rector of the Y. W. C. A. and in
charge of its girls' summer camp,
also pursues the even tenor of her
way undisturbed by superstition of
any sort. She's tested 'em out and
they don't work, she avers.
"I've stubbed mv toe, on purpose,
a dozen times to discover if the first
man I'd meet after that would be
the man I was going to marrv and
it didn't do a bit of good," she ad
mits ruefully. .
"I find myself wearing my gym
suit inside out half of the time with
out encountering bad luck. When
the girls m camp get too obstreper-
ous about black or white or green
3
n'f:
J si if v;
Sometime
war!
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GEORGE
: BRANDEIS
MERCHANT!
FINANCIER
QEFUSES TOMAKfJ
,AN IMPORTANT
DEAL ON
FRIDAY
cats crossing their paths' J give
a good dose of castor oil" she states.
"Dreams? Poohl Too murh Inh.
IMVI
4 sterd" quoth she.
Mrs. Franklin A. Shotwell stands
alone in a free confession that she
"is the most superstitious person in
Omaha."
"But mine is more a leaning to
the occult," she explains.
The mystic rites of India enthrall
her, words and flowers are. to her
living things; they have as much ef
fect on her temperament as living
things. She believes in her lucky
stars and lucky days. These arc
Tuesday and Saturday.
Those Hunches.. ...
"I was married on one and the
other is my birthday," she said.
Opals, other people's bad luck omen,
spell good luck for her.
Mrs. Shotwell believes in
"hunches" and no one dare cross her
on a staircase.
Her mother, Mrs. Lois' Cochrane,
is quite the reverse in sheer practical
ity, she says.
"I'd even make the 33th at a table
if I was hungry enough,"Mrs. Coch
rane laughed.
Recognition of sunerstilinn anrl
the part ilnstdictates nla V ill th rfmi-
lation of lite is found in the familiar
fact that few hotels in this country
boast a room or floor "13." In many
cities the "unlucky numeral" is
skipped in numbering streets.
Twelve and one-half is substituted.
Until recently no ships set sail on
Friday nobodv would sail on Vm-
business men notoriously, avoid
transactions on the 13th of th'
month and close up their offices on
the double dose, Friday the 13th.
Mystic Thirteen clubs, organized to
defy the tradition, flourish in almost
every city.
Reading Horoscopes. '
Reading horoscopes is the most
elaborate product of superstition the
human mind has devised. In fact, a
whole science of predicting the for
tunes of persons by reference to the
signs of the Zodiac has been built
up.
If you are born under the sign of
the lion you are set down as cour
ageous, no matter if you tremble in
your shoes at the nibbling of a
mouse. If you are born when Venus
is in the ascendancy you will be
(Turn t Tmgm Two, Celurna rouj