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Folk Tales ft Superstitions alley Page one
Ruby/M
6an Anrelo
FOLK T.thilAS SUPANSTITIONS
"My tathar,Billy tieott wee born is Joplin, Mlosouri, where
he lived most of his lite," states kr', Mors lioot, *plisse Esen
Angelo, Texas.
When my father was twelve years of age he Word e strange
tap, tap one night as he lay in bed that sounded as if water was
dripping from the top of the house down to a feather mattress.
The top, top eerie repeatedly through a duration of a year or more
before he reeognised that some message was trying to be revealed.
The top, top, tap, appeared so frequently that they soon oilseed to
be tops but were en insistent stream, then stopped when the usual
tap, top, tops begin as before. *bile in that lone room in the
etialooso or the »Wit with blared eyes the constant tap, %BP*
never varying from sound except by frequeney, my father decided
kolk Tales uperetitions rage one
:Ruby ii,oalcy
stirt ,nrelo
FOLX Pak.L 6UPIE6TITIONti
"Sy fether,billy Joeott was born in Joplin, Missouri, where
he lived most of his life," states ,-re. lidera Scott Ample., :Aal,
Ancelo, loxes.
"hen my father was twelve years of age he heard e strange
taps tap one nicht sr he ley in bed that sounded as if water was
dripping from the top of the house down to a feather mattress.
The taps tap cane repeatedly throurh a duration of a year or more
before he recognized thvt some mover. was tryinr t,) be revealed.
The tops taps taps appeared so frequently that they soon °eared to
be tope but vere en ineirtent streams then atopped when the usual
tops taps teps began as before. thile in that lone rlom in t'.e
etillnese of the nirht with blared eyes the c)netant,taps tops
never varyir from sound except by frequency, my father d,cided
Pero two
that the visitor was a ghost. ',iany times t!x: entire femily
searched for the ghastly specter tut it wet' never physically
located eventhourh one could hear the sound. One tine grand-
mother ..,00tt said, 'Lilly some one's spirit has come to watch
over you.' It did alithrough the remaining years. LI father
had tried every way plauseble to locate cone physical phase of
the tapper, ulthourh his efforts were in vain. one lonelysquiet
night he was listening to the insistent tapping whe- he decided
tJ talk tJ his spiritual oompanion, the question oar e up as to
how he miGht receive an answer. Finally the two decided to work
out a ooze as: two taps for yes, and one tap for no. Thus the
conversation baron. t4r course father wanted to know who the tap-
per was aLd if he was either of his favorite generals, Hannabel
or 7apoleon; the answer came with one tsi 'Mitch meant no. He ask-.
ad about several other oelebrities and found the tapper to be
Llexander The Greet, therefore he was end is until this day, oalled
Alex by the (3ott generation. Ire is known by the entire family
and is recornized by advice at intervals, which proves helpful in
r -any instances.
":3P father was almost a genius in regard to Latin, Greek and
French languares; also a lover of history, therefore he had an un-
derstanding of theosophy that would be meaninrless to the ordinary
person.
"I will relate several of Alex's theurgies which saved my
father's life several times. Alex reported the death of my mother's
first born; a son's life saved when a war ship was blown up. I
Pa re three
could name minor Luc/dents reported by Alex that would fill a
book.
"Father, just an ordinary boy at 17 years of age, went over
to a boy friend's to play a little game of poker, lost his money
ant started home. The vicinity of Joplin was sparsely populated
and the wooded section made a very desirable place for a raft of of robbers to harbor as there was money in them there hills',
of the new mining town, as it is today in the oil boom towns,
Father was a little shaky as he had to cross a little ravine.
The paths were connected by a foot log crossing the stream, a big
tree spread her branches in every direction, one going directly
over the path. When father cane near the tree he was frightened
out of his wits by hand clutches on his trembling shoulders. Pe
wheeled around to recognize his assailant when he found himself
alone. Ie grabbed a stick and searched the underbrush on either
side of tae path for his assailant but found no one. He gave up
with disgust ewd turned homeward. AS he got back to the big tree
he discovered a huge panther sitting on the limb of the tree that
extended over the trail. Lie retraced his tracks, whistled to his
,boy friends, they brought the dogs and gave chase but the panther
disappeared. Father went home and stretched out for a good night's
sleep, when the tap, tap, met his ears. He asked Alex if he had
saved him from the panther and his answer was two taps, which meant
yes. Alex vanished and didn't bother any more that night. In case
father didn't recognize Alex's presence, he was gently touched on
the shoulder or an arm.
Afirt four
"jne ni7ht lcx wee twipinc u7d fl„ther wee so tired e7:d
cleepy he said, 'Go away ,aex, I'm too tired to talk witL you
to Licht,' Alex continued the tap, tap inderinetely until he
bcoanc so tiresome thet tether said, 'Get out of here, you
damned son -o -a -b.' it these words fethor wen struck on the head
by ne.,2;Ic blow of a streak of blind lightning which loft him un-
conselous for houre. The next morniLg he was so weak that he
could hardly get out of the bed of cold meat. Els headache
lasted several days and he never refused to recognize Alex i,gain.
Alex was silent for several months. Father would cell on him and
pray thet he would return and he did.
"Alex saved father agoin, when workinr in a lead and zinc
mine at Joplin. Father's ears were trained to catch Aex's taps
instantly, as they were unexpected warnings which were often
urrent. 'Al this occasion they strucY en especially rich vein of
lece und zinc. The miners were enthusiastically workinc to ob-
,tain as much ore as.possible. ;father heard a tap, top, on his
shovel hendle und felt the licht brush of tl Ma710 hand on his
Shoulder. :43 felt laexls presence, loAed up in time to see
thousands of tons of dirt caving in when he Shouted, 'LAI,* God,
men, got out of the way le They all dashed down the tunnel viler°
they were saved again. Alex came topping that night and fother
thanked him for his warning. The Shaft of a mine was dug straight
down as a well or *eller, then the vein of zinc or lead was troaed
and its course was followed as for as the wealth was obtainable.
The whole sot -up was similar to a.large house with a halldiway
five
loading to each room. ii15, father and his partner were 40 feet
below the surface, di -ring zinc. One that far under the ground
never know what was happening on top. The rellroaCs in the mine
were always graveled which ocused a grinding sound then walked
upon. My fnther and his pertner heard footsteps come to the
turn end stop. His oo-worker said, 'I heard someone coming,
Then dad answered, 'I thourht I heard someone too.'
They walked around the tend and saw no one. en they resumed
their work, footsteps were heard again. They-kner that they
could see eny'one that entered the mIne, from the place they
workeC, The footsteps vierc heard for te third ttrae edetc4
felt the liht brush of someone's hand on his shoulder. 'Let's
ret out of here: :,comething must be wrong,' cried dad. 'I'm
comtnr,I won't stay where hants walk,' replied the partner. They
rushed out to the drift in the shaft arid before they arrived in
the shaft they were met by the water thet woe waist deep and still
flowing in torrents. iiad's partner couldn't swim a lick but he
helped him to get a hold on the pump. Fether rang the bell but
no answer woe; no bucket was let down to them. The engineer was
asleep on the job- I will explain that the engineer's job was to
keep the water pumped out of the mine. The pump was run by steam
as there was no electricity in those days; when the fire died out
the pump stopped and the engineer slept on.. :.ven though the part-
ner was almost exhausted, dad pulled him up the forty foot ladder
to safety. Again Alex had saved his life. The workers on top
only smiled when dad and his partner related how Alex had saved
reluctant to ask. this time if his visit concerned Lob. Ilnal-
ly he secured enough courage to force the words from his lips.
A.ex's answer was tap, tap, meaning yes. :le aaked, 'c hob
dead?' and waited restlessly for the answer, 1431ief surged
through him and tears came in his eyes as Alex cave one joyous
tap, no. ',ether shouted, 'Bob is alive& Lot is alive,;' That
was ell that mattered at that time. iather came running home,
telling us that Lob was alive, and found us eith broken hearts,
grieving over bob's death as we had read in the Fort v:orth Re-
cord y;hers the bottom was blown out of bob's ship on the morning
of July 19, 1918. Vother's faith in Alex at that time fell to
nothing as she stated, 'Alex's hind end is full of blue mud, Bob
can't be alive.' Later news came that Bob was alive. All be-
lief in ;,lex was strenghtened end the family lived under the
guidance of Alex. The 1)r. on the ship was a aerman spy and
his communications with friends set theltrnp to blow the ship
up fifty miles from 7ew York, near Fire Island.
"Thus through the years, Alex warned my father of death
and he passed the news on to mother, whose faith was built up
enough that rile prepared for the departure which oame as pre-
dicted.
"Alex comes to bob and me now but neither of us talk to
him. i cannot encourege such a character as it worries me to
think of htm and if he revealed more I would oortainly believe
every tap whiah would cause me to live a life of unrest. There-
fore, Alox is regarded as a sacred mystery that runs in the bones
Page eight
of the 600tt family. When he taps we know that something is
going to happen, good or bad. e never question Alex's
theurgy and receive the tragedies as God sends them."
Folk Tales Superstitions
Ruby ...,osley
ingelo, Texas
.;x84, tldora 4ioott Usples, :An Angelo, Texas. Interviewed April
1938- May 3, 1938.