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Show RIVER. MEN'S SUPERSTITIONS. While several rlvermen and others were seated in the office of the Pittsburg and Cincinnati Packet line the other day the superstitions of rlvermen came up. In the party were several who were unacquainted unac-quainted with the legions of the river, and It developed upon Captain Henderson and Captain Pennywlt to relate some of the happenings of the older days. One of the moat surprising things brought out was the fact that the general gen-eral run of the steamboat men object to having a boat with a name starting with either an M or an O. It Is claimed that a boat with a name starting' with either one of these letters always comes to a violent end. Several Instances were given where boats bearing this supposed hoodoo hoo-doo have either been sunk or burned. The Molly Ebert. Ollle Neville. Mary Irwin, Major Anderson all burned up and the Missouri and the Ohio sank. These boats were known to local men and ran on the Ohio and Mississippi. The case of the Mary Irwin also car-tied car-tied out another hoodoo of the rlvermen. It is believed that when the rats desert a ship there Is danger ahead. On a summer sum-mer afternoon In 1867 the Mary Irwin tied up at the Cincinnati wharf. Soon after it was noticed that the rats wera leaving her In droves. Carpenters working work-ing about the hold of the boat amused themselves by throwing large pieces of wood at the rodents. The superstitious people on board at once predicted that something was going to happen, and sure enough, about the middle ot the same night, the Mary Irwin, with six other boats, was destroyed by fire, the Major Anderson being one of these. The fire was witnessed by Captain Pennywlt. A cat going on board a vessel is considered con-sidered a bad sign, and the only way to get rid of the hoodoo is to throw the cat by its tall from the port side of the vessel. ves-sel. Throwing It from the starboard side will have no effect whatever. Believers In hoodoos greet with delight de-light the entrance of a pig. There are a number of boats on which the crews have their pot pigs, and these are supposed to bo the best bearers of good luck In tho world. After a few weeks' training it is claimed, they have more cense than a dog, and when the gangplank is lowered at a landing they are the first to run on shore and are never left behind, as they know the minute the ropes are going to be let Icose. A boat Is never launched on Friday, nor is one purchased on the same day. A business deal Is never made on Friday Fri-day that can be put off. It Is back luck to start a new boat on Friday. An illustration illus-tration of one of these beliefs was shown In this city a few weeks ago, when a firm was contracting for the purchase of a large steamer. The deal was Just about to be closed when some one mentioned the fact is was Friday and the papers were not signed until the next morning. A number of these superstitions have been handed down for the last 100 years or more, but they are still believed by a large number of rlvermen. Pittsburg Gazette. |