THE COLUMBIAN. BLOOMSBUfc "V, Superstitions About Sal By F. C. EVANS. If you hapten to pplll any salt there Is going to be a quarrel. At least to say superstitious folk, who straight way throw some of the spilt salt over the left shoulder to break the spell. Up In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, it Is also necessary to crawl under the J 1 table and come out the opposite side, while in New England you murt throw the spilt particles ii.to the fire to thor oughly neutralize the bad luck. liishop Hall of Exeter, wrote, in 1627, that when salt fell to.vartb a superstitious guest at dinner, he was want to exhibit signs of mental agita tlon. and refused to he comforted un til one of the waiters had poured wine a his lap. As salt is believed to re move wine stains from the table cloth, perhaps this person may have thought that the rule worked both ways and wine removed Bait stains from his tuck. The Germans have a laying, "Who sver spills salt arouses enmity," and in some places the overturning of a salt cellar Is thought to be the direct act of the Devil, the peace-disturbed. The superstltutlous Parisian Is of the same opinion and tosses a little of the spilled salt behind him in order. If nosslble, to hit the Invisible and In ;rferlng fiend In the eye. The ancient Romans exclaimed, "May the gods avert tYi omen!" Then salt was spilled at table, and tmong the Greeks the ovr-iurnlng of the. salt cellar was one j the most imlnous events that t ..aid occur in a .louse. This would indicate that supersti tions regarding the spilling of salt ire far older than the commonly be leved 'explanation of the nation; hich Is, -that It is due to tho fact hat in Leonardo da Vinci's picture of e Last Supper, .Judas Iscariot is rop esented as just having spilt the salt, oine observers, moreover, have fail d to make out any Knit collar at all i the original C'er.acolo on the re ictory wall at Milan, though It is learly delineated In tho well known ngraving Raffaello Morghen. If eonardo did Insert this detail, he lost likely did It to take ndvantr-.so f the popular belief and Indieute the .1 luck shortly to befall the false postle. Salt Is extremely d'u-ta.-teful to evil pirits In the opinion of IUchalmus, bbot of Schonthal in Franconia in .je twelfth century, and a great many eople seem to agree with him to jla day. Hlchalmus was very much ormented by devils, whom ho ob arved In operation everywhere. IIu ven considered flea-bites to be of in- l1) I. ' . I I .V rfVCV';. A ill sr N -. - 1 t ' rnal origin and prescribed the sign .' the cross for their alevlatlon. 'When j was at dinner and the fiend had allclously taken awny hi appetite, . simply taeted a littlo salt and his petite returned lit once. The worthy hot wrote a boo'.: p.bout his pxperl ices, which Is very ciueer r-udlQ. In the pronvlnco of Quebec, French tnadlans sometimes scatto salt out tho doors o their ttablcs tn event those nilKchk-i . nt IUlIu imps tiled lutlns from entering and teas g the horses by sticking hurra In elr inanes i-mt lai;. (1. pltro it) hi.s :ok on the i:i'.Mto;r.3 of Sicily tolls 4 that In that island, a horso enter g a ne'A' stall boMevod to be lia e to molent.niion liy fairies. A lit a saft is tUcief( re Bpr!n!;led on hla ick in order to Iirlnr, tljelr contrl v..nce to naught. In fact Bait bar aiitt turn l I. .it, k mm : ,, 81 Van'cui Signs and Cuntoms of SpilHns Sa.lt Appear as Magical Agents Many Pa!nting3 of "The Lost Supper" Show the Salt Cellar Overturned Prov erbs of Many Countries Founded on Superstitions. long been known as a wondroitsly powerful agent In magic. Perhaps that Is why children are advised to put some on a bird's tall In order to catch It The Germans of Lancaster County believe that a boy may be cured of homesickness by placing salt In the hems of his trousers and mak ing him look up the chimney. In India the natives rub salt and wine on scorpl.m bites, believing that this application will banish the de mons of pains. In Ravaria and the Ukraine, In or der to ascertain whether a child has been the victim of enchantment, the mother licks Its forehead; and If she can distinguish a valine flavor, she is convinced that her offspring has been under the Influence of the evil eye. Hut saft does not apcar In folk lrre only as a niaclcal agent. T.elng one of the principal savors of food it Is often mentioned In proverbs. In the Spanish province of Andalusia the word "salt" is synonymous with gracefulness and charm 1T manner and you cannot address your sweet heart more flatteringly than to call her "the salt-box of my love." The phrase, "May you be well salted," is uli'o current In Spain as an expres sion of affectionate regard. "Cum granis sails" suggests the use of the ever sweetening grain of common sense while listening to some exag gerated story. Marco Polo tells us that in Thibet pieces of salt were used as currency, as is the case In the Soudan at the present day. The esteem with which salt is greet ed. Is not unanimous, however. About the year 1830 there appeared in Eng land a volume by a certain Dr. How ard with the following title: "Salt, the forbidden fruit or food; and the chief cause of diseases of body and mind of man and animals, as taught by the ancient Epotlnn priests and wise men and by scriptures, In ac cordance with tho author's experience of many years." A Bij Scunb Farm. The largest squab farm in the coun try has 17,500 pairs of parent birds. This gives 17.", 000 squabs a year, which are sold at about 30 cents apiece, or $52,500 In all. Then there is ai. -income from old breeders weeded out and sold for pigeon shoots at 35 cent3 a pair. The b'g 'hoot In Flori da a couple of months ago cleared all the Philadelphia squab farms of old birds. The pigeons breed for five years, and by that time make tough targets for the expert trap shooter. The squab business Is expanding wonderfully. One farm Is planned to breed 100,000 pairs. The railroads now carry grain in carload lots to the farms. Squabs mean a saving of game, as they go now instead of game birds at nine banquets out of ten. There is all the possibility In them for a tidy littlo trust. One of these days when your squab jumps sudden ly In price, you will know that the Squab Trust Is In being. Paying Pecan Trees. A stranger coming to Tallahassee Is surprised at the great number of pecan trees found in the yards, gar dens and on the streets. They are everywhere, and thousands upon thou sands spring up every season, where the nuts are washed by the rain or dropped by the birds which feast upon them. If theso trees had been budded with merchantable varieties when young they would now be producing thousands of bushels of the finest nuts annually, but of even these in ferior varieties Tallahassee sells hun dreds of dollars worth each year. Tallahassee llulletln. Wireless Typewriter. A typewriter operated by wireless telegraphy Is the, wonderful produc tion of a Danish inventor's Ingenuity. The apparatus Is described with Il lustration In Popular Mechanics. Uy working tho keyboard of a sending typewriter, a little pin corresponding w!;h that particular key cornea In con tact with a travelog metal hand, and fo starts an electric! wavo from the antennae of the wireless apparatus. This wave is caught by the antennae at tho (!!s'S",rf r'nMoiT, Is communi cated to tho receiving machine, and is recorded by it ov. pa; er us a letter of the alphabet. PRFTTY RIRI 17 I I I la I I I Will tmt III f r KILLED BY DRir Poor Helen Chambers Took I er First Glass of Liquor on New Year's Eve SEVEN KCKTKS Cr DISSIPATION One of the Most Pathetic Stories that Has Ever Corr.e to the Notice of Hospital Authorities Tells of Fats as Warning to Others. Kansas City, Mo. Helen Cham bers, a pretty girl, seventeen years old, is dead in a hospital here, a vic tim of a taste for liquor and a career of dissipation that lasted only seven months. She came to Kansas City In April, and her story Is one of the most pathetic that has ever come to the notice of the hospital authorities. Before she died she told how she had taken her first drink last New Year's eve. Her home was in Aurora, 111., near Chicago, where her family Is highly respected. The unfortunate, who sev en months ago was a simple country girl, about to be graduated from high school, virtually lived on absinthe and morphine for two weeks before being taken to the Iiokj ilal. A message to her mother, still living in Aurora, re ceived no response, and the girl, v.ith her life slowly ebb'ns out, tlot d re.,t-le-s-ly through weary and tortuous minutes until the end came. Ho;!ns i!i:;t her fate miht be a warning to other girls, she loid Iter story: "On New Year's eve I wont to Chi enco with another girl. We met two boys and went to a cafe where the New Year's celebration was just storting. I did not know what It wai like, but I found out. Everything was In order, but I noticed that the girls seemed to drink as much as the men. "Every one drank freely and soon It seemed as though every one was Intoxicated. I took my first drink be cause every one seemed to be drinking and to be happy as well. The min utes passed quickly and my brain grew numb. I do not know exactly how I got out of the cafe or the events leading up to It. But when I awoke the next morning I felt dis graced. "I then decided to run away from home; I decided it would be best. I came to Kansas City about April 1. I fell in with bad associates, but final ly married. I went to Dallas, Tex., with my husband. There we quarelled and he returned to Kansas City with out me, but I soon followed. We made up here, but quarrelled again and separated and then I started anew and the rest you know. I slept in a cheap rooming house last Sunday night. Monday I came here, hoping that there might be some relief, but It seems all up with me." JUSTICE BLIND AND HALT. Six Candidates, Ail Physically Dis abled, Ask for Votc3. Hamilton, Ohio Each of the six candidates for Justice cf the Feace in Hamilton township is physically dis abled. Pen ire Willippi Murphy, present in cu:1 ben-., is blind; -S-j'tlre William V.rtc; is a c-ripph; and so is Squire 1 1 ;::ry Ii n r:, i e .- ; John T. Riley, a loco wo or at-.'.xia vL-tir-i, cannot walk;, i.Vvry fonor h?-j t'.ie fame ailment tm 1 'i!'.'::i Alien is blind. They ars ail Ce'uo iv.t'J. Murphy i errorms his duties as well r.s it nan v. ltii unimpaired sight. The oilicrr five say they cr.n do as well. Cyii pathetic voters will have a hari time deciding which ought to be fav ored. IN THE PUBLIC EYE MRS. WILLIAM THAW. (Devoted mother of Harry K. Thaw, Slayer of Stanford White.) WINS GAME; SNAKE BITE KILLS. Outfielder Caught Long Fly in Swamp Bitten by a Serpent. Monroe, La. James Fhelps, out llelder of the Kayvilie ball team, s dead of a snake bite. Phelps had just made a phenomenal catch of a long fly which holpeJ save tho game for his team, but iu chating p.rter the ball he backed into a bog. Ho felt a sharp pain, und learned he had been bitten by a wator snake. His leg swelled so rap'dly that he flnlHhort the lust Inning with difficulty. Death ensued twenty-four hours Jator. A player bitten In tho same manner on the same ground.j a few years ago died Boon afterword. mm i:0:l FCH USUI. t:!;d Vz-Y'-:- V.':r Ccie-al'a GratiiT- !3 Ciirirtor.rfcr.t cf (jis'.i, V. "r .in.; favy Uuirt'irn3. WasH: :rl!i:i. I. C l-'ir.U Uo'i'. Vly.-ii.oa Cranl, III., corps of or,;- Iieers, I'tiited StattiJ army, graliUso , of President (Irant, the famous war general, has been appointed :-uperin-tcncent of the state, war and navy buildings at Washington. .'apt. John II. Toole, corps of eiici noers. held the office of superintend ent for nhout four years. He succeed ed Hear Admiral George W. Dalrd of the navy. Capt. Poole made many reforms and Improvements In what Is known as "the biggest office building Iu tho i Mm i'M mmmm FIT Lieut. V. S. Grant III. world," and reduced expenses consid erably. Hp is relieved from tills duty to enable1 him to take a two- car course of instruction at the School of the LItj ut Fort Leavenworth. Kan. Ollicers of the army corps of engi neers tire eligible to detail to the siiperlntendency since the naval corps of engineers was merged into the line of the navy several years ago. Lieut. Grant, the new superintend ent, since his graduation near the head of his class at West Point, in June, 1D03, has served a tour of duty at the engineer school at Washington barrncks, and also as one of tho mili tary aids of President Itoosvelt. For several months past he has been sta tioned at Boston on duty in connec tion with the river and harbor works and fortifications In that vicinity. Last year he married Miss Edith Root, daughter of Senator Root, of New York. TRAIN GETS MELANCHOLY COW. Gretchen, Resentful of Being Offered for Sale, Goes to Her Death. Great Notch, N. J. Richard jaco bus, farmer living near here hard by the Erie Railroad, decided three days ago that he could do very well with out Gretchen, a brindle milch cow that had been In the family several years. A wagon road runs by Jaco bus' front yard, and so he decided that as good a way as any to get Gretchen on the market was to tie her In the yard under a tree on which was this sign: "Fresh Cow for Sale." Jacobus meant no reflection upon the matronly dignity of Gretchen, who Is, or was, of a Teutonic and melan choly temperament, nut now Jacobus believes that either Gretchen thought she was being labeled flighty and smnrt-alecky, or that she grieved be causo she was not wanted any longer In the family, or that she was shocked Into the deep pit of melancholy by the unaccustomed notoriety to which rlie was being subjected. Thi morninrt, r.s a heavy Erie freight train pturted down the steep grade in front of Jacobus' house, tho brii die cow broke her rope, walked giaxely out through the gate, and wan run down and killed by the train. POTS OF GOLD IN HIS CELLAR. O.r.e Containing $3,E00 and Another With 09,003 Unearthed. I.t:r;'.mle, Wyo. Two pots of gold fo'.iiid In the cellar of William Tay lor, of Hock River, Wyo., have caused log.il complications. Taylor hired Reuben Stockwell and J. W. White io pti'anjo his ceilar two weeks r.go. While digging the men uncovered a pot containing $3,500 in gold. They di vided the money nnd began painting tho town red. While drunk they re vealed the secret and Taylor, claim ing his father had burled the gold, had them arrested. They were put under heavy bond and a dozen of the richest men in the county bailed them out. Now they have begun suit against Taylor for recovery of the money. Taylor dug up nnother pot contain ing $9,000 In gold and will keep on digging. THRIVED ON POISON. Prof. Lantz's Rats Seem to Be Yearn ing for More "Infallible Remedies." Washington, I"). C When Prof. David E. Lnntz of tho Biological Sur vey went home for tho night he left In a cage containing twenty-four rats kept for just such1 experiments u quantity of rat poison which the mak ers declared to be infallible. The pois on was advertised to ldil tho huskiest of ruts and mummify the carcasses so that there would never be bad odor. Next morning Pro. Lnntz took a look at his poison si;i;ad. Not a rat was dc-r.d, and all seer, ed to be look ing for more food. The name rata have been on this sort of duty slnco lar.t May and have consumed all sorts of patent rat poison. Prof. Lanta has cxf-eiin.ented a good deal with rats and hopes some day to find a microbe whifh will cause an extennlnr.tiug es'.C.uif le K'.noiiK them. UNLUCKY FREIGHT. Railroads OSHcerl to Pay Out Millions Every Year for Da-nages. , I: Is said thai the amount paid out by the roads of the Vnlted Htates tn l'.1?? for freight claims was $24,000, 000. These claims originate from vari ous causes, such as defective cars.care le . employees and' incorrect classi fication, hut one agent says that on his read Improper handling is respon sible for nbout 22 per cent or money paid out for freight claims. "Another feature contributingfrvcry largely to the timo.ints we pay out for lo's r.t.d dnmnge." said the claim agent, "Is defective cars. Our rules say that each aSent must Inspect tho cars. Now the term Inspection cov ers a multitude of features. It does not mean that tho running gear of the car only 13 to be inspected but It means that we want to satisfy our selves that the body of the car and the roof of the car are tight euough to carry the load without damnge by water. "I have in my mind a certain ngent at a Hour loading station whom I found ou top of a box car, and iu re sponse to my inquiry as to what he was doing up there he advised me he was examining the roof -and I want to say that ngent has been promoted because he was the proper link In the chain. 1 have in mind a claim pre sented for damage to flour by water where the agent declared positively that the Inspection had been properly made, but the d"fects in that roor ap parent at the terminal point indicated old breaks nnd that the car was not fit for flour loading. Tills he may have considered a small matter, but it (fust Iho company f 2.75." Foreign "Coppers." London patrolmen curry no clubs. Attached to the middle of the belt behind Is a dark lantern. The cuffs or their coats have vertical stripes, blue and white, signifying rank and distinguished service. During tho frequent showers nnd rains they wear littlo waterproof capes. Their silent regulation of street tralllc by hand sig nals Is a realization of perfection. In Paris the ordinary patrolmen wear blue caps and coats and in sum mer white duck trousers. They car ry short swords, rather as an emblem of authority, but In extreme danger use the flat side as a club. In a downpour of rain the Taris policeman hangs his cap on a hook In the back of his belt and draws over his head the hood of a short blue cape of heavy cloth. This hooded cape Is called a capo chon. and tn its longer form, reaching to the knees, is used by civilians as well In cold or rainy weather. Accord ingly at such times the streets of Paris seem to be alive with cowled monks. Recently the London plan for con trolling vehicles has come Into vogue successfully on the Paris boulevards. The policemen detailed for such duty wear white glovefc and signal with white clubs. German policemen wear helmets and have a distinctly martial air. Travel Magazine. Filtered Water Kills Gold Fish. "The goldfish business la booming in this section," said a Tioga pet deal er tho other day. "Sales have doubled In the last month. When the rush first started I wondered what tho reason was, so I asked some purchasers. All of them said that their lish had mys teriously died. I couldn't figure out how it was that so many fish died all over the samo neighborhood at the same time. "Finally I hit upon an explanation, which I have since verified. It is this: Goldfish cannot live in tho new filtered water as well as In tho rav river wa ter. When the pure water was turned on the fish simply starved to death. The life was not In the water. Fish food purchased In stores Is generally given Irregularly, and thus tho great number of deaths in filtered water neighborhoods." Philadelphia Re cord. He Almost Remembered It. Donald had returned from a visit to tho couutry, and was full of remin iscences of persons and things that had Interested him. "I met a boy, mama," he said, "that had the queer est name I ever heard. He said bis folks found it iu the Old TestamenL It was It was-let me see yes, it was Father William.' or William Fath er; I've forgotten Just now which. But It was one or the other." "But, Donald," said his mother, "there Is no such name as Father William or William Father In the Old Testament." "Are you sure, mama?" "I certaluly am, dear. I have read it through several times. William Is a comparatively modern name. It isn't anywhere In the Bible." "Well, but oh, I remember now!" exclaimed Donald. "It was Blldad!" Not Much Public Land Left. Of the public land, some 375,000, 000 acres, or one-sixth of the original territory, remain but nearly every acre is too arid for settlement on the original plan; Of Etato land the a'iiount Is limited, save swamp and overflow tracts that can hardly be set tled by Individual effort Over 75,000,000 acres of wet lands might be reclaimed to form homes for 10,000,000 people, while 40,000,000 or 50.000,000 r.crea of arid lands might bo irrigated to sustain as many more, but this cannot be done by Individual or family pioneering, and must be done, if at all, either nt collective cost In tho public interest or by corporate enterprise for personal Interest No longer Is Uncle Sam "rich euough to give us all a farm;" his princely pos session of a century past Is already given. American Review of Revlewii. Pennsylvania's Greatest Organization Interesting Ono Fourlh tho State's Popu. lation. An organization that lias for is constituency one-fourth the joiu. lation of a great state like th.it of I'ennsylvaniii is surely not one v be lightly thought of or poorly rai. cd in its scope of influence. The Pennsylvania State Sabbath School Association is unquestiona bly the greatest organization, reliV. ious or otnerwise, within the bord ers of our commonwealth. It is a federation of all the Protestant Kvangclical Sunday schools of the State. It has a live and co-operating auxiliary organization in every county (67) in the State. The counties in turn are subdivided into district associations and through the district organizations the last school in the State is reached and benefitted. In one great organization, there fore, there over seven hundred (700) auxiliary bodies representing uf. 144 units or Sunday schools with a total membership of 1,674,157, or about one-fourth of the inhabitants of the State. To care for the work of this great organization calls for the services of i6S,S25 men and women whu voluntarily give unstinting- of their time and means to advance the work. Such a display oi gen erosity cannot be excelled any where. This great organization and its various auxiliary associations holj over 2,000 conventions or meetings during the year. Add to this thy regular weekly sessions of each one of the 1 1,144 Sunday schools iu the State and we have nearly 580,000 meetings held annually in the in terest of promoting Bible study aud character building. Surely such an influence steadily and systematically exercised iu the interest of a better manhood and a better womanhood for our com monwealth should be given high place iu the consideration of thiuk ing men and women. The representatives of this great organization meet annually iu con vention for the improvement and extension of tbeir work. This year the convention will be held in Har risburg, October 13, 14 and 15. The Pennsylvania State Sabbath School Association maintains an of fice with headquarters in the city of Philadelphia. It employs a force of ten people who are Sunday school specialists. They give their entire time to the work attending conven tions, institutes, schools of meth ods and visiting local schools. The work is interdenominational in character and has the hearty sup port and endorsement of all Prot estaut Kvangelical bodies. The reason for the existence of this in terdenominational co-operative ac tivity can be expressed by one word Improvement.. A local committee in Ilarrisburg with Bishop James II. Darlington as its Chairman ami James V. Barker as its General Secretary is now busily engaged in making plans for entertaining Pennsylva nia's greatest gathering of religious workers, the Forty-Fifth Auinul Convention of the Pennsylvania State Sabbath School Association. A Latter-day Academic Ad. An unique departure in the line of university advertising reached our desk a few days since. We were struck with its unusual char acter. It is an eight page pamphlet sent out by a well known university and is entitled "The Student as an Investor, Reprinted with permis sion from the Evening Post, New York, Saturday, August 7, 1909". Most literature of this sort gen erally dwells upon the superiority of the faculty, the attractive courses oflered, and like matter, but as the following extracts will show, this is a bit out of the ordinary. "Free tickets for plays or eon certs it says, that are a little above the heads of the public and need some "papering," are constantly being sent to city, universities, and may be bad for the asking. If these do not coincide with a man's tastes, there is always the gallery of the gods, and a man can hear the opera and get fifty cents to boot if he will carry a spear as a "supe." For the benefit of him who has never been abror.d or who wishes to refresh his memories, there are whole sections ot Kurope that have been imported en bloc. He can see a real .Italian festa, or go to the mariouette theatre where the l est seat is ten cents, or to a Russian church service. He can dine inex pensively in France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Syria-or Bohe mia. The advertised Bohemia, by the way, is but a dreary and taw dry region, but for the man who knows where to look there are real Bohemian oases in plenty". . . A fine new line of Wedding in vitations just received at this office.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers