The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1915-06-11

All Sorts of Crimes, While Latest
to Men at Front Just to Cheer Them
on Battle Line.
The happy days OF fortune telling in
Paris are over. Mediums, ~clairvoyants,
astrologers, readers OF palms and cards
have now to make their living some
other way.
The police found that too many WON
en- were spending their %pittances in
fortune telling parlors. So the ban has
gone forth and in one week sixty-nine
professors of occult knowledge were
brought before the magistrates.
What harm does 1t do?' they asked.
1--WE always tell encouraging things.
We always prophesy letters and good
news. 1t keeps people cheered up and
happy"
Many of them said their only sons,
their husbands, were at the front. All
source of revenue was cut off and they
had to do something. But the court
was obdurate and said the profession
was entirely out Of keeping with the
seriousness Of the times.
They Neatly Evade Law.
Some of them, however, continue to
prophesy, but adhere strictly to the
letter OF the law in not giving any
definite date. For instance, one OF the
best known OF them told the fortune of
a young actress In this neatly evasive
way:
You will receive a letter soon. |
can't tell you exactly when. The po-
lice have forbidden me to-"
And for that little phrase she ask
ed 81.
In the Paris police courts many pa
thetic cases are seen. There are many
which are due solely to the war, new
professions and new crimes which have
sprung up.
There are men with one leg who get
a uniform and go around soliciting
aims under the p~retense that they lost
the leg In the trenches. What cores
of men and women up for theft al
ways say is;
Your honor, l have a son Ga brother
or perhaps a %husband) at the front. /
know what he is suffering there in the
trenches, and / couldn't resist the wish
to send him something. Alas, ! had no
money, and that Is why | committed
this objectionable act. But my love
was stronger than my conscience"
Having heard this about twenty
grew a little weary of 1t. When a
woman came up accused of having
given short weight In butter-only half
of what she was being paid for, in
fact-he said:
We'll, you, at any rate, can't make
use of the argument that you were
sending something TO the trenches"
She Had the old Excuse.
1T comes to the same thing" the
woman said calmly. II have a friend
In the trenches, and the morning this
thing happened | got word that he was
seriously wounded. l simply lost my
head and didn't know what | was do
ing. That was why l didn't notice
how much butter l was selling"
Every sort of charitable society has
been formed in Paris since the war.
There are those that concern them
selves with the physical welfare Of the
soldiers and those OF the moral and
religious. But ii remained for the jour
Wnt wonnnI NanfoufA 20 10rnah tho Lot.
est and evidently the most popular.
This new and novel organization is
called the Society For the Flirt at the
Front and came into being through the
letter OF two %sergeants to the Fantasia,
I'm which they begged that paper to do
something to provide them with a lit
tie of the tender sentiment OF life as a
relief from the strain OF the trenches.
They were so wearied, the soldiers
said. with the continual masculinity OF
the trenches that they thought If some
kind and thoughtful young ladies of
Paris would only write them tender
epistles they would feel cheered to
take the offensive against the Ger
mans.
Consequently the Fantasia has I'M
dertaken the work in all seriousness,
forwarding such letters as are address
ed to its care by modest maidens who
do not wish to sign their real names
and acting In return as a distributing
postoffice for the illusions which come
back from the soldiers.