Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-05

future in various styles for revenue only.
And he will do we'll.
OF all the methods of. earning a liveli-
hood. perhaps, the practice of fortune
telling is the most curious. Man has a.
ways been anxious to pierce the dense
veil that separates the present from the
future. Hence the prestige enjoyed by
those who call themselves SYPHILIS.
1t is, perhaps, a favorable omen that
we are emerging from the cloud of SUI
| perstition which has so long lowered over
us, when we no longer believe in fortune
telling with cards." We now demand
| that the Fates shall be consulted by the
broad light Of science" Instead OF
| 'Zingari,' with her soft Southern eyes.
dusky hair and picturesque garb, we
have a Prof. and a Madame. with an
armor of charts and certificates as i'm
penetrable as was the coat of mail worn
by the knights of old. These people may
or may not possess a real knowledge or
the science of chirosophy or palmistry,
! with which they are supposed to be con-
versant, but the fact remains that their
dividends are not to be despised. During
the winter months these enterprising peo-
pie locate in the city, occupying apart
ments more or less sumptuously fur
nished, according to the ideas of their
patrons. For a consideration they Will
"read your PALM" but depend princi-
pally for their income on their pupils"
These are very often young men and
women of good families who seek to as
tonish and amuse their friends at sea-
coast and mountain during the summer
with their superior knowledge.
With the warm weather, however, the
professor and madame, with half a dozen
comely young women, leave ehind them
the dust of the city and proceed with
their new syndicate on futurity to fresh
fields and pastures green. Picture to
| I-nrrco1f n n a ', i1nlncn1 NV font walls
In this Enclosure are pitched eight or ten
"tepees" or gypsy tents. The whole
camp is made gay and picturesque with
brilliant banners and Japanese lanterns.
Each tent is occupied by a young woman
who for SO cents will unfold for you a
future of such dazzling brightness that
for days afterward you awaken eacn
morning expecting that in the silent
watches of the night some radical
change has take place in your affairs
temporal. Here it is that the professor
shows his breadth of mind as we'll as his
commercial instincts. for while he stren-
uously disapprOves of the b%enighted GUS
toms of the gypsies of bygone days.
yet. with a sigh perchance for desecrated
science, he makes a concession to super
stition that hath half a dollar in its hand
to spend upon the oracle of the cards.
Here shall you in very truth find that
mystery your soul Graves and if the read
ing by the palm or the cards suffice you
not, there is one to whom the stars tell
their prophetic secrets-for coin of the
realm. Would you have yet more, the
trance lady is ready and willing to COM
mune. Here there are costumes of black
and of red, with stars and crescents and
cabalistic symbols galore. Here is the
same old sparkling future and ambigu-
Gus past with the pretended friend plot
ting against your happiness and that of
the lady you love, just as they did when
the pyramids were building.
Still more would you have? Well, for
an additional so cents you may purchase
an amulet or charm which will not only
release you from present impending dis
asters. but will in the future ward off
dangers of every description from sick
ness to the wild beasts of the jungle, and
if you are not satisfied with that you are
hard to please.
There is one where a square of White
paper is pressed into your palm; 30 Sec
onds later you behold the likeness of
your future wife or husband. You go
| away undecided whether it was the
moisture from your hand which devel-
oped a negative, or whether the weird
incantations of the pretty little witch
called into form the face on the paper.
This little band remains a week
in a place. No salaries are paid.
but at night each one hands
over her receipts of the day, of
which she receives 35 per cent. as her
snare. lFdlSpOIldllOH Is LuIulSHcu dAU
sleeping accommodations in the tents.
One tent is reserved for culinary pur-
poses. This ruthless tearing the veil away
from the future continues all summer
long and many impatient mortals who
are not satisfied with the troubles they
have take a peep behind the veil to anti
cipate those of the future. You and {
may not believe in palmistry, but it is.
nevertheless, true that a Belzac, a Du-
mas and a BuIwer have repeatedly de-
clared their faith in the science to be un-
conquerable. Until 1885 the Christian
church found no harm in palmistry, and
several of its priests We're no mean
adopts of the ancient science. So, if you
J own to a sneaking belief in these things
and are ashamed of it you may console
yourself with the reflection that there
rave been others.
: