Seeing An Astrologer. How a Fat "Woman Makes And Easy" Living.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 208, 25 June 1887, Page 8

Seeing An Astrologer. How a Fat "Woman Makes And Easy" Living.

I have bsSTT- looking into some o£^h& business dovi^by- snch men as the so-called astrologer, Do Leon, who was sentenced recently for kidnapping a young girl. The' police toll mi that &a a rale the business of the people v-iio advertise that they -can read the sfcai=- for your benefit for £1, cash down, is practically harmless, except* ■to the gudgeons r rho arc- induced to part 'vith their money fcMiothmg,, the victims being ■ mostly women or very young men. The business as a rule is- profitable enough without renorV-ng to anything -which will bring them mt > bho elvttehes of the police • to keep them from sueb games as De Leon was up to. In order ts» get a glimpse of astrology in tlh. 10th cynfcury ,tnd East/ Fourth street, New York, I selected one of the adverrisemw ,«:- which seemod to promise well. 3t was a- follows : "Madam the seventh d uighter of a seventh daughter, for $1 «_ onLs ami 50 cents ladiesy, will give informal on of ike greatest value bo persons m need o^ it at lioi- offices, . Those who are in love or wish to mako-' money by specula!" on, or who are sick and '. wish to got wv.ll, ov uho are abuut to enter into any enloi prise -of importance will da. well to call. JMme, • — is"never known to fail." Leaving my watch at homo and providing mysoh with ] lit SI, 1 rang the bell of a shabby brick English basement-house >' in tlie neighbourhood indicated, and was . s-hown into a dark and dirty hall by a little girl, Avho held a pota;o in one h^nd and a knife in the othoi , while her mouth was full of bread nnd butter, 1 inquired of the • child for Mme. , when, with an unintelligible mumble, she pointed with theknifo up staii i * am!, rikmniin^ the door, left me to feel my way up a greasy staircase. The hou^c had the abominable -m 101 l with which old hoarding-houses far gone in decline arc saturated, an. I L felt that I had had my dolku\* wath before L had got to the top of the stair-*. Bur; once lleie my difficulties ended. Stunning at *he top was Wme. in person, a woman who iright have token a prue at iv Bowery fat-women's contest, *»cry hoy, \-ery gr^a^, and exhalinjr a r.<u "<> .-m<ill gailio. in half a minute sh" lia-l miii; me confer that I had come to consult ilmc. a-> lo whether JJelaware and Lack aw ami a mas a good tiling to buy, and whether I had , better get married. My inquiiies did not. seem to astonish llmo. , v. iio backed into a sitting-room furnished in horse-hair 1 furniture of foity years ago, and having in one corner a model of the solar system, apparently fiom some pav/n shoj). Mine, sat down on a t>ofa which I e-\j>et'ted to seecollapse, and said : ' ' Vat va.^h dot sthock vat you vants to buy? Write Jot." I scribbled it off on a slip of paper and handed it to her. As the enormous -woman got near the light to look at my speculation she wa-, (mite a piclute—daik-eyod, black frowsy hair, and enormous rolls of. fat> sloping oil' in various directions. With her fat and dirty hands holding the paper. she looked once or twice at it, and crumpling it up, sni ', with, an ah of my-teiy, "Sib dare, vile I go con^hult de oiacle," putting the accent; on the second syllable. With, that she walked out, pressing the paper to her foichead. For two minutes 1 .vi(. taking a fun vcy, and then I ventured to make some mve c tigations as to what the priestess was doing with the oracle. She had fastened the door afterher, but fiom (he sound-, and uhe sraell I was pretty sure that she w.is IV) ing steak and onions for dinner anJ making Kie pay for the feast. There was absolutely nothingin the room to amuse mo except a few Gei - man books, and so I waited paiienbly, until lime. reappeared, veiy i<;d in the face and followed by a whiff of onions arid steak. " Youmushtbuy datshtock, und right avay buy. It i=i]i a good punc^s. Oue dollar. It is sheep " " j»ut," I ha/auled, -' at what price sha l ! T buy and bc^v lon'^ -hall I keep on ?*' "If j'ou vish to pay am dollar more, 1 vill again der oracle con.-milt. "' This time I suppose she would have boiled the potatoes oi made the pie. and as I had helped along that dinner sufficiently I ga"\ c the dollar an 4 made off without even reminding her I wanted to know whether the youni; lady w r hom 1 thought of marry* in<i was the fail* speculation or not. — Town. Talk, in " Biou'dyn Ea^le/'