The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-08-02
CRYSTAL GAGING A FAD;
THE cEREMoNioUs PREL,MINAR.
AR|se AND VAGUE RESULTS,
new Method Of Amusement For
Credulous New Yorkers-A CRYSTAL
uIt nu oy Too Anxious Inquiry
About Divorre


ABOUT Divorce.
Inc doctors" Office was in an old
orlck dwelling long way west in one
VI 'he slde streets. Whence his title
came no one seemed to care. though
visitors used it with frequency and
unc'lon. His profession was not med,-
cal' and hardly philosophical, and if
MS dlctum was to be Accepted it was
also not occult. The doctor" gazed
into spherical rock crystals at one
dc1far a gaze, and read there what he
affected to see
IL was always of the future, never of
the past. 1T was myst;eaio' Yes, the
doctor was willing 70 concede that, but
added. '4f Is spiritual as we'll" His
task was to lift aside the veil which
snfouds what is to come Sometimes,
10 be sure, his observations were
trlfe indefinite. but tone cannot ask
for sharp detail in a description of ex-
tended views, He gave evidence. too.
OF degree Of uncertainty about the
precise dates of the events the crystals
foretold but to chubby old man, with
pure white beard and a chastc tou-
pee which was a perfect match except
for the yellow!.f discoloration usual
In the whlte hair of wigs, one could
forgive a measure of vagueness in
vision.
One was admitted straight from the
street into stuffy little room, liber-
ally decked out with plush-covered fur
nlture of remote origin. The short.
haired assistant in a red bathrobe who
opened the door, knocked in deprecat.
Ing fashion on the knob of a door
further back in the house, then with
drew to devote her attention to tiny
piano somewhere Up stairs.
Shortly the doctor" appeared from
the room in the rear, passed out
magazine, and prayed the visitor to
excuse MIN for moment or two. Soon
the two women patrons at that time
engaging his attention left, each wear
ing self-eohscious smile which sug-
gested doubt whether to be pleased at
what they had heard or to be angry
at having served as dupes.
For another exercise of his powers,
the doctor" then betook himself back
to the office. No curtain-darkened, dim
ly lit chamber was this. but bright
sunshiny sitting-room, lacing the para
phernalia of the soothsayer and the
glare of the fortune-teller in all but
two regards. On a table at one side
rested pair of rock crystal spheres,
perhaps three inches in diameter each,
supported somewhat above the table
by silk wrapped stands. These were
the apparatus of his art.
One Of them, the Indian crystal, was
temporarily out of commission. A
woman anxious for a divorce had ques-
toned the sphere too closely through
the doctors Intervention week be.
fore, he said, and since then the crys.
tai had persistently balked. Over the
other one, the Chinese sphere. was
hung a bell-shaped mass Of iridescent
Belgian glass. It was suspended by an
elastic cord from a wire some two
thirds the way up to the ceiling, which
had been run from a hook In the wall
to the gas-fixture, half way across the
room. This affair, averred the doctor.
was the protector and EXETER.
Crystals are very sensitive, you
now, and it is absolutely necessary to
keep adverse influence away"
To tho eye of the glass bell was at
tached long silk-covered cord. The
bar and few links of an old watch
chain fastened to the other end of this
cord, the applicant for crystalline
truth held in one hand during the doc
tors search of the sphere, part of the
cord lying meanwhile upon the floor.
"This," explained the doctor. as he
began, sis a matter of tone and color,
tone reacting upon color and color
upon tone. Like everything else, this
depends upon vibration, just as elec-
tricity, heat, and light. l shall read
what see in the crystal, and then you
will be at liberty to ask what you wish
to know. First, however, it will be
necessary to find your keynote. 1t is
impossible to interpret the vision prop
erly unless know your tone."
He took a piece of red satin, and
threw it between the crystal and the
light, then retreated to the piano (cov-
cred in blue plush), which stood in an
inner corner of the room. Striking
few chords and watching intently the
crystal the while, he returned to sub
stitute a blue satin scarf for the red.
More chords and more dissatisfaction,
then a yellow bit of satin was put be-
hind the sphere. This time he came
back better pleased.
"Ah, seee, yours is a golden tone,
G major and its relative minor. At
critical times you should put your
mind on this tone. Sound it, breathe
it, inhale it, intone it, and the issue
of the event will be as you desire"
Next, the applicant was asked for
the month of his birth, then the day of
the month, and finally the year. Each
question was preceded by few chords
on the either, which lay next to the
CRYSTALS on the working-table, and
searching look into the sphere.
With these details at last in hand,
the doctor sought out that astrolo-
gers Wade Mecum, ''Raphael's Astro-
nomical Ephemeris." Then the day Of