The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-23

to business The customer must next
place the Coins inside the shell. shake
them and then turn them out on a
felt mat provided for the purpose.
This is repeated six times, the re-
vealer writing on the tin slate at each
shake of the she'll The customer
must then ask what he wants to know
A Chinese will say Subject marriage"
or Subject travel" or whatever it
may be. A long prayer, similar to the
offering of Wong Gong. then If from
the usual group OF Chinese who are
attracted an interpreter is developed
you will very likely hear long string
of fortune, generally all sunshine, for
the Heather Chinee' is a Christian
in way. for he likes to send his GUS
toners away feeling happy. If no in
terpreter is at hand,s the wizard him
self will tell you as best he can, that
there is heap luck" counting on his
fingers just how many days or weeks
of luck you may look for. Mex
month strong money, strong heart.
strong JOY" ETC.. and this is continued
until you are satisfied with your bar
gain. The Chinese customers take
their fortune very seriously and are
much interested in each turning out OF
the coins.
On the opposite side to Yen Sen an
other table Is presided over by a pale.
intellectual-looking Chinese, who
speaks a little English and who refuses
absolutely to tell your fortune at any
price unless you first assure him that
you believe in him. If you should
| happen to laugh, 1t is all off-no for
tune. His method is very similar tc
that Of his friend across the way, only
he turns out the coin in place of the
| customer.
The fish method is the most popular,
but the diviner who works with this
outfit is to be found only at odd inter-
walls. When he requires little extra
money, out he comes with his table
on the sidewalk and is very soon sur
rounded by his own countrymen. For
period of perhaps a week he will ap-
pear every day at his old stand then
suddenly he will retire for weeks or
months according to his financial
needs. The fish is on a sort Of dial.
much like a mariners compass, and 1t
acts as a kind of connecting link be-
tween the phenomena Of the heavens
and the regulations of the earth, and
the state of man in his social and pub
lie relations. 1t is encircled by a.
wheel-like diagram upon which va
rious symbols are marked. The inner
circle represents water, fire, metal,
being a symbol of the five planets.
Venus, golden star: Jupiter. wood
star; Mercury, water star; Mars. fire,
and Saturn, earth" According to the
Chinese, the only correct models of hui
man product and pursuit are five in
number. and they correspond in a
manner to the five planets. All the
social. political and religious systems
are regulated by the influence of this
ancient belief The fish. pointing to
the various points upon the several
circles, and to the figures and charac-
ters painted thereon give clue to the
diviner, and his Imagination and elo-
quence do the rest.
In some of the josshouses divination
is made by reeds carved and painted in
symbols. the Interpretation of which
discloses the mysteries of life. But OF
all the various methods used by the
numerous OWNERS. the fortune told de-
ponds largely upon the shrewdness,. in
tellect, good nature and humorous dis
position of the fortuneteller. How
ever, it is all highly amusing to any
one with an eye for color, sense of
ridiculous and a disposition to study
theN chara cteristics at the quaint orr
entail folk