Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 189, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1918 — LAND OF QUAINT BELIEFS [ARTICLE]

LAND OF QUAINT BELIEFS

Superstitions Rife In England's Black Country Are Among the Strangest Put on Record. Taking into consideration the fact that it is a typical Industrial area, it Is strange that the Black country should be such a hotbed of superstition. A dog. howling in front of a house In the night Is a sure sign of the approaching death of one of the household. The dog, however, must howl In the front and not at, the back of the house. A marble rolling down the stairs means that one of the children Is bound to die. When' baking was invariably done at home there was the superstition that if the top of th,e loaf came off in the oven death would soon overtake some member of the family. A Black country miner is full of superstitions. If he dreams of fire or meets on going to work a cross-eyed woman or a wooden-legged man he will not descend the mine. Something Is sure to happen If he does —at least, he thinks so. The strangest of all superstitions, however, is associated with common or garden parsley. There Is nothing wrong about sowing the seed and raising the herb, but it must not be transplanted. Most terrible things are bound to happen If this Is done! —London Mail.