WEST-END FORTUNETELLERS ARRESTED
CRYSTALS SEIZED
Continuingpolice made recenta raid on campaignfive premises against in West-end Edgware-road fortune-tellers,and the vicin- the ity Mr. on G. Friday,L. Denman,and arrestedthe magistratethe followingat the on warrants Marylebone granted Police- by court: Agnes Constance MacDonald, alias Madam Vox, aged 44, palmist, of 41, Edgware-road; Annie Sophia Sharp, alias Madame Jacques, aged 71, masseuse and medium, of 90a, Portsdown-road; Elizabeth Jane Johnston, alias Madame Zaidia, 52, clairvoyante-palmist, of 57, Edgware-road; Annie Elizabeth Brodie, alias Madame Leslie, 44, palmist, of 274, Elgin-avenue and 174, Edgware-road (the “Fun City”); and Susan Fielder, 43, spiritualist, of 171, Edgware-road. All were charged under the Vagrant Act, with professing to tell fortunes to deceive and impose upon his Majesty’s subjects. A German woman, named Dorothea Ludolph, aged 40, described as a dressmaker, found at 90a, Portsdown-road, was charged with failing to register herself as an enemy alien, and Madame Jacques was further charged with knowingly harbouring her, contrary to the Aliens Restriction Consolidation Order, 1916. The raid was carried out by Divisional Detective-inspector Sanders, the newly-appointed Chief Constable of Plymouth, assisted by a number of detectives, and a quantity of fortune-telling apparatus was seized, including three crystals (one black), an Indian mirror, several magnifying glasses, and cushions, a pack of cards, and a number of advertisements in frames. Mr. E. B. Knight (Messrs. Wontner and Sons) appeared to prosecute for the Commissioner of Police when the accused were brought before Mr. Denman at the Marylebone Policecourt on Saturday. The first to be placed in the dock was the German woman Ludolph, who opened the door when Inspector Sanders called at 90a, Portsdown-road, and gave the name of Sharp. Mr. Denman sentenced her to three months hard labour, and recommended her for deportation.
“MISCHIEVOUS FRAUD”
In opening the case against the other prisoners, Mr Knight remarked that those fortune-tellers seemed to have congregated in the vicinity of Edgware-road, and were carrying on a very mischievous species of fraud upon the public, and particularly upon the relatives of those serving in the Army. Julia Masson, a married woman, living at Hampstead, gave evidence that she called at Madame Jacques’s premises on Jan. 26, and was shown into a nicely-furnished room. Madame asked where she came from, and explained that she did so because you have to be careful, ‘‘as someone may be sent to spy on us from the police.” She also said there was a lot of swindling going on by people in this business, but assured her that she was straightforward. In the course of the interview Madame examined her hand, and said “You have a good life-line and are surrounded by brightness. You will have a life full of happiness. ... I can feel by the vibration of your body which is passing through me that you are of the same disposition as myself. I see your husband is a prisoner of war and that he is quite safe and well.” Mr. Denman: Where was your husband? – He was at home. Is he in the Army at all? – No, your worship. Witness said the prisoner also told her that her husband would pass to the “other side, and she would get married again to Harold, who was supposed to be her husband’s friend. She paid the prisoner 5s. Mr. Denman sentenced the prisoner to three months’ imprisonment on each charge, the sentences to run concurrently.
“WELL-KNOWN TRICKERY”
The charge against Madame Zaidia was supported by Miss Nina White and Mr. Harold Ashton. The latter said he visited her on Jan. 15, and producing a copy of his freedom of the City of London, told her there was a sum of money on it and asked if she could tell him something about it. Gazing into a crystal, for the purpose, as she said, of concentration, she said, “I see the form of a very very old man. He is dressed in lace and ruffles, knee breeches, and a sword. He is something to do with this parchment, but it is rather indefinite. I cannot see very much.” She then wiped the crystal, and proceeded to tell him about his future. “I see here on this crystal,” she said, “three ships sailing across the sea. As they move they get larger and larger. That means that you are identified in some way in some shipping deal, and that as the ships are growing larger and larger in this fashion so will your success grow greater and greater. She examined his palm and he paid her 5s. Mr. Knight said the police informed him that since the war thirty more of these palmists and fortune tellers had established themselves in this neighbourhood. Mr Denman remarked that what she had been carrying on was the ancient and well-known trickery which had existed for centuries, owing to the gullibility of a large portion of mankind. There were reasons why these matters could not be overlooked or treated with the contempt that they deserved in normal times, and this being the first time the prisoner had been charged, she would be fined £20, with the alternative of two months’ imprisonment in the second division. In the case of Madame Vox, it was stated that she got the woman who visited her at the instance of the police to sign a form. “That,” said Mr. Knight, “is a way of trying to contract out of the Act.” At the prisoner’s request, the case was adjourned for a week, in order that she might obtain legal assistance. The charges against Madame Leslie and Susan Fielder were also remanded for a week, after Inspector Sanders had given evidence of arrest.