According to a newspaper article published in 1905, deaths by crocodiles happened after curtains were washed in rivers was a common superstition.
It makes sense, however, as crocodiles would be attracted to the swooshing and swishing of the long curtains being cleaned.
Here’s the article:
Curious Superstition
“The superstition that deaths by crocodiles are the inevitable result immediately after a curtain has been washed in the river has been constantly confirmed.
“A curious note upon this superstition appears in the monthly report of W.B. Smith, district officer at Timbang Batu, North Borneo. He says”
“‘Two crocodile fatalities have been reported, and there have been several narrow escapes. Toward the end of December the enlightened authorities at Pangkalan Bandau sent an aged Chinaman to Timbang Batu under arrest for having washed his mosquito net in the river. A woman was taken in the same place by a crocodile a few hours later, a coincidence which greatly enhanced his ‘guilt,’ while adding, I am afraid, fresh authority to the superstition.”
Source: The Dolores star. (Dolores, Montezuma County, Colo.), 14 July 1905.
