UNLUCKY COMBINATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3645, 31 May 1927, Page 1

UNLUCKY COMBINATION.

NO SOCIAL FUNCTIONS

ON FRIDAY, MAY 13th. LONDON, May 14. No social functions, no solemnisation of weddings and dulne.ss on the Stock Exchange characterised the only Friday, May 13, between 1921 and 1938, lovers and business men believing that the combination of the unLuckiest day and month- number was too dangerous to be risked. A couple arriving at a West End registry office noticed the date and postponed the ceremony. Storekeepers report a no.ticeable decline in the purchases of green dresses following the superstition that black follows green on the unlucky day. Many stockbrokers refused to use telephone box No. 13, despite the resulting inconvenience. The Daily Mail, in a leading article, says that the influence of the thirteen superstition is still very strong, and cites the North-Eastern Railway Company’s recent abolition of the number 13 from sleeping cars. BERLIN’S BLACK FRIDAY. The Berlin correspondent of the Daily News reports that a sensational conflict between Dr. Schacht, President of the Beichsbank, and the Berlin Stock Exchange resulted in a financial catastrophe unequalled since the collapse of the mark in 1923. Favourite shares dropped from 80 to 100 points, and speculators already are referring to the day as Black Friday. Stockbrokers are considering a strike as a protest against Dr. Schacht's policy of keeping out foreign money, which, he alleges, creates a false impression abroad concerning Germ any' s pro.spe r i tv. Dr Schacht has instructed the banks to ration loans to share speculators since he regards very unfavourably the enormous rise in German stocks during the past two years. Already he has attempted to keep out foreign investors by lowering the bank rate and prohibiting foreign loans.