The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-17
LAiSI'INY REVEALED.
How THE FUTURE is READ BY CHI
NESE SOOTHSAYERS.

s:vc Itctln:i..
IN every Chinese community there
viii lie fuu;il ouc or moro soothsaycrs
Gr fortune tcliors, who, in return for a
small coin, Will send fate seeking
Chinaman away either happy or miscr-
able. Tho Chinese quarter in Now York
supports three of these fortune iugglers,
WHO :nalagc 10 make a fairly good liv-
Ing out Of their patrons. III this country
the sCoiIlSagcr Is not so important
parsonage among Cinnamon us he is III
China, for the influence of "Molican"
man has affected even stolid John.
Many Of them boast of their Indifference
to tic auguries of the "lucl:" sticks.
iii China tic lower classes never
take any step of importance without
consulting their favorite soothsayer, so
that no exercises considerable Influence
among his customers. Tho Chinese fcs-
tlval Oh their Now Years day is tho
great day to take 4 peep into the future,
and the Chinese como into New York
from all tho neighboring towns which
are not strong enough in Cinnamon to
support fortune teller One of the
soothsaycrs plies his trade on the side
walk i'll hot weather. Another has his
headquarters close to the Chinese the
alter, while the third is in the josshouse
Ill Mott street. Every josshouso has its
fortune telling appliances, which arc
kept i'll front of the altar ready for the
use of the worshipers. There are sew
eral kinds of apparatus used to tell for
tunes. One of them consists of two
pieces of wood, which arc round on ono
side and fiat on the other.
When some supcrStitious Chinaman de-
sires to havo his fortune told, he pays 10
cents to the soothsayer, and asks the seer
what prospect tlicro is for him in the
near future. The man of fate mumbles
an lncantation over the two pieces of
wood, and then throws them upon the
ground. Upon their position depends the
fate OF the anxious customer. If they
both lio with flat sido up, it is mod
cra'ely bad Sign and calls for great can
ton on the part OF the fortune seeker in
his conduct during the coming year
When one Is round side up and the other
flat side up, the augury is extremely
favorable and tho Chimaman goes on
his way rejoicing. If both turn round
side up, the outlook is exceedingly
gloomy and something terrible may be
expected to happen soon. The idea is TO
so frame the question that tho position
OF tho sticks will give an answer ono
way or another. The customer asks, for
instance, whether tomorrow will be a
good day or not to open laundry bust
ness If the answer is mfavorable. he
81,
verdict of the sticks upon that PROPOSE
ton. He continues until ho gets one ND
round and ono flat and makes his plans
accordingly.
Tho Instruments found in tho loss
house arc those most generally used and
consist Of largo number of bamboo
strips III i handsomely carved cylindric
al box Each strip is about ten inches
long and 4 quarter of an inch wide.
They arc all polished to high degree
OF smoothness and squared off at one
end, tho other end being round. The
strips arc all numbered from one up
ward, generally running as far as 90.
Sometimes thero arc 100 in a box. but
rarely more. In this case the augury
costs so cents, but fan and some Joss
sticks arc thrown ill.,
The Chinaman wishing to learn his
fate chooses at random ono of the little
sticks, and reads aloud tho number OIL
it. The soothsaycr then goes to Il board
upon which arc strung number Of red
slips Of paper, numbered in tho samo
way as the bamboo sticks. Upon each
ticket is written the fate of tho Gus
toner and tho one corresponding in
number with the number on the sticl,
which he has drawn is detached from
the board. When translated, q lucky
ticket will read something like this:
Though dark clouds now roll over Your
head, the fates will ultimately smilo
upon you. All your undertakings will
prosper and your path through life will
be strewn with tho flowers of pcacc''
y Tribune reporter drew one which
was interpreted as meaning: "Riciies
and good fortune will he your torch
bearers throughout your career, and in
the smile Of Buddha shall you bask.
Your heart shall glow with happiness
even as the steady glow of tho joss
stick.
1t is not absolutely necessary that tho
Chinaman wishing to have his fortune
told should be present. Many customers
remit tho fec, and the fortune teller
draws for thom and mails the littlo red
ticket which contains the result. The
results are not always favorable and the
most CHASTITY predictions are contained
on some OF the slips, which greatly re-
semblc laundry tickets.
The higher grade Of soothSayers pre-
dict fortunes by means of casting
horoeco,., ,,.b;gl - c.,,,ntl;,,,v l,I.o fla.