The National tribune., 1892-01-07
CAPITAL HUNBUGS,
The Mediums and ClairVOyantS Who
Prey Upon the People.

city large numbers OF people visit them daily.
in Washington the number is not so great as IN
larger titles hut those who are here do
striving business. People in al grades of So
Ciety visit them. for superstition Is not confined
90 age sex social status.
The other day the writer called upon several
Of these people aud was surprised at the aver
ago uniformity u the story that was told. 4
first went 10 Madame Blank. As 10 was after
dark when rang the bell was ushered into
a hall which WIS not very brightly lighted,
on making known my desire 20 see tho Mad
ame I was shown into a room aud the door
closed ] found myself in absolute darkness,
and Just al that moment there was a tremen-
dous Jar as III some big Object bad violently
fallen or as II there was an intention 20 create
an impression of fear by what may be called
stage thunder
Had been at al timid should have jumped
and fed the house at once; but rs ] had laid
for hours night after night on Morris Island
listening 90 the shells as they came from Fort
Sumter aud the Sullivan Island batteries, and
then subsequently, had heard the terrible can
uonadiug nj Gettysburg ] didn't propose 10
run until j knew what was the matter.
After a few minutes a woman entered the
room bearing lamp, which she placed upon
small table, and asked me il desired a sitting.
] told her ] did, and she then informed me she
was Madame Blank. AT the same time dis
covered she was the identical person who had
admitted ne 60 the front door. She asked me
If D had ANY special subject about which /
wished to inquire and replied that had not;
that had never had my fortune told, and that
] bad Ica.Hud that period in life when j
Thought ID was desirable 10 know what the
future had 10 store for me- She than sat her
self on ono side Of the small table and placed
me directly opposite her. She produced pack
OF cards aud asked me il could shuttle them.
As ] had SAT many night until dayhreak
.....tN Il
shuttle 30 some extent, aud proceeded TO give
her AN artistic exhibition OF the manner in
which cards could be manipulated bya expert.
She then told me TO make wish, cut three
Times with my left hand, and lay tho cards
separately. This did three times in succession,
aud each time she went through the separate
piles selecting certain cards which she placed
in rows upon tho table with their faces upward
until the table number reached Is.
She proceeded 20 tell me what was in those
cards for me- was 10 receive q letter shortly.
That letter was to be about money. There was
10 be a death in the near future, which would
materially alter nay plans, but that would be
prosperous in business ventures. and ultimately
amass quite a sum OF money. There was also
blonde woman who was likely TO get me into
some trouble with dark woman. This blonde
being jealous of my attentions 20 the aforesaid
dark lady; bat il would come out all right and
would marry the dark one. She added that
] would be married twice and would have at
least three children.
suggested that il ] was going to marry
twice j would have TO harry NJ, but she re-
piled that the cards seemed to indicate that my
FIRST wife would not live long, which would
give me an opportunity for the second marriage.
She was quite emphatic that ] would be quite
prosperous financially, that j would be long
lived, and would pass q peaceful old age uuiu-
numbered by fears Of poverty or financial dis
trcss This Was an very pleasant, aud J asked
her how much of what she had tod me she
would guarantee as truth.
She looked up with an air Of injured inno-
cence and said she hoped the majority of il
would be true; that she believed implicitly in
what she had said j should mention. how
ever, that the cards she used were not the
regular playing cards although they were OF
the same size aud could be used for that pur-
pose. The body Of the card was covered by
pictures Of angels aud cherubs aud castles in
the air, while in the upper left hand corner
there were regular spots or faces that belonged
10 an ordinary pack. ID the upper rigbt-hand
corner each card bore q letter. When she was
arranging the cards in rows j underworld 10
see III those letters could be made 10 spell any
particular word. But j failed 10 see that they
could After the sitting was over ! paid the
lady and bowed myself out.
Ny next visit WAS also TO q female fortune
teller WHO SIS led herself an astr0logist aud q
manner b impress the supcrtitious with
awe A great map containing the signs OF the
zodiac hung against one wall, while there was
pictures OF Mephst0pholes aud other diab0li cal
personages scattered about. The room was
barren OF furniture save a table and two chairs
She was extremely cautions, aud would only
admit one individual at q time asserting that
the presence Of third party would destroy the
influence. Although she claimed 10 read the
stars, she also told fortunes by cards aud pro-
duCed pack differing from that VIII ch ] have
heretofore described ia that the figures upon
them were those 0i devils and imps and other
horrible shapes. The fact that tbrv "a use a
certain method aud bad a stereo:yred story 10
tell, wac illustrated when this SECOND person,
who was @ lady evidently Of foreign birth, be-
cause her English was very much broken. told
me practically the same story that had heard
uOt hall hour before. This person added,
however that ! was 10 take journey soon,
going over the water, and that THAI journey
would be the result OF the information received
in that letter. Her story was identical in the
respect that ] should be married twice, adding
TIE statement that j should be the father Of a
least three children.
The ncz, visit that made was to a woman
who has been Ia the city Cor a long number o.
years, aud there are those who assert that sh,
a. told them some remarkable truths Sh,
dertO0k 10 read my future by the palm o.
my ieft hand, aud yet, after studying II very
closely, her story WAS practically the same a.
that Of the other two. There were Sigh
variations rs ~ detail but the outline wa
just what bad been told me twice before. Sh,
was particularly anxious at first 10 know If
Wa ln any special trouble, whether OF business
orr love affair When i asserted that wa
not worried over either one Of those subjects
she seemed rather surprised, and said tina
people rarely came 10 her unless they lad SOM
specific inquiry 10 make.
She admitted that she usually took her Gu
from the questions asked by her sittcrs an,
that 4 long experience i'm the reading Of face
enabled her 10 follow the train Of the sitter
thoughts aud wishes with tOleTabie accuracy
lu reading ths lines OF my hand she said som
truths in regard 10 incidents that had happene
ln my lltc, but they were only those that apl
one might have guessed without having an.
previous knowledge of the circumstances.
Ny last visit was 10 clairyoyanL ] f0uu
her 10 be a hght-haired woman with large
full, blue eyes sunk deeply in her head an
tired, care worn look on her face She sal
she was both healing medium aud q rcade
Of future destiny. She took my hand an
then went into trance, but how far she wa
absolutely unconscious IL was diiiCult Tor m
~ determine.
was skeptioal - 10 the reality Of Der franc,
because wleu she began 10 talk she told yer
nearly the same story that j had already lisl
ened to three times. She made a variation !
the statement that j was intended Tor som
public position which would give me an OF
portunity 10 influence large bodies OF people
that 4 had the leadership faculty largely q,