OMENS OF ILL-LUCK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1940, Page 7

OMENS OF ILL-LUCK

SUPERSTITIONS OF THIEVES

No burglar would dream of breaking into a house where a death had recently taken place. Anything that has to do with death is avoided like the plague bj' the habitual criminal, writes T.C.B. in “Answers,” Londoh. The Cornish laundryman who used his coffin as a safe must have been well aware of this superstition. He kept all his savings in this odd receptacle for 11 years and. though the coffin had no lock, the money was never touched. The black cat, an omen of good luck to the honest citizen, has the reverse effect on the professional thief. He will try no coup on the day he has unexpectedly met one. Another animal which terrifies him is a blind dog. Numbers count for much with the criminal fraternity. Each has, or thinks he has, his lucky and unlucky numbers. A man who has been arrested and convicted for an offence never forgets the number of the policeman, who arrested him and aftewards considers this number to be his hoodoo. Inside a house there are certain omens to be considered. For a clock to stop while a thief is in a room is the worst of luck. But, mind you, it doesn't matter if the clock has stopped before he got into the house. A man must never steal a knife, scissors, or any kind of sharp-edged tools. This belief holds good among pickpockets as well as with the burg-

lary fraternity. A pickpocket was grabbed by a detective just as he had snatched a leather case from a victim's pocket. When opened at the police station, the case was found to contain surgical instruments, including lancets. “Took a knife, did I?” snarled the thief. “No wonder I got copped.” Not only must you never steal a knife; you must never rob a one-armed man. The origin of this superstition is not known, but it is very widespread, being held by American as well as British crooks.