The Washington times., 1938-12-21
BIG CITY VOODOO

Ne" OIh Is llle SIldIjeSI city
per capita in the world. Ac-
cording to this erroneous i'm
preston, every citizen is So
phisticated so that a New
Yorker of the lowest intelli-
gence is just a shade smarter
than the smartest innabitant of,
say, Chicago. Lancaster, Pa. !;
Carson City, Nevada, or Sara
sofa. Florida.
This story has to do with
crooked fortune teller and her
prey.
This ones name was zaida and
she claimed she could work in any
medium, cards, the crystal ball,
palmistry or clairvoyance. which
was a tip-off that she was far
from what she claimed to be.
She was an old side-Show worker
and a thin. dark acidulous woman
with quick temper and square
Jaw. She kept her "store" IN one
of the early "teenth" streets Just
West of Fifth Avenue. 1t was full
of palmistry and chronological
charts, a map of the Zodiac and
dark. shaded lights.
Zaida had system. She old
not care so much for the casual
customer. When a group OF gig
Cling school girls, or furtive sub
urban wife or a man and a girl
dropped in to get from her the low
down on the future, she gave them
quick glimpse of it in any me
dium they chose and charged them
a dollar apiece. But her real
source of income was the poor and
the SuperStiously credulouS.
A factory worker having diff
culties with her sweetheart, a wife
wondering what to do about the
other woman" horse player who
used the stars to help him pick
the winners, anybody who might
feel called upon to consult her
frequently over long periods, these
were her rent money, her food,
drink and raiment.
''MADE TO ORDER"
She was not a good fortune
teller. In truth, she was no for
tune teller at all. But she was a
good psychologist. She would
size up a customer for his or her
credulity and financial back
ground and then she would charge
accordingly.
Once she had a customer believ-
ing in her, zaida really went to
work. BY hint, suggestion and
innuendo, she attached herself to
the victims income, charging as
much as the traffic would bear
for her advice"
Nellie Zapatschiek came upon
Zaida by accident. Nellie was a
Slav with all the romantic sadness
of her race. She was 10 and ready
for love. Her trouble was that she
could find no man willing to CO.
operate with her. The reason ws.s
the physical envelope which en-
closed her soul. Nellie ran little
too fat.
She weighed 1876 pounds which
was a trifle heavy for her height
of S feet 6 inches. She billowed in
two locations in front and one
behind. Those we're her liabilities.
Her assets were her moonlike
face whose creamy skin was the
texture of peach skin, two smol-
dering brown eyes, one soft SEN
sual mouth and a husky voice
which almost played music.
Nellie was not over intelligent.
She believed anything anybody
told her. She regarded life as a
song, sung, most of the time out
of tune She was good-natured,
but moody.
She worked in a button-hole fac.
tory for as little wages as the law
would allow and she lived in one
room in Greenwich Village tene-
ment-not studio, tenement.
NELLIE IS SOLD"
She was walking along the
street one Saturday afternoon in
early spring, her soul uplifted by
the coming of earth's olossoming,
her handbag full of her weeks
pay. Nellie was sad in glad way.
Spring had her by the heart. She
visioned the nebulous shapes Of
thousands Of beautiful youngI
men. She was earnestly trying to
draw one from the clouds to gaze
upon features she would delight
to love when she saw zaida's sign.
1t was movable two-sided Sign.
set to face pedestrians. On it was
a giant. lined hand upraised, as
though to halt the onlooker. IT
bore the legend, YOUR FATE.
YOUR FUTURE. YOUR LOVE.
LET ZAIDA HELP YOU"
Nellie never hesitated. She
walked right in. A bell sounded
as she closed the door behind her
and, in a moment, the curtains at
the rear parted and Zaida ushered
her in. Nellie was impressed by
her appearance. She looked, she
thought, like a priestess. Zaida
clicked Nellie's number instantly.
This" she thought. sis mine"
Zaida turned on the light be-
meath the crystal ball and went
into her trance.
You are young, you are beauti-
tul, you are made for love-" she