Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-07-23

! sometimes advertised Special read
ing, worth 50. for only 80 cents
When caller came she"-and 4he
sex Of a great majority Of the victims
was indicated by the fact Ryan always
alluded to his patrons as "she''-''was
met BY the doorboy and told to wait.
that the professor was busy. The boy
then notified either my brother
(frank) or myself. while the client
was waiting.
/ She was then brought back 70 the
/ reading rOom-Frank's or rnine-apd
was told what we could do. she then
paid 90 cents for q reading. Then we
had her write four or five questions
/ concerning matters she most wanted
| TO know on a sheet Of paper. We had
her lay that sheet Of paper across her
forehead and hold # there a minute.
Then I'd take # and lay across nv
forehead and hand it back to her. But
f the paper handed back 10 her was a
+ blank sheet. a substitute for the one
the questions were written on.
/ I'D hold her attention while another
attendant would ask her if she wanted
/ 70 keep the paper Nine times out of
ten she'd say she didn't and my helper
would take it, saying he would de-
stroy it
Then with her questions before me
I'd frame the sort of answers that
seemed best, in my Judgment. I'd tell
her that it was apparent she was not
as successful as she ought to be. There
were evidently. I'd say. forces at work
adverse to her success. By the use Of
my psychic powers I could locate and
remove those causes of failure.
Show Of Interest Costly.
IF she was interested you can
usually tell when they're Interested
I'd tell her that for a larger fee I could
solve her problems In fixing the fee
I'd calculate as close as 7 could about
the amount she could afford to pay. I
charged them from SIS TO $50 or $50
for ordinary cases.
IF 7 found a client had many
thousands Of dollars I'd charge her
only small fee-say $25-to get her
in again for more When We got hold
of such a client, with plenty of
money, we'd lead her up to the sub
ject Of investing it. or reinvesting it,
10 better advantage. Sometimes.
when she'd come back the second
time, I'd tell her Z had examined the
conditions Of the stars at the time of
her birth and had discovered that
she was sure to be lucky in mining.
particularly in copper It wouldn't
make any difference what copper she
invested in, she'd be lucky; but it
just happened that we had some
friends with especially attractive cop
per holdings that she might get a
part of.
q accounted for this friend with
the copper stock by telling my clients
he was a mau-caIl him John Smith
who had come 10 me to help him win
back his beautiful wife, from whom
he was estranged I helped him get
her back and Smith, q man immensely
rich, the richest copper man in Amer
lea, in fact. told me that any time
he could do me a favor TO let him
know
I'D have my client write to John
Smith asking to buy some of his cop
per stock. I'd get the letter, of course.
and I'd write back-for Smith-telling
her / was sorry. but I hadn't any of
that stock for sale.
Name Gets Results.
''Then my client would come TO me,
bringing the John Smith letter, and I'd
say; Too bad I forget TO tell You
when writing to Smith to say it was
Charles Crane who suggested that
you do itt' The clients next letter to
Smith would mention my name, and
Smith would send me the copper stock
to sell her.
In about two or three months we'd
send these copper stock buyers a small
dividend, like IS or 81 a share. They'd
be delighted and some Of them would
come back to buy more"
Then your c1airvoyancy was a mere
blind for swindling-you were running
a confidence game, were you not?" was
asked
Yes, sir" Ryan replied. with a /
laughing twist Of his thin lips and a
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