The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-11-19
BY "Prof.v Snothsayer.

The first thing a fortune teller
tries to do with a customer is tc
gain her complete trust and con.
fidence. The best way to do this
is to make her believe that he
can tell her her name or her wish
Therefore, he asks her to write
these two things on a little piece
of paper which he hands to her
folded.
She writes.
Then he takes the paper from
her, and standing in front OF
her, he seems to place the paper
in an envelope. AS a matter of
fact there is slit in the envelope
and he slips the paper through
THAT into the palm of his other
hand. Down in one corner of the
envelope, however, he has placed
| a folded piece of paper just like
the one on which she has written.
He strikes a match, holds it up
behind the envelope and shows
the woman the outlines of the
folded paper which she thinks he
has just placed in there. Then he
lights the envelope with the match
and burns the enveolp and its
contents.
Now he has the paper in his
hand, hidden. All he has to do
| is to read it. He will hand the
woman a book or a pack of cards
or some other thing to hold her
attention while he gets behind
her and reads what she has writ
ten. Or, if he thinks the woman
will stand for 1.-THE will tell her
to put her hands on his shoulders
and close her eyes.
While she does this he will
place his hands on her shoulders
One of his hands will contain the
paper with the writing on it, and
holding the paper somewhere in
the neighborhood of her ear, he
will read what she has written
right over her shoulder.
At last, after he has read her
name and her wish, he is ready te
begin to fool her. He keeps talk.
ing to her all the time about her
having confidence in him.
81 can do anything you want me
to do he keeps saying, ''if you
will only have complete confidence
in me and do what l say"
Then he will read her palm
Somewhere during the reading he
will probably call her by her last
name in a matter-of-fact way. This
will astonish her, but the fortune
teller acts as If twere a very small
matter.
Then, after a time, he will men,
ton the wish, saying, 81 could
make your wish come true, IL you
would only have enough confidence
in me-"
OF course this has a great effect
upon the woman. Usually the for
tune teller will hold back any
mention of the woman's first
name, but, just before she goes,
he asks her, Now, have you got
complete confidence in me-?
Haven't l done everything I prom
Used to do?"
The woman will probably say,
Well, you've done pretty well, but
you told me only my last name"
The fortune teller scowls and
says, well, I'll try to give your
first name, but l missed it at first
because you didn't have complete
confidence in me-"
All the time, of course, he knows
her first name. because he read it
from the piece of paper. He
scowls and frowns and tells her
to look him in the eyes and tell
herself that she has complete con-
fidence in him and believes that
he can do anything she wants him
to do.
Then, all of a sudden, with a
smile, he says:
"Ah, that time you did better.
Your confidence was complete,
and ! was able to discover that
your first name is so-and-so.'I
This last trick usually wins the
victim. She is persuaded that the
man really has powers that she
doesn't understand and that he
can use them only wien she puts
her confidence and trust in him.
Now comes the big moment for
her. If there Is some one thing
she wants more than anything
else, she Is very likely to tell her
wish to the fortune teller, just
about this time.
Maybe the wish that she wrote
on the paper was: II want to be
married."