CUNNING WITCHES WEAVE WILY SPELLS

NZ Truth, Issue 1193, 11 October 1928, Page 8

CUNNING WITCHES WEAVE WILY SPELLS

SOME of these gifted aeers advertise quite openly m the dailies and it was from the '^Evening Post" that the two seekers' Rafter wisdom extracted the address of Mrs. Sinclair —"cards, palmistry and crystal." Her abode at 13, Jessie Street, is an old house which must remember Wellington's youthful days.' " ■ " ■■■".'■■ ■ ' The door was opened by an old man, white-haired, tall, and evidently quite prepared for the visitors' request to know what the future had m store. They were shown into a sitting-room which might have been transported from a Victorian novel —dried grasses and paper flowers on the table, queer old vases everywhere that standing room appeared. Evidently occult knowledge hadn't m this case, extended to Derby winners. . : Mrs. Sinclair, who appeared after a ten" minutes' wait, is a woman of some considerable age — probably over seventy. On this; particular afternoon, she wore a long black gown and scarlet slippers. . . The fun soon began. A pack of cards was extracted from a drawer, a crystal, swathed m black velvet, appeared mysteriously from nowhere — and the reading commenced. Personal contact Is necessary m the best ciroles for fortune-telling. . The moment the cards, or crystal, touch the patient's hand, they become like a bloodhound that has smelt an escapee's glove, leading the fortune-teller straight to her destination. * . Virtues and beauties of soul which, the two clients had never even susPromised J Success pected m themselves were made apparent. They were promised success and fame m music, though the 'best '■: that either could do was to ■ play the. song about bananas on a mouth-orgafl.j' . It is a little disconcerting •far <a modern girl, who rather fancies' herself at poker and believes that 1 the- jleedle was invented to induce gramophones/;to burst into song, to. learn that; she /will have no luck at games of chance niut will prove excellent at the womanly art of sewing on Bhirt-buttons. , The first "subject," after holding the ; crystal between her hands, was told to. look into it and be. quite frank .about iwhat she saw. - She. saw nothing —and said so. Mrs. Sinclair, however, had better eyesight. She saw an early marriage and four children, not to mention a dark man who should be shunned on account of his reluctance either to settle down or settle up with his girl friends. . v When the second maiden looked into the crystal, she was amazed to see blue colors and an open stretch of light, which looked uncommonly like sea. ■, ■' • ■ ■ ' ■•'-.' ' ■ ■ On communicating this, the fortuneteller immediately agreed that a.long sea journey was "on the way" and a trip to Australia the least that could be expected., But, looking again Into the crystal, the. inquirer noticed that it was placed exactly opposite the window —what she had seen was the reflection of a pane of glass. ■ ■■ _ . , However, the fortune-teller, perfectly happy, continued to see early marriages and presented her Mythical Brother second victim with yet another j four children; then, oatohlng a look which might be defined aa protest m the listener's eye, she hastily reduced'the number to two. And everybody smiled again. After cutting, shuffling and drawing from a pack of cards, both girls were requested to ask questions and to wish. One asked for information concerning her brother and was told that he would do well m his Government position. The fact that the brother didn't exist rather counteracted the cheering effect of this news. The second girl wanted to know whether her father was really going to take a plunge into the deep waters of a Becond. marriage. She was told that the psychic had already seen such a marriage m the crystal, but hadn't liked to mention it. Feeling—as her first mother had Vet to vacate the premises—that this was perhaps enough, the seeker after wls-^ dom arose and handed m her little half-crown. ■ ■' ■ Then: began a wild chase for a phrenologist, who, until a few weeks ago, had decorated a shop window m Upper' Cuba Street with a large and interesting chart of the human head. On this chart, such ■ qualities as "love of music," "lack of truth," and : so on, were marked. m rieat little compartments, eacH compartment illustrated by some picture-version of the quality concerned. "JJesire"' was illustrate ed by a simple drawing of a doublebed. ■ ■' •■ ,■ -■ "' ■■:•■ '..' ■:'.>■ .-■•': -' • - Outside, m the street, played a darkeyed little waif of a girl, ;who, when iniiiiniiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiimmiiiiiiiiiiimmtiiiiiiiiiimiiiiuiliiniuitiiiiiiiiiiiiiKOiiiiinimiiiiiiiiij iiuiiMimimiiim itiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKuiiiiiimiu

ON THE CRAZIEST ROAD OF ALL

Behind Secrecy of Locked Doors, Clairvoyants Are Reaping Rich Harvest

"THE road to Endor is the oldest of roads and the craziest road of all." Not the least, crazy are those who live a sordid, 'harassed life by its wayside, continually haunted by the • cold and uncharitable eye of the local' policeman. Viewed as an indoor,: game, _ .fortune-telling might be amusing for the very young. But the fun ceases when it . becomes an " illegal means of livelihood.

PSYCHIC R

From t(me to time, a whisper hits the local breeze thai, despite the doubting attitude of our police force, certain Wellington ladies still continue to find crystal -•gazing, tyalmistry, clairvoyance and the, rest of the noble arts that connect the sybil \wiih the sap, a highly gay and profitable pastime. Filledwith a desire to see whether such things could really be, two Wellington girls recently made a grand tour of the city and returned with their life-lines literally cluttered up with fatherly fair men > and dangerous dark ladies.

questioned, admitted that "Madame,*' her mother, would feel one's bumps, natural and otherwise, for the sum of five shillings. On revisiting: this place, however, tlie seekers found the shutters up on an empty shop and were told that the phrenologists had been moved on to Newtown. Here, too, the police had been possessed of a mad burst of energy, for the gipsy-folk had been persuaded, first to move back to Kent Terrace, and then to quit the country altogether. But, from their next-door neighbor, a bright-faced girl m charge of a little laundry, some . information ; waa obtained about their Kent Terrace stay.' "They were a queer lot and no,mistake," said this lassie. "We know, because people were always coming m to us to ask for advice about" getting valuables back; m the end they had to leave so suddenly that we still have some of their laundry. "Their name was Miller and they came from America. There was a whole crowd of them, men and women, and they were of the real gipsy type. "When people went In, they paid five shillings first tp have their heads read; most of them needed a little head-reading, too. Then they were, asked to leave, something really valuable— -a ring, a coat or money—for, three days, and their luck would be changed. Well, the bad luck may have gone, but so did, the valuables. . "One man, who was mixed up with a law suit, was asked to leave a. £5 note. He hadn't that much with him, so/he left £2. When he came 'back, madame told him that the luck couldn't change until he brought the other three. So he brought them m, arid, needless to say, they went, too. "I know of one girl who didn't have much money, so she left her new coat. She never got it back again. The. whole crowd were swindlers, pure and simple, and it's a good thing the police have moved them on." What she describes as "a beautiful gift God gave me" has brought no hapMadctme's Wisdom piness to Madame Sonia (otherwise Mrs. Wiltshire), who is at present m Wellington, seeking- redress for the, nasty behavior of Cabinet Ministers, Australian premiers and what not. In the first place, a cold-hearted magistrate asked: "Did- God tell you to oharge five shillings?" — this being m reference to a fortune-telling charge on which madame was recently summoned before an interested Christchurch court. Christchurch is the nearest thing to a permanent. home which madame may claim to possess, for she goes hither and thither, seeking whom she may enlighten. Queensland has been, no doubt, considerably bucked by her ministration's— for, as she told the magistrate; "Through my wisdom, people have come into milluns of pounds." . r Unfortunately, as Dickens told us long ago, "the law Is a hass," and has frequently stepped m with heavy foot just when Sonia's prospects • were at their rosiest. „ Sonia's husband became mentally' deranged. Her five children she deposited m a Nelson home, whilst away from the country "on business." In her absence, a' wicked uncle withdrew the children from the nest and took them to a place at RakaJa, where they were taught, according to Spnia, to -hate their mother's name. "I was accused ot being a bad. character and a drunkard," said madame, "and I never got. the chance, to fight my case. But I'm going to now. I'll fight all over the world. At one house where I stayed, just to trap me, they sent three men. at a time to my door. When I refused to pay maintenance for my children— because I didn't know where they were or even if they were, alive — they sent me to prison with hard labor for three months. "They took away my flannels— the very best, 15/- a pair--and ; made me wear one of those calico shirts. I've had rheumatics and. walked with a stick, ever since/ Madame is no longer young, though she has, according to herself, had several recent opportunities to take up singing as a career: Moreover, she gets advice of the same nature from spirit friends, who are very annoyed when she replies that she. prefers her present' vocation.. ■'. l - ;. -She is a foreigner; extremely vague about the exact place of her birth, but England, Australia and New Zealand, are all countries m which she^has suffered tremendous wrongs 'from those high m authority. . . ' ' : She had a lot to say concerning women who, y"took away her character" whilst themselves peeping vwliat she called .-'.'houses of ill-flame." . ;, No amount/of •■persuasion could bring her to see that perhaps she wou,ld be well -advised to humor the police on the matter; of fortune-telling .and to forget her wrongs m the interests " of some new profession. . This, however, is the shady . side of the road .to En dor ; whilst one may meet highwaymen on that interesting route, the- greater number of the oldest Inhabitants are a harmless-^-and sometimes patttetic— crew, eking out a modest livelihood from the charming credulity of the public. ■.'■'-.. / After all, if , women . like to be told' that they are talented, • fatally fascinating, sensitive and misunderstood, why shouldn't the fortune-tellers oblige? In higher arid more sceptical circles,, sweet ladies of fashion pay much dearer rates, to the lounge lizard wl\o tells them precisely the. same • things. Teacup-reading is a 'great pastime. Little Mrs.. Call, who lives up m Garrit Street, .won't see clients except by appoiritmerit. , So, at t^e chosen hour, "Truth's" • girl investigators toddled along, with teacups, skilfully concealed about their persons. ' ' ; ; : The house is fronted by a little gar-

WLE OF FORTUNE-IELLL

(From "N.Z. . Truth's" Special Wellington Representative.)

den full of Jonquils. In the sittingroom, one meets those same old paper flowers, but there' is an old German piano, while on the wall hangs a portrait of the splendid Boldier-sbn, one of two who were killed m action during the war. Here ifl the 1 pathetic side of the fortune -telling profession.

Mrs. Call, a tiriy, grey-haired woman; like a figure out of a fairy-tale, seems to. live all alone. She won't see her clients m twos.

Behind the secrecy of a locked door, the mysterious cUp, whose tea- leaves indicate to the practised eye every secret of the future, is brought to light. . . .-• ' ■ '.-

Success, virtue, beauty and joy ate,

Dangerous Blonde

of course, there m

abundance,

The

sharp eye of the seer

detects

a strong

resemblance to a bunch of flowers m an apparently shapeless mass of tealeaves. This means that first prize m the Calcutta sweep might tumble into one's lap almost. any day.

Before entering the room, one maiden had decided to test the clairvoyance of ihe seer. So. a thin gold' ring blossomed out on one finger which had worn no ring before . . .and the, talk became confidential, _,a8 becomes married women. A dark man and a fair man bowed politely over the edge of the teacup. When the dark man was mentioned, the maiden sighed.

"Your husband, isn't he, dear?" ln-

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini

quired the sympathetic adviser, who is riot above taking any little hint that a client may let drop. Followed a gradual unfolding of the evils of unhappy married life— the frequency and unpleasantness of men who "put upon" their wives, arid the virtues of fair men as compared with dark. ..

"Almost before! she knew where she was, the maiden, found herself presented with two ready-made children —a 1 fair girl and a dark boy. The dark boy was a little delicate as to chest, while the fair girl 'had an unseemly habit of practising scales on the piano. Their justly astonished mother was advised to take one under , eaoh arm and flee from "the dungeon of an unhappy marriage. Maybe, she might chance to meet a fair . man while fleeing ...

"For, though," said the prophetess, "I'd be the last to come between husband and wife,., it's no good keeping on with a marriage that's all clashes and jars. And a dark girl's nature fits m with a fair man's— so there you are. Besides, you'll be very lucky m business, dearie."

A modest shilling paid for all this consolation. But further along the quest, the three-shilling touch was encountered. . .

Mrs. Green, of Hopper Street, is by way of being a clairvoyant-de-luxe. Her house is a pleasant,

iiiuiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiinimiiiiiiiiinimi

IN her half- lighted, shuttered rooms, the "clairvoyant 1 ' medium sees— or says she Sees— the spirits of dead friends "building up" beside her customers. Dead mothers, dead : husbands or children, are "jam" to the far-seeing lady, who is able, from questions asked concerning the dead, to , gather , enough detail about the living, to make her "fortune", a fairly, if thinly, plausible, tale. r . —

G FAKEM

well-furnished place, and she herself, a neat little lady, with the .very latest thing m Eton crops crowning a well-kept person. Does the fact that three shillings for half-an-hpur's light and interesting toll is not such a' bad rate, have any bearing whatsoever on this? «» Mrs. Green Is a little untidy about appointments and doesn't like being disturbed. "Hush," she said, as a very gentle knock fell upon her door, "you'll disturb the Influence." Apparently the object on which the Influence was trying its hand' had, however, seen enough of the game, for a lady rose hastily from a ohair within and glided away at an enviable rate of speed.i - : , • Cards and palmistry are Mrs. Green's psychic weapons. She is certainly more intelligent than, her weird sisters, for she foretold certain of her subjects' tastes and characteristics With a fair amount of skill. , But her, stock of fair felons arid dark dreams she refuses entirely, to dispense with; the' usual, quantity of "surprise" brothers and sisters was passed cut lop inspection. ... Her "fortunes" are very comforting to the simple-minded — success, travel, love and rehowii being offered on a larger scale than most of her profession will venture to predict. But it seems pathetic, ; not to say peculiar, that the lady didn't keep at least one clairvoyant eye on her ovrn imniediate future. . ■ . . ' - She might, for instance, have found a great deal to interest her m the dangerous, dark form of the chief detective,-, for barely a week after the tour of inspection, she paid a formal visit -to the Wellington Magistrate's Court, therein to plead guilty, without reservation, to two charges of fbrtune-telllng. ■ Tl^ree pounds, and ten. shillings costs, was the hideous consequence. So far, the Wellington "witches" had proved disappointingly lacking m sensational qualities,: Where were their cauldrons, where their broomsticks, where the pleasant odor of brimstone with which the bosom-pals of wise A Chinese Dragonwomen were, m the good old days, generally greeted 7 ,-\ ■ ■ ■ . But long search unearthed a house m Queen Street at which every detail of well-appointed witchcraft was observed, down to the on© white .hair m the tail of the black oat. Next door is an old wooden building with a Chinesp dragon painted on its wall. Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch's small dwelling place is a wooden . cottage fronting the street. A tap on the door brought the prophetess herself to see what strange— not to Bay poor— fish were nibbling. '■ ■'•.:■ Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch is a woman of some colored race. She has frizzy, black hair, the upturned eyes of , the clairvoyant and a red woollen skirt whose length would delight folk who hold that the i modern girl Is naughty. In the evenings, she holds psyohio and health classes, being very well m with the "great healing powers," which, as she explains, take the most intense interest In the chilblains and rheumatics of this world. ' The evening class Is held In a dimlylighted room, only one lamp flickering amid the most effective shadows. As far as the eye- can see— or nose can smell-^appear blaok oats, little, greeneyed arid frisky. A huge black Persian, the daddy of them all, spent most of his time purring ori a chair m the room of revelations and heightened the uncanny effect quite a bit. '■'■.'■ About fifteen pupils, mainly women, with one small. man, looking very forlorn m their midst,, were received by a sort of under-priestess, and relieved of their coats' and a shilling apiece. Sbriie personal article, such as a ring or a glove, was then requested and was placed m a deep wicker-basket. The proceeds were then borne m triumph to Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch, who stood with eyes closed and hands tightly clasped, swaying backwards and forwards before a duly impressed meeting. A long"* prayer began the session. Pupils were informed that "there are no dead" and that they were surrounded on all sides by forces who werent at all , above ■ putting a finger Into earthly pies. , The prayer finished, Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch picked up one of the personal' belongings, felt it tenderly and_ announced that she was m touch with the names Annie and Robert. . Annie was "out of the body. In other "words, she was a Bpirit making a friendly visit to Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch's little room. However, nobody seemed to know exactly what her business might be, so the medium said: "We'll just let Annie and Robert pass on," and the little unwanteds were, so to speak, given the air. No doubt, m some other psychic haunt, they were hailed as old friends. Elizabeth— also "out of the body"— came next and at first seemed likely to meet with the same fate as Annie. But, at the last moment, she was claimed by an old lady, who was later revealed' as a sort of conjurer's "gentleman m the audience"; m other words,, she was there to collect unwanted spirits, when the list of names that nobody knew or cared for became too prodigious. As time went on, however, Thomas, Albert and Bill found friends among the audience, for the medium's motto is: "If at first you .don't succeed, guess, guess, guess again." The claimants of spirit friends were then told what the future had m store for them. American and Australian flags were fairly frequent, denoting travel to those countries. Each disciple was given a little touching advice about her health. .One , wa& — for some reason known only to Mrs: Sorrenson Hatch and the spirits— to gargle with salt water.' Another

imijfnifminiiiifiifrmnfniiiiiiinfinfiiiiiiitmniminmiififtTniniiftfrniffifiriifnr was given a priceless reoipe lor orange drinks. Yet another 1 was warned of a lurking weakness In the "ehube3." ' Questions were quite In order. The lady who asked whether 'her little son would be restored to health received the answer, "Yes." So did she who wanted to know whether a new business venture would succeed. At length, question time came round to one of the— so to speak—snakes In the grass. Being prompted, no doubt, ■of the. devil, she asked: "Will I win the law suit to get back the custody of my children, and, If so, should I marry again and take them away?" A deep, sympathetic 'hush fell upon the meeting, but the clairvoyant cheerfully replied that the law suit would most certainly be won and that ere long— infants and all complete— the unhappy wife would be far from the land. One .pretty, dark girl, committed the social error of . putting two personal articles ._ m; the basket. Tbe spirit influences, and what hot, attaching to the first, having been duly described, the medium was shocked and annoyed to .find the second. "Did you remember to put m your second shilling?" asked the dear old lady who had claimed "Elizabeth- out of the. body" as a personal friend. .'...•■''■■ On leaving, information was given that private seances could be attended m the daytime- * So the next afternoon saw one girl closeted with the seer, whilst another sat m a kitchen, completely Burroun,ded by - black cats, amusing herself— immensely— by reading little magazines m which recipes for vegetarian sausage were mingled The Wicked Qty with descriptions of the virtues of one Krishnamurtl, who might, m future, .come to New Zealand, -if New Zealand were good enough. v 1 A Sydney paper recently supplied some interesting information concerning this gentleman, who was, qf course,^ Mrs. Annie Besaht's trained "Messiah."; The training lasted .quite well until, 1 most unfortunately, Krishnamurti set out to redeem Paris. : . Paris promptly showed just how badly it needed redemption. A lady of the light brigade, it is said, was successful ' m the • prophet that he'd look a deal better .without his- : facial foliage.:., Shaved and entreated, even as was Samson, the- prophet simply, dis- .: appeared: m the wicked city and at" . the present moment is probably a : sfieik. -■■■-'■. ■ ■'-■ ■ ■■•■■•'■•'■■■• ".- ■'-■ -„ ■'■'"•. ■' :■.■■■■■■ '.. '. , ' ■" •■ I '. . ' Drawn blinds and a tiny brazier r'teproduced the spectral' effect of . the night before. The thing, when, interviewing a clairvoyant, is to sit at her feet; holding tightly to her hands and gazing deep Into 'her eyes. Thought transference thus becomes quite simple and Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch had no difficulty *at all m ascribing 1 three children to one astonished maiden, who was also introduced to the spirit of a little girl, as. beautiful as a fairy—according to the practised eye which alone was able to see her. '-' A sorrowful marriage, with the Influence of a most '■■ deceitful woman hovering close to the husband's head, was also diagnosed^ The eldest child of the family was "Touching" Faith reported upon as ','terrible like his father; he'll always have a terrible; strong will and he'd be better oft with, others than his mother A For the remainder, of the family, however, large quantities of all the most fruity joys— or, to quote Mrs. Sorrenson Hatch's, words, "success, happiness and that"— -were predicted. "That," said the clairvoyant, with finality, "will be just half a crown." Yet the witches of "Wellington are not without their very sincere, admirers. A lady of means and position recommended one, a woman Hying m Mowbray Street, with the very. strong terms: "I never do a stroke of business without seeing her." . The house was duly visited and every possible effort made to unearth Information concerning the road to RollsRoyces, but' the visitors completely failed to see how the clairvoyant could possibly help .-.to bring off , any stroke — unless it were a. paralytic one. . ; The complete dinginess. of the surroundings :• In ;whlch most;, of these ladies- live— their sweet Bilence, when asked why they don't themselves .concentrate very clairvoyantly on the stock exchange and thus, m a year's time, be wealthy enough to ask the Prime Minister to parties — seems, somehow, to work against the touching faith which one might otherwise have for their profession. And the Women who "never do a, stroke of business" without holding hands with a palmist may, one day— if the cards of crystal should be feeling out of sorts — have every reason to agree that fortune-telling is a, profession best left out of Wellington books. ■tiiiiiiiititniiiiiiiiiuititiititiMiiMiiiiiiitiiiiiiitiHiuniiiiiiiiiiitiiiniiiiiiutiiiiiuiiMiiiiitMtnimmmiiiir Siniiiiiiimmi^iMniuiiiiiiuiPiuiwuimiiitininiiiuinniiPiiitiiitiintiiiiiiiiiniiinuiuiimiiiwiHiit