Page 6 - 1917 November - To Dragma

8 TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI
THE SEERESS OF HAWTHORNE STREET
(Muriel Fairbanks, the author of this sketch, has the distinction of being ear rings, not to mention inscrutable-eyed Egyptian prototypes of the
one of the few women reporters on the Minneapolis Journal. Last summer
she gave all her time to this work, and this year she is managing to do a
great deal of it along with her studying. She has received honors in the
university because of her unusual ability in writing, and we predict great
success for her in later literary achievement. The following "story" is the
result of an "interview" with a fortune-teller.)
During the summer of 1917 the city of Minneapolis was subject to
a most peculiar and unusual plague. Fortune tellers, soothsayers,
palmists, venders of miracles, and even one who called herself a " f o l -
lower of the Veil," set themselves up in our complacent, prosperous
middle western city, and plied an unusually profitable trade. There
were several reasons why those who prey upon the credulity of the
public should have been so active at this time. The spirit of war had
overcome the summer lethargy of our city. Daily military parades,
the constant departure of troop train after troop train for "some-
where," the appearance of foreign uniforms in the lobbies of the
hotels, all tended to tighten the strings of emotionalism in the people,
more especially in the women. War, that great, unexpected invader of
the quiet order of each individual life, seemed suddenly and without
any other apparent reason, to have caused the feminine element of
Minneapolis to revert to a lower stage of mental development. At
least, this seemed the only explanation I could formulate to explain
the patronage of the seeress of Hawthorne Street and her kind.
I t so happened that the business of fortune-telling, while harmless
as an after dinner entertainment, is frowned upon by certain very
specific laws and ordinances of our city. For this reason I was called
to the desk of the city editor one morning and informed of the entire
situation. The city was being overrun by feminine sharpers, robbers
of credulous and unintelligent women and frivolous girls. There
were rumors of fabulous prices per "seance." Such things could not
be permitted to continue. An "exposure" was imperative. I found
myself assigned to the task of having my fortune told as many times
as I could find seeresses to serve me professionally. Each interview,
"sitting," or reading was to receive detailed publicity in the columns
of the daily paper. Action by civil authorities, I was told, would
obviously follow such exposure.
While not at all adverse to having my fortune told, I confess I
really had no profound or conscientious desire to bring even a " f o l -
lower of the Veil" to the bars of justice. Fortune-telling, in the
abstract, I regard as a refined, ladylike way of earning one's living.
Many enterprises, of greater harm to the public are conducted
TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 9
with larger profit. There is even an element of romance in fortune-
telling. Whole bands of gypsy girls, in gay kerchiefs and sparkling
Sphinx flash across one's fancy at the mere mention of the art. Aside
from the romantic appeal, I do not doubt but that it might even be
defended from the point-of-view of the psychic theorists on the basis
that by the power of suggestion the mind of a perturbed "subject"
might be put at ease. Once upon a time, I myself had read palms
at a sorority bazaar for the consideration of ten cents per pair of
palms. I really had harmed no one. Taking into consideration the
questions I had well nigh exhausted my inventive faculty in answer-
ing, I felt that I had earned the money. I state this merely to inform
my reader that when I set out to cover my assignment, it was with a
mild curiosity rather than a religious sense of duty to the poor, dear,
hoodwinked public.
The list of names given me was quite long enough to permit ample
freedom of choice. I decided upon "Mrs. John Bjorlin, 1513 Haw-
thorne Street," possibly because it was so outstandingly unseerees-like.
Hawthorne Street is at the end of the car line. I t is one of those
commonplace streets which jut off unexpectedly from a shabby subur-
ban business avenue only to dwindle out in equally shabby white
frame houses and smart new stucco bungalows. I walked seven
blocks before locating "1513."
There was nothing to distinguish "1513 Hawthorne Street" from
many other houses which I had passed. I t looked exactly like the
others, a fact, of which I made mental note. A fringe of well-cared-
for geranium bushes bordered the screened-in porch. I rang. A tall
young women, wearing a hat and carrying a white parasol, answered
the bell.
" I came to see Mrs. Bjorlin."
She nodded understanding^, "You'll have to come in and wait
until your turn."
I came. There were several other young women on the porch,
which was screened and curtained to a cool dimness. Apparently I
was not the only visitor at the shrine. The low buzz of conversation
which had ceased upon my appearance was soon resumed.
"Isn't Mrs. Bjorlin just wonderful!" a pale young person in pink
ventured with an ecstatic inflection. "Really girls, you just can't
imagine how much good she has done me. I f I ' d only known about
her before!"
"Isn't it interesting to know so much all about yourself," asked or
rather observed a girl, who might have sold ribbons or gloves. "Kate
said I wuz a fool to lay down one seed for news about whether or