The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1917-01-18

NINE. De THEBEs. sEEREss,
DIED WITH REPUTATION


One night many years ago Alexandra
Dumas. fills. the brilliant writer. enter
tanned at dinner 12 psychologists and
physiolog1sts famed in the annals Of the
academy and the Institute. The meal
Iinlshed. the guests were ushered one at
q time into a small room. where their
palms were read by a young womanaa
mat was the introduction to the
world Of Nine. de Thebes, perhaps the
most widely known flesh-and-blood
seeress Of whom history has record.
VINO died last week In Paris. Nine. de
Ihebes Seemed peculiarly gifted, and
the clever pen OF Dumas, by recounting
the predictions made in the seance for
the benefit of Frances learned men,
established Immediately a reputation
Ior the clairvoyant that endured
ntougl many years. Nine. de Thebes
had the advantage of the oracles of old.
n lived in tn day Of the telegraph, the
cable and the radio.
She RETIRED In 1915.
1t was the custom of the seeress to
utter, near the close of each calendar
year, a list of dire calamities. misfor-
tunes and catastrophes that would be-
Iali the world in the next 12
Of Nine. de. Thebes was looked forward
70 with r~everential awe by the super
stitlous. Not even at the close of 1915.
When, discouraged by the failure Of her
predlctlons for that year, she refused
70 SO on record by fo~recasting the trag-
edies of 1916, did her reputation suffer
to such an extent that she was discred.
tied as a prophecies.
Inc popularity of Mime. de Thebes'
prophecies lay i'll their very awfulness,
Never Tic the woman known some
ZINES as the "Pythoness Of Paris" pre-
dict the bright and cheerful happenines
that would befall the individual or the
world at large. Code does not inform
me or the fortunate events she would
say. AND n Is the use? Happiness
aces not nave to be avoided"
Had Nine. de Thebes lived in
america. d disrespectful element would
have dubbed her the worlds chamnion
caiainity hoWler. But Nine. de Thebes
voiced her prophecies from her palatial
apartments in Avenue Wagram in Paris
and America heard her words only
through the medium of cable dispatch
es. Distance lent authority, or ar least
encouraged respect. The glamour Of q
saxon literally filled with images of
elePhants n plaster casts of human
hands entered into the psychology Of
ner predictions as they affected the
French. HS
Some Fulfilled Prophecies.
ans de Thebes predicted the follow
ing dire events:
Inc death Of the Marquis de Mores
IN the African desert; the sudden death
or President Faure of France: the as
s~asslnatlon Of King Humbert Of Italy:
the earthquake and fire of San Fran
CISCO; revolution in Morocco: an un-
rising in Spain; the Boer war: The
great charity bazaar fire in Paris: the
death by drowning Of the beautiful az
tress, Mile. Lantelme; earthquake dis
along the Atlantic coast in
!9o6, lul!llled In part by an earthquake
in Jamaica.
These are a few of the OF
Mime. de Thebes that were fulfilled
without question. Other were fulfIIed
IN part only. For example, in 1911 she
predicted that Nations will be IN
neaved; a great European raj is to be
fought: the high cost Of living is to go
higher; Paris probably will topple n
ruins; babies won't have enough milk:
Kaiser Wilhelm Of Germany will lose
his rown."
Came Close as to the War.
True, Nine. de Thebes did predict
taat rance would engage in a great
| war would end in 1915, and fo1lowad
this with the blithe opinion that the
great conflict would continue for five
years more. 1t mattared little to Nine.
de Thebes that occasionally she re-
Versed herself, a thing no court of last
resort is supposed to do and retain its
prestige. She mad numerous and sun
dry dreadful prophecies concerning
emperor Wilhelm and Emperor Fran
els Joseph of Austria. Practically every
year after 1901 she foretold something
OF terrible consequences that would be-
ran rmany kaiser. But the kaiser
and Emperor Francis Joseph eyaded
her most doleful utterances, Francis
Joseph finally s~ucculnbing in the only
year for which she made no prophecy.
me United States always was in
GUIDED IN the prophecies Of the python
ess, and time after time she foretold
calamities that never materialized. She
dld successfully foretell the defeat of
PRESIDENT Taft for a second term, and
she did say at the time Of President
Wilson'S election to office in 1912 that
MS path would be beset with problems.
But. as a general thing, America failed
to produce"
Opinions at So Apiece.
Nine. de Thebes formed her opinions
by reading palms. Her price for, a
reading was IS in the morning, when
her powers were supposed to be the
most acute. In the afternoon, she gave
readings for half price. Great men
We're among her clients, and frequently
they became her voluntary press
agents because the events she foretold
came true.
The seeress was a woman of beauty,
always well gowned and well groomed.
| she Woie lHe most IaSQlOnaDle gowns
and, as a general thing, received only
the most fashionable clients. Now and
then, however, she served in a public
capacity. She had been called upon
ever by the police Of Paris to aid in
the solution Of murder mysteries.
Thankful 1t Didn't All Happen.
An American, writing Of the seer
ess' retirement in 1915, said: Nine. de
Thebes is to be remembered, not only
because of the terrible vents she truly
! foretold, but because of the feeling Of
t~hankfulness that everything she fore
old did not come true
But. nevertheless. Nine de Thebes
died with a reputation.
DrugIess Doctors VS.. Christian Science.
From Vests Docket.
Under California st. 1918. 5 II. any one
practicing a system Of healing without a
license commits a miSdemeanor. Section
~ specifically exempts treatment by pray
err. A person convicted rlnder the act con-