Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-04
Protest and Abuse.

In an article you make the statement.
". . system of telling your abilities
from the looks of your face. Taken from
carded years ago 1t may be that fools
rush in where angels fear to tread; IL Is
certain that frauds rush in where the re-
sponSble tread with caution:
Perhaps a man of your knowledge can
give me the psychology. of condemning a
th thin Of 9q bs p fhnF You
not familiar with the work BLANK InStl-
tute is doing with this system OF telling
A thorough going Investigation of the work
will absolutely prove the gross fallacy OF
your statement. M. H.
was very much interested in your col
umn the other day. I speak in particular
on your opinion of the value OF the diner
ent methods of character ANALYSIS. You
speak most disparagingly of 'palmistry
With this I take issue. ma ,u,.
formed or entirely ignorant of what scien-
tific hand-readng can do or you nave been
IN touch with chsrlatans Or takers; ! paSe
h SaPSOSs0 This S entirely untrue chsractsf
every Is s1O SQUARE re- m NH Of the hand Itself
the fingers, the thumb. the color of the
hano its consistency its eTi6 thsS It's r size
planned to any mind which is open for
am not professional handreader, but
have devoted a good deal of study to, the
on fSs bG hs rs Of yoar article
seriously question, because maintain an
open mind. and If anything can prove
It is rather Disappointing to me. to find
man of your ability and undoubted skill
in own nss on Shc 70 You
scientific reasoning in the article to which
If YOU are at all interested. I believe
can furnish you with an interesting eve
touch with me: believe We might both
learn something. T.. w. e.
Reply.
Anybody who touches upon one or
another system" by which somebody
else earns living is certain to meet
with a fair dose of protest and abuse
Here is a character reader who tells
it all-your abilities, your love life.
your perils. your faults, your history
your prospects, your career, from the
looks of your face; and another who
tells it by the minute appearance OF
the surface of your hand; and have
other letters of protest and abuse from
one who tells it all from the hand
writing, and still another who reads
it in the stars, and still others who do
it by a temperament, blond and bru-
nette, introvert and extravert, and a
glimpse into your dreams and sub
conscious. Any one of these letters
by itself sounds a little plausible, but
in a group each shows up the rest.
could easily persuade the phySiog-
nomiSt that the PIANIST is all wrong
and the palmist that the graphologist
is all wrong, and SO on down the line.
Besides this practical principle,
which we will call Principle No. l.,
and which reads: Every system is a
fraud but the one you believe in" I
will add few others that are i'm
portant in the same application.
Principle No. 2-This is the fallacy
of "a thorough investigation" What
terrible thing it is to condemn a
thing unheard. yours for accuracy
and "You did not use scientific reason
ing" That complaint is old and has
been frequently exposed. Do these peo-
pie realize that If one we're to investi-
gate thoroughly every such claim one
would have time for nothing else, and
by the time you had finished the round
of the systems" new one would have
sprung up? OF course, the Government
should appoint commission to 'inves-
tigate thoroughly" whether the moon
is made of green cheese, so long as
anybody insists that 1t is.
One person was sure the center OF
the earth was hollow, and challenged
the Natural Academy of Science to
disprove his claims. Of course. they
condemned him without hearing. An
other was sure that the reason for so
many divorces was that people married
with birthdays nearly six months apart
instead of close together. Now, this
could easily have been thoroughly in
yestigated,' but why do 1t? There are
more important things in life.
Principle No. 3-These alleged sys-
TENS have been investigated again and
again and their fallacies shown up re-
peatedly; of course, not your special
brand, but others near enough life it, to
cover the case. Men of science have
in all generations met their obligations
and exposed the fallacy of beliefs that
threatened public welfare. These newer
systems parody or introduce some facts
which modern science has popularized,
but in method and spirit they are just
the same exploded doctrines that have
f1ourniShed through the ages.