Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 28, 1924, Page 10

i hd 2 SA ae be “Of feast oted not usua into got Spectacular Success of Polish Wonder Mys- tifies and Amazes Scientists NCE again Shakespeare ts being dragged from his grave. This time, he is asked to bring a sample of handwriting with him; and by this simple means his status is to be definitely and forever settled. And at last we are to know whether the honors go to the Bard of Avon or to Sir Francis Bacon. This is but one of the spectacular and amazing claims which are being made by the supporters of Rafael Schermann, the Polish graphologist. Prominent men and women who have witnessed a demonstration of bis powers pronounce him a marvel endowed with a sixth sense. By the most casual glance at a line of your bandwriting, and sometimes without even this aid, he is said to be able to read past, present and future. Dr. C. Ward Crampton has .referred to him as a “saltation,” which is a biological term meaning a jump ahead of the rest of the species. He showed what he could do before & group of physicians and surgeons who profess themselves mystified at the results he achieved. He was asked to analyze the character of a well-known surgeon from a sample of handwriting given him. Told the Subject’s Work. “Here I see a knife and thore I see an abdomen,” Schermann said. “You are very precise and nothing bothers you. Your assistants had better be- ware. You are very musical, too.” This report was considered most interesting as well as striking, since the surgeon is known for insisting upon the utmost precision from his assistants, He specializes in abdom- inal surgery and takes a decided in- terest in music. At this meeting Schermann was able to diagnose three out of five ajlments ccrrectly by looking at the person and his handwriting. The fourth case was called 90 per cent successful, and the fifth was apparently all wrong. But it is said to have frequently happened in previous instances that while Schermann seemed to be wrong at the time, the symptoms he diagnosed were actually present, although un- known to elther the paticat or the physician at the time of the test. A woman had been sent to the test from one of the hospitals, suffering from diabetes. Schermann examined a bit of her handwriting and said at once: “This is a case of diabetes.” He also remarked that she was suf- fering on account of some complexi- tes in her private life, Later she re- vealed to a physiclan she had had no children although she had been mar- Tied 20 years. But she had never spoken of it before! In each case the attending phys!- cian wrote his diagnosis of the case and sealed it before Schermann gave his. AfterWard the two were com- pared. Dr. Crampton says concern- ing a patient of his: “He is thy treasurer of a big weekly magazine. He came to me for treatment, after being in a sanitarilum. He was suf- fering from high blood pressure, 230 to 240, and was a very discouraged man. He had also hemorrhages in the spinal cord and in the intestines and his legs were semi-paralyzed. “When he went into the room no one there knew this condition. He himself did not know it exactly. My diagnosis was sealed in an envelope. It read ‘High blood pressure. Better now. Semi-paralysis of leg. Hem- orrhages last year.’ He cntered the room and wrote something on a Piece of paper. Schermann looked at him and at the paper. He put his hand to his head and said ‘n Ger- man: ‘I feel high blood pressure. It was very serious, but {t is much. bet- ter now, This;man has a great re- sponsibility and is of a very nervous disposition. Hemorrhages occurred more than 12 months cgo. The man is a very hearty eater and that ts a good sign.” 7 So much for the medical end of it. In criminal investigations, according to Dr. Gester, in whose office the demonstration took place, Schermann has a reputation of being 70 per cent right, 20 per cent half right and 10 Der cent wrong. George Haven Put- man, the publisher, is quoted as say- ing that the Vienna banks and police put thelr O. K. on Schermann’s good faith. How Psycho-graphologist Analyses Character and - Even Diagnoses Symptoms From Speci- mens of Handwriting In Vienna,-Schermann was given @n enrtlope written by a woman friend in America. He said among other things that the lady was very beautiful; very intellectual; way3 ward; weak of will, needing someone lustrated in the story of the Turkish official whom Schermann warned against accepting a transfer from Austria, “Don't go, you will have a fall from @ great height” But the official went. A short time afterward he was ‘eaning over a balcony to Pick a cluster of flowers, admired by. a lady, and lost his balance. He struck on his head and was killed! One can not refrain from thinking that a wonderful future lies before a man with a grasp on future events Mike. He has only to enter Wall Some Joys and ‘Wonders of a Trip to Cuba and the Canal Zone F you don’t know Spanish you are I ata little disadvantage in Ha- yvana, for human nature is human naturo, and the opportunity to mulct the Americano is not to be resisted by the Jehu in his spick and span Ford. But a determined mien ac- complishes wonders and so we board a jitney on our way from the pier to the center of the town. He is taking vs for 25 cents—the legal rate—al- though he would demand more if he thought he could “get away with it.” We wind through narrow streets in the old part of the town. There are drinking places almost at every turn, with bars in plain view, for there are no windows, only great iron curtains lowered when the shops close for the night. As we pass alczs the streets there is in review a mixed population. Chinese, negroes, tatterdemalions, drifters from many climes are seen, and in doorways of poorer houses naked little children are at play. Across a sort of causeway we go to the “beer factory.” That is a cele- brated institution where the Cuban may go at any time and have as much cold beer as he wishes, without a penny of cost to,him. The setting is marvelous—a tropical garden, main- tained doubtless at great expense and with a glass-covered tesselated floor in a delightful open-air pavilion. We did not see the dancers, but they are there o= Sundays and at nights, disporting over this illuminated floor, with lights shining through the glass Pieces from below. It is an oasis in every way. General Wood occu- Pied the garden when he lived in Havana, The Game of Jai Lal, The Cuban 1s keen about sport. He used to like bull fights, but now he is turning to other amusement. On our trip through the town we see a large building, which we are told is devoted to jai lai (hie lie, it is pro- nounced). Every night there fs a game. The seats are on one side of an arena 210 feet in length. The oth- er three walls are playing space, quite high and almost black. The idea is to show clearly the ball, much like a baseball, but somewhat smaller in diameter, that is thrown by the players. They* play as individuals, man against man, or in teams of two men. Each: pisyer wears a glove with a long basket-like arrangement extend- ing from his right hand. The ball is caught in this basket and is thrown with great force against a wall at the far end of the building. On the re- bound the opposing player must catch the ball and send it back, again to be returned to the wall from which the bouncing is to be done, Much Gambling. The speed of the ball is unbelley- able and it is the most strenuous game imaginable. The betting mob is vociferous. Red-capped men are the betting commissioners and they tran3mit bets of individuals, getting a commission for the service. It is remindful of a lot of brokers on ‘change. Then for those who like the mutuel style of betting there 13 an adjoining room with windows through which a dollar or more may be thrust Gambling {s rampant in the coun- try. ‘That is to be expected yhere there is a state lottery. The people speak of the lottery as a fraud, but they buy tickets just the same. Ev- erywhere pedlers carry the tickets for sale, and three times a month there are drawings. The capital prize is $100,000. In cafes men shake dice for determination of who shall! pay the charges for refreshments, but there fs a ban on gambling for money with dice. And now for Cristobal, for Colon and the Canal Zone. The Amerieans created Cristobal, and 1 is a wonder- ful place, with great pliers and with a harbor that {s a gem of loveliness. Shops of Colon. ‘ Colon is the other side of the street from Cristobal, and the con- trast is great. Natives, negroes im- ported from Jamaica and other West Indian islands were along that Colon street overlooking the harbor and lined with stores selling s{lgs, orna- ments, laces and perfumes at prices unheard of in these United States. Al- most the first building to engage at- tention was marked “For Silver Star Employes.” It was the sign to desig- nate Jim Crow enforcement, The “Silver Stars” are the colored people —not far away is a “Gqld Star” sign, and that is for white peoplo to pat- ronize. There is prohibition in Cristobal, (Solden (5 leanings~ but Colon is “wet.” ‘There isn't any doubt about that, for dance halls are numerous and saloons are open to observation. One of the places has the name of “Submarine Joe” as pro- prietor, and the suggestion is of a frontier town of the olden days. We passed these places and hurricd on to ‘avoid the importunities of numerous East Indians to purchase in their “one-price” shops. That “one price,” by the way, doesn’t mean a thing. Everybody expects to ¢rive a bar- gain, and haggling is a pastime in- dulged by every customer. Along the streets cre numerous Pedlers, One is selling a curious cap or hat made of cocoanut, fibr another is offering a monkey or marmoset for sale, and, further along, parrotc and brilliantly colored cock- atoos are on perches waiting for a purchaser. Arrival at Panama was followed by registration at the Tivoli Hotel, gnother government enterprise, out of Panama and in what is called An- con, Soon we were on Panama City’s main street—essentially Latin-Amer- ica, but with a population of many nationalities. There was something interesting — something different— every turn, We wandered at will, and attrac- tive shops were discovered near quaint mission churches. The public Squares were alluring with their palms and tropical plants, and we looked with wonder upon the altar in one of the old churches—entirely of gold. 1 When that old buccancer, Morgan, came to that church years ago he found the altar painted black. But it was the gold altar just the same and the black was the effective means of protecting the magnificent piece from vandal spollation. street in the bright and early morn- ing, obtain a few samples of hand- writing from the different brokers (by which means he will know ex- actly what stocks to buy) and thus clean up @ vast fortune in‘a single day. No race track will hold any se- to lean on; eccentric in her dress, wearing great colored embroidered patterns, and a user of strong make- up. It is declared that this is an ac- curate description of the girl, who has a brilllant mind and striking beauty. “What Schermann said about the make-up was so true that I had to suppress an exclamation. She always wears black dresses, but across these she often throws big, heavy Spanish shawls, with great flowery patterns embroidered im red, green and gold.” Not even the mysteries of the fu- ture seem to be hidden from this man. His uncanny powers are il- cret from him. He knows at once what horse will win, and provided he bas no conscientious scruples against betting, oh, boy! what a pile he is go- ing to have. As to Reading the Futures, It will be seen at once that claims for reading the future takes Mr. Schermann from the realms of graph- ology, where things have a solid foot- ing, into that of the psychic where they most assuredly do not. At least, not according to our present knowl- edge. Any man is a fool, of course, to say a thing can’t be done. For if he does, as sure as shootin’ someone comes along the next day and does that very thing. It may well be that in the years to come we will all be endowed with powers to read the fu- ture; but up to date, few of us are going to believe that anyone who can actually foretell coming events is going to read palms and give lectures at so much per, when he might eas- fly rule the world. Farm Education for China AChinese general plans to teach Chinese soldiers scientific cultivation with modern farm machinery and then organize them into labor brigades for colonization of the vast waste lands of Northwest China. Among the occupations labelled “dangerous” in an official report from a statistical firm are street pedlers, hawkers, tin-miners and file-makers, Clergymen, gardeners and tallow, soap and glue makers are the most healthy occupations. The early Egyptians deemed it & duty to provide wine for the comfort of their dead. This was not, how- ever, offered in liquid form. The wine berry was the usual mediim im which wine was provided, while bar- ley was provided to secure the de- ceased his modicum of beer. —Underwood & Underwood, Sailing on Skiis is the newest sport developed in the Winter season. The sails are easily managed and carry one along speedily. A faithful friend is the medicine of life. ‘There is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less. -—~Anon | t |