Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1911 — GYPSY FORTUNE TELLERS! [ARTICLE]

GYPSY FORTUNE TELLERS!

;; Ability to Read Future Simply Result of Cultivated Hun Perception of Details ;

The principal means of livelihood for gypsy men is horse trading, although, as has been mentioned above, some of those who acquire means go Into the real estate field, and that same instinctive native shrewdness which makes them successful in the horse barter aids them to profitable Investments in this other field. Oypsy women sometimes peddle lace and baskets from house to house, but their chief means of money making is fortune telling, and this is preferably carried on at camp, for the Romany sentiment is that a woman's place is in her home. Incidentally it may be remarked that gypsy girls are most carefully guarded and marriages with others than gypsies are discouraged. The fortune telling of the gypsies, or “dukkering," as they themselves call it, is a wonderful thing, and a power undeniably subnormal which reads "past, present and future, yer wish an’ all ye want to know.” But. though the Romany’s gifts are marvelous, they cannot strictly be said to be related to psychical phenomena. Tet they are as interesting, being delightfully human and as mysteriously baffling as East Indian Jugglery. The Romany’s usual method of divining the future is by tlm palm, though it is sometimes by cards, sometimes by dropping coins into clear water, and again by certain charms, varied by trifling sleight of hand performances. In the gypsy's palmistry there Is no book learning and little “science,” although she professes to attach some Importance to the lines of the heart and life. For the lines and mounts gypsies have their own •vnlanatlons. which sometimes hap-

pen to coincide with those of the ordinary gorgio palmist, but which the most part are. not to be found in any written book.

missions are the stepping stones by which her “knowledge grows from more to more.” She can, for instance, recognize at a glance the tokens of sadness by. which the casual observer is blind, and whether the unmistakable stamp is from sorrow by visitation of death or the result of bitter earthly disappointment, the odds are that the gypsy will make the sitter tell her without being aware of having done so.

It is almost entirely upon face reading and a cultivated keen, ready perception of general characteristics that the gypsy depends. Nothing escapes her quick eye. The bearing of a stranger, the dress, speech and manner. the expression and type of feature and a thousand details which would be overlooked as unimportant trifles by a gorglo, count with the Romany. She refuses to “dukker" before more than one person at a time, possibly on the plea that she belongs to a “secret order” which forbids it, or that a fortune told in such manner would not come true. These statements, though deliciously appetizing, are lacking in truth, for the fact is only that Bhe needs the undivided attention of the one who consults her. in order to get the best results of concentration of mind. In Justice to the gypsy, it should be taken into consideration that the atmosphere of scepticism which is apt to surround a gay party of curiosity seekers, is not conducive to success In the exercise of any profession. The Romany fortune teller is an adept in the art of flattery, for there are few exceptions to the rule that nothing is co interesting as one’s self. The gypsy knows how to.draw out unconscious admissions by confessions by her oft-repeated, “Do you on’stan’ me?” and "Can you look me in the eye an’ say it Is not the truth I’m a-tellln’ you?" She forms the aoknewledgment of truths at which she has already shrewdly guessed, and sqch ad-

As a rule, as I have said, she flatters with brave promisee of fair futures, but if displeased she may bo threaten with the vigorous, compelling. dramatic art of which she is complete mistress that the horrors conjured from imagination stand out before- the “doomed" hearer with the real effect of a curse.—Century Magazine.