Using Eggs to Foretell the Future

1915

The White of the Egg is Recommended

This is one of the least known of all methods of foretelling the future, according to the ancient, secret wisdom of prophetic insight. Yet it is one of the most interesting, and easy to perform — though, of course, like all methods of the kind, some skill and practice are necessary in order to interpret quickly and speedily the symbolic interpretations of the signs presented, writes Prof. Sothnos Lalillier in the New York American.

In order to practice this part of cabalistic interpretation, you must procure a fresh egg — as new-laid as possible — and carefully separate the white of the egg from the yolk. Nearly fill a tumbler with cold water and drop the white of the egg into it, a drop at a time. Now place this glass carefully aside for 24 hours, being sure to cover the glass carefully, and that the water does not become warmed by proximity to a radiator, etc.

When you again look at the glass, you will find that your white of egg has congealed into various odd-shaped figures — circles, squares, animals, trees, crosses, etc. — which are to be interpreted according to the formula that follows.

Long, wavy lines denote losses and troubles; straight lines, on the contrary, denote peace, long life, prosperity and happiness.

Squares denote peace and happiness; a ring, marriage. If a letter can be discovered near the ring this will be the first letter of the name of the person you are to marry. If clouds are about the ring, think long and carefully before accepting this person, even if he offers marriage.

If a leaf is seen, speedy good fortune will come your way from some unexpected source. If an anchor is seen, fidelity in love is indicated. If a dog is seen, this is a good sign, if near the top of the glass, denoting faithful friends; if near the middle, doubtful ones; and if near the bottom, enemies to be avoided.

A lily or similar flower foretells happiness, if near the top of the glass; disappointment if near the bottom. If a number of small dots or spots are present, money is coming your way, unless clouds surround them, in which case you will receive bad tidings and notice of losses. A heart denotes a love letter which you will shortly receive. The sun, moon, or stars denote happiness and success.

Your Chance to Visit the Famous Nathoo, the Hindoo Seer

Iowa, 1914-1915

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Nathoo, Hindu Seer, Now Free

Soothsayer Nathoo, the Hindu seer, perfumist, and alleged beguiler of maids, who "love not wisely but too well," as provided a bond of $500 and is free. Jerome F. Bartlett and John M. O'Brien, of Muscatine, both well-qualified to protect the state with their property, are the sureties. The bond is for $500. Nathoo left for Muscatine, after providing the bond, as Justice Ewing immediately ordered his release from the county jail.

His hearing is on July 10.

—Iowa City Daily Press, Iowa City, Iowa, July 3, 1914, page 8.


You Will Miss Your Chance to Visit The Famous Nathoo — The Hindoo Seer, Astrologist and Psychological Reader, UNLESS YOU COME SOON

Beginning under unusual difficulties he has given 300 readings and has won three hundred friends and supporters since he came here one month ago. He has advised and guided thousands of people to happiness, wealth and success, and is recognized in all the larger cities as the greatest of them all. You who are worried, in trouble and in doubt can be helped by this man. He can tell you of your past and see into your future. With his universal knowledge, and psychological power, he can advise you as to what you should do to get the most out of your life and make your desires become realities.

Readings every day and evening, except Sunday, by appointment. 210 East Washington Street. $5.00 Reading for 50c. This special price is given to build a reputation here.

MANY OF YOUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THIS MAN.

—Iowa City Daily Press, Iowa City, Iowa, September 3, 1914, page 4, advertisement.



"Count" Nathoo in Trouble
Iowa City. — The Johnson county grand jury is busy investigating the case of "Count" Nathoo, the Hindoo, who is charged with a crime against Alice Cornish of London, England. Nathoo was bound over to the grand jury after a preliminary hearing in July.

—Marble Rock Journal, Marble Rock, Iowa, September 23, 1914.


FAKER'S VICTIM IS SAVED MORE GRIEF

DEPORTATION WAS ORDERED

Alice Cornish Spared Sorrow of Outcast in England by Iowa Humanitarians.

Special to The Gazette.

Iowa City, Iowa, Jan. 20 — Count Nathoo, fake oriental astrologer of Des Moines, who last fall lured Alice Cornish, 19-year old English girl from Burlington to Davenport, from Davenport to Iowa City and from here to the capital suffered her the humility of arrest at that place yesterday for the second time, her first detention being in company with him at Iowa City where both were acquitted. The result at Des Moines, however, was not so successful and Miss Cornish, was ordered deported by United States government officials.

Only the intervention of Secretary of Labor Wilson, Congressman Prouty and Senator Cummins averted an execution of the order.

After hearing her pitiful story and knowing that deportation to England now when every new arrival needs a reference and employment is hard to obtain, Deaconess Martha H. Wurtz of St. Monica's home in Des Moines intervened in her behalf with the result that she will remain for the time being an inmate of that institution.

Count Nathoo meanwhile is still at large.

The 19-year old girl was born in England, but two years ago came to Muscatine to live with her aunt. She found life there anything but desirable and secured employment in Burlington where Nathoo met her. He lured her to Davenport and then to Iowa City where they were arrested, but later permitted to get out of town.

The intervention of Iowa's congressmen at Washington in the girl's behalf was secured upon the protestation against her deportation by such men as Bishop Longley, Attorney-General Cosson, James A. Davis, Northwestern railroad attorney for Iowa, and Ex-Governor Garst.

At first the order from the government officials was apparently irrevocable, but Miss Wurtz, the deaconess, decided to make a desperate effort to prevent its execution. The girl was utterly crushed by the order. In the best of times, without friends and relatives, without that essential thing in England, references of past employment, her lot would have been difficult, with all Europe under martial law there would be absolutely no place for her to go but the work house or brothel. She will stay at St. Monica's home for a year or two as a result of Miss Wurtz' efforts in her behalf.

—The Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, January 20, 1915, page 5.



"Count" Nelson, self advertised as the "agent of God" and "Hindu seer," was bound over the grand jury at Iowa City, charged with seducing Alice Cornish, aged 19 a little friendless English working girl

—The Nashua Reporter, Nashua, Iowa, July 30, 1914, page 7.
—The Oxford Mirror, Oxford Junction, Iowa, October 22, 1914, page 7. Exact same item.
Note the wide disparity in the dates of publication, and "Nelson." Maybe that was Nathoo's real name?

Clairvoyant Brought Here From New York To Find Valuable Papers

Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1906

Clairvoyant Powers

Was Brought Here from New York to Locate Some Valuable Papers

Mr. Bauer Astonishes People Who Call to Test His Occult Powers — Reads Thoughts and Tells Past and Future — Insists Upon Giving Satisfaction to His Clients

Without a doubt one of the greatest known clairvoyants in the world today is Mr. Bauer, the distinguished clairvoyant and psychic, who has just come to Fort Wayne from New York.

The marvelous manifestations of his wonderful powers are as far superior to the ordinary palmist and fortune teller as the perfect automobile is to the wheelbarrow.

Those who come to scoff may not remain to pray, but they go away with a puzzled look on their faces, wondering mightily. Perhaps you laugh at first, when you see the rather peculiar methods used by the professor in telling a fortune, but when he commences to talk and pile up fact after fact, which you know to be true even to the smallest detail, your laugh dies away, and you gaze in amazement akin to awe at the mysterious man before you as though he were some uncanny being fresh from another world. You sit chained to the chair with fascination while your past and future are laid bare before you. After answering the final question, you are perplexed and abstractedly draw forth your purse, throwing an inquiring glance at Mr. Bauer. He smiles and asks if you are satisfied, saying that he never accepts payment until assured that a person is perfectly satisfied and that he believes he has received fair return for his money.

Most assuredly the professor differs from other clairvoyants. You laugh, still rather confusedly, and like everyone else, declare that you are glad to pay the small compensation asked. Many affirm no money value can be fixed upon the good they have received.

The professor tells fortunes by astrology and clairvoyance. He is absolutely reliable, and, realizing that merit, brings reward when the reading is over with, you do not have to p»y unless you feel satisfied with what you have been told.

Those who have been humbugged by the hundreds of fake fortune tellers now on the road, will do well to consult Mr. Bauer. He gives advice on business, speculation and courtship. He settles lovers' quarrels, reunites the separated, causes speedy and happy marriages. In fact, everything.

Clairvoyance is a branch of mesmerism, though it is more far-reaching in its effect. In clairvoyance it is the mind reader and not the subject who is affected by the mysterious influence. Mesmerism does not lift the veil of the future, whereas clairvoyance goes beyond the surface of the present and delves into the hidden depths of the "great beyond." Clairvoyance, in short, is a polished and advanced form of mesmerism, which has long been given world-wide recognition.

Mr. Bauer is both a clairvoyant and an astrologer. He possesses, besides, remarkable spiritual powers and employs all three gifts in arriving at the truth of matters presented to him for elucidation.

Mr. Bauer has been studying every phase of this problem since his arrival and feels confident that he will be able to locate the papers. This would, indeed, be a manifestation of occult power which even the most skeptical critic could not sneeze at. There have been many manifestations of mental telepathy in connection with hidden articles, but the recovery of lost papers is an achievement vouchsafed to a few men. If Mr. Bauer crowns his Fort Wayne career with the recovery of the missing documents he will command more respect for clairvoyance and astrology than these mysterious sciences have hitherto enjoyed, though they have not lacked for devotees.

Therefore, it must be said that Mr. Bauer is of the very highest class of clairvoyants. His beliefs are that the material heavens have a moral influence over the earth and its inhabitants. There are some wiseacres who scoff at this idea, not knowing, perhaps, that the first study of the heavens embraced and dominated over every other attempt at science. Astrology was the beginning of science, the first encyclopedia of the world. In the ancient ages physicians consulted the stars before they applied potions and gave nostrums. The cosmogonists explained the earth by the influence of the heavens. The zodiac was the first book that lay open for all to read.

As for clairvoyance it has both supporters and enemies. The theory of clairvoyance, however, is inseparable from a science that has so firmly impressed itself upon the public mind as to leave no doubt of its truthfulness. Reference is made to mesmerism, or hypnotic influence, which of late years has been demonstrated to be as virile an occult force as one could well imagine.

Ladies and gentlemen can visit Mr. Bauer without fear of having their confidence betrayed, as he considers his business a sacred trust. Mr. Bauer can be consulted dally at residence, 1129 Clinton street, near Lewis street. Madam Bauer receives all callers.

Hours — 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. daily. 10 to 4 Sundays. He will positively see no one after hours.

—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, March 31, 1906, page 4.

Interviews with Ouija

1920

By FREDERIC J. HASKIN,
Director Janesville Daily Gazette Information Bureau, Washington, D.C.

Washington, Feb. 20.—"Why don't you interview ouija?" asked a friend the other day.

We thought it over. Our relations with "weegee" have always been rather distant. We have met at parties and at the home of ouija janes. But always we have passed the time of day in a few trifling queries, and let it go at that. Certainly, we never expected to start interviewing spirit celebrities so long as the earthly supply held out.

Still, we reflected, there were advantages to this kind of interview. Ouija, once cornered, could not plead a previous engagement or a conference, and judging by his reputation he would have a lot to say.

So we decided to borrow a staid, serious minded old ouija and ask him about the Sims-Daniels scrap, and who ought to be the next president, and if there were any messages from cousin Lon, who is either dead or in Chicago. We knew the board to borrow. It belongs to an elderly woman who goes in for higher thought and concentration, and undoubtedly her ouija has never been asked a silly question in its life.

Borrowed Board and Book

The old woman promptly offered to get the board, and also a book on how to set the best results with ouija. We hauled ouija home, corralled a friend to act as accomplice, and with the setting arranged, settled down for the interview.

First we read the book carefully. We found out that "the solar plexus -- that never sleeping brain of the individual -- is the witch board or receiving station for the messages." We also discovered that "the great secret why some individuals can successfully use the board and some cannot is "that the successful person must have, so to speak, a diseasedly sensitive solar plexus." That worried us, as our solar plexus has always been pretty healthy, and was feared the message germs might not have any effect. For a while we held on to the hope that maybe the writer was mistaken about the solar plexus being the brain of the soul, but further on we found that ouija himself had told her, "The solar plexus is the spiritual brain." With his inside information and a warning that to get best results you must think high thoughts we invited "little weegee" to the interview.

For the property of a higher thought sort of person this ouija board certainly had a remarkable line of talk and interesting opinions. It told us that there would be a big message for us.

Aunt Harriet Is Happy

After a rest it condescended to tell us that Aunt Harriet, who died some years ago, "is happy, but when we asked for Dumas to come and tell us who was the man in the iron mask, it wouldn't write anything except, "They don't answer."

When we returned the board we commented on the rather flippant attitude that it seemed to have. "Well," said the old woman, "I never tried the board myself. It's the maid's board."

Having talked to "little weegee" we decided to find out something about his life history. The messenger at the patent office was frankly amused at our mission.

"Weejah?" he repeated with a huge grin. "Yessuh. Try de toy division, suh."

The toy division was also moved to laughter over the password, but soon recovered sufficiently for a pleasant young patent examiner to get a collection of the patents.

"There are now 30 or 40 patents along this line," he explained. "Some are ouija board type, worked by a moving index, and others are planchettes and have a pencil to write the message."

"The first ouija board, called 'little wonder,' was patented in 186S. Since then, the idea has been adapted and the board improved by numerous inventors, mostly toy makers. The ouija board and similar inventions can be patented in the United States only as a toy. The patent office does not inquire into any mystic properties, and it does not permit inventors to claim or describe such properties in their patent papers."

It's Different in England

In England inventors often go into detail to explain the supernatural power of such devices. Thus, one British patentee inserts the following on his patent:

"If the person or persons are of temperament suitable for the reception of spiritualistic or telepathic messages, sentences may be spent out obtained from such sources and possibly conveying information unknown to the operator; the largest number of messages are automatic, i.e., communications from the subliminal consciousness finding expression through muscular workings controlled in a method hitherto only imperfectly understood."

"What does ouija mean, anyway?" we asked the patent office, for we have heard all sorts of cabalistic meanings attached to the queer syllables. "Well," said an obliging clerk, "the name is trademarked just as a word, but we understand that it means 'yes, yes,' being derived from oui, which is French for yes, and ja, which is German."

This seems plausible, if we discount ouija's own statements that its name signifies "The Master Hand," or "The Unknown," or that it is Hawaiian for "Truth." If ouija had not told so many people such different names for itself it might be easier to believe that the name savors of the occult. As it is, we fear that some prosaic toymaker, French perhaps, or German, accidentally put these two syllables together and found the effect pleasing, so that he named the board which answered yes and no, ouija, a union of languages not offensive.

Inventor Doesn't Understand

The ouija board most used in the United States was patented by William Fuld, a Baltimore toy manufacturer. Mr. Fuld invented his board simply as a game of the puzzle or mystic variety. He is careful to say that he does not claim any remarkable powers for his invention, but on the other hand, he tells the public that he does not himself know exactly what makes the little table move in so uncanny a manner.

This Solomon-like verdict is the only safe one for the inventor, for to deny outspokenly that his little board held any kinship with spirits would greatly injure the trade in his best seller, while if he claimed mysterious powers in league with the bits of wood, then he might be held responsible for some of little ouija's playful jokes.

Take the recent case of the woman who was unable to account for the disappearance of a sum of money. Ouija told her that a certain neighbor had taken it, and this startling advice was accepted as a clue from heaven. The neighbor was dramatically accused of theft, and the case went to court, one woman claiming a charge of theft, and the other after a libel suit. In such an instance the inventor of ouija is safe from attack as the cause of it all, as he never claimed that his invention was infallible.

Comedy and Farce

Most of ouija's history has been comedy, so far, and a good deal has been farce, but in a few cases an unaccountable force is said to have guided the board. The outstanding example of this is the well known story of Patience Worth who sent messages to a St. Louis woman through a ouija board. The mystery of Patience was that she talked in the language of seventeenth century England, using words and figures of speech which the medium could not possibly know, but which were almost always found in dictionaries of archaic English. Patience is still a mystery -- a seventeenth century English spinster who came to St. Louis to give her poems to the twentieth century, and for social chats with the medium and her friends, all through the ouija board.

We had talked to the ouija board, and delved into its history, and there was one more thing we wanted to know about that ouija -- how does it work, anyway? We called up the bureau of standards, the government scientific laboratory. The chief clerk answered, after his secretary had gurgled our message to him between fits of giggles, easily heard over the phone. The chief clerk was amused too, but the third commandment of the government is to give a serious answer to inquiries.

"Of course," he said, "we have never made a study of this matter. Unofficially, I should say that there is a tendency for the eye to guide the table toward some letter. The influence of the eye is shown in that is almost impossible to get any results blindfolded.

"Yes," he continued, "it is probably the working of the sub-conscious mind."

Still, we wonder. Thousands of people play with the board every night when the supper table is cleared off, and weegee tells them what day Jim will come home, and who is playing at the Main street picture show. Sometimes weegee hits the answer, sometimes he fails. It is a game. But out of these thousands of ouija fans comes one who calls up a Patience Worth, to upset the common sense theories and keep us wondering.

--Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, February 26, 1920, page 4.

Secrets Revealed! 1906 Psychic Advertisement, New York

Antique Advertisement
Middletown, New York, 1906

SECRETS REVEALED
PAST! PRESENT! FUTURE!

Consult this gifted clairvoyant and Psychic Medium. She is controlled by the honest Hindua. You will find out who are your friends and who are not. Also if you are in trouble or in doubt of any character concerning anyone or anything, feel yourself invited to call and be convinced and you will receive satisfaction.

The charges are within the reach of all and the strictest confidence is maintained.

Residence, 18 Railroad Ave., Middletown, N. Y. Open day and Sundays. Charges are 50c.

--Middletown Daily Times-Press, Middletown, New York, May 4, 1906, page 4.