European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The unlucky have their Day on Friday the 13th by Sid Shapiro eople who regard 13 As unlucky  Are especially unnerved by Friday the 13th there is always at least one a year often two and occasionally 28 times since 1800 three. This year there is Only one and it comes this week. So now is a Good time to shed some Light on this dark Corner of the Calendar and look at other superstitions that play big parts in our lives. Some folks May scoff but people do act differently when Friday and the number 13 Are paired according to the Center for american popular beliefs and superstitions at Urcla in California. A Center study found for example that at least two airlines showed a 10 percent drop in air travel. The fear of this particular Day derives from the coincidence of two sets of superstitions Landing on the same 24 hours one involving Friday the other the number 13. One tradition holds that eve tempted Adam with the Apple on a Friday. Another says Friday was the customary Day for executions in the Middle Ages. As for 13, it is found in All types of legends. For example Norse mythology has it that everything was Fine at the great Hall of Valhalla while 12 gods were there but changed when a 13th, Loki a notorious troublemaker crashed the party. There was a fight in which Baldur the most popular of All the gods ended up a Corpse. The Urcla study quoted a new York architect As saying that some developers still question whether to put a 13th floor on blueprints. If they Call it the 13th floor they la have problems renting it the architect said. Christian tradition links 13 and Friday going Back to the last supper Jesus and his 12 disciples. He was betrayed by one of them and crucified on a Friday. But contrarians Point out that 13 was Lucky in ancient Egypt. Symbolically it was the final step in the ladder of life. Note that there Are 13 Steps up the a Black cat is just looking for trouble As Friday the 13th approaches. Pyramid on the Back of a Dollar Bill.  on the other hand observed that there were 13 Steps up to the English Gallows in modern times a Baker s dozen is a modest Windfall 12 plus an extra a free Bonus. And As for Friday doubters Point out there is hardly a Man or women who after toiling a five Day workweek has t said  those who really want to see superstition in action should step into a gaming Casino and see it All. Name the game craps slots Blackjack you la find gamblers doing unusual things they Are absolutely sure will help them win. Slot machine players Are very superstitious. They May play three four machines at a time and cod forbid you should touch any of them. They Nave ways to pull the handle half Way All the Way fast slow whatever. At the Blackjack table they Don t like it if another player leaves the table while their winning said one aficionado. Or if the dealer goes off on a break while they re winning. They think aha the House sees i m winning so they change dealers they Don t realize that the dealer is just a machine and has nothing to do with which player gets what  some gamblers believe so strongly in their superstitions that they la do just about anything to avoid breaking a run of Good Luck. I saw a real strange one at a Roulette table once recalled one player. A Man was winning but he would t play unless his Friend stood alongside him. Well the Friend had to go elsewhere and the player had to Promise to split the winnings with him to get him to  Many players have their Little Well habits. Some visit the tables Only on Odd or even numbered Days. There Are the right handed and left handed contingents pulling handles or throwing Dice Only with the Lucky hand. Some men won t bet against a woman at the craps table believing its like betting against lady Luck. And of course there Are those who will show up in a Lucky tie or hat. As one Gambler related i hit a Jackpot in a Las vegas Casino while wearing a sweat suit. The next Day i played again and lost i was t wearing my sweat suit. Onlookers said should t you be wearing your Lucky sweat suit " but then again if it were a Friday the 13th, it probably would t have mattered what he was wearing. Sid Schapro. Stan and stripes new York Bureau retire won t be walking under ladders this Friday. Efficient microwave dryer ready for Home test United press International rushed As always you re in no mood to engage in dreary time consuming household chores. You sprint into the room open the microwave and pop in your wet laundry. Firmly established As an efficient Kitchen Helper the microwave is moving in next to the Washer at least for a dry run this summer. The prototype microwave dryer developed by the electric Power research Institute of Palo Alto calif., has worked so Well in the Laboratory it will be Field tested in 10 Homes and Coin operated laundromats. The shape and size of a conventional dryer the most modern Model can save up to 50 a Toju  time and 20 percent of the Energy now expanded in getting the wet out of the Wash said John Kesselring Peri senior project manager. Convenient and Energy efficient the microwave dryer eliminates one More time consuming step for today s two career families and individuals with time constraints he said. As an added Bonus the High tech dryer is gentler to Wool and other sensitive fabrics its relatively Low heating temperatures cause less shrinkage and Wear Kesselring said. As a result some delicate clothing that ordinarily would have to be dry cleaned could be washed and dried at Home or in a Coin operated laundry. One Bug remains to be worked out of the system. Although Metal zippers buttons and coins pose no problem Small and thin objects that heat up rapidly such As Bobby pins left in pockets could get hot enough to scorch fabrics. Just wondering doctors and snakes storm damage at sea by the new York times what do the two snakes coiled around the Caduceus have to do with Medicine actually two types of Caducci have been confused in modern iconography and the medical Symbol should properly have a single Snake. The staff with a single Serpent belonged to asclepius greek god of Healing whose cult was historically associated with the development of diagnosis and prescription. The Herald s staff with two snakes belonged to Hermes Swift messenger of the gods it is often depicted with wings. According to Robert Graves in the greek myths asclepius sometimes took the form of a Snake or Serpent and several serpents were kept at his Temple in Epidaurus As symbols of renewal because snakes shed their skins each year myths say that asclepius was taught Healing by his father Apollo and by Chiron a Learned Centaur. He became skilled in both surgery and the use of drugs and was worshipped As the founder of Medicine. Among the Powers believed to belong to asclepius was that of raising people from the dead with drops from a vial of blood of the Snake haired Gorgon. Around the Temple of asclepius at Epidaurus grew up what amounted to an ancient greek school of Medicine. The Prentice Hall encyclopedia of classical mythology says that the sick slept in the Temple hoping to be cured or granted a vision of the cure. From practical experience with the Many patients who sought Healing at Epidaurus the priests of the Temple eventually Learned the Art of diagnosis and medical prescription the encyclopedia says and places where asclepius was worshipped became centers of medical science. A Herald s Rod like that of Hermes or Mercury was originally an Olive Branch with Green twigs eventually ribbons wound around it. Myth has it that Hermes once saw two serpents fighting and threw his staff Between them they wound around it As friends. But the Snake myth May have Arisen because of confusion with the Herald s streamers. Does a violent storm at sea cause damage on the Ocean floor f\9 big Waves can damage a coastal reef when they break said or. Tim Barnett an oceanographer in the climate research division of the Scripps institution of oceanography at la Jolla but in the Middle of the Ocean Waves do not affect the sea floor. As a rough formula he said if the Wavelength the distance Between successive crests is less than four times the depth of the Ocean at that Point the Waves do not affect the Bottom. In other words he said with a 1,000-foot Wavelength a fairly big wind generated wave "250 feet is where it begins to feel the Bottom and the Bottom begins to feel it if a submarine is deeper than that he added it also avoids the effects of the turmoil on the surface. 20 tuesday August 10 f 1993 the stars and stripes