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Show Home Brew j '' " ----- The Weekly Ravings ; of Ye Editor J BELIEVE IN JINXES? If you are one of those who depend de-pend on good luck charms and the like to pull through you had better get out your favorite rabbit's (opt or something and dust it off for the second Friday in March Is the 13th. And so is the second Friday Fri-day in November. Either of these hoodoos is enough to scare off the ordinary believer in superstition and their conjunction is likely to Jar their eyeteeth but when it occurs oc-curs twice in the same year Well, anything might happen. However, many refuse to be unduly alarmed. In fact some Republicans believe it is a sign that things are coming their way again- Friday the 13th ' occurred twice in 1920 when they saved the country from the Democrats Demo-crats and twice in 1924, another G. O. P. year. When they won their big victory in 1928 Friday fell on the 13th three times but only once In 1932 when the Democrats snowed them under. Be that as it may, in nearly all lands there are people who shy away, from the number 13. In Turkey Tur-key the dislike became so great that It was dropped from the vocabulary. vo-cabulary. Italians never use the number 13 in lotteries. English folks omit it from their auto license plates. In many French cities and towns no house bears that number and even in our own country many persons refuse to live in a house bearing that number and some hotels ho-tels and office buildings have no room 13 or a 13th floor. In some localities the houses are numbered 12 or 12A. Our railroads and other transportation concerns say travel is lightest on the 13th of the month and when the 13th falls on Friday it is even lighter. One of the most widely known of the 13 superstitions is that it is unlucky to sit at a table where there are 13 persons. Tradition has It that some one of the 13 will die within the year. Some authorities say this dates back to the time of Christ when 13 gathered at the table ta-ble for the Last Supper. Judas Is-cariot Is-cariot was the first to leave and all are familiar with his fate. However, How-ever, it is known that this superstition super-stition was rife among the Asiatics long before that. Others trace it back to Scandinavian mythology when the 12 major gods were seated seat-ed about the table in Valhalla and the evil spirit, Loki, arrived to make the 13th. Friday bears special significance in this connection because be-cause It was the festival of certain gods. Their wrath was sure- to fall on the unwary heads of all who did not give up their own pursuits on that day to indulge in the festival. fes-tival. In Paris, there are persons known as "fourteeners" because it is their business to be available to all who wish a 14th guest at patties pat-ties and dinners when only 13 ap- However, there are those persons who have no fear of the dreaded number but take It as their good luck symbol. In the national capital the auto tag numbered 13 has gone to the same person for a number of years while a great demand exists ex-ists for the tags number 1,313 and 131,313. Louis XIII of France chose a title with 13 letters and always Hade his most important decisions . &d moves on the 13th. Nansen, the explorer started on an arctic expedi" lion on the 13th with 13 men and returned home on the 13th, later attending a dinner party on Friday Fri-day the 13th as the 13th guest. Rich-aid Rich-aid Wagner, the composer, was horn on the 13lh in 1813. Ancients observed a 13-month calendar and the old custom of giving a bride 13 pieces of gold still exists in Latin La-tin countries that have any gold. In America the number 13 should b regarded very highly. There were 13 original states and oui first flag had 13 stripes and 13 stars. Our first navy numbered IS ships and Admiral Perry won his Lake Erie victory on the 13th. The Stars and Stripes was raised over Fort Sumpter on the 13th; the first message over an Atlantic cable was received on the I3th, and our na- I tional motto has 13 letters. Close examination will reveal that the eagle on American quarters has 13 feathers in its tail and 13 long ones in each wing, clutches 13 arrows with one claw and a branch with 13 leaves in the other and carries a ribbon in its mouth with 13 letters let-ters on it. To add to the horrible features of this coin there are 13 stars on the shield over the eagle's head and 13 more on the other side. Nevertheless, we never knew anyone to refuse a quarter nor to accept 13 cents or $13 in change or turn down a salary of $1,313 even though offered on Friday the 13th- Pathfinder. |