PAGE 4
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
THIRTEEN NOT UNLUCKY FOR HIM
F or h u n d red s of years the num ber 13 has been r e
garded as b rin g in g ce rtain m isfo rtu n e. E ven in the
present age of education and en lig h te n m en t, there are
m u ltitu d es of people w ho regard it w ith fear and
dread. T hese people never th in k of sta rtin g an u n
d erta k in g on th e 13th of the m onth; they w ould do
alm ost an y th in g to avoid eatin g at a table aro u n d
w hich 13 persons are seated; they shun as a pestilence
ev ery th in g w hich in any way involves th e fatal
num ber.
T h e experience of m any from th e earliest tim es
would seem to fu rn ish a su b stan tial basis for th is s u
perstition, but after all m isfo rtu n es connected w ith
13 for the m ost p a rt are b u t coincidences. U sually
cases of so-called bad luck are specially em phasized
w hile no-one pays atten tio n to h ap p en in g s w hich tu rn
out well, even th o u g h 13 may be m ixed up with them
in various wavs. IJoubtless all o th er num bers art
quite as unlucky as 13 but no-one notices it; 13 has
got a bad rep u tatio n and the su p erstitio u s sim ply
w on’t let it live dow n.
As is well k n o w n , P resid en t W ilson has found th a t
if 13 is any different from o th er num bers it brings
him good luck
A s'. ill m ore rem arkable case w here
13 has proved lucky ra th e r th a n u n lu ck y is that o f
G eorge H aller, of B ellfountaine, O ., who served w ith
th e A. E. F. in F ian c e.
On July 13 H aller started for the w ar zone in a
train m ade up of 13 cars, draw n by engine No. 13
T he sh ip th a t carried him across the A tlan tic was
convoyed by 13 vessels and th e voyage consum ed e x
actly 13 days. On reaching F rance he was assigned
to the 13th divison of en g in eers and q u artered in b a r
rack s 13.
L ater he got aboard a train of 13 cars, engine N o
13 hauled it onto th e main line and in due tim e it
rolled into V erd u n , on track No. 13. S hortly aftei
this H a lle r’s org an izatio n was placed under the com
m and of the 13th reg u lar officer
A fter the arm istice was signed and it appeared that
th e trouble was “ over over th e re ” H aller w ith his
com rades em barked for the hom ew ard voyage on the
13th of the m onth, reach in g A m erica 13 days later.
A fter d eb ark in g engine No. 13 pulled th eir tra in to
the dem obilization cam p. H aller was finally d is
charged from the service and started hom e, boarding
train N o. 13, consisting of 13 cars, on track No. 13.
In d u e tim e he reached home safe and sound having
been in th e arm y of the U nited States ju st 13 m onths.
FOOLING THE WILY FISH
I t was form erly the custom am ong th e In d ia n s in
h ab itin g C alifornia to “ dance for salm o n ” every
sp rin g w hen the fish were ru n n in g .
In case this
cerem ony failed to accom plish the desired resu lts the
“ wise m a n ” of the trilie would fashion a crude im age
of a sw im m ing fish. T h is w ould then be placed in
th e w ater for the purpose of a ttra c tin g live fish so
th at they could be captured w ith the fisherm an’s spears
an d nets.
F ish erm en ot the prim itive race of A inus, in Japan,
tak e q u ain t precautions to avoid spoiling th eir luck
at the beginning of th e fishing season. T h ey insist
th a t the first fish cau g h t m ust be taken in th ro u g h
a w indow instead of thro u g h a door. By doing this
they believe th e u n caught fish are prevented from
“ se ein g ” and th u s the w ork of the fisherm an is made
less difficult.
Japanese fisherm en hold th a t strict silence m ust be
observed to insure luck in catch in g fish. T hey insist
th a t even the women who rem ain at home m ust re
frain from speaking lest the fish hear and disapprove.
A BAD STATE
Mollie C arroll, th e actress who flew over the B ritish
em bassy d ro p p in g leaflet« of protest about Ireland,
said at a W ashington din n er party the other day:
“ Poor Ireland! I know an Irish boy nam ed M ike
S hane who im m igrated to A m erica last m onth. W hen
he reached here the im m igration officer started to
question him . “ W here do you com e from ?’ he says.
“ I come from Bally bun ion, ’ says Mike.
“ B ally b u n io n ,’ says the im m igration officer. A nd
w hat state is B allybunion in?’
“ F aith , s o r r ,’ says M ike, ‘S h e ’s in a horrible state.
T h a t ’s why I im m ig rate d .”
HAD DONE H I8 SHARE
An old gentlem an in a railroad w’aiting-room , a n
noyed by some y o u n g sters p lay in g tag around his
feet, exclaim ed, “ Stop th a t rack et, c h ild re n !”
“ W ell, I like th a t! ” said th e m other in a loud, a n
gry tone.
“ Now look here, m ad am .” said th e old gentlem an,
“ I ’ve raised three fam ilies of children and not a s in
gle child was ever allow ed to annoy p eo p le.”
“ W e ll,” replied th e irate lady, “ if y o u ’ve raised
th re e fam ilies y o u ’ve certainly done your d u ty and
I ’ll th an k you to allow me to raise m in e .”
A farm er living near C algary, C anada, found several
n u g g ets of gold in th e gizzard of a goose w hich he
w as dressing for dinner. T h ereu p o n he killed all of
his other geese and his duck s as well and obtained a
num ber of other nuggets. Im m ediately an e x tra
o rdinary dem and for d ucks and geese grow n in th a t
section developed and fancy prices were paid for them .
T h e ow ner of the gold-m ining geese collected some
black sand from Ins farm and th is assayed m ore than
18 g rains of gold to the cubic yard.