The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-06-17
TOLD
By TIE CHINESE
Visit to Den of Old Wong
Gong
WIZARD Of CHINA TOWN
Best People of Frisco Visit
the Magician

have accomplished this until they have
| heard what fate holds in store for them
1 from at least six different wise men,
and by as many methods OF divining
In fact, it is an amusement in which the
old residents of Frisco never tire. for al
most every Chinese prognosticator has
his regular white Gust omers. many times
men of high position. who claim that the
"Chink' fortunes bring luck.
| There are as least fifty fortune telIers
| in the forty blocks of 'Friscos China
town, and they all seem to make a good
| income. The favorite with tourists. and
also big man among his own people. is
| old Wong Gong, the most aristocratic
| prophet that ever desterted his native
soil. Wong is an astroIoger, clairvoyant,
| physiogonomist, palmist, and all-round
wizard, and he holds forth in the weird
est sort of a little den in the most ex-
| elusive portion of the quarter. He hangs
| his sign at the entrance of the China
! town Palace Hotel" Wong is on the
ground fioor-that is, the floor on the
! level with the sidewalk, although below
there are several underground stories Of
| mystery. His transparent sign inhames
your curiosity and invites you in.
A wrap upon the yellow-and-red decor
ated door brings a response. The Rem
brandt which meets your eye as you enter
is well worth the price of the fortune
At a round table in the center of a room
| about ten feet by twelve feet sits the twin
of the doctor in THE First Born" A
| small kerosene lamp radiates light for a
space of perhaps two feet, and sends
queer shadows over the remaining por-
ton of the room. You are already fes-
| cinated by the mystery of ii. as you in
| hale the faint odor of incense, and look
about at the odd assortment OF pictures.
Presently you are recalled to earth by
the soft voice and fowery speech of the
| revealer. asking whether you will have
the past or the future, whether you want
him to read your palm, or just to choose
your own future by selecting sticks
There is one popularity in all the vari-
Gus methods Of Chinese fortune -tellinga
you must ask plainly just what you want
to know. You announce the subject and
| the prophet viii do the rest. And great
many times it depends upon the color Of
your eyes and hair, and the tilt of your
W
or no. One old fellow in a communicative
mood told me that he would never tell
any red-haired persons fortune. Titan
locks and FURNISHED copper do not appeal
to the artistic soul of the Chinese. Priests,
ministers and doctors are tabooed, also
| undertakers. If by chance their identity
and profession are disclosed. Their mon
ey, according to the Chinese idea, Will
hoodoo the purse.
Tourists visiting Wong generally take
fifty cents or a dollars worth OF past or
future, but those who know are more
apt to dicker a quarters worth. for for
tunes in Chinatown are sold singly or in
quantity like fish or vegetables-ten cents
question, three for a quarter. or seven
for half-and it is vastly more fun than
buying it in wholesale quantities.
The stick process OF divination goes
something like this: The customer is re-
quested TO choose from a small jar full
of sticks, which are about foot long.
pointed at the ends and painted red at
the tips. The symbols and Chinese char
acters upon these sticks determine your
fate. There are in all twenty-six of the
sticks. each one representing a~block up
on the shell of terrapin. a certain spe-
cies of which. from Chinese point OF
view, ia symbolic Of all that is good.
Some of the spots painted upon the sticks
are associated with words strongly ex-
pressive OF evil. as ''fiend.' "dra gon."
devil" etc. Others are spirits OF dead
friends-"God, heaven. earth. fire, water"
etc
r. -a1 49, ~
sticks, they are deity gathered up by
the taper fingers Of the diviner, who has
in the meantime placed a slip Of red
paper before him and has prepared the
brush and pot 90 paint or Chinese ink
Then. as he looks over the symbols and
sorts the sticks he mumbles a sort Of
prayer, meanwhile writing on a red slip.
The prayer, as near as II can be trans
lated, goes something like this: May
the feiicitious star answer TO its charge
without resting. May 1t dispel diabolical
influences and bind monsters preserve life
and protect the person In wisdom. in-
telligence. splendor. and purity. may the
heart and spirit have rest and peace
May the three souls Of which man Is con-
stituted live forever"
You are then requested 10 state your
question. Perhaps you wish TO know II
you viii travel Very well. long jar
gon, a lot OF mysterious letter painting,
the reveaIer all the time as serious as
a statue Finally he answers that you
viii travel OF otherwise, and he IS ready
for the next question II you happen TO
strike wong's fancy he VIII tell you that
you have a red heart" one OF the high
est compliments that a Chinaman car
pay.
Wong himself IS a queer character,
mixture OF native shrewdress and Irish
barney. He speaks three languages. but
is master OF none His pztois Of fioTeTy
English. occasionally breaking into the
most popular slang, Is Certainly a curl
osity. especially as this slang Is spoken
with Confucian dignity and great serious
ness. During his twenty years OF for
tune telling in San Francisco Wong has
made q great many American friends.
among them quite few celebrities. az
whom he is very food-
The street fortune tslle-s are also 7ost
interesting characters. About every four
blocks one can be found Some tel vita
the sacred fish. others xfth . tortoise
shell: then again. Just a few blocks Of
wood srd three marked coins are al thaE
Is required Within the length q one
block. which is II the very heart q
Chinatown. 10 less than four fortune
teIlers have thsir place OF business. and
they al seem 20 be prosperous
With a table the size 90 snail sewing
tahls. set ss against the Eza Ct . Jas