Naturally enough, people are curious to discover when they are going to die, how they can achieve riches, why they do not get along with blondes, where they should travel. Since centuries before Tut of the Egyptians, a canny minority has been answering these more-or-less cosmic riddles for the curious majority. The answers are not always correct, but they have some fine trappings--crimson draperies, crystal balls, ouija boards, wet towels, etc., etc.

Gypsies. As numerous as rabbits in New Zealand are gypsy fortune-tellers in New York this winter. They rent vacant stores as combined homes & professional offices, hang up a few draperies perfumed with sweat & garlic, paw visitors' palms for considerations of $1 to $3 each. If a client wants a really big question answered, he is sometimes instructed to press a $1 bill against the gypsy and blow on it, while the gypsy neatly picks his pocket. For such practices, the police arrested seven gypsy women in uptown Manhattan a fortnight ago, and examined dozens more last week. Be these as they may, palmistry is practiced seriously by many an honest girl.

Swami. Munkund LaL Ghosh and Basu Kumar Ragchi, swart swamis, ran a school for ladies in Los Angeles, Calif. They took their pupils to the peak of a neighboring mountain where the atmosphere was such that "heaven vibrations" and "love control" were easy, and fat reduction a frolic. The regular fee was $35, but several clients were moved to rounder numbers. Fortnight ago, the irate husband of one client whipped Swami Lal Ghosh.

Others. Handwriting experts and phrenologists (inspectors of the hills and gullies of the cranium) are more interested in character analysis than in predicting events. Last week, Ernest Loomis, president of the American Institute of Phrenologists, inspected the files of Manhattan hatters and read character into skulls shaped like bathtubs, pears, eggs. But, said he: "It is the contents and not the symmetry of a skull which counts in the long run." Perhaps that is why numerologists, crystal-gazers, table-tippers, ouija-board-pushers, rhythmical dancers and all-round yogis stop at nothing in time, space, mind or matter. Then there is the New World Water Cult, with rooms in New York, Philadelphia and Cleveland, whose members sit with their bare feet in hot water and with cold wet towels around their heads, concentrating on questions for the Water Master to answer.

Astrology. Hardly to be mentioned in the same breath with the above phenomena is the science of astrology, famed father of astronomy. Whether or not one believes in the influence of stars on human destiny, there is no denying that reputable astrologists go about their work with the precision of a mathematician. In New York State, for example, the practice of astrology has been legalized on a par with medicine and law. And last week in Ohio the State Supreme Court upheld licensed astrologers, but in a rather backhanded way. It grouped astrologers with other fortune-tellers under the definition: "one who pretends to a knowledge of futurity and foretells the events of one's life," and said that the old Ohio law prohibiting these practices without licenses is still valid. The decision was written by bearded Chief Justice Carrington T. Marshall and supported by four of the remaining six justices including famed benchwoman Mrs. Florence E. Allen.

These are four branches of Astrology: Natural, having to do with the efect of the planets on earthly climate, quakes, floods; Mundane, concerning prosperity, plagues, wars; Natal, how the arrangement of the stars at the moment of birth determines a person's character, physique, life work; Horary, concerning the propitiousness of the stars for (or against) playing the market, getting married, leaving town. The last two branches of astrology are most in demand today.

Of all the astrologists, no one is nearer to the stars than Evangeline Adams (Mrs. George E. Jordan Jr.), hardy and cultured Yankee, descendant of the famed Adams family (John, John Quincy, Henry). To her office in Carnegie Hall, Manhattan, have flocked bigwigs and humble folk. She seats them in a chair facing her across her desk, takes out her charts, asks them a few simple questions on dates, and in several minutes tells them what they are and what would be well for them to do. She has been consulted by Mary Garden, Geraldine Farrar, Eva Le Gallienne, the late John Pierpont Morgan, Cardinal James Gibbons,* John Burroughs, Lillian Russell, Tallulah Bankhead, Seymour Cromwell (onetime president of the New York Stock Exchange), many a Wall Street man and Tammany Hall politician, Philip Payne (onetime editor of the New York Daily Mirror, whom Evangeline Adams warned against flying in the ill-fated Old Glory). Senators, high U. S. executives and business potentates, whose names she keeps secret, have sat facing her. Her outstanding predictions include the deaths of King Edward VII and Enrico Caruso, the Windsor Hotel of Manhattan fire (her first big one), the World War, the outcome of both Tunney-Dempsey fights. Because the stars pointed to great publicity, she advised the father of Lois Delander of Joliet, Ill., to send his daughter to the Atlantic City beauty contest. Miss Delander became Miss America.

Against the objections of her family, Evangeline Adams began studying astrology when she was 18. She has read widely in all fields of the occult and in the classics of all ages. Today, in her late fifties, she writes and talks (usually out of the right side of her mouth) with a vigorous punch. In her new book, Astrology: Your Place in the Sun* she says: "The wise man cooperates with the stars, the fool thinks he rules them."

To cast a horoscope accurately one must know the hour, day and year of one's birth. The following list gives the general characteristics of people born under the twelve signs of the Zodiac. However, one's entire personality may be twisted by the rising of a conflicting sign or planet within the period.

Aries (rani), Mar. 22 to Apr. 20, governed by Mars. These people are intolerant, impulsive, aggressive, insufferably proud. The women tend to be more passive than the men, and are often free lances. If the Aries man is immoral, it is in a conventional way. But he is honest. Both men and women are subject to stomach trouble, fevers, apoplexy. They have a profile suggestive of a sheep. Under this sign were born James Thomas Heflin, Andrew William Mellon, James Branch Cabell, Mary Pickford, Charles Spencer Chaplin, Constance Talmadge, Charles Evans Hughes, the late John Pierpont Morgan, Thomas Jefferson, Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck.

Taurus (bull), Apr. 21 to May 21, governed by Venus. The landed gentry and the contented plowman are typical Taurus folk. They are unimaginative, conservative creatures of habit. They make good friends and good homes. Some of them will become lazy and sensual. They are sturdy of body and should beware of heart and throat diseases. Under this sign were born Chauncey Mitchell Depew, Sir James Matthew Barrie, Sigmund Freud, Christopher Morley, William Guglielmo Marconi, Ulysses Simpson Grant, William Shakespeare.

Gemini (twins), May 22 to June 21, governed by Mercury. "Most Gemini natives try to walk in two directions at once." They work on all manner of subjects, good or bad, and think they are producing logical and accurate results. High-powered U. S. businessmen are often Gemini. So are gold-digging women. Childishness, thin lips, lung trouble are Gemini characteristics. Under this sign were born Douglas Fairbanks, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Harry Emerson Fosdick, the late Queen Victoria, Walt Whitman, Patrick Henry, Alighieri Dante.

Cancer (crab), June 22 to July 23, governed by the Moon. Those folk are clearly divided into two types. The active ones take a poetic view of the universe. They love to be made martyrs; ridicule makes them even more active, although they feel it personally. The passive type is sentimental, full of stagnant platitudes, lazy. Both types tend to become fleshy with years, should watch their digestive systems. Under this sign were born Calvin Coolidge, William Edgar Borah, Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, John D.. Rockefeller Sr., Jack Dempsey, the late Lord Northcliffe.

Leo (lion), July 24 to Aug. 23, governed by the Sun. Lordly, often haughty are Leo people. They excite envy, but seldom seek revenge. They are gluttons for work and like to have the bands playing with them. The spirit of Kiwanis and a tendency to early baldness are theirs. Under this sign were born Benito Mussolini,* Herbert Clark Hoover, George Bernard Shaw, Henry Ford, Ethel Barrymore, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Virgo (a virgin holding ears of corn), Aug. 24 to Sept. 23, governed by Mercury. Although seldom producing great works, Virgo people are keen critics. They are narrow, cold, self-centered, but often attract women because they treat love as a diversion. They make good statisticians, iconoclasts, compromise political candidates. Under this sign were born Henry Louis Mencken, Sherwood Anderson, Charles Gates Dawes, William Howard Taft, Booth Tarkington, John Pierpont Morgan Jr., H. G. Wells, General John Joseph Pershing, the late Leo Tolstoy, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Queen Elizabeth.

Libra (scales), Sept. 24 to Oct. 23, governed by Venus. These are airy, aesthetic, active people with lithe and graceful manners. Their chief trouble is that they like to put off until tomorrow what can be done today. They treat love as an art rather than an appetite. Charming in speech and writing, they make good actors, actresses, authors. Under this sign were born Eugene Gladstone O'Neill, Ina Claire, Georges Clemenceau, the late Oscar O'Flahertie Wilde.

Scorpio (scorpion & eagle), Oct. 24 to Nov. 22, governed by Mars. Scorpio folk are said to be the most passionate (in all things) of the Zodiac. They tend to be selfish, skeptical, bigoted, and never give in. They like to consider themselves avenging angels. Ibsen has drawn a strong Scorpio portrait in Hedda Gabler. Under this sign were born James A. Reed, Nicholas Longworth, Will Rogers. Will H. Hays, William Gibbs McAdoo, the late Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Gamaliel Harding.

Sagittarius (centaur shooting an arrow), Nov. 23 to Dec. 22, governed by Jupiter. These people have swift-working minds and tend to be idealists. High-strung, they are given to impatient, premature action. While essentially honest, they often neglect to match promises with performance. Under this sign were born Heywood Broun, Arthur Brisbane, Frank Billings Kellogg, Jane Cowl, Willa Cather.

Capricorn (goat), Dec. 23 to Jan. 20, governed by Saturn. A Capricorn man is never late to the office in 50 years and never makes a mistake in his bank balance. He is self-centered, often solitary, and exact rather than original. He tends to have a high forehead and lanky figure. Under this sign were born Alfred Emanuel Smith, Rudyard Kipling, Dwight Whitney Morrow, the late Woodrow Wilson and Daniel Webster.

Aquarius (man pouring water from an urn), Jan. 21 to Feb. 19, governed by Uranus. These people seem to be on a slightly higher plane than other zodiacal folk. Knowledge of the world is natural to them, but uncalled-for emergencies perplex them. Eighty percent of the people in the U. S. Hall of Fame are Aquarians. Under this sign were born Fritz Kreisler, Charles M. Schwab, Thomas Alva Edison, John Barrymore, Sinclair Lewis. Both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on Feb. 12, 1809.

Pisces (two fish), Feb. 20 to Mar. 21, governed by Neptune. Warm friends, devoted husbands (or wives), non-materialists are Pisces people. They need support and react quickly to any influence. Alcohol, for example, is dangerous to fish-folk. Under this sign were born Mary Garden, Geraldine Farrar, Otto Hermann Kahn, the late William Jennings Bryan, George Washington.

Negro

Among things omitted from a policeman's handbook are: Instructions for appeasing a terrified Negro who is sprinting down the street with his clothes on fire. Lacking this data, Officer Rhodes of Manhattan did the next best thing: tackled 23-year-old Negro Edward Burnett, extinguished the flames with his own uniform overcoat. Negro Burnett, taken to the Harlem Hospital in a critical condition, said that he had been sleeping quietly on a doorstep until another Negro poured a pail of kerosene on him and lit him.

Burglar

At matinee time Louis Romano walked along a residence street in Brooklyn. Casually, he put his hand in his overcoat pocket, pulled out a large pebble, flung it through a front door window of the nearest house. No irate head appeared, so Mr. Romano (of deductive temperament) forced the front door and calmly ransacked the house of its valuables. Thereafter, he always used the pebble test before burgling. Last week, however, the police captured him.

Doer

Married the father, divorced him; married the older son, divorced him; married the younger son. That is what Olga Renovsky, 18, of Harbin, Manchuria, did to the Urosov family between last spring and last week.

Mush-eaters

In Sycamore, Ill., Mrs. Helena Dolder, newly appointed sheriff, had plates of tepid, sticky, horrible mush served to the prisoners at the jail. Thirty-three scowling criminals began to curse Mrs. Dolder, describing her mush also in uncomplimentary terms. Mrs. Dolder turned on a hose and squirted water over the 33 criminals until they cried for mercy. The next night she again provided plates of tepid, sticky, horrible mush. This the prisoners ate with relish.

*Much loved American Roman Catholic prelate, onetime Archbishop of Baltimore. He died on March 24, 1921.

*It is an eminently readable guide book to astrology. Evangeline Adams has also written The Bowl of Heaven, largely autobiographical. Both are published by Dodd, Mead & Co.

*Il Duce is said to consult his private astrologer before making an important decision.