Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1882 — Old Superstitions. [ARTICLE]

Old Superstitions.

[New York Suu.J Old customs still prevail to a great extent iu the northern and western portions of England. Iu the north, especially amid the great Black Country, they are almost universal, while in the Midlands aud the south they seem to have disappeared. Many of these customs come within the category of superstitions. Iu the north no child’s nails are ever cut/on a (Sunday; no iniufaut’s uails are cut until it iias attained the age of one year, bo / are hi - ten; the insides of a child’s hands are never washed until three weeks after birth; infants, before they are carried down staiis, are always taken up stairs in order to insure their course in the world upward; no child is shown itself iu the glass, or its teething process will be painful; cake is always given to the fir-t person met on the road t> tue chastening; mar.iige should never be performed on a Saturday, but always, if possible, on a Wednesday; tne person who sleeps first on the wedding night will die first, as wfill the person who kneels first at the marriage ceremony. Iu Cornwall no miner whistles underground; a Cornish child b .rn after midnight will see more of the v ui 1 than ordinary folk, and Sunday is an especially lucky day for birth,, A remarkable use is being made of potatoes. The clean peeled tubei’ is macerated in a solution of sulphuric acid. The result is dried between sheets of blottiug paper, and then pressed. Of this all manner of small' articles are made, from combs to collars, and even billiard balls, lor which the hard, brilliantly white material is well fitted.