FORTUNE TOLD

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXIX, Issue 86, 7 April 1934, Page 8

FORTUNE TOLD

Married Constable WAS TO BECOME ENGAGED WHAT THE CARDS DISLOSED One of the patrons of a fortuneteller in Christchurch recently was Constable Wilks, who, as he told the Court on Thursday, certainly heard things that surprised him. “She told me,” he said, “that I was keeping company with a small, dark girl and would be engaged within five months.” Senior-sergeant Fox: And are you keeping company with a small, dark girl? Constable Wilks: No, I happened to ,be married at the time. And is your wife a small, dark girl?—No. Defendant was Mrs. Clarice Laird, of Mowbray Street, and she was charged with undertaking to tell fortunes. She was represented by Mr Hunter, who produced a doctor’s certificate stating that Mrs. Laird ■was in hospital. Her husband was in Court, and it was desired that the case should proceed, as Mrs. Laird had been greatly worried over it.

Conviction Entered. Mrs. Laird was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within three months if called on. Constable Wilks, in evidence, said that he had made an appointment with Mrs. Laird, stating that someone who knew of Mrs. Laird had suggested that he go and see her. On his arrival he was seated at a table in a bedroom and cut a pack of cards in three. A crystal sphere was on the table, together with a piece of black velvet and odd papers. When he cut the cards the crystal was put in his hands and covered with the cloth. Mrs. Laird told him that he would go on an unexpected journey. The Magistrate, Mr. E. D. Mosley: And did you go an unexpected journey? Witness: Not yet.

Continuing, the constable said there was to be a death in his family. He would meet three men through whom he would get permanent employment. The Magistrate: That's good. The constable said he was also to sign some papers. He was asked his birthday and told that the opal was his stone and Australia would be lucky for him. The further north he went the better it would be for him, although a wife would not be a social asset in Australia. Mrs. Laird said that a lamb buyer had come to her once in the. nature of a joke, but had returned seve’al times afterwards Mrs. Laird said: “You musn’t believe all this as I am only me.” Mr. Hunter said that Mrs. Laird’s husband was a gardener working three days a week for a small wage. There were ten children, whose ages ranged from seven to twenty-three. So far as the fortune telling was concerned, the constable was told not to take it seriously and as a matter of fact he was not deceived. He submitted that the case was not one of undertaking to tell fortunes within the meaning of the Act. Comment by Magistrate. The Magistrate said the evidence went further than counsel stated. He was satisfied that the woman was carrying on the practice of fortune telling. It was not sufficient, after the woman had performed her rite, or whatever it was called, to produce a card with mystic s. mbols on it and bearing the word “amusement” or some such form. '.t was different from going into a tearoom and having a cup read. It would have an effect on the minds of some peopl particularly women who would be influenced by what they were told. It was not a desirable feature.