FORTUNE TELLING CRAZE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 16892, 7 February 1917, Page 5

FORTUNE TELLING CRAZE.

SOLDIERS' WIVES THE-CBIEP • --.'-. DOPES. ' ■ /v

Oneeffect of 'the war has beea t« ~ f J breed clairvoyants in evory quarter oft"- I the country. Crystal gazers, palmists,! 'l| and those who profess to be able tow 3 i'athomj the future by means of a mys-( -'41 terious knowledge of the sun, stars, ooiJ ' H cured globes, and packs of playing *j cards are px^spering as never they hay« ? - f done before, mainly at the expense o£ '| the wives and sweethearts of soldiers. ' IE "I find that some women are consult- /$ ing clairvoyants as regularly as they I v % might go to a doctor," writes a corres- ' % pondent to a London daily. ." Whenever \ , \ they receive a letter from the front/ ." j they take it toVthe fortune^ teHer to ,'<?*; learn whether it contains any hidden V^ signs of the future. Other women ga '' 3 ior periodical,reports on their prospect* ' m business arid domestic life. The ra«' <51 suits of bogus warnings are 6pmetime* ' -"I very unpleasant:" " ' y^ In tlie West End of Lon3on a «hbk -'*< mon charge by those who have a tariff <» -1 v| £1 Is for palmistry, and £2 2s for daiiQ , *J (Voyancei One woman prosecuted r»-?^^ centjy at Westminster was stated to| ) have been booked five weeks'in advance. '' to peep into the future fwitii the.aid ofl ,": crystals and golliwogs. | I the London suburbs iand the provm-J cial towns half a crown br 'five shflilnaj1 d is the usual charge, with magic crystals" r' extra, and palmisiry at the war-time ? prioa is Is. . Soldiers' wives ,who hive to,-, s live on their separation allowances ac« - l accommodated in quantities by cl«m C voya-nts who have set up in quantitiei i especially for these clients. At Manchester a woman who was prosecuted ' l said to have received 60 or 70 sol- J dzers' wives at a iima, seating ,them \ s> round a room and t©Uing their fortnaea^ ', m rapid succession at 2d. per head. A polios official said recently that offi- v cers and oversea soldiers ai-e among the " ? prophets' patrons, /"although I don'fc ' c Miink they believe iwhat th«y are told' i so readily as women," he addeo'. Con- - .Arming this, a Canadian soldier related " ? his experience in the hands of a West' And clairvoyaiifc^; " I%ent into a dark- 'l ened scented. 1:00^," he said, "and was '4 contronted by a wizened woman whose " 1 rock emitted fumes of patchouli. Ha.v- t mg pocketed my £2 2s, she asked my •: name and-.then-^took the letters separ- . -rtely and'^redfufced them to numerals. ': Atter that she added the year in which! x"; I was torn, multiplied the result byt j the tune the sun's rays took to reach. '' the earth on the day of my birth, and-I *•* announced impressively that "T was 'A " olosed seven oscillating on {ha moon.'V ' When I Ja-ughed she became annoyed) " and told me curtly that I was in danger^ V of developing the habit of taking drugs,» 1 ymch was inherited. That was my for-1' time.

No women take the clairvoyants mom i seriously than those who regularly nay 7 their half-crowns. One woman who was < told recently that her hushand, a sailor, - wouldl .be dro.wn*d through the torpedol - mg of his ship, became so worried that ' she wrote to her husband asking him to com« home, as she and his eon wer« "5 both very ill. He obtained leave, and v i on arrival home found that all was wel» *