SUPERSTITIONS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 410, 17 March 1904, Page 3

SUPERSTITIONS.

If the fates are less frequently consulted than formerly the old belief in omens prevails largely among habitual criminals of both sexes. If a professional burglar, -while on a housebreaking exexperiences, as is not unlikely, an involuntary feeling of trembling at the unexpected appearance of a policeman, it is regarded, and with very good reason, that the enterprise eannot be prosecuted without increased risk. In one of the northern counties of England a wellknown housebreaker was in the habit of walking through one of the by-etreets of the town at a certain hour of the day, and counting the number of people met by him. If the number proved to be odd he regarded it as a sign that success would attend his next exploit, an even number being looked upon as an indication of failure. During the earlier part of the last jpentury a notorious pickpocket watc£ & every Beventh person who passed him i|3til he selected a likely victim. Anoth. ? member of the same fraternity aseritßi his arrest to his having forgotten to leave at home a snuS-box belonging to a companion who had, during the previous week, been sentenced to transportation. The tossing of coins is frequently resorted to for the purpose of determining whether an attempt at housebreaking or other form of crime shall be made or not. Some thieves keep a coinusually a panny-piece—expressly for this purpose in their pockets. The «Evil Era* The belief in the * evil eye,' so common among the criminal classes of the eighteenth, century, is comparatively little known among those who at the present moment form our great social problem, and is found principally in the rural districts, where superstition and crime are more closely associated than in the metropolis. There is more than one district where the fear of the 'evil eye' will make an arrant coward of the boldest poacher, and where stolen ducks and pilfered linen have been mysteriously restored to their -owners on its becoming noised about that the evil eye was on the evildoers. Curiously enough, no member of any police force has ever been credited with the possession of this dreaded visual organ. HOOUGAN SUPEESTITION. Among juvenile criminals, many of the charmß and superstitions common among the uneducated are found influencing the mode in which petty theftß are perpetrated. Some lads will not attempt a robbery in any thoroughfare where they have had to pass under a ladder, or in which they may accidentally stumble. In the provinces, especially in towns of limited size, the sudden appearance of a crow is regarded as a warning that any nefarious enterprise commenced within the next twenty-four hours will be attended with immediate danger to all concerned. Perhaps this may be the reason why thievish prowlers are not in too great a hurry to remain in a neighbourhood where crows are numerous, but we should be loth to place too much confidence in the deterring infl lence of the omen. All thieves are not believers in charms, nor; influenced by superstitions fears.