Stump Pencils Mascots

"Talking about hoodoos aart mnscots, " said a meruber of the Stock Exchange, "the boys on the floor of the excbange are as superstitious as a lot of sailors. If youdon'tbelieve it, you look ! at the lead pencils they are nsing the uext time you are in the building. "You won't find a man using a long lea.l pencil. Why? Beoause a long pencil is a 'hoodoo' of the worst kind. They always cut a new pencil iu half before they sharpen it. Some of these pencils acquire the reputation of being lucky. "Less than a week ago I carne down without my pencil, which, by the way, is a lucky one - every memorandum made with that pencil results in a proflt for me - and I borrowed one from a friend on the floor. He hamled me a Btump about an inch long and said, 'You can uso that; it's a lucky pencil.' "Sure enough, -I made two deals in the morning, and each netted me a handsome profit. "I was about to mako a memorandum of some stock I had bought when my friend approached and said : " 'Here, take this pencil and let me have mine again. I've lost on every deal siuce I loaned it to you. ' "Sure enough, I lost on that deal, and the luck went back to the owner of the pencil. " When you get hold of a lucky pencil, you want to hang on to it. "Some of the boys have little lucky pencils not more than an inch long, and they guard them as they would their lives. "If you, through carelessness or accident, cause them to break the lead point they lose whatever regard they have for you and - f orever af terward regard you as inimical. Some of them wouldn't take 85 for a little piece of pencil worth