,transcriber's ,note3 ,italic text is enclosed in underscores4 ,a ,,magician ,,among ,,the ,,spirits ,illustration3 ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle ,,and ,,houdini ,,photographed ,,at ,,the ,,auto ,,club1 ,,london1 ,,england ,a ,,magician ,,among ,,the ,,spirits ,,by ,,houdini ,illustrated ,illustration ,publishers ,,harper ,,brothers ,new ,york and ,london ,,mcmxxiv ,a ,,magician ,,among ,,the ,,spirits ,copyright1 #aibd1 by ,harry ,houdini ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,first ,edition ,o-,y ,,in ,,worshipful ,,homage ,i ,,dedicate ,,this ,,book ,,to ,,the ,,memory ,,of ,,my ,,sainted ,,mother ,,if ,,god ,,in ,,his ,,infinite ,,wisdom ,,ever ,,sent ,,an ,,angel ,,upon ,,earth ,,in ,,human ,,form ,,it ,,was ,,my ,,mother ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,,introduction xi ,,preface xxi ,i4 ,,the ,,founders ,,of ,,modern ,,spiritualism #a ,,ii4 ,,the ,,davenport ,,brothers #ag ,,iii4 ,,daniel ,,dunglas ,,home #ch ,,iv4 ,,palladino #ej ,v4 ,,ann ,o',,delia ,,diss ,,debar #ff ,,vi4 ,,dr4 ,,slade ,,and ,,his ,,spirit ,,slates #gi ,,vii4 ,,slate ,,writing ,,and ,,other ,,methods #aja ,,viii4 ,,spirit ,,photography #aag ,,ix4 ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle #ach ,x4 ,,why ,,ectoplasm8 #aff ,,xi4 ,,by-,,products ,,of ,,spiritualism #ahj ,,xii4 ,,investigations--,,wise ,,and ,,otherwise #aia ,,xiii4 ,,how ,,mediums ,,obtain ,,information #bag ,,xiv4 ,,what ,,you ,,must ,,believe ,,to ,,be ,a ,,spiritualist #bbi ,,xv4 ,,magicians ,,as ,,detectors ,,of ,,fraud #bdd ,,xvi4 ,,conclusion #bff ,,appendix #bga ,,illustrations ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle ,,and ,,houdini ,,photographed ,,at ,,the ,,auto ,,club1 ,,london1 ,,england ,frontispiece ,,page ,,john ,d4 ,,fox ,,and ,,his ,,wife #aj ,,the ,,fox ,,home ,,at ,,hydesville #aj ,,leah ,,fox ,,fish #ad ,,katie ,,fox ,,jencken #ad ,,margaret ,,fox ,,kane #ad ,,elisha ,,kent ,,kane1 ,m4,d4 #ad ,,ira ,,erastus ,,davenport ,,and ,,houdini1 ,,taken ,,on ,,july #e1 #aiaa4 ,the last photograph of the old showman #bf ,,facsimile ,,of ,,portions ,,of ,a ,,letter ,,written ,,to ,,houdini ,,by ,,ira ,e4 ,,davenport #bh ,,daniel ,,dunglas ,,home #dd ,,diagram ,,showing ,,arrangement ,,of ,,rooms1 ,,windows1 ,,etc41 ,,where ,,hume',s ,,reputed ,,feat ,,of ,,floating ,,took ,,place #dg ,,eusapia ,,palladino ,,and ,,her ,,seance ,,table #fj ,,ann ,o',,delia ,,diss ,,debar #gf ,,henry ,,slade #hh ,,locked ,,slate ,,used ,,by ,,dr4 ,,henry ,,slade ,,in ,,his ,,writing ,,tests ,,at ,,philadelphia #if ,,sketch ,,showing ,,slade',s ,,seat ,,at ,,the ,,table1 ,,different ,,positions ,,of ,,slates1 ,,location ,,of ,,sponge1 ,,and ,,method ,,of ,,moving ,,book #ih ,,writing ,,on ,,honest ,,slates ,,by ,,means ,,of ,,wedge ,,and ,,wire #ajd ,,houdini1 ,,mrs4 ,,houdini1 ,,and ,,mr4 ,,teale1 ,,demonstrating ,a ,,method ,,of ,,switching ,,slates ,,over ,a ,,sitter',s ,,head #ajf ,,rapping ,,mechanism ,,in ,,heel ,,of ,,medium',s ,,shoe #aaa ,,tube ,,and ,,piston ,,arrangement ,,for ,,making ,,raps #aaa ,,so-,,called 8,,spirit ,,extra0 ,,on ,,photograph ,,of ,,harry ,,price ,,made ,,by ,,william ,,hope ,,of ,,the ,,crewe ,,circle #acj ,,houdini ,,and ,,alexander ,,martin #acd ,,photograph ,,of ,,houdini ,,made ,,by ,,alexander ,,martin1 ,,at ,,denver1 ,,colorado1 ,,on ,,may #aj1 #aibc1 ,,showing ,,so-,,called 8,,spirit ,,extras0 #acf ,,mme4 ,,bisson1 ,,mrs4 ,,feilding 7,,tomchick71 ,,and ,,mlle4 ,,eva #agj ,,kellar ,,and ,,houdini #bbd ,,introduction ,from my early career as a mystical entertainer ,i have been interested in ,spiritualism as belonging to the category of mysticism1 and as a side line to my own phase of mystery shows ,i have associated myself with mediums1 joining the rank and file and held seances as an independent medium to fathom the truth of it all4 ,at the time ,i appreciated the fact that ,i surprised my clients1 but while aware of the fact that ,i was deceiving them ,i did not see or understand the seriousness of trifling with such sacred sentimentality and the baneful result which inevitably followed4 ,to me it was a lark4 ,i was a mystifier and as such my ambition was being gratified and my love for a mild sensation satisfied4 ,after delving deep ,i realized the seriousness of it all4 ,as ,i advanced to riper years of experience ,i was brought to a realization of the seriousness of trifling with the hallowed reverence which the average human being bestows on the departed1 and when ,i personally became afflicted with similar grief ,i was chagrined that ,i should ever have been guilty of such frivolity and for the first time realized that it bordered on crime4 ,as a consequence my own mental attitude became considerably more plastic4 ,i too would have parted gladly with a large share of my earthly possessions for the solace of one word from my loved departed--just one word that ,i was sure had been genuinely bestowed by them--and so ,i was brought to a full consciousness of the sacredness of the thought1 and became deeply interested to discover if there was a possible reality to the return1 by ,spirit1 of one who had passed over the border and ever since have devoted to this effort my heart and soul and what brain power ,i possess4 ,in this frame of mind ,i began a new line of psychical research in all seriousness and from that time to the present ,i have never entered a seance room except with an open mind devoutly anxious to learn if intercommunication is within the range of possibilities and with a willingness to accept any demonstration which proves a revelation of truth4 ,it is this question as to the truth or falsity of intercommunication between the dead and the living1 more than anything else1 that has claimed my attention and to which ,i have devoted years of research and conscientious study4 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle says in one of his lectures3 8,when one has a knock at the door1 one does not pause1 but goes further to see what causes it and investigates1 and sooner or later one discovers that a message is being delivered14440 ,so ,i have gone to investigate the knocks1 but as a result of my efforts ,i must confess that ,i am farther than ever from belief in the genuineness of ,spirit manifestations and after twenty-five years of ardent research and endeavor ,i declare that nothing has been revealed to convince me that intercommunication has been established between the ,spirits of the departed and those still in the flesh4 ,i have made compacts with fourteen different persons that whichever of us died first would communicate with the other if it were possible1 but ,i have never received a word4 ,the first of these compacts was made more than twenty-five years ago and ,i am certain that if any one of the persons could have reached me he would have done so4 ,one compact was made with my private secretary1 the late ,john ,w4 ,sargent1 a man of mature years4 ,we were very much attached to each other4 ,the day before he underwent an operation he said to me3 8,houdini1 this may be the end4 ,if it is1 ,i am coming back to you no matter what happens on the other side provided there is any way ,i can reach you4 ,and if ,i can come1 you will know it is ,i because ,i am going to will it so strong that you cannot be mistaken40 ,he died the next day4 ,that was more than three years ago and there has been no sign4 ,i have waited and watched believing that if any man ever could have sent back word he would have been the man4 ,and ,i know that our minds were so close to each other that ,i would have received the signal that my friend wanted to call me4 ,no one could accuse me of being unwilling to receive such a sign because it would have been the greatest enlightenment ,i could possibly have had in this world4 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 a sincere and confirmed believer in ,spirit phenomena whose acquaintance ,i esteem1 advises me that ,i do not secure convincing results because ,i am a skeptic and ,i therefore want to make it clear that ,i am not a scoffer4 ,i firmly believe in a ,supreme ,being and that there is a ,hereafter4 ,therefore since their departure from this earth it has been my practice1 as a final duty1 to visit the sacred resting places of my dearly beloved parents1 and ask their protection and silent blessings through the ,omnipotent ,almighty4 ,the very first place ,i visit when ,i return from a trip is this same hallowed spot4 ,both promised me faithfully innumerable times in this life that if they could aid and protect me from their graves or from the ,great ,beyond1 they would do so4 ,my mind has always been open and receptive and ready to believe4 ,in attending seances ,i have always made a pledge of honor with myself to banish all profane thoughts from my mind to the utmost of my ability4 ,i further pledge myself to concentrate4 ,i have persuaded my whole soul1 brain and thought to a point where the medium has my attention to such an extent that at the finish ,i feel as much exhausted as the medium who shows to those present the effects of great strain irrespective of its cause4 ,thus it must be seen that ,i am not a skeptic4 ,however1 it has been my life work to invent and publicly present problems1 the secrets of which not even the members of the magical profession have been able to discover1 and the effects of which have proved as inexplicable to the scientists as any marvel of the mediums1 and ,i claim that in so far as the revelation of trickery is concerned my years of investigation have been more productive than the same period of similar work by any scientist2 that my record as a 8mystifier of mystifiers0 qualifies me to look below the surface of any mystery problem presented to me and that with my eyes trained by thirty years' experience in the realms of mystery and occultism it is not strange that ,i view these so-called phenomena from a different angle than the ordinary layman or even the expert investigator4 ,a memorable incident in my life and one that shows how little the world at large understands the methods by which my mysteries are produced and also shows how easy it is for even a great intellect1 faced with a mystery it cannot fathom1 to conclude that there is something supernatural involved1 has to do with ,madame ,sarah ,bernhardt4 ,during one of my various engagements in ,paris she had witnessed my performances and was anxious to see one of my outdoor exploits1 so1 when we were both playing at the same time in ,boston1 out of good camaraderie ,i gave a special performance at my hotel adding a few extra experiments for her benefit4 ,as we were seated in the motor car on the way to my demonstration she placed her arm gently around my shoulder1 and in that wonderful speaking voice with which she was gifted and which has thrilled thousands of auditors1 but now stilled forever1 she said to me3 8,houdini1 you do such marvellous things4 ,couldn't you--could you bring back my leg for me80 ,i looked at her1 startled1 and failing to see any mischievous sparkle in her eye replied3 8,good heavens1 ,madame1 certainly not2 you cannot be serious4 ,you know my powers are limited and you are actually asking me to do the impossible40 8,yes10 she said as she leaned closer to me1 8but you do the impossible40 ,we looked at each other2 she1 the travel-worn1 experienced woman of the world2 ,i1 the humble mystifier1 nonplussed and thunderstruck at the extraordinary1 unintentional compliment she was paying me4 ,then ,i asked3 8,are you jesting80 8,mais non1 ,houdini1 j'ai jamais t plus srieux dans ma vie10#a she answered as she slowly shook her head4 8,madame1 you exaggerate my ability10 ,i told her4 ,each of the marvels of modern scientific achievement such as the telephone1 radio1 flying machine1 radium1 etc41 were at one time classed as impossible and would have been looked upon as supernatural1 if not ,spiritual manifestations4 ,similar mysteries1 but more frail in principle and constructive detail1 were the instruments used by the priestcraft of ancient religious cults for the purpose of holding the mass of unintelligent beings in servitude4 ,it is not unusual for the eye or ear to play tricks with one but when such illusions and delusions are taken for the ,spirit forms of the departed and voices of the dead instead of being recognized as some subjective phenomena brought about by a physical cause the situation takes on a grave aspect4 ,it is this transfer of an inner reaction to an external object which constitutes practically all that is necessary to be placed in the category of 8psychics10 who represent the priests and ministers of ,spiritualism4 ,distressed relatives catch at the least word which may remotely indicate that the ,spirit which they seek is in communication with them4 ,one little sign even1 which appeals to their waiting imagination1 shatters all ordinary caution and they are converted4 ,then they begin to accept all kinds of natural events as results of ,spirit intervention4 ,this state of mind is productive of many misfortunes1 including suicides by those who think they are going to happiness with loved ones beyond the pale4 ,when in ,europe in #aiai finishing an engagement interrupted by the ,world ,war ,i was impressed by the eagerness of grief-stricken parents for the solace of a word from the boy who had passed on and my desire for the truth was renewed with fresh vigor4 ,i am informed that so great has the 8medium0 craze become in ,berlin that the grief-stricken residents have spent great sums of money in the hope of discovering mediums who will 8guarantee them a glimpse behind the veil40 ,it is with the deepest interest and concern that ,i have watched this great wave of ,spiritualism sweep the world in recent months and realized that it has taken such a hold on persons of a neurotic temperament1 especially those suffering from bereavement1 that it has become a menace to health and sanity4 ,professor ,george ,m4 ,robertson1 eminent psychopathologist1 and ,physician-,superintendent of the ,royal ,edinburgh ,mental ,hospital1 made the danger of insanity resulting from strong belief in ,spiritualism by neurotics the subject of a part of his annual report in #aibj4 ,he says3 8,those who had sustained bereavements during the war and bore them with equanimity in the days of crowded incidents and amidst the pressure of war activities1 such as ,red ,cross and other work1 find it much harder to bear up now1 although time has elapsed4 ,some have broken down since the war came to an end4 ,many1 as a solace to their feelings1 have taken an interest in ,spiritualism4 ,since ,dr4 ,charles ,mercier quoted in the preface of his book #8,spiritualism and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge' my warning on the danger of neurotic persons engaging in practical inquiries of a ,spiritualistic nature1 ,i have received many requests to say more on the subject4 ,i have little to add save to reaffirm the statement then made4 8,i do not consider either ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle or ,sir ,oliver ,lodge to be safe judges1 whose opinion should be accepted on this difficult and important subject1 in view of their bereavement and unconscious desires4 ,if the wish be father to the thought1 it is mother to the hallucination of the senses4 8,the tricks the brain can play without calling in ,spiritualistic aids are simply astounding1 and only those who have made a study of morbid as well as normal psychology1 realize the full truth of this40 ,i have read with keen curiosity the articles by leading scientists on the subject of psychic phenomena1 particularly those by ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 in which they have discussed their respective conversions to a belief in communication with the dead4 ,there is no doubt in my mind that some of these scientists are sincere in their belief but unfortunately it is through this very sincerity that thousands become converts4 ,the fact that they are scientists does not endow them with an especial gift for detecting the particular sort of fraud used by mediums1 nor does it bar them from being deceived1 especially when they are fortified in their belief by grief1 for the various books and records of the subject are replete with deceptions practised on noted scientists who have essayed to investigate prominent mediums4 ,it is perfectly rational to suppose that ,i may be deceived once or twice by a new illusion1 but if my mind1 which has been so keenly trained for years to invent mysterious effects1 can be deceived1 how much more susceptible must the ordinary observer be4 ,during my last trip abroad1 in #aiai1 ,i attended over one hundred seances with the sole purpose of honest investigation2 these seances were presided over by well-known mediums in ,france and ,england4 ,in addition to attending these seances ,i spent a great deal of time conferring with persons prominently identified with ,spiritualism4 ,in the course of my intense investigations ,i have met most of the famous mediums of our time4 ,i have submitted to conditions imposed by them and religiously awaited results1 but ,i still question any so-called proof of the existence of ,spirits who are interested in any way1 physically or mentally1 in the welfare of mortal men4 ,it is not within the province of this book1 which is the result of my years of investigation1 to give all the historical detail concerning every medium mentioned1 though enough are furnished in each instance to establish my claims1 each of which is based on a thorough study of the records as are also my statements many of which are supported by documentary evidence in my possession4 ,i have spent a goodly part of my life in study and research4 ,during the last thirty years ,i have read every single piece of literature on the subject of ,spiritualism that ,i could4 ,i have accumulated one of the largest libraries in the world on psychic phenomena1 ,spiritualism1 magic1 witchcraft1 demonology1 evil spirits1 etc41 some of the material going back as far as #adhi1 and ,i doubt if any one in the world has so complete a library on modern ,spiritualism1 but nothing ,i ever read concerning the so-called ,spiritualistic phenomena has impressed me as being genuine4 ,it is true that some of the things ,i read seemed mystifying but ,i question if they would be were they to be reproduced under different circumstances1 under test conditions1 and before expert mystifiers and open minded committees4 ,mine has not been an investigation of a few days or weeks or months but one that has extended over thirty years and in that thirty years ,i have not found one incident that savoured of the genuine4 ,if there had been any real unalloyed demonstration to work on1 one that did not reek of fraud1 one that could not be reproduced by earthly powers1 then there would be something for a foundation1 but up to the present time everything that ,i have investigated has been the result of deluded brains or those which were too actively and intensely willing to believe4 ,,houdini4 ,,preface ,gladly would ,i embrace ,spiritualism if it could prove its claims1 but ,i am not willing to be deluded by the fraudulent impositions of so-called psychics1 or accept as sacred reality any of the evidence that has been placed before me thus far4 ,the ancients' childish belief in demonology and witchcraft2 the superstitions of the civilized and uncivilized1 and those marvellous mysteries of past ages are all laughed at by the full grown sense of the present generation2 yet we are asked1 in all seriousness1 by a few scientists and scholars1 to accept as absolute truth such testimony as is built up by their pet mediums1 which1 so far1 has been proven to be nothing beyond a more or less elaborate construction of fiction resting on the slenderest of foundations1 or rather1 absolutely no foundation4 ,not only educated men and women with emotional longings for some assurance of the continued existence of departed loved ones1 but people of all phases and conditions of life1 have completely surrendered themselves to belief in the most monstrous fiction1 vouched for by only a single witness of the so-called phenomenon1 and that too when the medium1 through whom the phenomenon was supposed to have presented itself1 had been caught cheating time and again4 ,i believe in a ,hereafter and no greater blessing could be bestowed upon me than the opportunity1 once again1 to speak to my sainted ,mother who awaits me with open arms to press me to her heart in welcome1 just as she did when ,i entered this mundane sphere4 ,h4 ,spring1 #aibd4 ,a ,,magician ,,among ,,the ,,spirits ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,founders ,,of ,,modern ,,spiritualism ,the story of modern spirit manifestations1 so called1 dates from #ahdh and the 8solitary farmhouse0 of ,john ,d4 ,fox and his wife in the village of ,hydesville1 in ,new ,york ,state1 and centres around their two little girls1 ,margaret1 eight1 and ,kate1 younger by a year and a half4 ,successfully exploited while still children2 credited with occult power2 becoming world-famous as 8,the ,fox ,sisters10--their record is1 without exception1 one of the most interesting in the history of spiritualism4 ,john ,fox and his wife appear to have been of the 8good1 honest10 but not mentally keen type of farmer folk4 ,of the two1 the wife was the more 8simple minded10 and when the 8nervous1 superstitious woman0 began to hear unusual noises which she could not account for1 and which seemed in some peculiar manner connected with her children1 she concluded at once that the sounds were 8unnatural0 and began to brood over the matter4 ,her fears increased with the persistent recurrence of the mysterious sounds1 and before long she took some of the neighbors into her confidence4 ,they were as puzzled as the mother1 the ,fox home became an object of suspicion and the neighborhood set itself the task of solving the mystery4 ,with the increase of interest came a proportionate increase in the noises1 which commenced to be known as 8rappings10 and which1 in spite of the positive denials by the children of any knowledge of how they were produced1 regularly answered by an uncanny code questions asked the two girls4 ,the possibility of duplicity in such children never occurred to any one in ,hydesville1 with the result that the timid hint of a 8disembodied spirit0 soon became a theory4 ,some one asked the girls if a murder had ever been committed in the house4 ,the ominous sounds of the code answered in the affirmative and at once to the eager investigators1 the theory became a proven fact and there flashed up in their minds the vision of a personality in the ,spirit ,world endeavoring by crude means1 which somewhat resembled telegraphy1 to give to human beings the benefit of its vaster knowledge1 the whole affair in some obscure manner being connected with two little girls4 ,at this critical moment a married daughter of ,john ,d4 ,fox and his wife came home to ,hydesville for a visit4 ,twenty-three years older than little ,margaret1 of a very different type than either father or mother1 she seems to have grasped instantly the possibilities in the 8occult0 powers of her little sisters and to have taken complete command of the ,fox family's affairs at once4 ,her first move was to organize a 8,society of ,spiritualists0 and encourage crowds to come to the house to see the children4 ,hydesville became famous almost overnight4 ,news of the peculiar 8rappings0 spread with lightning-like rapidity and soon became an absorbing topic of conversation1 not only in the ,united ,states1 but in ,england1 ,france1 ,italy1 and ,germany as well4 ,women like ,harriet ,martineau and ,elizabeth ,barrett ,browning were said to have given their whole thought to it1 and men of the strongest intellect and will to be 8caught in the meshes it had woven in contemporaneous thought40 ,hydesville became too small a field for the operations of ,mrs4 ,fish1 the older sister1 very quickly1 and soon she appears in ,rochester with the girls1 publicly exhibiting their feats to great crowds for money1 realizing from one hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars a night in profits1 which she pocketed4 ,from ,rochester she took them to ,new ,york ,city1 and later the girls made a tour of the cities of the ,united ,states1 attracting the 8most prominent theologians1 physicians1 and professional men of all kinds1 as well as great crowds everywhere40 ,there is no record that the girls were ever under the management of ,mrs4 ,fish after they left ,new ,york ,city although she menaced them continually and ,margaret feared her as long as she lived4 ,the grand tour over1 ,kate1 sponsored by ,horace ,greeley1 went to school and ,margaret1 just developing into an attractive young woman1 and destined to become the more famous of the two mediums1 began a series of seances in rooms occupied by herself and mother at the ,union ,hotel in ,philadelphia4 ,there romance entered her life on a day in #ahec in the person of ,dr4 ,elisha ,kent ,kane1 the noted ,arctic explorer4 ,his had been a remarkable career4 ,belonging to one of the most aristocratic families in ,philadelphia2 the son of a judge2 handsome2 still under thirty-four2 graduated more than ten years previously from the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 he had gone out to ,china with ,commodore ,parker as 8surgeon of the embassy10 later obtained a leave of absence and travelled through ,greece on foot1 went up the ,nile1 toured ,india1 ,ceylon1 and the ,south ,sea ,islands1 and even 8dared the ,himalayas40 ,the ,mexican ,war had furnished him an opportunity to 8win spurs for gallantry40 and1 this over1 he had joined a relief expedition which went in search of ,sir ,john ,franklin in #ahej4b ,this much travelled1 much experienced man of the world was instantly and irresistibly attracted to the young medium4 ,an acquaintance was formed and it was not long before ,doctor ,kane determined that1 regardless of all obstacles1 she should be his wife4 ,in spite of the efforts of his family1 he soon made arrangements to educate ,margaret1 and she was placed with a tutor in a quiet suburb of ,philadelphia1 where an aunt of the doctor's could have an oversight of her and where in addition to her other studies she was to be made proficient in ,french1 ,german1 and ,italian1 as well as vocal and instrumental music4 ,her vacations were spent with a sister of ,senator ,cockrell4 ,for some three or four years she was thus sheltered from the world1 while the doctor did all in his power to eradicate from her mind everything connected with spiritualism and 8rappings40 ,then came the turn of the tide4 ,the doctor became broken in health as a result of exposure in the ,arctic and decided to go abroad4 ,there had been neither civil or religious ceremony to mark his marriage to ,margaret1 but just before he sailed1 in the presence of her mother and other witnesses1 he declared that they were husband and wife4 ,his health grew worse in ,london and he left there for the ,west ,indies1 where ,margaret and her mother were to join him1 but their preparations for the journey were cut short by the announcement in the papers of his death in ,havana on the #afth of ,february1 #aheg4 ,margaret was prostrated by the blow4 ,a long sickness followed and when she finally recovered it was to face the world1 not only friendless and alone1 but penniless as well1 for1 owing to a compromise1 she did not share in the doctor's estate4 ,disappointed1 disheartened1 and bitter she went back to her ,spiritualism and 8rappings40 ,for thirty years she wandered from place to place holding seances4 ,for thirty years she suffered the tortures of remorse and ill health4 ,she believed she was being driven 8into hell40 ,she loathed the thing she was1 and tried at times to drown her troubles in wine4 ,for thirty years she lived in constant fear of her older sister4 ,then ,margaret ,kane found a temporary solace in the ,catholic ,church4 ,but there were still more months of struggle before she finally found courage to tell the story of the world-famous 8rappings0 in a signed confession given to the press in ,october1 #ahhh4c 8,i do this10 she said1 8because ,i consider it my duty1 a sacred thing1 a holy mission1 to expose it 7,spiritualism74 ,i want to see the day when it is entirely done away with4 ,after ,i expose it ,i hope ,spiritualism will be given a death blow4 ,i was the first in the field and ,i have a right to expose it4#d 8,my sister ,katie and ,i were very young children when this horrible deception began4 ,i was only eight1 just a year and a half older than she4 ,we were very mischievous children and sought merely to terrify our dear mother1 who was a very good woman and very easily frightened4 8,when we went to bed at night we used to tie an apple to a string and move the string up and down1 causing the apple to bump on the floor1 or we would drop the apple on the floor1 making a strange noise every time it would rebound4 ,mother listened to this for a time4 ,she would not understand it and did not suspect us as being capable of a trick because we were so young4 8,at last she could stand it no longer and she called the neighbors in and told them about it4 ,it was this that set us to discover a means of making the raps more effectually4 ,i think1 when ,i reflect about it1 that it was a most wonderful discovery1 a very wonderful thing that children should make such a discovery1 and all through a desire to do mischief only4#e 8,our oldest sister was twenty-three years of age when ,i was born4 ,she was in ,rochester when these tricks first began but came to ,hydesville1 the little village in central ,new ,york where we were born and lived4 8,all the neighbors around1 as ,i have said1 were called in to witness these manifestations4 ,there were so many people coming to the house that we were not able to make use of the apple trick except when we were in bed and the room was dark4 ,even then we could hardly do it1 so the only way was to rap on the bedstead4 8,and that is the way we began4 ,first1 as a mere trick to frighten mother1 and then1 when so many people came to see us children1 we were ourselves frightened1 and for self-preservation forced to keep it up4 ,no one suspected us of any trick because we were such young children4 ,we were led on by my sister purposely and by mother unintentionally4 ,we often heard her say3 8#8,is this a disembodied spirit that has taken possession of my dear children8' 8,that encouraged our fun and we went on4 ,all the neighbors thought there was something and they wanted to find out what it was4 ,they were convinced that some one had been murdered in the house4 ,they asked the spirits through us about it and we would rap one for the spirit answer #8yes1' not three as we did afterwards4 ,the murder they concluded must have been committed in the house4 ,they went over the whole surrounding country trying to get the names of people who had formerly lived in the house4 ,finally they found a man by the name of ,bell1 and they said that this poor innocent man had committed a murder in the house and that the noises came from the spirit of the murdered person4 ,poor ,bell was shunned and looked upon by the whole community as a murderer4#f 8,mrs4 ,underhill1 my eldest sister1 took ,katie and me to ,rochester4 ,there it was that we discovered a new way to make the raps4 ,my sister ,katie was the first to observe that by swishing her fingers she could produce certain noises with her knuckles and joints1 and that the same effect could be made with the toes4 ,finding that we could make raps with our feet--first with one foot and then with both--we practiced until we could do this easily when the room was dark4 8,like most perplexing things when made clear1 it is astonishing how easily it is done4 ,the rappings are simply the result of a perfect control of the muscles of the leg below the knee1 which govern the tendons of the foot and allow action of the toe and ankle bones that is not commonly known4 ,such perfect control is only possible when a child is taken at an early age and carefully and continually taught to practice the muscles1 which grow stiff in later years4 ,a child at twelve is almost too old4 ,with control of the muscles of the foot1 the toes may be brought down to the floor without any movement that is perceptible to the eye4 ,the whole foot1 in fact1 can be made to give rappings by the use only of the muscles below the knee4 ,this1 then1 is the simple explanation of the whole method of the knocks and raps4 8,in ,rochester ,mrs4 ,underhill gave exhibitions4 ,we had crowds coming to see us and she made as much as a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars a night4 ,she pocketed this4 ,parties came in from all parts to see us4 ,many as soon as they heard a little rap were convinced4 ,to all questions we answered by raps4 ,we knew when to rap #8yes' or #8no' according to certain signs which ,mrs4 ,underhill gave us during the seance4 8,a great many people when they hear the rapping imagine at once that the spirits are touching them4 ,it is a very common delusion4 ,some very wealthy people came to see me some years ago when ,i lived in ,forty-second ,street and ,i did some rappings for them4 ,i made the spirit rap on the chair and one of the ladies cried out3 8#8,i feel the spirit tapping me on the shoulder4' 8,of course that was pure imagination4 8,katie and ,i were led around like lambs4 ,we went to ,new ,york from ,rochester and then all over the ,united ,states4 ,we drew immense crowds4 ,i remember particularly ,cincinnati4 ,we stopped at the ,burnett ,house4 ,the rooms were jammed from morning till night and we were called upon by those old wretches to show our rappings when we should have been out at play in the fresh air4 8,nobody has ever suspected anything from the start in #ahdh until the present day as to any trickery in our methods4 ,there has never been a detection4#g ,but as the world grew wise and science began to investigate we began to adapt our experiments to our audiences4 ,our seances were held in a room4 ,there was a centre-table in the middle and we all stood around it4 8,as far as ,spirits were concerned neither my sister nor ,i thought about it4 ,i know that there is no such thing as the departed returning to this life4 ,many people have said to me that such a thing was possible and seemed to believe so firmly in it that ,i tried to see1 and ,i have tried in every form and know that it cannot be done4 8,after ,i married1 ,dr4 ,kane would not let me refer to my old life--he wanted me to forget it4 ,but when ,i was poor1 after his death1 ,i was driven to it again1 and ,i wish to say clearly that ,i owe all my misfortune to that woman1 my sister4 ,i have asked her time and again3 8#8,now that you are rich why don't you save your soul8' 8,but at my words she would fly into a passion4 ,she wanted to establish a new religion and she told me that she received messages from spirits4 ,she knew that we were tricking people but she tried to make us believe spirits existed4 ,she told us that before we were born spirits came into her room and told her that we were destined for great things4 8,yes1 ,i am going to expose ,spiritualism from its very foundation4 ,i have had the idea in my head for many a year but ,i have never come to a determination before4 ,i have thought of it day and night4 ,i loathe the thing ,i have been4 ,i used to say to those who wanted me to give a seance3 8#8,you are driving me into ,hell4' 8,then the next day ,i would drown my remorse in wine4 ,i was too honest to remain a #8medium4' ,that's why ,i gave up my exhibitions4 ,i have seen so much miserable deception6 ,every morning of my life ,i have it before me4 ,when ,i wake up ,i brood over it4 ,that is why ,i am willing to state that ,spiritualism is a fraud of the worst description4 ,i have had a life of sorrow1 ,i have been poor and ill1 but ,i consider it my duty1 a sacred thing1 a holy mission to expose it4 ,i want to see the day when it is entirely done away with4 ,after my sister ,katie and ,i expose it ,i hope ,spiritualism will be given a death blow4 8,i do not want it understood that the ,catholic ,church has advised me to make these public exposures and confession4 ,it is my own idea4 ,my own mission4 ,i would have done it long ago if ,i could have had the necessary money and courage to do it4 ,i could not find anyone to help me--,i was too timid to ask4 8,i am now very poor4 ,i intend1 however1 to expose ,spiritualism because ,i think it is my sacred duty4 ,if ,i cannot do it who can8 ,i who have been the beginning of it8 ,at least ,i hope to reduce the ranks of the eight million ,spiritualists in the country4 ,i go into it as into a holy war4 ,i am waiting anxiously and fearlessly for the moment when ,i can show the world1 by personal demonstration1 that all ,spiritualism is a fraud and a deception4 ,it is a branch of legerdemain1 but it has to be closely studied to gain perfection4 ,none but a child at an early age1 would have ever attained the proficiency and wrought such widespread evil as ,i have4 ,illustration3 ,,john ,d4 ,,fox ,,and ,,his ,,wife ,illustration3 ,,the ,,fox ,,home ,,at ,,hydesville 8,i trust that this statement1 coming solemnly from me1 the first and the most successful in this deception1 will break the rapid growth of ,spiritualism and prove that it is all a fraud1 hypocrisy and delusion4 7,signed7 8,margaret ,fox ,kane40#h ,mrs4 ,kane's 8confession0 was published in the ,sunday edition of the ,new ,york ,world on ,october #ba1 #ahhh4 ,arrangements had been made for her to give a public demonstration and exposition of the so-called 8marvellous0 ,spiritualistic 8phenomena0 that same evening at the ,academy of ,music in ,new ,york4 ,meanwhile1 in order to foil the 8attempts0 of certain mediums to 8kidnap her0 she was being closely guarded at her hotel where during the day she was interviewed by newspaper men4 ,expecting when she left her room to answer questions only she nevertheless readily consented to give some evidence of 8how the trick was done0 in order to do all in her power to 8complete the exposure and demonstrate the utter absurdity of the claim made by mediums that she was possessed of spiritual power in spite of her denials40 ,the ,world reporter told of this private demonstration as follows3 8#8,now1' said ,mrs4 ,kane1 #8,i will stand up before these folding-doors and you may stand as near as you please and ,i will call up any 8spirit0 that you wish and answer any questions4 ,one rap means 8no0 and three raps mean 8yes40 ,are you ready8' 8#8,is ,napoleon ,bonaparte present8' the reporter asked1 watching ,mrs4 ,kane closely4 ,three raps 7yes74 8#8,does he know me8 ,i mean did he ever meet and converse with me8' ,three raps4 8#8,that is strange1 isn't it1' remarked ,mrs4 ,kane1 smiling1 #8in view of the fact that he must have died before you were born8 ,try again4' 8#8,is ,abraham ,lincoln present8' ,three raps4 8#8,well you see the 8spirits0 are very obliging4' 8#8,will ,harrison be elected8' ,one loud rap 7no74 8#8,will ,president ,cleveland get another term8' ,three raps40 ,that night some two thousand or more persons crowded the ,academy of ,music to witness the sensational expos4 ,most of them were sober1 sensible people who 8hailed with delight0 the announcement that one of the famous ,fox ,sisters was to make a 8clean breast of her share in ,spiritualistic humbuggery40 ,but certain portions of the house were packed with pronounced ,spiritualists1 men and women who regarded all efforts to disillusion the public as so many personal insults1 and when1 previous to ,mrs4 ,kane's appearance1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,m4 ,richmond1 a prominent ,new ,york dentist who had spent twenty years and thousands of dollars investigating mediumistic tricks and wiles explained and demonstrated in full light the full methods of producing them1 this ,spiritualistic contingent became decidedly hostile and when ,mrs4 ,kane finally stepped before the big audience to 8confess orally what she had already confessed in print0 she was laboring under too great a nervous strain to make any 8intelligent utterance40 ,those in charge of the affair realizing that an address was out of the question at once suggested that she immediately give a demonstration of the 8rappings40 ,one of the ,new ,york papers the next morning published the following description of what happened4#i 8,but if her tongue had lost its power her preternatural toe joint had not4 ,a plain wooden stool1 or table1 resting upon four short legs and having the properties of a sounding board was placed in front of her4 ,removing her shoe1 she placed her right foot upon this little table4 8,the entire house became breathlessly still and was rewarded by a number of little short1 sharp raps--those mysterious sounds which have for forty years frightened and bewildered hundreds of thousands of people in this country and in ,europe4 8,a committee consisting of three physicians taken from the audience then ascended the stage1 and having made an examination of her foot during the progress of the rappings1 unhesitatingly agreed that the sounds were made by the action of the first joint of her large toe4 8,the demonstration was perfect and complete and only the most hopelessly prejudiced and bigoted fanatics of ,spiritualism could withstand the irresistible force of this commonplace explanation and exhibition of how spirit rappings are produced40 ,the exposure attracted widespread attention4 ,letters poured in from far and wide begging for confirmation1 explanation or denial4 ,the rest of the tribe of mediums naively hinted that if there had been fraud it was well to have it exposed but of course they were genuine4 ,many who had believed in ,spiritualism wrote most pathetically4 ,one of these writing from ,san ,francisco says3 8,i have been a believer in the phenomena from its first inception through you and your sister1 believing it to be true since that time4 8,i am now eighty-one years old and have but a short time of course1 to remain in this world1 and ,i feel a great anxiety to know through you if ,i have been deceived all this time in a matter of vital interest to us all40#aj ,but perhaps of them all none better expresses what a blow the exposure was to thousands who had accepted as genuine the messages of the mysterious raps or describes more vividly the effect of ,spiritualism on many who are attracted to it than the following from a woman in ,boston4#aa 8,hundreds of thousands have believed through you and you alone4 ,hundreds of thousands eagerly ask you whether all the glorious light that they fancied you had given them1 was but the false flicker of a common dip-candle of fraud4 8,if1 as you say1 you were forced to pursue this imposture from childhood1 ,i can forgive you1 and ,i am sure ,god will2 for he turns not back the truly repentant4 ,i will not upbraid you4 ,i am sure you have suffered as much as any penalty1 human or divine1 could cause you to suffer4 ,the disclosures that you make take from me all that ,i have cherished most4 ,there is nothing left for me now but to hope for the reality of that repose which death promises us4 8,it is perhaps better that the delusion should be at last swept away by one single word1 and that word #8fraud4' ,illustration3 ,,leah ,,fox ,,fish ,illustration3 ,,katie ,,fox ,,jencken ,illustration3 ,,margaret ,,fox ,,kane ,illustration3 ,,elisha ,,kent ,,kane1 ,m4,d4 8,i know that the pursuit of this shadowy belief has wrought upon my brain and that ,i am no longer my old self4 ,money ,i have spent in thousands and thousands of dollars within a few short years to propitiate the #8mediumistic' intelligence4 ,it is true that never once have ,i received a message or the token of a word that did not leave a still unsatisfied longing in my heart1 a feeling that it was not really my loved one after all who was speaking to me1 or if it was my loved one that he was changed1 that ,i hardly knew him and he hardly knew me4 ,but that must have been the true intuition4 ,it is better that the delusion is past1 after all1 for had ,i kept on in that way1 ,i am sure ,i should have gone mad4 ,the constant seeking1 the frequent pretended response1 its unsatisfying meaning1 the sense of distance and change between me and my loved one--oh6 it has been horrible1 horrible6 8,he who is dying of thirst and has the sweet cup ever snatched from his lips1 just as the first drop touches them--he alone can know what in actual things is the similitude of this ,spiritualistic torture4 8,god bless you1 for ,i think that you now speak the truth4 ,you have my forgiveness at least1 and ,i believe that thousands of others will forgive you1 for the atonement made in season wipes out much of the stain of the early sin40 ,margaret ,kane's 8confession0 did not bring her the relief or friends she had hoped for1 nor did it end her connection with ,spiritualism for1 glad as she would have been to give it up for good1 her theatrical exposure was a financial failure and before long she was down and out again and once more she resorted to ,spiritualism as a means of livelihood1 giving seances and mediumistic meetings in a number of cities throughout the ,united ,states2 but her power of fooling the public was gone4 ,having confessed to deceit once1 no amount of persuasion on her part could convince the public that she was genuine1 and in place of the thousands who had flocked to her in her younger days she never had more than a handful at her meetings4 ,her only friends were ,spiritualists for strangely enough some of them still had faith in her1 even when she was exposing ,spiritualism1 believing that she had fallen into the hands of evil spirits when she confessed that she was a fraud4 ,some time after the confession a 8recantation0 was circulated as coming from ,mrs4 ,kane4 ,i was never able to find any proof of its authenticity but my friend1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,s4 ,davis1 who knew her well1 informed me that she did make it--that she had to1 or starve4 ,it was not wholly voluntary though as ,mr4 ,newton 7then ,president of the ,first ,society of ,spiritualists7 convinced her that it would be for her interest1 and the interest of ,spiritualism as well to do it4 ,it made little difference1 however1 for the career of the unfortunate woman was nearly over4 ,frequently overcome by drink1 forced on by privation and misery1 death came to her1 on ,march #h1 #ahie1 less than seven years after she had stood in a crowded theatre and deliberately shown the method of making the raps which had brought her fame for four decades4 ,the ,fox ,sisters used ,spiritualism only as a means to 8get while the getting was good40 ,fortunately for the general public ,spiritualism received a severe jolt in the confession of ,margaret ,fox ,kane2 there was an end to the ,fox 8swindle0 and an untold amount of blood-money and grief saved to poor misguided souls so easily fooled by a simple physical trick4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,davenport ,,brothers ,such evidence of spirits as the simple 8rappings0 of the ,fox ,sisters soon gave place to more elaborate 8manifestations0 and with the appearance of ,ira ,erastus ,davenport and his brother ,william ,henry ,harrison ,davenport1 working together1 and known as the 8,davenport ,brothers10 these manifestations became complicated exhibitions involving the use of a cabinet1 rope tricks1 bells1 and various horns and musical instruments4 ,these brothers have always been1 and are still1 pointed to as being indisputable proof of the reality and genuineness of mediumistic phenomena and public interest in ,spiritualism was greatly stimulated by the tremendous sensation and discussion caused by their demonstrations1 yet an interesting train of circumstances put me in possession of facts more than sufficient to disprove their having1 or even claiming1 spiritualistic power4 ,during many of the years in which ,i have been making a study of ,spiritualism ,i supposed both of the ,davenports dead and when my friend1 ,harry ,kellar1 in recounting some of his early experiences and hardships told me that he had been associated with them at one time and that ,ira ,davenport was still living ,i was surprised indeed4 ,i at once communicated with him and there followed a pleasant acquaintance which lasted until his death and furnished me with much of historic value concerning the brothers which has never appeared in print4 ,heretofore all published accounts of the ,davenport ,brothers' doings have been vague1 speculative1 lacking in actual knowledge1 and misleading because the authors have been victims of delusion1 but the information here given is based on a long correspondence with ,ira ,davenport as well as an open hearted confession which he made to me shortly before his death1 answering all my questions unreservedly and offering to assist me in every way he could as he wanted my statements#ab to be accurate in the book on ,spiritualism which he knew ,i was writing4 ,the ,davenport ,brothers were devotedly attached to each other and when in #ahgg ,william died while they were in ,australia1 ,ira the surviving brother was completely upset4 ,he made one feeble attempt to reinstate himself1 but the 8,spirit0 was lacking and he returned1 a discouraged man1 to spend the remainder of his days in peace and quiet at home4 ,while playing ,australia early in #aiaj for ,harry ,rickards ,i hunted up the grave of ,william ,davenport and finding it sadly neglected ,i had it put in order1 fresh flowers planted on it and the stone work repaired4#ac ,it was also on this trip that ,i met ,william ,m4 ,fay of 8,davenport ,brothers and ,fay10 who told me many interesting things about the brothers and on my return to ,america one of the first things which ,i did was to go to ,maysville1 ,chautauqua ,county1 ,new ,york1 to make ,ira ,davenport a visit4 ,he met me at the station and took me to his home1 an exceptionally happy and restful one presided over by the second ,mrs4 ,davenport1 the first having died in childbirth4 ,this second marriage was most romantic4 ,during a seance which the ,brothers were giving in ,paris#ad ,ira noticed a strikingly beautiful ,belgian girl intently watching him4 ,after the performance he managed to meet her only to find that she could not speak a word of ,english4 ,his ,french being limited to the usual two or three word table d'hte vocabulary of the average ,american tourist he called his interpreter and through him asked the girl to become his wife4 ,bewildered by such an audacious proposal she blushed deeply1 and cast down her eyes1 then slowly raising them looked straight into ,ira's4 ,there was a quick exchange of admiration and her woman's intuition must have read deeply and correctly for she then and there consented to wed this ,american who had so unconventionally asked her to be his wife1 a decision which she never had occasion to regret for they were a remarkably happy couple4#ae ,in the tranquil atmosphere of his porch we turned back the pages of time1 ,mr4 ,davenport re-living in retrospect the trials1 battles1 praise and applause of long ago4 ,among other things we talked over the magical mystery performers of other days which led him to say very generously3 8,houdini1 you know more about the old timers and my arguments1 than ,i who lived through those troublesome times40 ,he said that he recognized in me a past master of the craft and therefore spoke openly and did not hesitate to tell me the secrets of his feats4 ,we discussed and analyzed the statements made in his letters to me and he frankly admitted that the work of the ,davenport ,brothers was accomplished by perfectly natural means and belonged to that class of feats commonly credited to 8physical dexterity40 ,not once was there even a hint that ,spiritualism was of any concern to him1 instead1 discussing his work as straightforward showmanship4 ,for me it was a memorable day and did not end with the setting of the sun1 for we talked far into the night1#af ,i with notebook in hand1 he with a long piece of rope initiating me into the mysteries of the real 8,davenport tie10 which converted thousands to a belief in ,spiritualism and was the genesis#ag of the rope-tying stunts which gave such a stimulus to ,spiritualistic discussion in connection with the brothers4 ,though many attempts were made to imitate it1 to the best of my knowledge and belief1 no one1 not even the magical fraternity1 was ever able to detect the method used in these famous rope tricks1 the secret being guarded so carefully that ,ira ,davenport's children did not know it4 ,i have tested it and for uses such as they made of it ,i consider it one of the best rope ties in existence to-day1 and it is only because ,i want it on record when ,i eventually pass to the ,beyond that ,i am explaining to the public the modus operandi which was as follows4 ,built into either side of the cabinet used by the ,davenports#ah was a bench through which two holes had been bored a little distance apart4 ,the ,brothers seated themselves on these benches1 and opposite one another1 with their feet squarely on the floor in front of them4 ,the end of a rope was passed around the legs of one of the brothers1 close up by the knees1 and tied4 ,the rope was then wound around the legs several times1 fastened at the ankles1 the remaining portion carried straight across the cabinet to the other brother's ankles1 fastened1 wound about his legs and tied at the knees4 ,a shorter piece of rope was then tied to each of their wrists with the knots lying next to the pulse4 ,these ropes were threaded through the holes and the wrists drawn down to the benches1 and the ends of the ropes fastened to the ankles4 ,their method of releasing themselves was comparatively simple4 ,while one extended his feet the other drew his in thus securing slack enough in the wrist ropes to permit working their hands out of the loops4#ai ,the second brother was released by reversing the action4 ,after the demonstrations were completed the brothers slipped their hands back into the loops from which they had drawn them1 placed their feet in the original positions and were ready to be examined4 ,when the cabinet was opened the ropes appeared as taut as when put on by the committee4 ,in order to disprove the frequently made claim that the ,davenports left their benches to produce certain manifestations they asked investigating committees to place sheets of paper under their feet and mark around them with pencil or crayon thus making it seemingly impossible to move a foot without detection4 ,but this in no way interfered or hindered in their performance for ,ira told me they used to slide their feet1 paper and all1 and still keep the feet inside the marks1 a method ,i can vouch for as being practical for ,i have tried it successfully4#bj ,with the advantage of working together it was simply impossible to secure both of the brothers in such a manner as to prevent their producing the expected results4 ,if one was in trouble the other was always ready to come to the rescue for no matter how securely the committee tied them one was sure to be more loosely tied than the other and could get a hand free to reach over and help4 8,there was one chance in twenty million to hold us both at the same time10 ,ira told me4#ba ,the ,davenports' strictest test was known as 8,the ,tie ,around the ,neck40 ,this was also explained to me by ,ira4 ,a committee of three was called upon one of whom was a woman and for that reason the least suspected although in reality a confederate4#bb ,she and the ,davenports were each in turn tied around the neck4 ,the woman released herself by cutting the rope4#bc ,hiding the pieces in her bloomers she performed her share of the manifestations and retied herself with a duplicate piece of rope4 ,no one was the wiser for so curiously allied are our five senses that the committee1 bereft of its sight while such dark deeds were being done1 seemed to have lost the use of its reasoning power as well4 ,the first of the ,davenports' public performances were given in a large hall with rows of seats for the audience and a small raised platform which served as a stage4 ,someone1 thinking to prevent the possibility of assistance by visitors1 or confederates in the audience1 asked if it were possible to have the manifestations occur in a closet4 ,receiving an affirmative answer one was built with openings large enough to 8insert the spirit hands40 ,this closet was a decided advantage to the ,brothers as it gave them an opportunity to work in total darkness which was an essential element of their performance4 ,the closet was improved upon by placing a big box in the center of the stage and there gradually developed the cabinet#bd as we know it to-day4 ,during that eventful visit ,ira emphatically denied many of the absurd tales and popular beliefs concerning the ,brothers1 among them being the 8flour test10 the 8snuff test0#be and such stories as the claim that when a boy at home he gave a seance for his parents and during levitation#bf was raised up until his head touched the ceiling breaking both lath and plaster2 that he was once levitated across the ,niagara ,river1 a distance of three thousand yards1 and the one telling of his having effected an escape by ,spiritual means from a prison in ,oswego1 ,n4 ,y41 in #ahei4 ,the ,davenports were constantly on their guard against surprise and exposure and ,ira explained to me that when they were suspicious of a committeeman who wanted to go into the cabinet with them they would insist that he be tied too in order to prevent the audience from thinking he was a confederate4 ,fastened to a bench as well as to each of the ,davenports he was absolutely helpless for while one was getting loose the other would strain the ropes on the committeeman's feet holding him tight4 ,he also told me that they were in the habit of reserving seats in the front row for their friends as a protection against anyone breaking through4 ,at private circles they ran a cord through button holes on all present1 ostensibly to 8prevent collusion with the medium10 but in reality as a protection against a surprise seizure4 ,they once heard that the ,pinkerton ,detective agency had been hired to catch them and in order to effectually forestall any meddler1 they had a confederate smuggle in a bear-trap and after the seance room was darkened set the trap in the aisle4 ,i called ,ira's attention to a clipping concerning the 8,dark ,seances0 from the ,london ,post1 a conservative paper1 which read3 8,the musical instruments1 bells1 etc41 were placed on the table2 the ,brothers ,davenport were then manacled1 hands and feet1 and securely bound to the chairs by ropes4 ,a chain of communication 7though not a circular one7 was formed1 and the instant the lights were extinguished the musical instruments appeared to be carried all about the room4 ,the current of air1 which they occasioned in their rapid transit was felt upon the faces of all present4 8,the bells were loudly rung2 the trumpets made knocks upon the floor1 and the tambourine appeared running around the room1 jingling with all its might4 ,at the same time sparks were observed as if passing from ,south to ,west4 ,several persons exclaimed that they were touched by the instruments1 which on one occasion became so demonstrative that one gentleman received a knock on the nasal organ which broke the skin and caused a few drops of blood to flow40 ,after ,i finished reading it ,ira exclaimed3 8,strange how people imagine things in the dark6 ,why1 the musical instruments never left our hands yet many spectators would have taken an oath that they heard them flying over their heads40#bg ,ira ,davenport positively disclaimed ,spiritualistic power in his talk with me1 saying repeatedly that he and his brother never claimed to be mediums or pretended their work to be ,spiritualistic4 ,he admitted1 however1 that his parents died believing that the boys had super-human power4 ,in this connection he told me of a family by the name of ,kidder in which the boys faked ,spiritualistic mediumship4 ,the mother1 a simple woman easily misled1 became a confirmed believer4 ,after a time the boys got tired of the game they were playing and confessed to her that it was all a fake4 ,the shock of the disillusion almost drove her insane and ,ira said it was the fear of a similar result which kept him from confessing to his father the true nature of their work4 ,so when the father asked the boys to do tests for him they declared that the spirits said 8no0 and explained that they could only do what the spirits asked4 ,but if the ,davenport ,brothers did not claim spiritual powers themselves they nevertheless allowed others to claim them in their behalf4 ,one of the first to do this was ,j4 ,b4 ,ferguson1 variously known as 8,mr410 8,rev410 and 8,dr410 but ,i have no way of knowing how his titles came to him or just what they represented4 ,if ,i am not mistaken he had been a minister in the ,unitarian ,church4 ,he travelled with the ,davenports as their lecturer1 a position filled later by ,thomas ,l4 ,nichols4 ,ferguson positively believed that everything accomplished by the ,davenports was done with the aid of spirits4 ,that both ,ferguson and ,nichols believed in ,spiritualism is shown by their writings4 ,neither of them were disillusioned regarding the spiritual powers of the ,brothers1 the secret of the manifestations being religiously kept from them4 ,their remarks were left to their own discretion1 the ,davenports thinking it better showmanship to leave the whole matter for the audience to draw its own conclusion after seeing the exhibition4 ,then too with a minister as a lecturer who sincerely believed the phenomena many were led to believe1 which helped to fill the coffers1 meet the expenses1 and increase the publicity which was a necessary part of the game4 ,illustration3 ,,ira ,,erastus ,,davenport ,,and ,,houdini1 ,,taken ,,on ,,july #e1 #aiaa4 ,,the ,,last ,,photograph ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,showman ,in one of the letters which ,ira wrote me he says3 8,we never in public affirmed our belief in ,spiritualism1 that we regarded as no business of the public2 nor did we offer our entertainment as the result of sleight-of-hand1 or on the other hand as ,spiritualism4 ,we let our friends and foes settle that as best they could between themselves1 but unfortunately1 we were often the victims of their disagreements40 ,in a letter which ,ira wrote from ,maysville1 dated ,january #ai1 #aiji1 which ,i received while in ,europe1 he says3 8,you must not fail to do me the honor of a visit when you return to ,america1 although two years is quite a long time1 and in the mean time1 please let me hear from you whenever the #8,spirit' moves4 8,regarding the future1 ,i think the possibilities within your grasp are almost boundless1 splendid new territory1 all ,south of ,central ,america1 ,mexico1 ,australia1 ,new ,zealand1 ,india1 ,spain1 ,portugal and ,africa40#bh 8,my old-time travelling companion1 ,william ,m4 ,fay1 told me four years ago while on a visit here from ,australia1 that he and ,harry ,kellar cleared over #dj1jjj in about eight months in ,south ,america1 and ,mexico1 and that was thirty-four years ago1 and that the opportunities are now vastly improved1 such as railroads1 instead of mules1 increase of population1 advance in civilization in those backward countries4 ,he says it would be a pleasure trip now to what it was when he and ,kellar had to travel on muleback4 ,he was very enthusiastic on the subject of making another tour and we would have done so but for the fact that his physicians strongly advised against it on account of poor health and weakened physical condition4 ,he is living at present in ,melbourne1 ,australia1 having settled there with his family in #ahgg1 shortly after the death of my brother1 which occurred ,july #a1 #ahgg4 ,he is not at all contented1 notwithstanding his pleasant surroundings and ample fortune2 after a man has become a regular #8,globe ,trotter1' ,i don't think it possible for him to settle down and lead a quiet monotonous life4444 ,i wish here to say that our first tour through ,europe consumed four years1 leaving this country1 ,august #bf1 #ahfd1 returning ,september #bi1 #ahfh4 ,our second trip took us over three years1 leaving here ,march #bb1 #ahgd1 and returning ,october #bj1 #ahgg1 four months after the death of my brother40 ,when exhibiting in ,liverpool the ,davenports were the cause of quite a riot#bi which not only militated against them but stirred up some political strife as well4 ,i will quote ,ira's account of it from a letter to me dated ,january #ai1 #aiji4 ,illustration3 ,,facsimile ,,of ,,portions ,,of ,a ,,letter ,,written ,,to ,,houdini ,,by ,,ira ,e4 ,,davenport 8,well1 yes1 regarding ,liverpool1 ,i have very vivid recollections1 and after forty-four years they are far from being #8scenes of mystified events1' they were results of peculiar combinations1 of unfortunate circumstances1 professional jealousy1 religious prejudice1 anti-,american feeling1 with a few other disturbing elements thrown in1 including #8fenianism1'#cj which was engaging the public attention at that time1 all worked up to a white heat culminating in one of the most spectacular displays of #8,english ,fair ,play' that was ever presented to an appreciative ,english public4444 ,while in ,liverpool and some other towns in ,england1 we could not appear in the streets without being greeted by threatening crowds1 with such exclamations as #8,yankee ,doodle1' #8,john ,brown's ,body1' #8,barnum's ,humbug1' #8,yankee ,swindle1' #8,fegi ,mermaid1' and many other nice things too numerous to mention4444 8,i think my experience in ,liverpool stands out as the most prominent example of #8,fair ,play' ever dealt out to any ,american citizens and a nauseating example to all foreigners of #8'ow' the average ,englishman does things at #8'ome4'444 ,it was well known that we were ,northern men1 and the world knows how the ,english sympathized with the slave holders' rebellion1 and they did not miss any opportunity of showing how they felt at the time on the subject4 ,while pretending that their brutal displays of hostility were caused by our refusal to be tied by a particular kind of knot1 in fact our only offence was1 objecting to be tortured at the risk of being permanently maimed or crippled for life4444 ,our appeal to the ,british public at the time is a plain truthful statement of the facts1 regarding the riots in ,liverpool1 ,huddersfield1 and ,leeds which several of the ,english papers had the fairness to publish4 ,all ,england seemed to have gone mad on the subject of cabinet smashing and speculative sharpers reaped a rich harvest selling bogus pieces of smashed ,davenport cabinet4 ,wood enough was sold in small pieces to make ten times as many cabinets as the ,davenport ,brothers ever used during their public career4444 ,although ,i am now in my #gjth year1 ,i would not for one moment hesitate to face the public of ,liverpool1 ,huddersfield1 and ,leeds1 and try conclusions with them again1 drawing no line or limitations except those of torturing or maiming one for life4444 ,i shall always feel a great deal of pleasure in your success1 especially in meeting and overcoming anything in the nature of hostility and opposition4 ,i remember seeing a notice of the death of ,dr4 ,slade quite a while ago4 ,i became acquainted with him in #ahfj4 ,he then resided in the ,state of ,michigan40 ,the above excerpt shows the pluck and courage of a genuine showman at the age of seventy1 still ready for a tussle with an entertainment based on natural laws4 ,the ,davenport ,brothers while exhibiting in ,manchester1 ,england1 had the distinction of being publicly imitated and ridiculed by two celebrated actors1 ,sir ,henry ,irving and ,edward ,a4 ,sothern1 who were appearing at the ,theatre ,royal4 ,with some friends they had witnessed a performance by the ,davenport ,brothers and determined to expose what ,irving termed a 8shameful imposture40 ,with the assistance of these men he gave a private performance in imitation of the ,davenport seance at a popular club and was so successful that he was requested to repeat it in a large hall4 ,so on ,saturday1 ,february #be1 #ahfe1 the ,library ,hall of the ,manchester ,athenum was filled with an audience invited to witness 8a display of #8preternatural philosophy' in a private seance la ,davenport provided by some well-known members of the theatrical profession playing in the city4 ,a wig1 a beard1 a neckerchief1 a tightly buttoned frock coat1 and artistic makeup so completely transformed ,irving that he looked the exact double of ,dr4 ,ferguson4 ,with his inimitable charm of manner ,irving assumed the dignified air and characteristic gestures of the doctor and impersonating his reverend tones he gave an interesting and semi-jocose address with just enough seriousness to keenly satirize the old doctor and at its close received thunderous applause from the delighted audience4#ca ,irving and his friends then proceeded to imitate the manifestations with a remarkable degree of accuracy4 8,the #8brothers' were tied hand and foot1 placed in a cabinet1 and immediately began their manifestations4 ,weird noises were heard1 hands became visible through the opening in the cabinet1 musical instruments were seen floating in the air1 and the trumpet was several times thrown out4 ,when the doors were opened1 the brothers were shown to be securely tied4 ,they reproduced every effect of the performances accompanied by appropriate remarks and delightful witticisms from ,irving40 ,at the close of the seance1 the performers received a vote of thanks1 the audience cheering ,irving repeatedly4 ,the ,manchester papers were filled for several days with accounts and letters concerning the ,irving seance1 and in response to many urgent requests it was repeated a week later in the ,free ,trade ,hall1 but the net result of the exposure to ,irving was the loss of his engagement at the ,theatre ,royal as he refused to capitalize its success by giving nightly performances at the theatre4 ,the extent to which people allowed themselves to be deluded by the ,davenport exhibitions is evident from the following passage taken from ,d4 ,c4 ,donovan's 8,evidences of ,spiritualism40 ,as a voluntary investigation committee of one he had been allowed to sit in the cabinet with the ,brothers while the manifestations were in progress4 ,in his account of his experiences he says3 8,whilst ,i was inside1 several arms were thrust out at the openings and distinctly seen by persons outside4 ,now it is certain that these were not the arms of the ,brothers1 because they could not have reached the openings without rising from their seats1 and had they done this1 ,i should have detected it in an instant2 moreover1 if their hands had been free1 they could not have played six instruments at once and still have hands left with which to touch my face and hands and pull my hair4 ,some of my friends endeavor to persuade me that the ,davenports did move1 but that being in the dark ,i did not notice it4 ,darkness1 however1 although highly unfavorable to seeing1 is not at all so to feeling1 and ,i had my hands on their shoulders1 where the slightest muscular moving would have been detected40 ,in view of what ,ira ,davenport told me about their manipulations ,i cannot read the above account without feeling sorry for ,mr4 ,donovan1 who1 if his belief was genuine1 had reached the highest point of delusion4 ,because of the particular qualifications and aptitude of magicians to detect fraud it is not surprising that ,spiritualistic publications seize eagerly any word coming from them favorable to the cause of ,spiritualism4 ,with the comment1 8it is well worth preserving and placing beside that of ,belachini1 the ,german conjuror1 as an answer to those of our opponents1 who1 ignorant of legerdemain1 declare our phenomena to be of that character10 8,the ,spiritualist0 of ,september #i1 #ahha1 quoted from the ,paris 8,revue ,spirits0 the following statement of ,e4 ,jacobs1 a ,french prestidigitator3 8,relating to phenomena which occurred in ,paris in #ahfe1 through the ,brothers ,davenport1 spite of the assertions1 more or less trustworthy1 of the ,french and ,english journalists1 and spite of the foolish jealousies of ignorant conjurors1 ,i feel it my duty to show up the bad faith of one party1 and chicanery of the other4444 ,all that has been said or done adverse to these ,american mediums is absolutely untrustworthy4 ,if we should judge rightly of a thing we must understand it1 and neither the journalists nor the conjurors possess the most elementary knowledge of the science that governs these phenomena4 ,as a ,prestidigitator of repute and a sincere ,spiritualist1 ,i affirm that the mediumistic facts demonstrated by the two ,brothers were absolutely true1 and belong to the ,spiritualistic order of things in every respect4444 ,messrs4 ,henri ,robin and ,robert ,houdin1 when attempting to imitate these said feats1 never presented to the public anything beyond an infantine and almost grotesque parody of the said phenomena1 and it would be an ignorant and obstinate person who could regard the question seriously as set forth by these gentlemen4 ,if1 as ,i have reason to hope1 the psychical studies to which ,i am applying myself at this time1 succeed1 ,i shall be able to establish clearly 7and that by public demonstration7 the immense line of demarcation which separates mediumistic phenomena from conjuring proper1 and then equivocation will be no longer possible1 and persons will yield to evidence1 or deny through predetermination4 7,signed7 8,e4 ,jacobs4#cb 8,experimenter and ,president of ,conference to the ,psychological ,studies at ,paris40 ,dion ,boucicault1 an ,irish ,dramatist and actor of prominence in ,america and equally so in ,europe1 entertained the ,davenports at his home in ,london 7#ahfe7 where he felt assured that the room could not contribute to fraudulent results4 ,twenty-three friends1 men of rank and some prominence1 among them clergymen and medical doctors1 were in attendance4 ,he did not report if any were believers1 but it is inferred from his writing that none were4 ,as in other cases1 the utmost precaution was taken to render conditions most acceptable to the investigators1 nevertheless1 the usual manifestations took place and ,mr4 ,boucicault wrote lengthy reports as to details1 and as a conclusion to his report he wrote3 8,at the termination of the seance a general conversation took place on the subject of what we had heard and witnessed4 ,lord ,bury suggested that the general opinion seemed to be that we should assure the ,brothers ,davenport and ,mr4 ,w4 ,fay1 that after a very stringent trial and strict scrutiny of their proceedings1 the gentlemen present could arrive at no other conclusion than that there was no trace of trickery in any form1 and certainly there were neither confederates nor machinery and that all those who had witnessed the results would freely state in society in which they moved1 that1 so far as their investigations enabled them to form an opinion1 the phenomena which had taken place in their presence were not the product of legerdemain4 ,this suggestion was promptly acceded to by all present4 8,some persons think that the requirement of darkness seems to infer trickery4 ,is not a dark chamber essential in the process of photography8 ,and what would we reply to him who would say1 #8,i believe photography to be a humbug--do it all in the light1 and we will believe otherwise'8 ,it is true that we know why darkness is necessary to the production of the sun-pictures2 and if scientific men will subject these phenomena to analysis1 we shall find out why darkness is essential to such manifestations4 ,it is a subject which scientific men are not justified in treating with the neglect of contempt4--,i am1 etc41 8,dion ,boucicault40 ,richard ,francis ,burton1 eminent ,english traveller1 writer1 and translator of ,the ,arabian ,nights1 wrote to ,dr4 ,ferguson1 ,davenport ,brothers' lecturer and manager3 8,i have spent a great part of my life in oriental lands1 and have seen there many magicians4444 ,i have read and listened to every explanation of the ,davenport #8tricks' hitherto placed before the ,english public1 and1 believe me1 if anything would make me take that tremendous jump #8from matter to spirit1' it is the utter and complete unreason of the reasons by which the #8manifestations' are explained40 ,nor was it in ,england alone that able men were completely fooled by the ,davenports' performance4 ,frenchmen as well1 after seeing the exhibition1 hastened to put their favorable opinions in writing4 ,hamilton1 a well-known expert in the art of legerdemain1 and son-in-law of ,robert ,houdin1 the famous conjuror1 wrote3 8,messrs4 ,davenport1--,yesterday ,i had the pleasure of being present at the seance you gave1 and ,i came away from it convinced that jealousy alone was the cause of the outcry against you4 ,the phenomena produced surpassed my expectations1 and your experiments were full of interest for me4 ,i consider it my duty to add that those phenomena are inexplicable1 and the more so by such persons as have thought themselves able to guess your supposed secret1 and who are1 in fact1 far indeed from discovering the truth4 8,hamilton40 ,m4 ,rhys1 a manufacturer of conjuring implements and himself an inventor of tricks1 wrote the ,davenports3 8444 ,i have returned from one of your seances quite astonished4 ,as a person who has devoted many years to the manufacture of instruments for legerdemain performances1 my statement made with due regard to fidelity1 and guided by the knowledge long experience has given me1 will1 ,i trust1 be of some value to you4444 ,i was admitted to examine your cabinet and instruments 444 with the greatest care but failed to find anything that could justify legitimate suspicions4 ,from that moment ,i felt that the insinuations cast about you were false and malevolent40 ,these are but a few of innumerable instances where men of culture1 knowledge and experience1 were deluded by the performance of the ,davenport ,brothers1 just as men are to-day with my presentations1 and when the reader takes into consideration the confession of ,ira ,erastus ,davenport#cc to me in #aiji1 and the fact that he taught me his full method of manipulating seances1 he can then form some conception of the extent to which the most intelligent minds can be led astray by what seem to them phenomena1 but to me1 mere problems susceptible of lucid explanation4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,daniel ,,dunglas ,,home ,following the first seances of the 8,fox ,sisters10 in #ahdh1 mediums sprang up all over the country like mushrooms but of this multitude there have not been more than a dozen whose work1 in spite of repeated exposure1 is still pointed to as proof of ,spiritualism1 and whose names have found a permanent place in connection with its development and history4 ,of these1 one of the most conspicuous and lauded of his type and generation was ,daniel ,dunglas ,home4 ,he was the forerunner of the mediums whose forte is fleecing by presuming upon the credulity of the subject4 ,a new and fertile field was opened and from that time to the present day there have been numerous cases of mediums falling into the clutches of the law as a direct result of using his methods1 but ,home had characteristics which went far in many cases to keep him out of trouble4 ,outwardly a lovable character with a magnetic personality and a great fondness for children2 suave1 captivating to the last degree1 a good dresser fond of displaying jewelry2 an appearance of ill-health which aroused sympathy and with an assumption of piety and devotion to established forms of religious worship1 he made his way easily and found favor with many who would have spurned him under other conditions and this too1 strange as it may seem1 in spite of persistent rumors of immorality in his private life4 ,home helped to build up his reputation by not charging for his mediumistic services4 ,the claim that he did not accept fees for his sittings may1 or may not1 be quite true1 but the fact remains that the spirits were good to him and provided for his temporal needs abundantly and sumptuously1 and he subsisted on the bounty of his ,spiritualistic friends who seemed to rival one another in entertaining him in their homes for long periods and showering him with gifts1 a practice which began in ,america and was continued in ,england and on the ,continent to an extent which made a life of positive luxury possible4 ,it is strongly intimated that the gifts which ,home received were in many cases suggested by the ,spirits he invoked and his spirit guide seems to have always kept a sharp eye on his need for earthly sustenance even to the point of satisfactorily bedecking his person with jewelry4 ,this was always materialized for him when required1 and since he1 personally1 could not be held responsible for what wicked spirits might do1 and as they used good judgment in picking victims1 nothing was said about it and he escaped the prison fate of ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar4 ,his early life was spent in ,connecticut but whether at the home of his aunt in ,waterford or with his mother in ,norwich1 twelve miles away1 is a question1 but certain it is that at the death of his mother he went to the aunt's4 ,this was when he was seventeen1 two years after the 8,fox ,sisters0 had begun their career in ,new ,york ,state4 ,how much he had heard of them is uncertain1 something no doubt1 and it is not strange that a youth of his characteristics might want to emulate them4 ,then too his mother had the reputation of being possessed of so-called 8second-sight0 and he may have inherited traits which helped to make the life of a medium look attractive to him4 ,at any rate1 claiming the assistance of his mother's spirit1 he tried out his mediumistic powers at the homes of the neighbors with such success that before long he announced to his aunt that he was going to set up as a professional ,spiritualist4 ,the lady1 a devout ,trinitarian1 was so shocked and disturbed1 he tells us1 that 8in her uncontrollable anger she seized a chair and threw it at me40 ,but much as she disliked the idea of the young man becoming a medium his performances soon attracted so much attention that she was reconciled to his leaving her home in ,norwich to go to ,willimantic1 ,connecticut1 where he began his life-long custom of living on the bounty of friends and dupes4 ,his first feats were of the simplest kind such as are in the repertoire of every itinerant sideshow proprietor1 but his success seems to have been instantaneous4 ,one reason for this was that while mediums as a class were a lazy lot ,home was an untiring worker as well as an unflinching egotist and his personal qualities went far to disarm suspicion and inspire confidence in the minds of his dupes4 ,where he obtained his early education does not appear but the records are full of indications of considerable intellectuality4 ,he claimed to have studied medicine and obtained a degree in ,new ,york but he never practiced4 ,in his later years he set up a studio in ,italy#cd and gave his attention to sculpture between seances and 8sold busts at prices quite out of proportion to their artistic merits40 ,he studied elocution too and is said to have given many successful readings4#ce ,he also had the credit of being quite a musician and playing several instruments1 which partially explains his accordion trick4 ,with it all he was considerable of a linguist1 toward the last being able to speak most of the modern tongues4 ,he was the author of two pretentious books#cf whose chief purpose seems to have been to establish the impression that while all other mediums cheated at times ,home was strictly honest on all occasions1 and in proof it was said that he was never exposed and never received a fee for his sittings4 ,nevertheless one charge of fraud was proven against him in court4#cg ,it may or may not be true that he was never completely exposed but many of his manifestations were discovered to be fraudulent and every one of them can be duplicated by modern conjurors under the same conditions4 ,the principal reason why he was never completely exposed was that he gave no public sittings1 always appearing as the guest of the family where he was living and as one writer expressed it1 8one would no more think of criticising his host's guest than he would his host's wine40 ,on one occasion ,robert ,browning1 the poet1 attended one of ,home's seances4 ,he had become somewhat alarmed by his wife's interest in ,spiritualism1 and when a face was materialized and said to be that of a son who had died in infancy1 ,browning seized the supposed materialized head and discovered it to be the bare foot of ,mr4 ,home4 ,incidentally1 ,browning had never lost an infant son4 ,the living son1 ,r4 ,barrett ,browning1 in a letter to the ,london ,times1 ,december #e1 #aijb1 referring to this occurrence said1 8,home was detected in a vulgar fraud40 ,in the same letter he tells of the modification of his mother's belief after having been deceived by a 8trusted friend0 and his closing words were3 8,the pain of the disillusion was great1 but her eyes were opened and she saw clearly40 ,what might be called ,home's ,american apprenticeship began in #ahej and in spite of his youth and inexperience he succeeded in convincing many prominent persons of the genuineness of his phenomena1 among them being such men as ,judge ,edmonds1#ch ,william ,cullen ,bryant1 and ,bishop ,clarke of ,rhode ,island4 ,in the spring of #ahee a committee of admirers collected a sum of money sufficient to send him to ,england and establish himself comfortably4 ,he carried with him a letter of introduction to a man of scientific tastes by the name of ,cox who was proprietor of ,cox's ,hotel1 in ,jermyn ,street1 and through whose influence he was able to arrange sittings with ,lord ,brougham1 ,sir ,david ,brewster1 ,robert ,owen1 ,t4 ,a4 ,trollope1 ,sir ,e4 ,bulwer ,lytton1 and others equally prominent4 ,after only a few months' stay in ,england ,home went to ,italy1 ostensibly for his health1 and for the next four years he lived on the ,continent1 travelling from place to place1 living in luxury1 being almost continually entertained in the homes of 8friends10 which in almost every case were people of rank and wealth4 ,he seems to have had little difficulty in meeting royalty and nobility on terms of intimacy even numbering among his patrons the ,emperor and ,empress of ,france as well as the ,czar of ,russia4 ,from this clientele he received many and valuable gifts4 ,at the ,russian ,court1 with its leaning toward the occult1 he was especially welcomed and lived for weeks at a time in the palace of the ,czar1 like the similar careers of ,washington ,irving ,bishop1 ,mons4 ,phillipi1 and ,rasputin4 ,during his stay in ,russia he met a beautiful young lady of rank and with the approval of the ,czar married her4#ci ,home at this time had already begun to show that fondness for precious stones which finally became so pronounced that a few years later an ,english writer in describing him said3 8,but the salient feature of the man after all was his jewels4 ,on the third finger of the left hand he wore an immense solitaire1 which flashed imperial splendors with every movement2 above that a sapphire of enormous size2 on the other hand was a large yellow diamond and a superb ruby set in brilliants40 ,but these were not all for the writer adds a list of others in ,home's possession which would easily arouse the envy of any multi-millionaire's wife4 ,in view of this fondness for jewels an incident which occurred just prior to ,home's leaving the ,russian ,court is interesting4 ,the story was told me by ,stuart ,cumberland4 ,i have heard him repeat it to others and he also tells it in his book1 8,that ,other ,world10 from which ,i quote4 8,whilst in ,petrograd--so at least1 a famous diplomat assured me when ,i was there--,home did a feat of dematerialization before the ,court which1 had it not been for the favor in which he was held in high places1 might have curtailed his liberty for a period4 8,he had dematerialized a splendid row of emeralds lent the 8dear spirits0 for the purpose of the test2 but up to the time of his departure from the seance1 the emeralds1 for some occult reason1 had declined to materialize and be given back to the confiding owner4 ,they were1 of course1 in the spirit land engaging the attention of the spooks1 who seemed to have a pretty taste for valuable jewels4 ,but the chief of police had not that faith in spiritual probity generally accepted at the ,court1 and before leaving the palace1 ,home was searched1 and--so the story came to me--the dematerialized emeralds were found materializing in his coat-tail pocket4 ,they had been placed there by an evil spirit1 of course1 but the chief of police impressed upon the medium that the climate of the ,russian ,capital might not be good for his health--that an early departure would probably benefit it4 ,home took the hint and his early departure4 ,to his dying day1 ,i think he regretted the interference of the evil spirit 7or the police74 ,it would have been so much more satisfactory for the jewels to have remained dematerialized in the spirit land1 to be materialized at will with no interfering police around1 for they1 the jewels1 were of great earthly value40 ,illustration3 ,,daniel ,,dunglas ,,home ,the year #ahei found ,home back in ,england and marked the commencement of what proved to be the period of his greatest success4 ,it was but a few years later that he attempted his most noted financial venture4 ,he had become established in ,sloane ,street1 ,london1 as ,secretary of what was called 8,the ,spiritual ,athenum40 ,one day1 late in #ahff1 there came to him a widow by the name of ,jane ,lyon who was anxious to join his society4 ,she was seventy-five years old and besides being wealthy in her own right had been left ample means by her husband4 ,previous to calling on ,home she had read his book1 believed it1 and in addition been having a series of unusual dreams4 ,the medium had little difficulty in finding a way to make it possible for her to join the ,athenum1 and she told how later at this first meeting her husband's spirit 8had communicated with her through ,home1 and knotted her handkerchief40 ,just all that the spirit of her husband said to her at this interview does not appear but it was enough to persuade her to give him twenty-four thousand pounds4 ,the spirits became very much interested in ,mrs4 ,lyon's affairs and in ,november1 at their direction1 ,home burned her will and before long she gave him another six thousand pounds4 ,the attachment between the widow of seventy-five and the medium of thirty-three grew apace and soon the spirit of her husband suggested that she adopt ,home as her son 8for he would be such a comfort to her40 ,the suggestion was immediately acted upon and the medium began to call himself ,daniel ,home ,lyon4 ,nor was the spirit forgetful of the needs of a son1 suggesting that an allowance of seven hundred pounds a year would be about right4 ,in ,january 7#ahfg7 ,mrs4 ,lyon assigned a mortgage of thirty thousand pounds to ,home1 only reserving the interest as an annuity for herself4 ,not until a month later did she become worried and consult a lawyer1 who assured her that she had been imposed upon1 but she was not convinced until she had questioned the spirits through a girl of twelve1 the daughter of a flower medium by the name of ,murray4 ,as reported by this girl even the spirits seemed to think that ,mrs4 ,lyon had been fleeced out of sixty thousand pounds and she accordingly demanded its return by ,home4 ,he ignored the demand but offered to return the mortgage if she would give him undisputed possession of the first thirty thousand pounds and allow him to drop the name of ,lyon4 ,she would not agree to this4 ,home was arrested and a suit for recovery begun4 ,the litigation was long1 the case finally ending in ,may1 #ahfh1 with a judgment in favor of ,mrs4 ,lyon2 the ,court holding that as the transfer of money and deed had been accomplished by fraud it was therefore void4 ,in his closing remarks the ,vice ,chancellor referred to ,mrs4 ,lyon as an old lady with a mind 8saturated with delusion0 and characterized ,spiritualism as being1 according to the evidence1 a 8system of mischievous nonsense well calculated to delude the vain1 the weak1 the foolish1 and the superstitious40#dj ,home continued his mediumship1 notwithstanding1 and between #ahgj and #ahgb he held several seances with ,sir ,william ,crookes1#da who was so impressed that he credited him with being 8one of the most lovable of men--whose perfect genuineness was above suspicion10 an opinion strikingly in contrast with the verdict in the case of ,mrs4 ,lyon1 but which shows how thoroughly and easily the followers of ,spiritualism are beguiled and misled4 ,no medium is ever open to suspicion by the faithful and ,sir ,william ,crookes' statement encourages the belief that even scientists are not always immune from the influence of personal magnetism4 ,he is also quoted as saying3 8,as to the theory of fraud1 it is obvious that this theory can account for a very small portion of the facts observed4 ,i am willing to admit that some so-called mediums of whom the public have heard much1 are arrant impostors1 who have taken advantage of the public demand for ,spiritualistic excitement1 to fill their purses with easily earned guineas2 while others who have no pecuniary motive for imposture are tempted to cheat1 it would seem1 solely by a desire for notoriety40 ,so it will be seen that even ,professor ,crookes1 while defending the so-called genuine medium1 in the same breath admits that there are fraudulent practitioners4 ,illustration3 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,arrangement ,,of ,,rooms1 ,,windows1 ,,etc41 ,,where ,,home',s ,,reputed ,,feat ,,of ,,floating ,,took ,,place4 ,home gained wide notoriety for unusual phenomena by his reputed levitation acts1 wherein he would slide from the chair on which he was sitting to a horizontal position1 then ask to have the chair removed as it was not supporting him1 and would 8float0 under a table and back1 but his masterpiece1 the incident oftenest referred to1 was sailing out of a window feet first1 and sailing into another1 seven feet and four inches distant1 landing feet first in an adjacent room1 where he 8sat down40 ,lord ,adare1 an observer1 expressed surprise that he could have been carried through an aperture so narrow as eighteen inches whereupon 8,home1 still entranced said1 #8,i will show you1' and then with his back to the window he leaned over and was shot out of the aperture head first1 with the body rigid1 and then returned quite quietly40#dbdc ,this is the way the story has been recounted again and again by ,spiritualist writers and speakers and to this day is told by ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle with as much seriousness as if he had been an eyewitness of the occurrence in the full glare of a noon-day sun4 8,when ,d4,d4 made that #8home-run'0 around the outside of his house he seems to have been seeking an altitude rather than a speed record1 as the three reliable 787 witnesses agree that the windows through which he floated were in the third story and either sixty or eighty feet from the ground4 ,this would make the height of each story from twenty to twenty-seven feet1 but tall stories appear to have been a specialty with these remarkably observant gentlemen4 ,in #aibj ,i made plans for reproducing this window feat under the same conditions as ,home and the late ,stuart ,cumberland openly challenged ,spiritualists that ,i was ready to submit to such a test but no response was received before ,i left ,europe4 ,consequently ,i desire to go on record as being able to perform the same phenomena 787 provided ,i am given the same conditions and scope which ,home was4 ,i believe that those who witnessed the feat were sincere in giving credence to it but that it was an illusion and they were deceived by ,home1 for the mind of the average person accepts what it sees and is not willing to apply the laws of physics1 no matter how much or how glaringly the act defies the fundamental principles upon which our very existence depends4 ,the years between #ahei and #ahgb were those of ,home's greatest success4 ,toward the end of this period1 however1 his popularity waned and having for a second time married a lady belonging to the ,russian nobility1 he gave up the practice of his profession1 broke with nearly all his former friends and returned to the ,continent where he devoted much of his time to writing4 ,he died in #ahhf and is buried at ,st4 ,germain-en-,laye4 ,his active career1 his various escapades1 and the direct cause of his death#dd all indicate that he lived the life of a hypocrite of the deepest dye4 ,how strange that these inspired agents of 8,summerland10 these human deliverers of messages1 these stepping stones to the ,beyond1 are1 for the greater part1 moral perverts whose favorite defence is the claim that they are forced to do such deeds by the evil spirits which take possession of them4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,palladino ,eusapia ,palladino1 an ,italian1 has to her credit the successful deception of more philosophic and scientific men than any other known medium1 being regarded by some as the most famous of them all1 notwithstanding the fact that she seems to have made no pretence of producing the class of miracles claimed by ,d4 ,d4 ,home and many others4 ,materialization was rarely resorted to by her and there is very little variety in her program from #ahib up to the time of her death in #aiah1 evidently being content to astonish investigating scientists with the levitation and gyrating of inanimate things4#de ,palladino was born in the ,neapolitan district of poor peasants who died when she was a mere child4 ,naturally bright1 even shrewd1 her perceptive instinct seems to have developed early in life and continued throughout her career though she had no education and to the end was scarcely able to read or write4 ,her first contact with the mysterious arts appears to have been when she was a mere child of thirteen 7#ahfg7 in the service of an acrobat or conjuror#df from whom she must have acquired some degree of skill and knowledge of the uncanny which she may have coupled up with the marvellous success achieved by ,home1 and her quick wit may have opened visions of a change from poverty to that affluence which she saw was the reward of the professional phenomena producer1 for she began her ,spiritualistic work just following his successful operations in ,italy which served to spread ,spiritualism in spite of ,papal opposition4 ,her part must have been learned well and her plans carefully laid before she made her debut as a full fledged medium because she succeeded from the start in baffling brainy men of science1 and while as the wife of a small shop-keeper she was very poor1 she became wealthy within twenty years after taking up mediumistic work4 ,she did not attract the attention of the public until about #ahhj when ,professor ,chiaia1 who had been giving her a lot of attention without detecting her methods1 challenged ,professor ,lombroso1 at that time the most distinguished scientific man in ,italy1 to investigate her4 ,professor ,lombroso did1 but failed to detect any fraudulent work though his decision was delayed for so long a time that when it was finally given it was claimed that his mentality had weakened considerably4#dg ,in #ahib ,palladino had begun to attract the attention of scientific men in different ,italian cities and had also been brought to the notice of some of the ,english ,spiritualists but it was not until #ahid that she went to ,france4 ,this trip was brought about through the influence of ,professor ,richet1 and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,professor ,sidgwick1 and ,mr4 ,myers took part in the proceedings4 ,on the return of ,lodge and ,myers to ,england they aroused interest in ,palladino by reporting her phenomena to be genuine4 ,the first exposure of ,palladino was made by ,dr4 ,richard ,hodgson in #ahie4 ,a committee from the ,english ,society for ,psychical ,research1 consisting of ,hereward ,carrington1 ,hon4 ,everard ,feilding1 and ,wortly ,w4 ,baggally1 which had held a series of test seances with ,palladino in ,italy1 brought her to ,england for a fresh try-out and another series of sittings was held4 ,very early in the series suspicious movements on the part of the medium were observed4 ,later ,dr4 ,hodgson joined the circle and was able to show conclusively that by clever manipulation--sheer trickery--she was getting one hand free and with it making the movements observed4 ,her method#dh was to begin by allowing one hand to be firmly held by the sitter at her side 7say on the left7 and let the fingers of her other hand 7right7 rest on that of the sitter on her right4 ,in the course of some rapid spasmodic movements she would bring the sitters' hands so close together that one of her own could do duty for two1 being held by one sitter while its fingers rested on the hand of the other sitter1#di leaving her 7,palladino's7 right hand free to produce the desired 8phenomena0 after which it was restored to its original position4 ,other devices equally dishonest were observed or inferred4 ,all of these men were experienced seance observers#ej but the report of their conclusions shows how easily such experts were deceived by the very tricks which were later proved fraudulent by the ,new ,york branch of ,the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,mr4 ,feilding's reports were the least positive of the three and show that when the best phenomena were observed the control was not complete and that the stenographic notes were deficient1 and when read over the day following the sitting they seemed weak in comparison with a recollection of the manifestations4 ,that the final reports were based largely on these recollections is indicated by ,mr4 ,feilding's statement that3 8,we were forced from our proposed colorless attitude to one of almost proselyting affirmation40 ,when ,palladino came to ,america in #aijh she was beginning to be world famous and her reputation was established2 she was a shrewd woman with a large experience in the art of misdirection1 and with a convenient subterfuge of unaccommodating ,spirit guides whenever her own resources were exhausted because of some over-zealous observer4 ,for twenty years or more she had avoided detection because she had fixed the conditions under which tests were made and consequently as scientific investigations they were simply farces4 ,but in ,new ,york conditions were introduced which she did not approve for the simple reason that she did not know that they existed4 ,another difference was that in ,new ,york a number of rehearsals were held and each investigator was assigned to a special part of the work1 thus guarding against the old trick of drawing the attention away from the place where a manifestation suddenly developed4 ,the result was ,palladino's downfall4 ,on her arrival in ,new ,york a group of ,columbia professors became interested in ,palladino and arranged for a series of ten test seances at one hundred and twenty-five dollars a sitting4 ,eight of the ten seances had been held and though a majority of the professors were satisfied that she was cheating they were unable to prove it4 ,although the seances were being conducted secretly by the scientists one of them1 ,professor ,dickinson ,s4 ,miller1 discussed ,palladino's best trick1 table levitation1 with a friend of mine1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,s4 ,davis1 himself an ex-medium whose seances were always given under test conditions4 ,davis not only explained to the ,professor the probable method used by ,palladino but demonstrated it as well with the result that the ,professor declared that a full exposure of ,palladino should be made even if it cost ten thousand dollars and invited ,davis to aid at the next seance candidly admitting that he and his associates were incapable of proper investigation4 ,davis replied that scientists were not the kind of men he could work with but if he would let him bring along a couple of 8,flim-flam0 men he would help4 ,professor ,miller consented to this arrangement provided the men were palmed off as college professors as otherwise they would not be admitted4 ,davis then sent for ,john ,w4 ,sargent1 a past-president of the ,society of ,american ,magicians1 and for years my private secretary4 ,he also sent for another magician1 ,james ,l4 ,kellogg4 ,both agreed with ,davis that his theory of ,palladino's method was correct4 ,professor ,miller then suggested1 that in order to make the discovery complete and to corroborate any and all observations1 two other persons should be selected to watch the feet of the medium4 ,davis accordingly selected ,joseph ,f4 ,rinn1 another member of the magicians society1 who had assisted in various exposures of pseudo-mediums and ,professor ,miller named ,warner ,c4 ,pyne1 a student at ,columbia4 ,it was agreed that these two should be clad in black even to a head covering and smuggled into the room under cover of darkness after the seance had convened and were to sprawl under the chairs and table in order that their heads might be near enough ,palladino's feet to detect any movement4 ,i am indebted to my friend ,davis for the following inside story of the sitting just as he gave it to me4 8,after the arrival of ,eusapia and ,mr4 ,livingston and when both had entered the seance room1 ,rinn and ,pyne came downstairs and hid in the hall where they waited for their signal4 ,when we were introduced and after the usual conversation1 ,eusapia said that she would begin4 ,before she had time to pick her controllers1 ,professor ,miller ushered ,kellogg and myself into the positions next to her4 ,she took a seat at the narrow end of the table and with her back close to the cabinet curtains4 7,the cabinet was formed by placing curtains from the ceiling to the floor1 extending out from one corner of the room74 ,kellogg sat at her right and ,i sat at her left4 ,eusapia sat close to the table and her black dress touched the table legs4 ,she placed her right foot on the instep of ,kellogg's left foot and her left foot on my right foot1 which was her guarantee that her feet should play no part in the production of the phenomena4 ,we did not reduce the light at the beginning of the seance4 8,the rest of the party sitting around the table then placed their hands on its upper surface and formed the well known chain4 ,eusapia stamped ,kellogg's foot and mine and asked us if the control was satisfactory which of course it was4 ,eusapia then drew her own hands away from ours and soon light raps were heard4 ,they were such as are easily and imperceptibly produced by sliding the finger tips upon the table top4 8,we were next favored with responsive raps1--doubling up her hands she beat the air with her fists in a jerky1 spasmodic way when we heard the light noises on the wood4 ,the exhibition above board did not occupy our entire attention4 ,every one in the party was interested in the theory of using a foot as a lever to raise the table4 ,as she beat the air with her clenched fist1 she correspondingly slid her feet away until we felt the pressure on the toe end of our feet only1 whereas there had previously been pressure on the insteps4 ,kellogg and ,i both suspected that she had succeeded in removing one foot and was making the other do duty for two4 ,from then on we commenced to get heavier raps1 as though she struck the table leg with her foot4 8,in striking the table leg with the side of her shoe1 thus producing raps1 ,eusapia also got the exact position in which her foot should be placed for levitation4 ,when she rocked the table from side to side it was only necessary to switch her toe an inch when the left leg of the table would come down on it1 then all she had to do was to elevate her toe while the heel remained on the floor and either partial or complete levitation followed4 8,we looked pleased and ,eusapia began to feel at home4 ,with a little rest1 the rocking was resumed and she considered it safe to risk the entire levitation4 ,holding ,kellogg's left hand up in the air with her right she put my right hand1 palm down1 on the top of the table1 directly over the left table leg2 then put her left hand over mine1 the tips of the fingers extending rather over my hand and touching the table4 ,no other hands were upon it4 ,then1 after a few partial levitations1 the table went up into the air with every leg off the floor4 ,it was our first complete levitation4 ,as beautiful as any on record and given under bright lights40 ,i asked ,davis how he knew the levitation was fraudulent and he answered3 87#a7 ,during the partial levitations ,i casually lifted my left foot1 passed it over the right foot in the direction of ,eusapia and was unable to touch her left leg in the place where it should have been4 7#b7 ,her black dress touched the table leg and as she took her toe suddenly out from under it1 her dress moved accordingly4 7#c7 ,by the thud which the table made when it was deprived of its very material perch4 7#d7 ,by the fact that any juggler can perform the feat when the #8modus operandi' is fully understood1 though perhaps not with the same skill4 7#e7 ,every one present knew that the table was steadied at the top by ,eusapia's hand1 which rested upon mine1 in turn bore down over the table leg1 held up presumably by ,eusapia's toe which formed a perfect human clamp4#ea7f7 ,what ,rinn and ,pyne told us after the seance4 ,they said that from their position under the chairs they saw ,eusapia place her right foot upon ,kellogg's left and her left foot upon my right1 later they saw her tapping upon our feet with hers while she made some changes in the position of her feet4 ,they also saw her slide her left foot away by a few hitches as her right was twisted around to cover my right foot which had previously been under her left foot4 ,they distinctly saw ,eusapia strike the table leg with the side of her foot to produce the raps and they also saw her slide her toe under the table leg and force the table up by toe leverage40#eb ,during his narration ,i asked ,davis to tell me if this astute ,italian who had fooled the scientists of the world was not suspicious or did not sense that she was being checked up in her movements4 8,no10 he replied dryly1 8once during the seance she asked every one to stand up4 ,two of the ladies in their inexperience proceeded to obey the command4 ,we had two spies under our chairs and as we did not want her to see them something had to be done immediately1 so ,i pretended to have severe cramps in my legs and while the interpreter told ,eusapia of it ,sargent and ,kellogg nudged the ladies to sit down and the medium then resumed her seat40 ,i will not bore the reader with a detailed account of the cabinet phenomena at this seance under a subdued light but suffice to say that ,davis and ,kellogg tricked her as before and were able to explain every manifestation4 ,the whole ,miller seance was carried out as planned so carefully that ,palladino on the way to her hotel afterwards told the ,columbia student who had acted as interpreter#ec for her that she was well pleased with the evening and that the seance had been one of the most successful of the series4#ed ,i quote by permission from a letter written me by ,mr4 ,davis under date of ,june #bb1 #aibc3 8,rupert ,hughes1 in an attack upon ,spiritism some time ago1 said that favorable reports on ,palladino constituted a vast literature1 and he was right4 ,the public libraries both in this country and ,europe contain many books in which it is claimed that it has been #8scientifically demonstrated' that ,eusapia possesses some occult power4 8,generations for centuries will probably be influenced by these books4 ,they are only calculated to create superstition and ignorance and it is a shame that they are permitted to circulate4 ,eusapia was one of the world's greatest mountebanks4 ,her dupes were our foremost men of learning--they were not of the rabble4 ,she was the greatest mountebank produced by modern ,spiritism1 and she duped more scientists than any other medium4 ,in that respect ,d4 ,d4 ,home does not compare with her4 ,the important lesson in the case is that so-called #8scientific' testimony is just about worthless4 ,that is an important educational fact and a valuable lesson to the general public40 ,mr4 ,davis is quite right in his view of the seriousness of the possible danger and damage to the reading public from the effects of the grossly misapplied energy of the prominent scientists who have so unqualifiedly endorsed ,eusapia ,palladino as a genuine miracle worker1 and the hosts of ,spiritualistic enthusiasts who have repeated their published statements4 ,even ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle unqualifiedly lauds ,home and ,palladino as patron saints of his psychic religion 7874 ,he accepts as proof the fact that these learned scientists met their ,waterloo in an attempt to fathom the simple tricks of impostors1 and like all other ,spiritualists refuses to accept the positive proof of the deception secured by men schooled in the science of magic which at times is as seemingly unexplainable as the more profound subjects of natural science4 ,the reader should bear in mind that ,mr4 ,davis' sincerity is just as great as is ,sir ,arthur's4 ,sincerity is ,sir ,arthur's strong magnet and the reader should attach as much importance to sincerity on the part of an opponent4 ,we must also take into consideration the fact that ,mr4 ,davis was at one time a medium himself and he has had much opportunity for observing the qualifications of scientists as occult investigators4 ,we must notice too the methods of conducting the seances in which such diverse results were obtained4 ,those held with only scientists as observers were under the full control of the medium and all her conditions were conformed to1 but in ,new ,york it was practically a case of fighting fire with fire4 ,it is proverbial that 8it takes a rogue to catch a rogue0--just so a trickster is more capable of setting traps to detect trickery than the grave scientist in his endeavor to solve the problem by mathematics or logic4 ,in the successful instance the plan of operation had been carefully worked out in every detail1 each participant was assigned a specific work to do and did it4 ,a number of rehearsals were held so that each person was familiar with their part4 ,all the conditions so strenuously adhered to in previous seances1 were safeguarded and the result was a successful exposure4 ,illustration3 ,,eusapia ,,palladino ,,and ,,her ,,seance ,,table ,when ,carrington brought ,palladino to this country he announced that he did so in the interest of 8science40 ,publicity was not to be ignored though and consequently the first seance was given before newspaper men4 ,william ,a4 ,brady 7the theatrical man7 occupied the seat of honor which made it look as though ,carrington hoped for some theatrical business as a side issue to the seances with scientists at a hundred and twenty-five dollars a sitting4 ,it is also known that ,carrington made a contract with a popular magazine which gave it an exclusive right to publish reports of the seances and naturally ,carrington was to have received a liberal fee4 ,but ,mr4 ,davis in #aiji furnished the ,new ,york ,times with two articles making a sensational attack on ,palladino whereupon the magazine people cancelled their contract with ,carrington on the ground that ,davis had put a 8frost0 on their plans4 ,as a result ,carrington threatened the ,times with a suit for a hundred thousand dollars damage4 ,the threat was dropped after ,palladino's complete exposure and her refusal to go to the ,times ,building and win the two thousand dollar prize offered by ,rinn4 ,in all the seances conducted by ,carrington the program was the same and the phenomena of precisely the same character as in the one which resulted in ,palladino's complete exposure4 ,the value of ,mr4 ,carrington's opinion as evidence may be judged from excerpts from an article in ,mc,clure's ,magazine for ,october1 #aiji4 ,in this article he answers his own question 8,does ,eusapia ,deceive ,her ,investigators80 by saying3 8,well do ,i know the condition of mind induced by one or two seances with ,eusapia4 ,all one's previous experience is refuted1 and the mind fails to grasp the facts or to accept them as real4 ,it is incapable of absorbing them4 ,it requires several seances before one is convinced of the reality of the phenomena1 and of the fact that one's observation is not mistaken4 ,personally1 ,i had to witness six seances before ,i was irrevocably and finally convinced of the reality of the fact4 ,before that1 although ,i was quite unable to explain what ,i saw by any theory of fraud or trickery1 and although ,i was quite certain the facts were not due to hallucination1 still ,i could not believe them4 ,i felt that there must be a loophole somewhere2 and ,i know that my colleagues felt exactly as ,i did4 ,but at the sixth seance when ,i was controlling the medium myself1 in such a manner that ,i was quite sure as to the whereabouts of her whole body1 and when it was1 moreover1 light enough to see the whole outline of her body clearly1--when1 in spite of this1 phenomena continued to take place all around us in the most bewildering manner and under the most perfect test conditions1 ,i felt that there was no more to be said2 certainty had been achieved2 and from the sixth seance onward1 and forever after1 ,i shall remain as certain that these phenomena are facts1 and form a part--however sporadic--of nature1 as ,i am that ,i write this article40 ,the foregoing shows how vacillating the mind of ,mr4 ,carrington was at the time he was conducting the ,palladino seances1 and when after a personal contest with the medium he stated his conviction he should have known he was talking the impossible2 that no one man could control ,palladino beyond the possibility of fraud and at the same time detect her false moves4 ,in the same article he writes3 8,i may remark just here that this medium has been caught in trickery from time to time1 and will almost invariably resort to it unless she is prevented from doing so by the rigidity of the control 7that is1 the degree of certainty obtained in holding her hands and feet74 ,the reason for this is that ,eusapia1 knowing that the production of genuine phenomena will exhaust her nervous forces1 resorts to this simpler method1 if her sitters are sufficiently credulous to allow it1 in order to save herself from the painful after effects of a genuine seance4 ,nearly every investigator has at one time or another discovered this fraud1 which is petty1 and more or less obvious to any careful investigator1 and consists in the substitution of one hand for two1 and in the production of phenomena with the remaining free hand4 ,if1 however1 sufficient precautions are taken1 it is a comparatively easy matter to frustrate her attempts at fraud2 and when this is done so-called genuine phenomena are produced4 ,many of the phenomena are so incredible that by far the simplest explanation is that fraud has been operative in their production2 but ,i can say positively 7and ,i believe the records will show this7 that fraud was quite impossible throughout our seances1 not only because of the nature of our control of the medium1 which was rigidly exacting1 but because of the abundance of light4 ,any theory based upon the supposition that confederates were employed is absolutely discounted3 first1 because the seances were held in our own locked rooms in the hotel2 and secondly1 because throughout the seances it was light enough for us to see the whole room and its occupants4 ,it is hardly necessary to add that we examined the cabinet1 the table1 instruments1 and all articles of furniture1 both before and after each seance40 ,this last seems just as a manager might be expected to talk of the merit of his own show4 ,a salesman should not decry his wares4 ,there is no question but what ,palladino was given to fraud4#ee ,in personal conversations with ,hon4 ,everard ,feilding1 ,w4 ,w4 ,baggally1 ,e4 ,j4 ,dingwall and ,hereward ,carrington1 each stated positively that they had caught her cheating and that they knew her to be a fraud4 ,they claimed that toward the end of her career she lost her occult power and at such times as the ,spirits failed her she would resort to trickery rather than confess failure4 ,they believed her a genuine medium because of the things which she did under test conditions which they could not explain1 their knowledge of fraud being overpowered1 apparently1 by a willingness to believe in the impossible simply because they were not able to solve the problem4 ,if you go to a department store and ask for a well advertised bit of merchandise and when you get home you find the clerk has substituted 8something just as good0 you either report the clerk to the management or else you do not patronize the store again2 if you go to a tailor and he sells you an 8all-wool0 suit and you find that most of the 8wool0 grew on cotton plants you pass that store by when you are ready to buy another suit2 if you catch your best friend cheating at cards you refuse to play with him again ever and a life-time friendship is broken up4 ,but ,palladino cheated at ,cambridge1 she cheated in l',agulas1 and she cheated in ,new ,york and yet each time that she was caught cheating the ,spiritualists upheld her1 excused her1 and forgave her4 ,truly their logic sometimes borders on the humorous4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers wrote in 8,borderland0 in #ahif3 8,these frauds were practiced in and out of the real1 or alleged1 trance and were so skillfully executed that the poor woman must have practiced them long and carefully40 ,palladino is summed up in these few lines4 ,my opinion is that ,palladino in her crafty prime may have possessed the agility and abundant skill in misdirection together with sufficient energy and nerve to bamboozle#ef her scientific and otherwise astute committeemen1 but as time demanded its toll she probably lost her vim and nerve and became unable to present her 8performances0 with the success that attended her earlier demonstrations4 ,my old friend1 ,john ,william ,sargent1 who died on ,september #bd1 #aibj1 was one of the committee which finally dethroned ,palladino1 and ,i believe it no more than just that the last word of this chapter should be said by him4 8,eusapia ,palladino is dead and ,i have little doubt that she departed hence without forgiving me for the part ,i took in spoiling her business in ,america by assisting in the exposure of her little bag of tricks4 ,it is an open question1 however1 whether the exposure of her trickery1 or in fact of any of the class of sensation mongers to which she belonged1 ever turned a soul from belief in ,spiritism2 some of the leading newspapers1 in commenting on her death1 show that in spite of the complete exposure of her methods1 there still remains in the minds of many intelligent people the conviction that she was far from an impostor4 ,i cannot understand how any reasonable person could see in this woman anything more than a fairly clever charlatan1 whose success was due more to the credulity of her audiences than the skill of her performances4 ,what did all her exposures amount to8 ,those who believed have continued to believe1 and in spite of the old saw1 #8,truth is mighty and must prevail1' the name of ,eusapia ,palladino will be on the lips of men long1 long after her exposers are forgotten dust40 ,,chapter ,v ,,ann ,o',,delia ,,diss ,,debar ,the coming and going of ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar are mysteries for there is no record of her birth and no trace of her death1 but the 8in between time0 furnished material enough for an entire book rather than a single chapter1 and gave her sufficient opportunity to have it said of her that she was 8one of the most extraordinary fake mediums and mystery swindlers the world has ever known40 ,some even have classed her among the ten most prominent and dangerous female criminals of the world1 and her repertoire is claimed to have run the full gamut from petty confidence games to elaborately contrived schemes aimed at the magnates of ,wall ,street4 ,according to report she did not hesitate to victimize the innocent and the mentally unsound and left behind her a trail of sorrow1 depleted pocket-books1 and impaired morals that has seldom been equaled4 ,like many master criminals she escaped punishment for a time but in the end fell into the toils of the law and served time both here and in ,england4 ,the marvellous tact with which she devoted her great powers to the purposes of self aggrandizement and profit is without parallel1 and for cunning knavery1 ,cagliostro1 by comparison1 seems to have been an amateur4 ,it is alleged that her crimes ranged from the smallest to the largest with morals as low as one can imagine in a human being while1 worst of all1 she flaunted this viciousness openly1 making no effort whatever to cloak her degeneracy4 ,nevertheless her name stands among the half score or more in the front ranks of the history of ,spiritualism and with ,daniel ,dunglas ,home shares the palm for the successful manipulation of big schemes4 ,it was not unusual for her to make deals that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and though the two were early in the mediumistic field1 ,i believe that to this day they have had no peer in this respect4 ,possibly all other mediums combined could not have aggregated the amount of money obtained by these two4 ,whether ,home outbids ,diss ,debar for preminence as to gain it is hard to say but it is certain that he 8could not hold a candle0 to her versatility4 ,both appear to have had the advantage of being scholastic1 and well versed in historic lore and the classics1 which gave them great prestige with cultured people1 opening the doors to the social life of the 8upper-ten10 and bringing within their reach people of wealth as well as scholars and scientists1 all of whom were apparently perfectly willing to be deceived1 and to unwittingly aid in making the careers of these two adventurers 8howling successes0 up to the time of their undoing in the courts4 ,unlike ,home1 who never in all the vicissitudes of his career denied his personality1 ,diss ,debar as frequently as she changed her base of operations seems to have changed her name and her ancestry4 ,once in the heyday of her career she gave a series of interviews claiming to be the daughter of ,king ,louis ,i of ,bavaria and ,lola ,montez1 a ,spanish-,irish dancer who had a spectacular and adventurous career which covered ,europe in its course1 reached to the ,russian ,court and later ,america4 ,it is supposed that ,diss ,debar was the daughter of a political refugee by the name of ,salomen who settled in ,kentucky and that she was born in #ahdi although there is no documentary proof of it4 ,according to the story she was named ,editha and as she grew up became known as a wayward child bent on doing what she should not and perfectly callous to all restraining influence of parental affection4 8,at times her waywardness took such extraordinary turns that her parents thought she was not entirely sane and sought the advice of a doctor1 who said she was really a sort of victim to an unholy passion1 but that she would grow out of her failing as she grew older10 a prophecy which never came true4 ,when ,editha ,salomen became of age she left home and for several years her father lost all track of her4 ,later1 to his great astonishment1 he discovered her settled in ,baltimore1 moving among the best of society1 and posing as a member of ,european aristocracy4 ,as the 8,countess ,landsfeldt and ,baroness ,rosenthal0 of the peerage of ,bavaria she availed herself of all the privileges which members of nobility enjoyed in the ,republic1 was courted by ,american youth and found ,american women 8only too delighted to be led by a ,countess40 ,where the ,kentucky girl with her peculiar temperament and characteristics could possibly have secured the education and knowledge which she displayed through all her exploits ,i am at a loss to understand4 ,she must have inherited a liberal share of shrewdness1 together with a fancy for reading ancient history1 and at an early age realized that although not handsome she possessed some charm of personality which attracted attention and which enabled her to pose successfully as a member of the nobility4 ,it is said that in this rle ,editha had no difficulty in raising funds4 ,it was easy to encourage a prosperous young man into a love trap and make him believe she would soon marry him4 8,then one day she would find that she had to pay a large sum of money to meet a necessary obligation1 that her careless bankers in ,bavaria had failed to remit a few hundred thousand dollars1 on account of which she most reluctantly accepted temporary relief from the rich suitor4 ,she took as much as she dared and thereafter cut him40 ,in this way she managed to cheat the youth of ,baltimore out of about a quarter of a million dollars4 ,she gave herself up to luxury and extravagance2 took freely to smoking cigarettes impregnated with opium and was soon landed in ,bellevue ,hospital suffering from 8acute nervous exhaustion40 ,one day1 just as she was nearly cured1 she sprang out of bed1 stabbed an attendant and attempted to kill her doctor1 and several persons were seriously wounded before she was secured4 ,as a result she was sent to the asylum for the insane on ,ward's ,island1 where she was detained for a year1 during which time she showed no traces of insanity and it was concluded that her attempt at murder was premeditated2 but as she had been committed as insane with no evidence to controvert it the law was powerless and she was released4 ,her next venture was in the field of hypnotism1 where she was an adept1 but now known as ,mrs4 ,messant and a widow1 for though a young doctor1 either through fear or fondness1 had married her soon after her discharge from ,ward's ,island1 he had survived the marriage less than a year4 ,as 8one can always find fools if one really looks for them0 she had no difficulty in surrounding herself with dupes but as the widow of an obscure doctor was not persona grata in the circles of high society where the highest paying fools are to be found she set to work to find an entre4 ,her search was not for long4 ,soon she discovered a certain ,general ,diss ,debar2 a man without money or 8mind of his own0 but he filled her need1 easily yielded to her cajoleries and presently ,editha ,salomen1 ,countess ,landsfeldt1 ,baroness ,rosenthal1 ,messant became ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar4 ,as the wife of a general1 society smiled on her again and she lived in comfort4 ,the rich courted 8hypnotism and general humbug and the wily woman was equal to the requirement40 ,as time went on1 however1 she began to squander the money that flowed into her coffers4 ,a couple of children were born to her4 ,people began to tire of hypnotism1 her income waned1 and it became necessary for her to set her wits to work and cast her net for a fresh victim4 ,this proved to be ,luther ,r4 ,marsh1 a brilliant and wealthy lawyer of ,new ,york ,city4 ,mr4 ,marsh was an ideal subject for the hypnotizer's attention4 ,though a learned lawyer he was not free from superstition and his wife had died but a short time before he was discovered by ,diss ,debar4 ,at an early opportunity she 8received0 messages from his spirit wife which the distinguished member of the bar accepted as genuine so gratefully and without question that the woman saw at once that she had opened up a new field with more and greater possibilities than she had ever worked before2 she realized that she had gifts which fitted her to be a first class ,spiritualistic medium4 ,nor was her judgment in error4 ,the credulous lawyer proved an exceedingly easy mark4 ,very quickly she won his full confidence and it was not long before he invited her to share his hospitality at #aff ,madison ,avenue4 ,there was no delay in her acceptance4 ,with the owners' full consent the home was transformed into a ,spiritualistic ,temple in which ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar was the high priestess4 ,soon it was evident that there were spirits in profusion and the new medium was able to produce any type of phenomena desired1 even to spirit painting4 ,the venture was a profound success and a flourishing business was developed with an upper-ten clientele in which ,mr4 ,marsh became the chief and real victim4 ,not only was ,mr4 ,marsh mourning his wife but he had also lost a little daughter but a short time before and so when 8,eva's0 supposed spirit suggested to him that he make over his property at #aff ,madison ,avenue to ,diss ,debar the father was ready for the sacrifice4#eg ,the deeds were drawn and the transfer made but the medium was prevented from enjoying her booty by legal proceedings which vigilant relatives of ,marsh instituted based on his mental condition4 ,both ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar and her husband1 ,general ,diss ,debar1 were arrested and held on bail for trial4#eh ,as not infrequently happens in such cases the litigation was long drawn out and much astonishing evidence produced4#ei ,when placed on the witness stand her first testimony demonstrated her character4 ,a man by the name of ,salomen had testified that he was her brother4 ,she denied that he was and declared that he was a vile wretch who had come to her to borrow money4 ,she admitted to an inspector afterwards that the man was her brother but that he would not dare go on the stand against her for she knew something about him that would blast him forever and would not hesitate for a second to tell it if she needed to4 ,another indication of her character is furnished by the story that in choosing between two lawyers to represent her in court she not only inquired into their legal ability1 but desired to know about their age and looks as well1 finally deciding upon the younger and better looking4 ,she testified that all the trouble had been caused by ,mr4 ,marsh giving her his house and in answer to a question as to why she did not get money from him instead of real estate she replied that she had tried to but that he was very mean with his cash4 ,the last time she had gone to him for money he had refused it1 offering her instead a deed of his property in ,newport4 ,this she had refused fearing it would get her into more trouble4 ,during the early part of the trial ,diss ,debar conceived the idea of consulting the spirit world in regard to her own course of action and soon after1 on 8the advice of ,cicero and his colleagues in council of ten0 she returned the deeds of the ,madison ,avenue property to ,mr4 ,marsh4 ,one of the surprises of the trial was the calling by the prosecuting attorney of a professional illusionist1 mesmerist1 and conjuror1 ,carl ,hertz1 as a witness to prove by duplication that the tricks practiced on the unsuspecting ,marsh by ,diss ,debar were simply applications of the ordinary laws of physics4 ,this he succeeded in doing to the satisfaction of the court4 ,while ,hertz was exhibiting 8spirit message0 reading on the stand ,diss ,debar did everything in her power to embarrass him but without success as he met every condition she suggested including some under which ,diss ,debar herself would have failed to 8manifest40 ,mrs4 ,hertz had been her husband's assistant in reading the billets4 ,diss ,debar proposed through her lawyer that she be allowed to take her place4 ,hertz readily consented4 ,the ,judge examined a fresh piece of paper and ,hertz passed it to ,diss ,debar who deliberately tore it in two pieces and handing one of them back said to ,hertz3 8,i always mark mine2 now let me see you do the trick with one of these pieces40 ,hertz availed himself of the regular mediumistic subterfuge 8unfavorable conditions0 explaining that it was only a trick and being exhibited as such4 ,to this ,diss ,debar retorted3 8,i rest my honor upon its all being done by ,spiritual power when ,i do it40 ,at this the court ordered her from the stand refusing to allow discussion along such lines4 ,later in the trial ,hertz was recalled to the stand by ,diss ,debar's counsel and asked if he could produce the trick with ,mr4 ,marsh as an assistant4 ,he replied that he 8could and would40 ,from a newspaper account#fj we learn that excitement in the courtroom ran high while he proceeded with the trick4 ,diss ,debar told ,marsh to 8mark the tablet40 ,the conditions were not favorable to the performance of a sleight-of-hand trick4 ,mr4 ,marsh and ,mr4 ,hertz were less than two feet apart and people crowded around so close that the magician scarcely had room to move1 and yet he succeeded completely in deceiving ,mr4 ,marsh4 ,when ,hertz handed the tablet to ,mr4 ,marsh he calmly said3 8,if you wish to tear a corner off the tablet so as to identify it1 ,i have no objections40 ,mr4 ,marsh tore the corner off the tablet1 nevertheless he was completely tricked1 and he so admitted to the court4 ,nothing could show more clearly the methods used by mediums than the following account1 written by ,hertz himself1 of the means which he used in the demonstration described above4 ,the letter was in response to one of mine in which ,i asked him to let me know the method he used as ,i thought it should be put in this record4 #h ,hyde ,park ,mansions1 ,london1 ,n4 ,w4 ,july #af1 #aibc4 ,dear ,houdini3 ,i am in receipt of yours1 with reference to the manner in which ,i manipulated the paper to fool ,mme4 ,diss ,debar4 ,i worked it as follows3 ,when she was in the witness box1 ,i showed the jury and ,mrs4 ,diss ,debar a half sheet of plain white note paper with nothing on it4 ,i then told her to examine it and fold it four times 7,i had a duplicate piece with a communication written on it palmed in my hand71 when she handed it back to me1 ,i quickly made the changes1 and giving her the piece with the writing on it ,i told her to hold it against my forehead4 ,she then stopped me and said3 8one moment please1 whenever ,i do this trick1 ,i let them mark the paper10 and suiting the action to the word1 she took the paper1 and without opening it again1 she tore a corner off the blank piece1 but1 as it was already changed it made no difference4 ,you will see1 ,i took a big chance1 but it came off4 ,i had an idea she would do this1 so ,i actually changed the papers before ,i should have done so in the ordinary way1 and she was flabbergasted when she opened the paper and found a communication written upon it1 and on the same piece of paper which she had marked4 ,the writing pad trick which ,i did in the witness box with ,luther ,r4 ,marsh1 ,i did as follows3-- ,the trick1 if you remember1 was to show a pad of about a hundred sheets of paper unwritten upon1 and to wrap the pad up in a newspaper1 and to allow ,marsh to hold one end while she held the other4 ,then the sound of writing was heard as if some one was writing on the paper1 and when the newspaper was opened every sheet in the pad was written upon4 ,i had two pads alike1 one ,i had concealed under my waist-coat1 and the other ,i gave to ,marsh to examine2 as ,i proceeded to wrap the pad up1 under cover of the newspaper1 ,i changed them1 quickly drawing the pad from my waist-coat and leaving the other one in its place4 ,i then proceeded to wrap the pad up when ,diss ,debar shouted from her seat in the ,court ,room #8,don't let him fool you1 mark it6' but as it was already changed1 it did not matter so ,i let them tear a corner off4 ,i then let him hold one end1 while ,i held the other1 and amidst a great silence the sound of writing was heard1 as if a pen was rapidly going over the paper1 and ,i then told him to open the newspaper and look at the pad1 when he found every sheet written upon4 ,i then showed the ,court how ,i produced the sound of writing1 by having the nail of my forefinger split1 and simply scratching the newspaper underneath while ,i held it4 ,kind regards to self and wife from both of us4 ,yours sincerely1 7,signed7 ,,carl ,,hertz ,regardless of ,carl ,hertz's testimony and demonstration ,mr4 ,marsh's belief in the genuineness of ,spiritualistic phenomena was unshaken and remained so until the time of his death4 ,not only the extent of this belief and his mental condition1 but his confidence in ,diss ,debar as well1 are revealed in the following excerpt from the ,new ,york ,times's account of the trial4 8,a short communication from ,st4 ,paul was read by ,mr4 ,howe 7the ,prosecuting ,attorney7 to the ,court1 and ,mr4 ,marsh read a very long one from ,st4 ,peter4 ,it required fifteen minutes and a half to read this communication1 and ,mr4 ,marsh said it had come in the tablet written in two minutes4 ,judge ,cross and ,luther ,colby were in his study when it came4 ,he knew that the tablet was blank before he and ,mme4 ,diss ,debar held it together in their hands4 8,mr4 ,howe asked ,mr4 ,marsh if he really believed the communication was from ,st4 ,peter1 the apostle1 and ,mr4 ,marsh replied that he knew it was4 8#8,then you still believe in it6' exclaimed ,mr4 ,howe4 8#8,i do1' was the firm reply1 and the ,spiritualistic element applauded vigorously4 ,mme4 ,diss ,debar and ,mr4 ,marsh both seemed pleased with this demonstration which the ,court1 however1 stopped summarily40 ,twelve ballots were taken by the jury before an agreement was reached due to the fact that one juror1 evidently in sympathy with the accused1 obstinately held out for acquittal4 ,his reasons were as little logical as most ,spiritualistic arguments and had no connection with the evidence4 ,in fact the other jurors said that when they tried to talk evidence to him 8he wouldn't have it1 but hung to one line of thought1 namely1 that he believed ,mrs4 ,diss ,debar to be the daughter of ,lola ,montez and that a woman born out of wedlock was just as much entitled to consideration as one who was born in wedlock1 and as ,mrs4 ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar claimed all the honors of illegitimacy1 he was on her side for keeps40 ,illustration3 ,,ann ,o',,delia ,,diss ,,debar ,finally after a long wrangle and with the prospect of being locked in a jury room over ,sunday1 an arrangement was reached whereby a verdict of guilty was to be brought in but with a recommendation for clemency4 ,this was done and ,diss ,debar and her husband were sent to ,blackwell's ,island for six months4#fa ,when she was released she disappeared from ,america only to reappear after a little in ,london1 ,england1 where under the names of ,laura and ,theodore ,jackson she and her husband soon found themselves in trouble for starting an exceptionally immoral cult#fb which they called a 8,theocratic ,unity40#fc ,she was sentenced in ,december1 #aija1 to seven years of penal servitude in ,aylesbury ,prison4 ,even here her persuasive powers found a use for it is said that she gained favor because of the marvellous influence which she had over the refractory element which the officers in charge had difficulty in keeping in subjection4 ,at any rate she was released after serving five years1 8having obtained the maximum reduction of sentence for good behavior40#fd ,out in the world again she ventured into vaudeville and afterwards burlesque but in these rles she was a complete failure4 ,later she came back to ,america and was next heard of in ,chicago as ,vera ,ava4 ,she succeeded in marrying a wealthy man there but before long was in more difficulties in connection with the pursuit of spookery and sentenced to the ,joliet ,penitentiary for two years4#fe ,once more she appeared--in ,new ,orleans as the ,baroness ,rosenthal--then in #aiji this creature1 who for more than a quarter of a century had been swaying men of prominence and women of society1 dropped out of sight and for the last fifteen years nothing has been known about her4#ff ,in mothering this immoral woman1 ,spiritualism is guilty of the grossest misconduct and proves conclusively that she does not protect her own from the wiles and immorality of mediums even though they are found guilty of base criminality by the courts4 ,were ,i permitted to go into detail ,i could tell tales of ,diss ,debar that would shock even the worst rou of the ,montmartre4 ,suffice to say that her crimes were not so much crimes of gain as they were insults to the decency and morality of the community4 ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar's reputation#fg was such that she will go down in history as one of the great criminals4 ,she was no credit to ,spiritualism2 she was no credit to any people1 she was no credit to any country--she was one of these moral misfits which every once in awhile seem to find their way into the world4 ,better far had she died at birth than to have lived and spread the evil she did4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,dr4 ,,slade ,,and ,,his ,,spirit ,,slates ,slate writing was an especially fortunate 8find0 for mediums4 ,its results were obtained in full light and the whole thing seemed so simple and direct that apparently there was nothing to investigate and comparatively speaking there were no blank seances4 ,such success led to carelessness and exposures followed1 so numerous and complete that it is quite unnecessary to list them all here4#fh ,every once in a while though some medium still takes a chance when opportunity offers and gives a test to especially gullible sitters1 but to-day no medium with any pretentions to 8class0 would think of anything so 8common0 as slate writing in its old form4 ,spirit slates are now listed in the catalogues of houses dealing in conjuring apparatus and the fraud mediums who formerly made use of them are employing the safer and easier swindles of automatic writing1 trance or trumpet messages1 and the 8ouija board40 ,the infinite grafting possibilities of the ,spirit slates seem to have been overlooked until adopted and put into usable form by ,dr4 ,henry ,slade1#fi a man who had acquired an unenviable reputation in ,new ,york ,city1 but it is extremely doubtful if the present generation would have known anything about ,dr4 ,slade had the perpetuation of his name been left to the quality of his mediumship1 for he was only one of a large number of conjuring fakirs who bamboozled the credulous of his day4 ,however1 he was brought into the limelight on two notable occasions3 first by being exposed and criminally prosecuted in ,london2 and second when poor old ,professor ,zollner1 a noted ,german astronomer and physicist1 8fell0 for his simple conjuring and fell so hard that he made ,slade the hero of his great 787 work1 8,transcendental ,physics40 ,like ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 and many others1 after making a reputation in ,america1 ,slade jumped over to ,london1 for ,england's arms seem ever open for the reception of mediums who have made good here and if a medium escapes the toils of ,american investigators he has little to fear from willing believers on the other side of the ,atlantic1 though as a matter of fact several were sent to jail there4 ,slade reached ,england in ,july1 #ahgf1 and began to hold sittings at once1 and was soon 8cleaning up0 in fine shape4 ,the late ,john ,nevil ,maskelyne1 the great ,english magician1 told me that3 8,crowds of people rushed to witness the phenomena 787 paying one guinea each for a sitting lasting but a few minutes4 ,you would think they were giving gold guineas away4 ,the #8,doctor' must have netted some hundreds of pounds weekly which in those days was rated a high sum of money for an individual #8performer4'0 ,then1 just as things were going so nicely for ,slade there came a sudden crash1 for which two men were responsible2 ,professor ,ray ,lankester 7now ,sir ,ray ,lankester7 and ,dr4 ,horatio ,donkin 7now ,sir ,horatio ,donkin74 ,these men applied certain effective methods of scrutiny to ,slade's exhibitions which resulted in his arrest4 ,the trial created a big sensation1 not only in ,spiritual circles1 but throughout the civilized world1 and the ,bow ,street ,court was the most popular show in ,london for several days2 the 8top-liner0 being ,j4 ,n4 ,maskelyne1 the magician1 who performed all of ,slade's tricks in the witness box4 ,slade was convicted and sentenced to three months at hard labor4 ,an appeal was taken and the decision quashed on account of a flaw in the indictment4 ,while ,sir ,lankester was procuring new summonses for ,slade and his manager1 ,simmons1 they both skipped across the channel into ,france1 thus closing the doors of ,england against ,slade for all time as he never dared to set foot on her unfriendly shores again4 ,he made ready for a ,paris performance but a friend of ,sir ,lankester's sent an account of the court proceedings to the ,paris press so the ,french people had the whole story before ,slade was able to begin4 ,while touring ,europe in #aibj ,i had the pleasure of meeting ,sir ,ray ,lankester and hearing from him an account of ,dr4 ,slade's undoing4 ,both he and ,donkin were physicians4 ,they had been laying their plans to expose two other mediums1 ,herne and ,williams1 but ,slade's unexpected arrival in ,london changed these plans and instead they plotted the seance which proved to be ,slade's downfall4 ,donkin was away from ,london at the time but ,sir ,lankester wired him and while waiting for his return attended one of ,slade's seances4 ,he pretended to ,slade that he came to see if the ,spirits would write a message on the slates if he held them himself4 ,slade assured him that they would and arrangements were made for a second sitting4 ,before ,sir ,lankester left ,slade asked him if he had been in communication with any departed relatives4 8,no1 but ,i have an ,uncle ,john10 ,sir ,lankester replied4 ,consequently at the second sitting the following message was received3 8,i am glad to see you here again4--,john40 8,but have you an ,uncle ,john80 ,i asked4 8,no1 ,houdini10 he replied smiling1 8that is why everyone laughed in the courtroom at the time of the trial4 ,you see1 ,slade thought ,i was a firm believer1 and ,i allowed him to distract my attention4 ,he said to me #8,you have a great deal of mediumistic power about you4 ,i see them over you behind your head4'0 ,as he said this ,sir ,lankester raised his head with seeming credulity acting the part splendidly4 8,what made you suspect ,slade80 ,i asked him4 8,at the first seance ,i noticed the tendons move on ,slade's wrist as he held his hand outstretched under the table10 ,sir ,lankester replied1 8and while making a number of suspicious moves he scratched the slates a number of times with his finger nail to simulate the noise made by a slate pencil when writing on a slate40 ,on the return of ,sir ,donkin it was arranged that he and ,sir ,lankester should attend a seance together and that ,sir ,donkin was to watch for the 8suspicious move0 and when he saw it signal ,sir ,lankester4 ,everything worked as planned4 ,on receiving the agreed signal from ,donkin1 ,lankester seized the slate containing the finished message proving that a skillful exchange of slates had been made by ,slade and this was the real evidence which caused the downfall of ,henry ,slade in ,england4 ,blocked in ,paris from working his tricks because of the publication of an account of his exposure in ,england ,slade seems to have gone to ,germany for it was during the next year1 #ahgg1 that he so successfully deluded ,professor ,zollner4 8,zollner0 is one of the names on which ,spiritualistic enthusiasts bank most heavily for proof of their claims4 ,even ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle to this day quotes ,zollner as indisputable authority4 ,nevertheless ,zollner is discredited by ,mr4 ,george ,s4 ,fullerton1 ,secretary of the ,seybert ,commission4 ,while in ,germany ,mr4 ,fullerton made a special business of investigating the value of this ,zollner endorsement1 and at the time all of the men who participated in the ,slade investigation were alive with the exception of ,zollner himself4 ,mr4 ,fullerton in the summary of his report to the ,commission said3 8,thus it would appear that of the four eminent men whose names have made famous the investigation1 there is reason to believe one1 ,zollner1 was of unsound mind at the time1 and anxious for experimental verification of an already accepted hypothesis2 another1 ,fechner1 was partially blind and believed because of ,zollner's observation2 a third1 ,scheibner1 was also afflicted with defective vision and not entirely satisfied in his own mind with the phenomena2 and a fourth1 ,weber1 was advanced in age1 and did not even recognize the disabilities of his associates4 ,none of the men named had any previous experience or knowledge of the possibilities of deception40 ,the ,seybert ,commission1 in #ahhd1 seems to have made the first systematic1 organized effort to fathom the so-called phenomena of ,spiritualism1 and this ,commission sent for ,slade1 who was then operating in ,new ,york1 and had him give a number of seances under their observation1 but in spite of the fact that ,slade gave the ,commission a personal letter thanking them for their courtesies and expressing his willingness to sit with them again1 the ,commission considered his work fraudulent throughout4 ,at a very early stage of the sittings1 the ,commission noticed two kinds of communications4 ,those in answer to questions were slovenly written1 often illegible1 while those which came as voluntary contributions from the ,spirits1 were more carefully written1 even to punctuation4 ,it was very evident that this writing on the slates had been prepared previous to the sitting1 while that written under the restraint of observation was the crude scrawl1 abrupt in composition1 and often almost or quite illegible4 ,it was evident that where the nicely written communications were used an exchange of slates had been effected1 whereas the other writing was the result of such skill as could be brought to bear without detection under the unfavorable conditions4 ,it was also noticed that all of the long messages most suspiciously resembled the handwriting of the medium4 ,every test to which ,slade submitted proved to be transparent to the ,commission and some of his efforts to mystify it were referred to as3 8,several little tricks which he imputed to ,spiritual agency1 but which were almost puerile in the simplicity of their legerdemain1 and which have been repeated with perfect success by one of our number40 ,after all the slate-writing mediums who came in answer to an advertisement broadcasted by the ,seybert ,commission had been examined by it1 the acting ,chairman of the ,commission1 ,mr4 ,horace ,howard ,furness1 invited the late ,harry ,kellar to exhibit his slate-writing skill before it1 not with any claim to supernatural phenomena but as a magician openly admitting his purpose to baffle by purely natural means4 ,mr4 ,kellar submitted to a series of tests far more complicated and difficult of execution than any produced by ,slade or any other medium2 nevertheless the ,commission was unable to detect his methods and admitted itself completely baffled4 ,mr4 ,kellar told me that when ,mr4 ,furness1 and ,coleman ,sellers1 another member of the ,commission who was himself an amateur entertainer1 applied to him for an exhibition of his skill as a slate-writer they expected him to do the stock tricks of ,slade4 ,but someone tipped ,kellar off that ,sellers had told the members of the ,commission what ,kellar was to do and his probable method of doing it and for them to watch out for his modus operandi4 ,so1 not to be 8caught napping10 ,kellar1 like the skillful mystifier that he was1 determined to out-do ,slade and beat ,sellers4 ,as he told me about it he laughed heartily1 saying3 8,if you could have seen ,mr4 ,sellers' face at the time of the unfolding of the mystery1 it would have done your heart good40 ,when ,kellar arrived for the demonstration he insisted that the ,commission furnish its own slates1 so a boy was sent out who brought back about a dozen of various kinds4 ,then all sat down around the table with hands resting1 palm down1 on its top4 ,the ,commission opened the sitting by writing questions on the slates4 ,kellar held them under the table with the thumb on top and when he withdrew them in a few moments they had answers to the questions written in a clear round hand4 ,the questions gradually became longer and longer1 but the replies kept pace with them1 sometimes covering a whole side of the slate4 ,although the slates were all different and could not possibly be mistaken for one another1 the ,commission began to put identifying marks on them4 ,once no pencil was put on the top of the slate but the reply came just the same4 ,this fact was commented upon and ,kellar replied3 8,oh1 my ,spirits can write without pencils10 a statement which puzzled the members of the ,commission all the more4 ,finally the magician asked them to write a question on a slate and cover it with another1 placing the pencil between the two4 ,even this did not bother the 8,spirits10 for when the slates were returned1 both sides were found covered with writing4 ,the following extract from the ,preliminary ,report of the ,seybert ,commission1 originally published in #ahhg1 describes this performance of ,harry ,kellar before members of the ,commission and shows the impression which it made on them4 8,an eminent professional juggler performed1 in the presence of three of our ,commission1 some independent slate-writing far more remarkable than any of which we have witnessed with mediums4 ,in broad daylight1 a slate perfectly clean on both sides1 was1 with a small fragment of slate pencil1 held under a leaf of a small1 ordinary table1 around which we were seated2 the fingers of the juggler's hand pressed the slate tight against the underside of the leaf1 while the thumb completed the pressure and remained in full view clasping the leaf of the table4 ,our eyes never for the fraction of a second lost sight of that thumb2 it never moved2 and yet in a few minutes the slate was produced1 covered with writing4 ,messages were there1 and still are there1 for we preserved the slate1 written in ,french1 ,spanish1 ,dutch1 ,chinese1 ,japanese1 ,gujorati1 and ending with #8ich bin ein ,geist1 und lieb1 mein ,lagerbier4' ,for one of our number the juggler subsequently repeated the trick and revealed its every detail40 ,the method which ,kellar used1 and which he described to me1 was this4 ,with the consent of the owner of the hotel1 whom he agreed to pay for any damage1 he had a small trap made in the floor of the room1 about as large as a hot air register1 with the necessary means of opening and closing it4 ,a plush rug with rectangular designs was placed over this trap1 and one of the designs1 which was just the size of the trap1 was cut out with a razor1 these cuts being imperceptible4 ,the piece of rug was glued firmly to the top of the trap4 ,in addition to these preparations1 ,kellar bought a specimen of every variety of slate to be found in the downtown section of ,philadelphia4 ,when the time for the 8seance0 arrived1 ,barney1 ,kellar's clever young assistant1 was seated on a platform in the room underneath the trap with the assortment of slates by his side4 ,as soon as the ,commission was seated around the table he opened the trap and could then hear all that was said in the room above4 ,when the exhibition commenced he simply took the slate ,kellar put under the table leaf1 selected one from his assortment to match it1 wrote on it the answer1 and then slipped it under ,kellar's fingers4 ,in the case of a marked slate he used that instead of a duplicate4 ,of course it was perfectly easy for ,kellar to do his part without removing his thumb from the top of the table4 8,a fake1 pure and simple1 you will say10 ,kellar remarked to me1 and then added1 8but that's what all ,spiritualistic manifestations are40 ,in point of time ,john ,w4 ,truesdell was probably the first exposer of ,slade as he investigated him as early as #ahgb1 but the results of his investigation were not made public until he published his book1 8,bottom ,facts10 in #ahhc4 ,in this book he tells of setting a trap for ,slade and proving that he substituted slates4 ,as ,sam ,johnson of ,rome1 ,n4 ,y41 ,truesdell arranged for a seance with ,slade4 ,knowing that his overcoat would be searched1 he left it hanging on the hall rack with an unsealed letter in the pocket and while waiting in the ,spirit room he made the most of his opportunity to look around4 ,under the sideboard he found a slate with a message written on the lower side which read3 8,we are happy to meet you in this atmosphere of ,spirit research4 ,you are now summoned by many anxious friends in the ,spirit life1 who desire to communicate with you1 but who cannot until they learn more of the laws which govern their actions4 ,if you will come here often1 your ,spirit friends will soon be able to identify themselves and to communicate with you as on earth life4 8,allie40 ,in a bold hand ,truesdell added3 8,henry1 look out for this fellow4 ,he is up to snuff4 8,alcinda40 ,this was the name of ,slade's deceased wife1 a fact which ,truesdell happened to know4 ,he replaced the slate as he had found it4 ,slade presently appeared and the seance began with the general phenomena of moving chairs1 etc41 preceding the slate-writing4 ,when the name 8,mary ,johnson0 appeared plainly written on the slate ,slade said it was ,truesdell's sister4 ,upon being told that this was incorrect1 ,slade1 pretending to change the light1 drew the table over by the sideboard4 ,as usual he lost control of the slate1 letting it fall to the floor1 and as he stooped over to pick it up took the prepared one instead4 ,when he read the two messages he became livid with rage and turning to ,truesdell demanded to know what it meant and who had been meddling with the slate4 8,spirits10 was ,truesdell's reply4 ,there were a few tense seconds and then the seance continued serenely4 ,i was too young in ,slade's time to seek an audience with him but ,i have the good fortune to know ,mr4 ,frederick ,e4 ,powell1 a prominent magician and a member of the ,society of ,american ,magicians4 ,he is one of the very few persons now living who had seances with ,slade and with his permission ,i quote the following description of his experiences with ,slade4 ,illustration3 ,,henry ,,slade 8,in the ,autumn of #ahha or #hb1 ,henry ,slade1 the famous ,spirit medium1 came to ,philadelphia and took quarters at the ,colonade ,hotel1 where he opened a room1 in which to hold seances4 ,at that time ,i was instructor of ,mathematics in the ,pennsylvania ,military ,college at ,chester1 ,pa4 ,reading the announcement of ,slade's seances in a ,philadelphia paper1 ,i wrote to him1 and made an appointment for myself and ,capt4 ,r4 ,k4 ,carter1 to be present at one of them4 ,capt4 ,carter was at that time our instructor in ,civil ,engineering4 ,reaching the ,colonade at the appointed time1 we were ushered into ,slade's presence1 in a room1 bare of furniture1 save a rather long table and several chairs1 placed in the center of the room1 while at the side and just back of where ,slade was to sit1 was a smaller table on which were piled a number of ordinary looking school slates1 of various sizes4 ,the center table had no cloth on it4 ,several small articles were on the mantelpiece1 such as a smoker might use1 viz43 a match box1 etc4 8,according to my recollection1 ,slade was rather tall and slim1 and of an ingratiating presence4 ,he was expecting us and at once placed me at a long table4 8,the seance began1 with ,slade holding two slates of rather large size1 and showing all their surfaces devoid of writing1 placed them on the top of the table1 and while rubbing their surfaces kept up a running fire of conversation4 ,he then told us to place our hands on the table as near the center as possible with our little fingers touching4 ,slade placed the slates together1 and after a moment or two separated them1 saying he had forgotten to put a piece of pencil between4 ,this he did1 and holding them together placed them under the table with one hand1 while he placed the other on the table so that his fingers touched our hands4 ,this position was held for several minutes1 when he said he would see if he had gotten any results4 ,bringing the slates from under the table he laid them on top and after a moment told ,capt4 ,carter to look at them4 ,following this direction1 ,capt4 ,carter separated them1 when one was found to have its entire surface covered with writing4 ,this message1 according to ,slade1 came from a man who had just died4 7,notice of the man's death had been published in the morning paper47 ,the message was signed with the full name1 but as neither ,capt4 ,carter nor ,i knew the man1 we could not affirm or deny the correctness of the handwriting1 nor the truth of the signature4 8,capt4 ,carter asked ,slade if he might copy the message1 but ,slade demurred1 saying he did not know if the ,spirits would like the message copied4 ,i found it difficult to account for the reticence of the ,spirit or ,spirits since the message had been written for our information4 ,its purport was1 as far as ,i can recall1 that everything was very glorious in the ,spirit ,world1 and that he1 the writer1 was very happy4 ,there was nothing in the message that was above the mentality of ,slade or that was1 in any sense1 descriptive of ,spirit ,life4 ,all was vague and unsatisfactory1 where real information was desired4 8,during this demonstration and indeed throughout the entire seance1 ,slade sat sidewise to the table1 his left hand resting generally on its top and his right hand free4 ,several short messages were next produced on a small slate held by ,slade1 under the table1 and out of sight1 a short piece of slate pencil always being placed on the upper surface of the slate4 ,two points were made very emphatic by ,slade4 ,first1 that the piece of pencil was always found just at the end of the last word of the message1 and second1 that the messages were found on the upper side of the slate1 which according to ,slade was held close against the under surface of the table top4 ,however1 as we could not see the slate when placed under the table1 since we were reaching as far as we could to get our hands on the center of its top1 and the slate was only shown to us when being brought from under its surface1 it would have been an easy thing to lower the slate after placing it under the table and writing with a single finger of ,slade's right hand1 then bringing the slate to the under surface of the table1 bring it slowly into sight4 8,once when the small slate was laid on top of the table the sound of writing was distinctly heard4 ,during this time ,slade had both hands on the upper surface of the table and in full sight4 ,this was quite startling at the time1 but later ,i discovered how to produce this sound of writing myself and without the aid of ,spirits4 8,once1 while we were having our attention directed to a slate held by ,slade1 the unoccupied chair on the side opposite to ,slade and almost at the side of ,capt4 ,carter1 suddenly rose so that its seat struck the under side of the table1 and then fell back with quite a thud4 8,another telling effect was carried out1 when ,slade gave me one of the small slates telling me to hold it under the table4 ,i did so and felt it suddenly snatched from my hand 7,i was holding it with one hand1 my other hand was on the top of the table7 and carried with a scraping noise to the very end of the table and there it rose above the surface enough to disclose about a third or possibly a half its length4 ,then it was carried swiftly back and put in my hand4 8,this concluded the first seance2 when ,slade1 after a moment1 said he thought that was all he could get at the time4 8,on our second visit ,i need recount but three effects3 ,first1 difference in the method of obtaining writing on the large slates which began the seance1 as in the first visit4 ,slade showed one slate and cleaned it thoroughly1 then while keeping up a running fire of conversation1 he casually reached to the small table1 spoken of as having several piles of slates on it1 and taking one as though at hazard1 placed it flat on the big table4 ,rubbed its upper surface with his fingers1 and placed a piece of pencil on it1 held it under the table4 ,after a pause he brought it out and taking the upper slate off the under1 showed both surfaces without writing4 ,he remarked that perhaps a different piece of pencil would be better and he placed another pencil on the upper surface of the top slate and then placed the lower slate over it1 without at any time having shown its under surface4 ,this surface was found covered with writing1 the purport of which ,i do not now recall4 8,the second variation of the first seance was when ,slade asked me if ,i had ever seen the #8dematerialization of a solid object8' ,i said ,i had not1 whereupon ,slade took a small slate and1 looking around as though to find a proper object for his test1 picked up a match box from the mantelpiece1 and put it on the upper surface of the slate rather close to where he would hold it4 ,he then placed the slate and its superimposed object carefully under the table and after a moment brought out the slate1 without the match box4 ,i looked under the table but found nothing suspicious there4 8,in a moment ,slade replaced the slate under the table and on bringing it out1 we saw the match box in its former place4 ,this disappearance did not impress me greatly as ,i concluded the whole secret of dematerialization consisted in turning the slate over and holding the box in place by a finger1 then after showing the surface empty1 the slate was again turned over on being replaced under the table1 and so the materialization of the box was realized4 8,the last test was quite startling4 ,slade drew his chair close to mine1 placed one of his hands on the chair back and the other on the table4 ,my hands were resting on the table top4 ,suddenly ,i felt the chair rise1 and ,i was tipped forward1 but kept my balance by pushing back with my hands1 which1 as ,i have said1 were resting on the table top4 ,then the force was quickly withdrawn and my chair and ,i came back to the floor with a grand thud4 ,this concluded the second seance4 ,i never saw ,slade again40 ,powell explains the levitation thus3 8,when ,slade drew his chair close to mine he crossed his legs and was thus enabled to bring his foot under the rung of my chair4 ,the leg resting over the knee gave considerable leverage to the limb having a foot under the rung of my chair4 ,now he exerted the necessary strength by pressing upward with his foot1 and holding the chair back with his hand while the other hand steadied the whole1 by bearing against the table4 ,slade took his hand away from the back of my chair for the fraction of a second before he released his foot4 ,i was thus naturally tilted forward and had to exert some force to keep myself from sliding off the chair4 ,this effort kept me from seeing ,slade free himself and get his limbs back to their normal position1 viz41 one hand on the table1 and his feet and legs fairly under it4 ,slade was rather tall and1 though somewhat slim1 was very muscular4 ,of course ,i did not actually see ,slade use his foot to do the lifting1 but his position and all the circumstances surrounding the effect tend to prove my claim as to what ,i believe he did4 ,further1 while ,i was far from being as strong as ,slade1 ,i succeeded in duplicating this #8,levitation' by the means ,i have described40 ,while searching for material about ,slade ,i heard of an old medium living in ,philadelphia by the name of ,remigius ,weiss1 known as ,remigius ,albus1 who had testified before the ,seybert ,commission regarding ,slade's manipulation of the slates4 ,i went over to ,philadelphia to his home and there met the only man who had tangible evidence of ,dr4 ,slade4 ,this he thoroughly explained to me4 ,i asked him why he had never exposed it to the world and he told me that he held back at first because of pity for ,slade's condition and afterwards figured that if the fraud mediums and other potential criminals knew ,slade's methods they might make use of the methods to gain control of poor human beings who wished to get in touch with loved ones who had passed away4 ,he did not hesitate to give me full details and at my request wrote me a letter describing his experience with ,slade4 ,i quote it because ,i believe it to be the best expos ever written of ,slade's slate writings4 8,august #ah1 #aibc4 8,my dear ,houdini3-- 8,please accept1 from me1 this ,lock-book1 and the locked double-slate--as a small token of comradeship--in combating ,spiritualistic deception1 popular superstition and ,delusion4 8,the book and the slate were my own4 ,i put the lock and hinges on the slate1 and prepared the book1 and a number of other1 different objects--7such as ,professor ,zollner had1 when he1 in his foolishness1 was pleased to be deceived by ,dr4 ,slade's ,humbug74 8,in order to gain the perfect1 full confidence of ,dr4 ,slade1 and to have him give a seance in my home1 and in order to counteract and overcome his explicit aversion as to do writing on or between a sealed slate or a locked book--,i showed him letters from 7two eminent and confiding ,spiritist ,authors7--,dr4 ,heinrich ,tiedemann and ,tiedemann's intimate friend ,hudson ,tuttle1 promising to me that they would be present at that seance 7at #adh ,fairmount ,avenue74 8,dr4 ,slade had handled and inspected that ,book and ,slate1 during a ,seance1 at my residence 7at #adh ,fairmount ,avenue1 ,phila41 ,pa471 where ,i1 together with ,mr4 ,wertheimer 7then a student of ,jurisprudence7--and in presence of other witnesses 7who were concealed and not seen1 nor suspected by ,dr4 ,slade1 nor his #8,spirits'7 detected the manipulations1 pedalations 7foot1 leg and other bodily movements7--and the general modus operandi of his simple ,legerdemain at the seance4 ,i had ready1 for that seance1 three different suites of ,furniture1 and thus1 ,i found out that he would1 or could1 perform only at1 or on a certain kind of plain1 square or drop-leaf table and ordinary wooden chairs or cane seat chairs4 8,each person present at the ,seance1 wrote1 independent of and before communicating with1 the others1 a personal1 individual report of the ,seance and signed it within the next few days4 ,a day or two after1 ,i put these papers in my pocket and also another paper ,i had prepared1 to serve or use as ,dr4 ,slade's confession to be signed by him4 ,i went to the ,girard ,hotel1 ,room #bd 7,n4 ,w4 corner of #ith and ,chestnut ,streets1 ,philadelphia1 ,pa471 to have ,dr4 ,slade arrested for obtaining money under false pretense1--or to get him to sign his own confession4 ,there1 in his room1 ,no4 #bd1 in the ,girard ,hotel1 ,i had another1 a different ,seance1 with ,dr4 ,slade4 ,he again carefully scrutinized the book and the slate1 and then1 holding the book under the table1 secretly and carefully1 attempted to open the lock1 with a small key1 hidden in his handkerchief4 8,dr4 ,slade and his pretended #8,spirits' could not write in the book4 ,while holding it under the table1 he attempted to pull out of the book that thin1 wooden1 square frame1 ,i had put there at the edges of the leaves so that the small piece of lead pencil could move about4--,then1 in a similar attempt1 he worked and perspired1 on1 and over the double slate4 ,his #8,spirits' could not write in the locked slate and he could not open it4 8,he said1 #8,the ,spirits seem to be angry at your skepticism1 it's no use to lose more time by trying4 ,my guide don't want to have anything more to do with you4' 8,then upon ,dr4 ,slade's request ,i unlocked the slate1 and he wrote in the ordinary way1 as writing generally is done in schools1 two short sentences in the slate4 ,then he worked the sponge1#gj and turning the written on side downward1 sleight-of-hand trick1 tried to palm this off1 claiming that this is #8,genuine1 independent1 ,spirit slate writing4' 8,up to this time1 ,november the #dth1 #ahhb1 ,i had shown to ,dr4 ,slade friendly1 joyful attentiveness4 ,we talked about some of my newspaper articles ,i had published some weeks before he consented to give me a seance4 8,in these newspapers ,i had described him 7,dr4 ,slade7 as #8,the ,modern ,cagliostro1 a celebrated necromancer1 martyr or a charlatan1 of radical free-religious proclivities1 fine manners and a humistic1 witty and forceful public lecturer and most powerful ,spiritistic ,medium1 who again and again has been and is challenging exposures1 and calling special attention to the fact that ,dr4 ,slade has1 in his lectures1 and otherwise1 again and again publicly announced that he is prepared to pay a thousand dollars 7#ajjj4jj7 to any person that can prove that he 7,dr4 ,slade7 is a humbug1 or that ,dr4 ,slade's 8manifestations0 are trickery1 legerdemain1 humbug or in any way fraudulent4' ,illustration3 8,,locked ,,slate0 ,,used ,,by ,,dr4 ,,henry ,,slade ,,in ,,his ,,writing ,,tests ,,at ,,philadelphia 8,dr4 ,slade seemed to be pleased by my description4 ,after some pleasant talk as to his appearance with ,scientists1 ,kings and other royal persons and ,rulers in ,europe and his success as a lecturer and his way of living1 he gave me his address1 ,no4 #bba ,west #bbnd ,street1 ,new ,york4 8,then ,i asked ,dr4 ,slade that we change #8rles1' he to take my place and be the ,investigator1--and ,i to play the #8medium1' there1 in his room1 as an #8experiment4' 8,dr4 ,slade also said that if ,i could overcome my skepticism ,i would be a good #8psychic1' having #8mediumistic' gifts4 8,i suggested that he should watch me carefully and then honestly tell me1 as to the effect and #8impression' my #8manifestations' could 7or would7 be producing on his mind1 and eventually on the outcome of the #8,spiritualistic1 the ,harmonial1 ,philosophy1 or so-called1 ,scientific ,religion of the ,spiritists4' 8,then1 to his consternation1 ,i1 earnestly1 by actual demonstration1 reproduced every one of his manifestations1 exactly 7and by the same modus operandi1 as ,i1 and my witnesses had seen and detected7 as ,dr4 ,slade had performed them4 ,he asked me1 how1 and by what means we detected his #8occult' or secret mode1 or #8process of wonder working' or miracle8--,i mentioned that he had positively refused to try any #8experiment' on the first and second sets of tables and chairs1 and had requested me to substitute them by a plain kitchen table and chairs of a certain construction4 8,i told him that ,i had bored observation-holes in the corners of the panels 7particularly so through the lower corners7 in the parlor doors1 the floor1 ceiling and other places from where my concealed witnesses observed1 and have seen exactly all the movements of his feet1 hands1 etc41 below and above the table1--saw how he raised 7#8floated'7 ,mr4 ,wertheimer sitting in the chair1 saw how he 7,dr4 ,slade7 with his foot upset chairs1 kicked a book 7extending over the edge of the table71 tossed a slate pencil from the edge of the table from a slate held under and at the edge of the table1 etc41 etc4 ,illustration3 ,,sketch ,,showing ,,slade',s ,,seat ,,at ,,the ,,table1 ,,different ,,positions ,,of ,,slates1 ,,location ,,of ,,sponge1 ,,and ,,method ,,of ,,moving ,,book4 8,dr4 ,slade1 now turned very pale and wiping off the thick perspiration from his forehead and face1 said3--#8,well1 what of it8' and rashly asked3--#8,where were ,hudson ,tuttle and ,dr4 ,h4 ,tiedemann8' ,i reminded him of the fact that they had sent an excuse1 being unable 7by reason of unforeseen circumstances7 to attend that seance in my house4 8,then ,i sternly gave him the alternative3--,that either he sign his own confession 7as to the fact7--that he has 7during the many years in his career as a professional ,spirit medium and in everything he had professed or pretended to be #8genuine' ,spiritistic or ,spiritualistic7 deceived and defrauded the public4--,i read the confession to him and sternly demanded1 #8,either you sign this or you will be put behind the bars4'-- ,,confession 8,the undersigned1 ,henry ,slade1 known professionally as ,dr4 ,henry ,slade1--the powerful ,spiritistic medium--by reason of the force of unfavorable circumstances1 years ago became a ,spiritualistic slate writing 7etc41 etc47 medium1 and ,spiritistic lecturer and he herewith confesses that all his pretended ,spiritualistic manifestations were and are deceptions1 performed through tricks4 7,signed7 ,h4 ,slade40 8,i 7,r4 ,weiss7 had also stipulated that he 7,dr4 ,slade7 promises to discontinue his present dishonest1 criminal method of gaining a livelihood by preying on the superstition of ,spiritualists and through the gullibility of the public1--,dr4 ,slade then remonstrated and said3--that ,i could not affect his standing in the eyes of those who had seen and believed his manifestations1 mentioning the ,czar of ,russia and others of world prominence4 8,i then walked to the door1 signifying that my part of the interview and argument was ended--and also conveying the #8impression' as to my intention to have him arrested4 8,he then changed his attitude and in a cringing manner he pleaded with me to have mercy on him1 as he had only this one method of earning a livelihood4 ,all of this1 and his pleading1 was so strenuous that he fell in a #8dead' faint4-- 8,then1 after ,i #8revived' him out of a #8genuine' fainting spell1 he begged me to desist from having him arrested and then he signed the confession4 7,signed7 8,remigius ,weiss40 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,slate ,,writing ,,and ,,other ,,methods ,a remarkably large number of methods have been used at one time and another by the numerous mediums of lesser repute than ,slade who prospered on slate writing4 ,slade himself1 like any skilled prestidigitator1 had a variety of ways which he used to produce his effects4 ,his usual method was very simple4 ,a common kitchen table with the leaves extended was used1 the ,doctor being seated at the end and the client on the side against the leaf1 at the ,doctor's right4 ,after the slate had been thoroughly washed on both sides he placed it under the leaf at the left of the sitter1 holding it in position with the fingers of his right hand1 with his thumb above the table4 ,the sitter was requested to hold the left end of the slate with one hand and with the other to grasp the ,doctor's left hand near the center of the table4 ,in such a position it was impossible for the sitter to see the slate or the fingers of the medium4 ,on the forefinger of his right hand ,slade had a sort of thimble or ring to which was attached a bit of slate pencil4 ,with this he wrote a short message on the bottom side of the slate1 the scratching of the pencil being quite audible to the sitter4 ,when this scratching ceased the ,doctor would be seized with a series of nervous spasms during which the slate was snatched from the sitter's hand for the fraction of a second and1 unknown to him1 turned over1 thus bringing the message to the top so that when a few minutes later it was shown the message appeared as though written between the slate and the table leaf4 ,a second method1 which produced longer messages1 was the substitution of slates4 ,if this message was of a general character the slate was switched for one bearing a previously written message concealed about a nearby piece of furniture4 ,if a special message was required it was written by an assistant listening in the next room4 ,when the slate had been cleaned ready for the message the ,doctor gave the cue and the assistant rapped on the door4 ,the ,doctor answered the knock in person1 taking the slate with him1 and while listening to some commonplace report the slates were exchanged4 ,on resuming his seat the slate was placed under the table leaf as before4 ,no sound of writing being heard1 he would examine the top of the slate several times but of course find no writing4 ,finally1 claiming that the influence did not seem powerful enough1 he would lay the slate on the top of the table1 message side down with a piece of pencil under it1 and then take both the hands of the sitter in his4 ,soon a sound of writing would be heard and on examination the message would be found4 ,it was possible for ,slade to produce the sound of writing while his hands were holding those of his client by slipping a piece of pencil through threads on the side of his knee and rubbing it against another piece held to the table leg by a wooden clip4 ,one of the most common methods of slate writing is known as the 8flap slate40 ,the message is written beforehand and concealed with a flap of silicated gauze1 or thin slate1 which fits closely within the slate frame4 ,one side of this flap is covered with cloth to match that used on the top of the table and when it is dropped is unnoticed4 ,a better way is to cover the back of the flap with newspaper and by dropping it on a newspaper it becomes invisible4 ,there is an ingenious double form of this flap slate with which it is possible to make a message appear on both inside surfaces of a pair of locked slates without having them leave the sight of the sitter for an instant4 ,the two slates are hinged together like the old-fashioned school slates but with the hinges on the outside of the slates4 ,the slabs of slate are very thin and the ends of the frames bevel toward them slightly4 ,one end of each frame is so made that by pressing on one of the hinge screws the frame end is released and can be drawn out about a quarter of an inch4 ,a very thin slab of slate called the 8flap0 is arranged to fit snugly over the real slate when the frame ends are in place but drops out as soon as they are released and drawn out4 ,in working these slates the medium writes a message on the inside of one of them1 say the left1 and also on one side of the flap4 ,the end of the slate with the message is then drawn out and the flap inserted1 message side down1 and the frame fastened back in place4 ,a secret mark on the outside of the frame shows which slate is written upon4 ,the slates can then be shown and will appear clean on all four sides1 and it is possible to either seal or lock them without interfering with the success of the demonstration4 ,they are then placed on the table with the fake ends nearest the medium and while he leans on their ends with half-folded arms1 engaging the sitter in conversation1 he at the same time with the fingers of his concealed hand pulls out the frame ends1 allowing the flap to fall from one slate to the other1 and then secures it in place by putting the ends back4 ,of course when the slates are opened a closely written message is found on both4 ,another sort of double slate intended for producing a similar effect in dark seances or cabinet work also has a loose end which instead of moving a quarter of an inch draws out to any length1 bringing the slab with it4 ,after the lights are out or the cabinet closed it is an easy matter to draw out the slab and write a message on it4 ,illustration3 ,,writing ,,on 8,,honest ,,slates0 ,,by ,,means ,,of ,,wedge ,,and ,,wire4 ,writing is sometimes produced between two perfectly honest slates which have been fastened together at the corners by inserting a wedge of hard wood between the frames1 thus separating them enough to slip between them a piece of wire with a bit of slate pencil fastened to its tip4 ,by this means a message can be produced at a dark seance in a few minutes without breaking the seals4 ,there is a form of slate where the slab is invisibly hinged on the side so that it opens like a door and is held shut by a secret catch4 ,this slate can be used in a dark seance or under the table at a light one4 ,it can also be used on a cloth-top table with an invisible trap4 ,the trap and the hinged slate drop down together and the medium is able to write on the slate by reaching under the table4 ,still another scheme used with a pair of hinged slates is to have a hole through both frames at one end and locking them with a padlock4 ,in working this the pins are pushed out of the hinges and the frames1 moving easily on the shackle of the padlock1 permit the medium to write on the inside of the slates without difficulty1 afterwards fastening the slates together again by simply replacing the pins in the hinges4 ,a method of concealing an extra slate is to have it a trifle smaller than the rest and then hidden in some convenient place1 say the seat of a chair4 ,a large slate is first examined and laid on the chair4 ,later it is picked up with the extra one under it4 ,sometimes the extra one is hidden under the edge of a rug on the floor and worked in the same way4 ,at other times it is hidden on the medium's body and slipped under a large slate when the medium stands with his right side on a line with the sitter's vision4 ,an entirely different method is employed to some extent by mediums who are very rapid and interesting talkers4 ,throughout the seance the medium walks nervously about the room1 keeping up a continual flow of conversation4 ,he passes two slates to the sitter for examination4 ,a third1 the same size1 with a previously written message on one side1 being concealed in a large pocket inside the breast of his coat4 ,while the slates are being examined he walks about the room sometimes behind and sometimes in front of the sitter1 tapping him on the shoulder to emphasize his remarks4 ,as soon as the slates are examined he takes them and1 passing behind the sitter1 places them on his head and asks him to hold them there and at the same time continuing his walk and talk4 ,of course when the slates are examined there is a message on the inside of one of them4 ,when the medium steps behind the sitter with the slates in his hand he quickly changes the slate with a message which he has hidden for one of the blank ones4 ,this is no more bold or difficult than many mediumistic tricks but it requires a particularly fluent conversationalist to successfully produce the needed amount of misdirection when the slates are switched4 ,women mediums effect a similar exchange sometimes by the aid of a special pocket in the dress4 ,a very effective method of getting a direct answer to a question on the inside of a sealed double slate is as follows4 ,the slates are thoroughly cleansed by the sitter1 who writes a question on a slip of paper1 folds it and places it between the slates1 with a bit of pencil4 ,the medium keeps at a distance during the writing and cannot see what has been written4 ,the slates are then sealed with strips of paper and placed on the table and the sitter holds both hands of the medium4 ,after a time1 as no sound of writing is heard1 the medium shows some concern as to the possibility of failure and suggests that the sitter hold the slates at the top of his own head4 ,still there is no sound and the slates are returned to the table1 where they remain for some time without any sign of writing4 ,the medium becomes very much worried and suggests that the slates be placed on the sitter's head again1 remarking that if no sound is heard he will be obliged to postpone that test till a future sitting4 ,this time the writing is heard almost as soon as the slates touch the head and when it ceases and the slates are unsealed a complete answer is found written on the inner surface of one or both slates4 ,this seeming marvel is produced in the following simple manner4 ,the medium's assistant steals into the room with a duplicate pair of sealed slates and stands behind the sitter4 ,in the act of placing the slates on the head a switch is made1 and the sitter holds the duplicates while the originals are taken into an adjoining room by the assistant4 ,he lifts the seals with a hot table knife and after reading the question he writes an appropriate answer1 reseals the slates and returns to his position behind the sitter4 ,another exchange is made when the slates are placed on the sitter's head the second time4 ,the sound of writing is made by the medium under the table with a piece of slate pencil and a bit of slate1 but it is so faint that the sitter cannot locate it4 ,illustration3 ,,houdini1 ,,mrs4 ,,houdini1 ,,and ,,mr4 ,,teale ,,demonstrating ,a ,,method ,,of ,,switching ,,slates ,,over ,a ,,sitter',s ,,head ,in ,bohemia1 ,province of ,prague1 ,i ran across a medium who was especially good in slate writing4 ,at first ,i could not 8get0 his work4 ,when ,i was playing in ,berlin1 at the ,wintergarten1 he came in one night and wanted to give a performance to the directors4 ,i was guest but went prepared for him4 ,his work was so designed that he walked behind us and in so doing he baffled me4 ,i asked for a private sitting and he readily consented4 ,when he did the slate writing at this sitting ,i felt someone's presence1 and1 sure enough1 when he took the slates away there was an almost imperceptible hesitation4 ,in this fraction of a second the slates were switched through a trap in the panel behind me4 ,i had a mirror on a rubber elastic fastened to my vest and as ,i took my seat ,i pulled the elastic so ,i could sit on it4 ,i managed to secure this mirror and keep it palmed in my hand1 and with it saw the panel slide open1 the arm extended with the duplicate slates1 and the exchange made4 ,s4 ,s4 ,baldwin1 an acknowledged expert in ,spiritualistic and ,telepathic tomfoolery1 was bamboozled by a ,dr4 ,fair1 according to his own story which he told to me in ,december1 #aibj4 ,he received a message on a slate held by himself under a table1 and afterwards1 at the suggestion of the ,doctor1 made a thorough examination of the table1 the room1 and everything in sight1 but failed to discover a concealed door in the wainscot of the wall through which a man in black garments could find his way to space under a sofa and thence to the table1 which was a rather large one1 do the ,spirit writing and then make his exit while ,mr4 ,baldwin was fully occupied holding the slate under the table with his eyes fixed on space above it4 ,one of the very best mediumistic tricks1 and one that has made the reputation of more than one well-known medium1 is done with a number of small slates and one large one4 ,the size of the slates is immaterial but the large one should be three or four inches larger each way than the others4 ,the manner of presentation differs somewhat with different performers but in general is as follows4 ,when the sitters arrive the slates are piled near one corner of the table1 the larger one at the bottom and eight or nine smaller ones on top of it4 ,the medium stands at the end of the table nearest the slates and after a few casual remarks he picks up the top slate with his left hand1 changes it to his right and passes it to the sitter to be examined and cleaned if desired4 ,when he is quite satisfied the medium takes it back1 glances at both sides1 and then places it on the table directly in front of the sitter4 ,this is repeated with the remaining small slates1 which are not stacked up evenly but left in a haphazard pile4 ,while the last small slate is being placed on the pile with the medium's right hand he picks up the large slate with his left and rests it on top of the others1 at the same time passing the sitter a pencil and asking him to write a few lines on it requesting the ,spirits to favor him with a message and to sign his name to it4 ,he is at liberty to examine this slate also and to write his message on either side4 ,the large slate is then placed at the right of the sitter and he is asked to place his right hand on it4 ,the small slates are then evened up by the medium1 secured by a heavy rubber band and then placed in the center of the table4 ,the medium then takes a seat at the table opposite the sitter and they clasp hands at the sides of the slates4 ,after a sufficient pause the slates are unbound by the sitter and on a slate near the center of the stack a message is found written in chalk or slate pencil and signed by a departed friend4 ,the secret of this startling effect is extremely simple4 ,concealed beneath the big slate at the beginning of the seance is a smaller slate with the message already written on it4 ,this is picked up with the larger one when the latter is placed on the stack for the sitter to write on it and dropped on the others1 written side down4 ,the extra slate is never noticed as the pile has not been counted and the business of passing the slate pencil occupies the sitter's attention so that he does not realize that the large slate rests on the small ones before he examines it4 ,the medium then takes about half the small slates1 evens them up and lays them to one side and repeats with the remaining ones1 laying them evenly on the others4 ,this is a perfectly natural move as the whole stack makes more than a handful and by means of it the slate with the message is placed in the middle of the stack4 ,the stack is then set on end1 the rubber band placed around it1 and it is then ready to be placed in the middle of the table for conclusion of the seance4 ,two methods of writing between locked or sealed double slates when only one or two words were needed puzzled the investigators for a long time4 ,the first was worked with a strong magnet4 ,the bit of slate pencil which was put between the slates was specially prepared with either powdered soapstone mixed with iron filings1 water1 and glue1 or a small piece of iron was used covered with a paste of soapstone1 water1 and mucilage4 ,by holding the magnet under the slates and tracing the words backwards the prepared pencils would follow the magnet and write the words4 ,the other method was worked with an electro magnet set in the table1 the necessary wires running down one leg and making contact with a copper plate in the floor under the rug by means of a sharp metal point on the end of the leg4 ,since the introduction of 8raps0#ga by the ,fox ,sisters various methods have been devised for producing them4 ,one of the simplest expedients is for the medium to slightly moisten the fingers and slide them very gently on the top of the table4 ,a little experimenting soon shows the amount of pressure necessary to produce the desired amount of sound and of course the medium is cautious to let the fingers move only the desired distance and that too when no one is looking4 ,another simple method is to place the thumbs close together in such a manner that the nail of one overlaps the other a trifle4 ,then while the thumbs are pressed hard on the table if one nail is slipped up or down distinct raps are produced which seem to come from the top of the table4 ,some mediums produce raps by slipping a knee up and down against a table leg4 ,others have been known to fasten blocks of wood to the knee under the skirt and rap on the table leg with a sidewise motion of the knee4 ,still others strike the table leg with the heel of the shoe or press the side of the heel against the table leg and by moving the heel up and down the friction of the leather against the wood produces raps4 ,illustration3 ,,tube ,,and ,,piston ,,arrangement ,,for ,,making ,,raps4 ,many mediums will not depend on these methods but use more complicated ones which produce the raps by means of mechanical devices which they conceal about their person4 ,one of these consists of a small hollow metal tube in which a long1 heavy burlap needle is arranged to move up and down like a piston1 and attached to it to operate it a stout black thread4 ,the tube is fastened to the inner side of a trouser leg4 ,the free end of the thread is brought out through a seam and an inconspicuous little hook attached4 ,after being seated at the seance table the medium attaches the little hook to the opposite trouser leg and draws on it until the needle point comes through the cloth4 ,he then watches an opportunity to press on to the point of the needle a cork to which has been attached a piece of lead4 ,this accomplished1 all he has to do is to place the knee in the proper relation to the table and by moving the other back and forth the piston is made to work up and down1 causing the leaded cork to rap out all sorts of messages4 ,illustration3 ,,rapping ,,mechanism ,,in ,,heel ,,of ,,medium',s ,,shoe4 ,another ingenious mechanical contrivance is built into the heel of the medium's shoe and operated electrically by running a wire from it up through the sole of the shoe and passing it between the back of the shoe and the foot and so on up the leg to batteries concealed in a pocket4 ,by placing this heel against a table leg the raps can be made to sound as though coming from the middle of the table and with a proper amount of 8suggestion0 the sitters can be made to believe that the mysterious taps are produced in turn under each pair of hands on the table4 ,table levitating is easily accomplished in the dark1 through the aid of a confederate1 by several different methods4 ,if the medium and his assistant are seated opposite1 by raising their knees at a signal they can lift the table from the floor without difficulty4 ,by slightly rocking or tipping the table the medium and assistant can simultaneously slip a foot under table legs diagonally opposite1 lift the table and keep it balanced by the pressure of the hands on its top4 ,these and many similar methods are perfectly practical in dark seances but for manifestations where there is any danger of the sitters being able to see mechanical contrivances are resorted to4 ,the oldest form is simply a light1 though powerfully strong1 length of blue steel riveted to a stout leather wrist strap4 ,when not in use the whole thing is concealed in the medium's sleeve4 ,sometimes both the medium and the assistant are thus equipped4 ,this has been somewhat superseded by a chamois-covered flat steel hook concealed under the vest and riveted to a tight-fitting leather belt encircling the medium's body4 ,with this hook under the table edge great power can be exerted upon the table with very little strain upon the operator4 ,the lifting strength of a human hair is not generally known1 yet by means of one freshly taken from the head1 long enough to span a small light table1 the table can be lifted4 ,one of the more modern contrivances is a steel belt which the operator wears and to the front of which is attached a short metal arm which can be engaged under the table top in such a way that the operator can take his hands off the table and still support it in the air4 ,when releasing the table the metal arm is slipped back and the steel belt shifted to another position on the body1 the medium's coat concealing both4 ,just as advances are made in other lines of work1 so too mediums advance in their methods of deceiving their subjects4 ,few would resort to the old-time methods of releasing a foot from under the foot of an investigator4 ,they have devised a new and baffling method4 ,the medium's shoes are especially made for her in such a way that by a certain pressure on the sole it is possible to withdraw the greater portion of the shoe with the foot from a false front4 ,this front is made of metal and padded4 ,when the medium asks the committee to place their feet on hers she makes sure that they do not over-reach the portion she can withdraw from4 ,in the full glare of the light the investigator thinks he feels the medium's foot securely held under his own and as he cannot see under the table the medium has the full use of her foot to produce manifestations4 ,i once gave a seance while ,i was touring in ,england4 ,it was a dark seance and just at the psychological moment a ,spirit came through the window and walked around on the wall and ceiling of the room and then out of another window4 ,the explanation is simple4 ,on the bill with me were two acrobats1 hand to hand balancers4 ,one took off his shoes and stockings and the other sneaked up to him4 ,he pulled down the window and then did a hand-to-hand balance with his partner and walked around the room4 ,he then went back to his seat1 put on his shoes1 and looked as innocent and meek as possible under the circumstances when the lights were turned on4 ,i told every one present that it was only a trick but as usual they insisted that ,i was a medium4 ,a rope trick which always causes astonishment and helps to create a belief in supernatural aid is done by a woman medium who enters a cabinet with a rope bound around her neck4 ,the loose ends of the rope are forced through opposite sides of the cabinet and held tightly by two members of the committee4 ,nevertheless the manifestations take place just the same and when the cabinet is opened afterwards the medium is found bound just as she was before the seance4 ,as a matter of fact when the curtains have been closed and the committee have a grip on the ends of the rope the medium cuts the specially tied loop around her neck4 ,when she is ready to come out she simply ties another loop1 using a duplicate piece of rope which she had concealed on her person4 ,when the committee release the ends of the rope she slips the mutilated piece into her bloomers and appears with the duplicate1 which looks like the original one4 ,there are various methods of producing ,spirit photographs4 ,one is to have a table prepared so that a developing pan is placed where an ,x-ray penetrates to the negative4 ,this produces a 8,spirit light40 ,another is to fix the side of the plate with some luminous substance1 shape1 or flash1 and it is astonishing what these things look like4 ,you get forms and frequently recognize faces in the splotches4 ,father de ,heredia has palmed a figure in his hand and as the investigator signed the negative remarked3 8,i might as well sign it myself40 ,in so doing he rested the left hand over the plate while signing with his right and the phosphorous figure in his hand was photographed on the negative4 ,a simple method is to have something concealed in the hand and hold it over the lens instead of a cap1 and still another is to get the camera out of focus and snap it secretly1 then when the regular exposure is made there is an additional hazy something on the plate4 ,one of the most startling swindles ,i ever heard of a medium working was called 8finger-printing a ,spirit40 ,in this test the medium shows the sitter finger prints of the departed soul4 ,i hesitated at first about including this fake1 fearing to add to the stock of unscrupulous mediums but ,i finally concluded that the public should know about it4 ,the scheme was first discovered by a sculptor who dabbled some in ,spiritualism4 ,one day1 several years ago1 a workman fell from the top of the building1 in which this man had his studio1 and was killed4 ,the body was carried into the studio and while alone with it the sculptor conceived the idea of fooling some guests who were to hold a seance that night4 ,he hurriedly made a plaster of ,paris mould of the dead man's fingers and later filled it with a rubber-like substance used in his work4 ,when this had hardened and the plaster had been removed it resembled1 even to the most minute detail1 the dead hand4 ,during the seance that night he produced finger prints with it on a trumpet which he had lampblacked and upon investigation it was found that these finger prints corresponded exactly with those of the man in the morgue4 ,no one was able to explain the mystery and he kept the secret for some time but later another medium learned it and obtained a position in an undertaking establishment where he found an opportunity after a while to secure the finger prints of several of the dead who belonged to the wealthy class4 ,in due time he arranged seances with the relatives and convinced them of his genuineness4 ,there are two cases on record where fortunes were at stake because of this sort of fraud4 ,in one case five hundred thousand dollars changed hands upon the recognition of the finger prints of a man who had died two years before4 ,his hand had been maimed in an accident and all the scars showed in the impression on the ,spirit slate4 ,fortunately a confession was wrung from the medium and the money went to the rightful heirs4 ,a 8manifestation0 which seems mysterious but which is in reality ridiculously simple is worked as follows4 ,a glass is filled with water and placed on the table in a cabinet4 ,ribbons or bands of tape are then drawn over it at right angles and the ends fastened to the table with nails4 ,thus secured the glass cannot be lifted and the top is entirely covered except some small openings4 ,the medium is then locked into the cabinet for a few minutes1 during which he keeps up a continual clapping of his hands1 but when the cabinet is unlocked the glass is empty of water and the general impression is that the ,spirits drained it4 ,as a matter of fact the medium had worked his hands up near his face and shifted from slapping his hands to slapping his face with one hand4 ,this left a hand free and with it he had no difficulty in producing a straw from his pocket and sucking the water from the glass4 ,of course these examples are only a few of the many means employed by mediums to produce their 8manifestations0 and take advantage of the credulity of the average sitter1 but they are enough to show the reader the sort of methods practiced and the lengths to which they will go in their deceptions4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,spirit ,,photography ,with what is perhaps pardonable pride we point to the genius of ,american enterprise in scientific advancement but it is with decided chagrin that ,i repeat that1 as modern ,spiritualism was born in ,america1 so also have been most of the phenomena that under the mask of ,spiritualism have unbalanced so many fine intellects the world over4 ,spirit photography1 the most prominent of mediumistic phenomena1 had its beginning in ,boston1 8,hub0 of intellectual development1 its coming being announced by ,dr4 ,gardner1 a devout ,spiritualist1 who discovered a photographer that 8in taking a photograph of himself1 obtained on the same plate a likeness of a cousin dead some twelve years before40 ,this was in #ahfb1 but a little more than a decade after the original demonstration of so-called ,spirit power at ,hydesville4 ,fortunately for the success of the new art the photographer selected by the inhabitants of 8,summerland0#gb to use for the demonstration of the new phenomena was a medium and of all the hosts in heaven the spirit chosen to be photographed was 7singular coincidence7 a cousin of his who had passed the border some years previous4 ,no sooner had the discovery been announced than spiritual enthusiasts in large numbers began flocking to the studio of the medium1 ,mr4 ,william ,h4 ,mumler1 and this kept up until evil spirits 787 began to create an atmosphere of doubt and skepticism1 whereupon he abruptly took himself and his new enterprise to ,new ,york ,city1 a precipitous plunge presumably prompted by his ,spiritual guides4 ,the change proved to be of great financial benefit to ,mumler until the ire of the evil ,spirits was once more aroused and he was arrested on a charge of fraudulent transactions4 ,a most interesting and sensational trial followed with many noted people appearing as witnesses1 among them being that prince of showmen1 ,phineas ,taylor ,barnum1 who testified for the prosecution1 and ,judge ,john ,w4 ,edmonds1 of the ,supreme ,court ,bench1 for the defence4#gc ,mr4 ,barnum testified to having spent much time and study in the detection of humbugs and had recently written a book called 8,the ,humbugs of the ,world40 ,he knew ,mumler only through reputation but had had some correspondence with him in regard to his pictures1 wishing to learn his process and expose it in his book1 and some pictures which ,mumler sent him ,barnum paid ten dollars apiece for and put in his museum labelled as 8,spiritualistic ,humbugs40 ,barnum's testimony was attacked by ,mumler's lawyer who characterized it as being a 8very pretty illustration of humbug0 and added that even if it were true ,barnum violated the 8great precept relating to honor among thieves10 but ,i want to go on record as believing that ,mr4 ,barnum told the truth in the ,mumler case4 ,judge ,edmonds declared on the stand that he had seen ,spirits although many ,spiritualists could not and recalled an instance when he was on the bench trying a case in which the payment of an accident insurance policy was the issue4 ,he told the court that the whole aspect of the case was changed after he saw the spirit of the suicide and several questions which this ,spirit had suggested were put to the witness1 the decision being reversed on the testimony thus brought out4 ,he also testified to his belief that ,mumler's pictures were genuine photographs of ,spirits4 ,during the trial many methods#gd of producing ,spirit 8extras0 were shown in court by expert photographers and the possibilities of the effect being produced by natural means proven4 ,the investigators1 however1 did not have their case in good shape4 ,there were strong grounds for suspicion but they were unable to present positive proof and though the court was morally convinced that fraudulent methods had been practiced sufficient evidence to convict ,mumler was lacking4 ,although acquitted1 it is significant that ,mumler refused an offer of five hundred dollars to reproduce his pictures in another studio under test conditions and while free to resume his business so far as the court was concerned1 with a full harvest of dupes waiting to be fleeced1 he was nevertheless soon lost to view and seems to have vanished entirely after the publication of his book in #ahge4 ,spiritualistic mediumship is not immune to the flattery of imitation for even a casual examination of ,spiritualistic history and development shows that just as soon as a medium forms a new alliance with the psychic power dispenser and produces phenomena unknown before1 other mediums immediately begin to produce it also and the new manifestation soon becomes epidemic4 ,it was so with ,spirit photography4 ,no one had thought of such a possibility before ,mumler invented the mystery but talented mediums everywhere when they heard of his pictures began to produce them also4 ,stories of his success crossed the sea and ,europe discovered equal talent there4 ,in the summer of #ahgd a ,parisian photographer by the name of ,buguet went over to ,london and attracted considerable attention with his ,spirit pictures4 ,they were of much higher artistic quality than any preceding ones and ,podmore in his 8,modern ,spiritualism0 tells us that3 8,the ,spirit faces were in most cases clearly defined1 and were1 in fact1 frequently recognized by the sitters1 and even ,w4 ,h4 ,harrison failed to detect any trickery in the operation40 ,after a short stay during which his demonstrations completely satisfied such men as ,rev4 ,stainton ,moses1 who was liberal with his endorsements1 ,buguet returned to ,paris1 where the next year he was placed under arrest 8charged with the fraudulent manufacture of ,spirit photographs40 ,unlike ,mumler1 his conscience did not prove court-proof1 or perhaps the evidence against him was such that a friendly ,spirit advised confession1 at any rate he told the court that all of his ,spirit photographs were the result of double exposure4 ,on the strength of this confession ,buguet was convicted and sentenced to one year of imprisonment and a fine of five hundred francs4 ,a like sentence was given to ,m4 ,leymaire1 ,editor of the ,revue ,spirits1 who admitted suggesting to ,buguet that he should enter the field of ,spirit photography4 ,the police seized all the paraphernalia in the studio of ,buguet and took it to court4 ,amongst it was a lay figure and a large stock of heads4 ,these with dolls and assistants at the studio took turns as inspirations for ,spirit extras4 ,but the real interest of the trial was not these revelations1 ,podmore tells us1 for after all ,buguet did little to improve on the methods inaugurated by his predecessors4 ,it is the effect produced on his dupes by ,buguet's confession1 and the display of his trick apparatus1 which is really worthy of attention4 ,witness after witness--journalist1 photographic expert1 musician1 merchant1 man of letters1 optician1 ex-professor of history1 ,colonel of ,artillery1 etc41 etc4--came forward to testify on behalf of the accused4 ,some had watched the process throughout1 and were satisfied that trickery had not been practiced4 ,many had obtained on the plate unmistakable portraits of those dear to them1 and found it impossible to relinquish their faith4 ,one after another these witnesses were confronted with ,buguet1 and heard him explain how the trick had been done4 ,one after another they left the witness-box1 protesting that they could not doubt the evidence of their own eyes4 ,here1 chosen almost at random from many similar accounts1 is the testimony of ,m4 ,dessenon1 picture-seller1 aged fifty-five4 ,after describing how he had obtained in the first instance various figures which he could not recognize1 he continues3-- 8#8,the portrait of my wife1 which ,i had especially asked for1 is so like her that when ,i showed it to one of my relatives he exclaimed1 8,it's my cousin60' 8,the ,court3 #8,was that chance1 ,buguet8' 8,buguet3 #8,yes1 pure chance4 ,i had no photograph of ,mme4 ,dessenon4' 8,the ,witness3 #8,my children1 like myself1 thought the likeness perfect4 ,when ,i showed them the picture they cried1 8,it's mama40 ,a very fortunate chance6444 ,i am convinced it was my wife4' 8,the ,court3 #8,you see this doll and all the rest of the things8' 8,the ,witness3 #8,there is nothing there in the least like the photograph which ,i obtained4'0 ,incidentally there were two or three curious bits of evidence on the value of recognition as a test4 ,a police officer stated that ,buguet showed him a portrait which had done duty as the sister of one sitter1 the mother of a second1 and the friend of a third4 ,again1 it came out in the evidence that a very clearly defined head 7reproduced as an illustration to ,stainton ,moses' articles in ,human ,nature7 which had been claimed by ,m4 ,leymaire as the portrait of his almost life long friend1 ,m4 ,poiret1 was recognized by another witness as an excellent likeness of his father-in-law1 still living at ,breux1 and much annoyed at his premature introduction to the ,spirit world4 ,from ,mumler's first pictures to the present day1 ,spirit photography has played a large part in the field of ,spiritualistic devotion1 and innumerable mediums have discovered that they possessed the same phenomenal power for producing the coveted likeness in the form of 8extras0 on the sensitized plate4 ,the art has now advanced to such a stage that it is no longer necessary for one to sit but all that is needed is a relic of the departed one1 something which either belonged or was of especial interest1 to the person4 ,this relic is photographed and when the plate is developed there appears beside it as an 8extra0 the face of the departed2 that is1 ,i should say1 if your imagination is strong enough to see a resemblance to the person supposed to be represented4 ,nor is a camera necessary in these days1 according to ,spiritualists4 ,in fact1 ,i am told that it is not necessary to even open a box of plates1 but that they can be 8magnetized0 just as they come from the maker provided the box is in the possession of the medium a few days in advance of the sitting4 ,this single condition fulfilled and the demonstration will follow if the sitters1 including the nearest relative1 pile their hands on top of the medium's4 ,then to create a solemn atmosphere the sitters are usually asked to join in some form of religious devotion such as singing 8,nearer1 ,my ,god1 ,to ,thee10 or a fervent prayer4 ,this is the type of performance conducted by what is known as the 8,crewe ,photographers0 and supported and defended by the present day leaders in ,spiritualism4 ,this ,crewe combination of photographers is under the management of professional ,spiritualists and is an organized effort to promulgate this particular phase of ,spiritualistic phenomena4 ,the group consists of ,mr4 ,william ,hope and ,mrs4 ,buxton1 ,crewe2 ,mrs4 ,deane of ,london2 and ,mr4 ,vearncombe of ,bridgewater4 ,my friend1 ,harry ,price1 attended a sitting given by ,hope and tells of the religious exercises as follows3 8,mrs4 ,buxton sang several verses of #8,nearer1 ,my ,god1 to ,thee1' after which ,mr4 ,hope made a long impromptu prayer in which he thanked ,god for all our many mercies1 and hoped ,he would continue ,his blessings at the present moment4 ,he also craved blessings on our fellow creatures and friends on the other side and asked assistance in the attempt to link up with them1 etc4 ,then ,mrs4 ,buxton sang another hymn1 after which ,mr4 ,hope picked up the package of dry plates1 put them between the hands of ,mrs4 ,buxton1 placed her hands on his1 and others in the party piled their hands on top4 ,then we had another impromptu prayer by ,mrs4 ,buxton4 ,then the ,lord's ,prayer was sung1 and a short hymn concluded the service40 ,can one imagine a sacrilege more revolting than singing hymns1 saying prayers1 and calling on the ,almighty for help in such fraudulent work8 ,the combination evaded detection and were doing a most successful business when in the spring of #aiba1 ,mr4 ,edward ,bush1 of the ,society of ,psychical ,research1 laid a snare into which ,hope walked with his eyes wide open4 ,mr4 ,bush wrote for an appointment under the assumed name of 8,d4 ,wood10 enclosing a photograph of a son-in-law who was alive4 ,on the back of the photograph was written3 8,tell ,dad1 if anything happens to me1 ,i will try and let him have a ,spirit ,photo4 ,tell him to shout up to let me know where he goes to4 8,jack ,ackroyd40 ,hope arranged a time for a sitting but returned the photo1 saying he regretted that it had been sent as it subjected him to suspicion4 ,when the time for the sitting arrived ,hope went under control and ,mr4 ,bush manipulated the plates as he directed but no 8extras0 appeared4 ,on the next day1 however1 when the plate was developed after another sitting1 there was an 8extra0 which proved to be a likeness of the son-in-law4 ,mr4 ,bush published the details of this exposure in a pamphlet and the ,london ,truth said editorially3 8,but not only have ,william ,hope and his sister medium1 ,mrs4 ,buxton1 cause to kick themselves at ,mr4 ,bush's exposure1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1#ge ,lady ,glenconner1 the ,rev4 ,walter ,wynn1 and many other leading lights of the movement have brought these products of faith and hope forward as conclusive proof of the continuation of existence and the possibility of communication with the next world40 ,later in the same year1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,r4 ,mitchell1 a former leader of the ,hackney ,spiritualistic ,society and well known in mediumistic circles in ,london1 was selected to 8undertake certain tests of a scientific nature for the purpose of ascertaining the value of these ,spirit phenomena40 ,mr4 ,mitchell was a photographer and wished to use his own plates in the experiment but ,mrs4 ,deane1 who was to conduct it1 refused to let him unless he first left them with her for a few days to be magnetized4 ,he objected to this and it was finally agreed that he could use his own plates provided he would magnetize them himself but the results were unsatisfactory4 ,he then purchased from ,mrs4 ,deane a package of fresh plates1 which1 it was claimed1 had not been opened since it left the manufacturer4 ,the likeness of a soldier appeared on one of these which ,mr4 ,mitchell developed himself and he concluded that not only had the plates been 8magnetized0 but that they had been exposed in a camera as well4 ,the issue of ,truth for ,june #bhth1 #aibb1 gives an account of the experience of an ex-,indian missionary1 who1 with three others1 visited the ,crewe photographers and sat for ,spirit pictures4 ,four exposures were made and ,spirit 8extras0 appeared on two of the plates but the men could not remember whether the plates had at any time been beyond their control so the missionary arranged for another sitting taking the precaution to have his plates marked on the corner with a glazier's diamond4 ,at this second sitting one ,spirit extra was produced but there was no diamond mark on the plate1 positive proof that an exchange had been effected4 ,during #aibb the ,occult ,committee of the ,magic ,circle took up the investigation of ,spirit photography first giving its attention to ,mr4 ,vearncombe who produced ,spirit extras in connection with some object once in possession of the deceased4 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle put this committee in touch with the ,honorary ,secretary of the ,society for the ,study of ,supernormal ,pictures1 ,mr4 ,barlow1 and at the latter's suggestion sent him an unopened package of plates for ,mr4 ,vearncombe4 ,although ,barlow objected1 8for ,vearncombe's satisfaction1 though not essential10 the package was enclosed in a lead case4 ,also at ,barlow's suggestion a fee accompanied the package4 ,after a month of waiting the committee received a photograph of the package and on the photograph was a spirit message which read3 8,barred your side40 ,in order to remove the barrier a fresh package of plates was forwarded to ,vearncombe1 this time in an ordinary wrapper4 ,some months later1 after the plates had been ,spiritually treated by ,vearncombe1 they were returned to the committee4 ,when developed 8psychic extras0 were found on two plates4 ,there was evidence that the package had been tampered with and the same spirit had been seen on other photographs4 ,the committee sent ,vearncombe a package of plates under an assumed name but received word from him that it was not necessary to send plates4 ,that small objects which had belonged to the deceased would do and that if the proper fee were enclosed photographic prints showing the 8psychic extras0 obtained would be supplied4 ,as a full compliance with this suggestion would have been useless as a test1 a box of plates1 a small object supposed to have belonged to the deceased1 and the fee were sent4 ,again ,vearncombe protested that he did not treat unopened boxes of plates owing to many failures but offered to expose plates on the object which had been supplied4 ,he was informed that such exposure would be unsatisfactory whereupon rather than disappoint his correspondent1 he consented and forwarded the package with the statement that he had treated the plates as desired and hoped for success4 ,on development a 8psychic image0 appeared on one of the plates but the committee found that the wrappers of the package had been unsealed and the plates disturbed in their arrangement4 ,in order to clinch the results of their trapping ,vearncombe was informed that the experiment had been a 8success0 but in order to 8avoid criticism0 he was asked for an assurance that the package had not been tampered with4 ,it soon came in the form of a written statement that the package had been treated by him and returned to the sender as originally sealed when he received it4 ,the committee has arranged fourteen tests1 twelve of which had been violated1 and as two or three violations would have been sufficient evidence of fraud it did not consider more necessary but reported that it had been established by the evidence that fraud-proof packages produced no results whereas it found 8,spirit extras0 in packages which had been tampered with and that 8collectively the result is damning40 ,the committee next directed its attention to ,mrs4 ,deane who1 because of 8complications from annoying sitters10 had given up private practice at her residence and was working under engagement with the ,british ,college of ,psychic ,science4 ,the ,principal of the ,college1 ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie1 had vouched for her as being absolutely conscientious and straightforward in her work and one fully qualified to produce 8psychic extras without resort to trickery40 ,mr4 ,harry ,price and ,mr4 ,seymour negotiated for a private sitting with her4 ,she required that sealed plates should be sent several days in advance for 8magnetization40 ,six plates were exposed at the sitting and on most of them 8extras0 appeared1 but evidence was obtained that the package had been opened previous to the sitting and the plates treated but there had been no substitution of plates4 ,an effort was made to get more convincing evidence and after considerable difficulty a second sitting was arranged for4 ,this time the committee went to a manufacturer1 whose plates had been mentioned by the college people as being preferable1 and had a special package made up and sealed4 ,in this package each plate was so marked that substitution or manipulation were sure to be revealed4 ,it was simply fraud-proof4 ,at the sitting the regular prayer and hymn singing were conducted as usual after which the plates were exposed and developed4 ,it was found that the package had been opened previously1 the top plate removed and another substituted for it and on this substituted plate1 only1 there was a 8,spirit extra40 ,at a third sitting a fresh box of secretly marked plates were opened in the presence of ,mrs4 ,deane4 ,four plates were loaded into as many separate slides and ,mrs4 ,deane carried them into the adjoining studio4 ,on a table in the studio was a hand-bag and beside it a hymn book4 ,the hand in which she held the four slides momentarily disappeared inside the bag while at the same time she picked up the hymn book with her other hand4 ,with the hymn book she had picked up a duplicate slide which1 with a perfectly natural movement1 she added to the three in her other hand one of the four marked plates having been dropped in the bag where it was found later by one of the investigators who examined the bag while ,mrs4 ,deane was absent for a moment4 ,following the customary religious service the four plates were exposed and then developed4 ,three plates which had the identifying marks had no ,spirit extra1 but the fourth plate which had no identification mark did have a ,spirit form4 ,as a result of this investigation the committee found that whenever there was an opportunity packages were opened and treated1 plates substituted1 and in the tests which followed 8,spirit extras0 were secured1 but when the conditions were absolutely fraud-proof there were no 8extras10 and so far as it was able to discover all the so-called ,spirit photography rested on the flimsy foundation of fraud4 ,in ,december #aiba ,i tried to visit ,mr4 ,hope and have some ,spirit photographs made but ,i was informed that his engagements would keep him busy for months and that ,i would have to wait my turn4 ,i then got in touch with a friend of mine by the name of ,de,vega#gf who lives in ,glasgow and asked him if he would not see ,hope and arrange to sit for a photograph4 ,after considerable correspondence between ,de,vega and ,hope the latter agreed to make the photographs provided ,de,vega would go to ,crewe4 ,de,vega assented to this1 and an appointment was made and the sitting took place4 ,the following account of ,de,vega's experience is taken from a full report which he sent me4 8,dec4 #af1 #aiba4--;,arrived at ,no4 #add ,market ,street1 the door was opened by an elderly lady4 ,i asked if ,mr4 ,hope was in and presently he came down4 ,i told him that a well known member of the ,spiritualist ,society and a man known to be a collector of ,spirit photographs sent me and that seemed to be sufficient for ,mr4 ,hope4 8,i had brought my own camera along and asked him whether the pictures could be taken with it4 ,however1 he said he used his own camera but would let me investigate it all ,i wanted to4 ,he told me he could not possibly photograph me that forenoon as there was another gentleman coming but arranged for two o'clock4 8,i watched ,market ,street1 from a distance1 all the forenoon but saw no one go in4 ,i arrived there promptly but it was #b3cj before ,mr4 ,hope arrived4 ,a ,mrs4 ,buxton joined us4 ,she1 ,hope and myself sat around a small table4 ,they sang hymns1 said a prayer and asked the table if all was favorable4 8,at his request ,i placed my packages of plates on the table4 ,they placed their hands above them and sang again4 ,hope suddenly gave a quiver and said1 #8,now we will try4' ,he showed me the dark room1 which is a small arrangement of about six feet high1 three feet wide and five feet long4 ,there were two shelves and on these were dusters1 cloths1 bottles of chemicals1 a lamp1 etc4 ,the lamp is an old affair lit by a candle4 ,the room is so very small that when two people are in it there is no room to move about4 8,he next showed me the camera and asked me to examine it4 ,i gave a glance at it and told him ,i did not doubt his word1 which seemed to please him a great deal4 ,i thought if it was a fake he would not allow me to examine it as closely as he asked me to4 ,it was an old make1 one fourth plate1 studio camera and had no shutter1 but worked with a cap over a lens 7the cap was missing74 ,he next showed me the dark slide4 ,it was an old-fashioned1 double wood end slide4 ,i examined it very closely but it was unprepared4 ,illustration3 ,,so-,,called 8,,spirit ,,extra0 ,,on ,,photograph ,,of ,,harry ,,price ,,made ,,by ,,william ,,hope ,,of ,,the ,,crewe ,,circle 8,the studio itself is a little glass hot-house arrangement built on to the side of the house4 ,a green curtain is hung at the one end at which the sitter sits4 8,we went again into the dark room to load the plates4 ,he gave me his slide and told me to leave two of my own dark slides down in front of the light as he would try my camera too4 ,i opened my plates and placed two in his dark slide and closed it4 ,it was placed on the under shelf where ,i could see it faintly4 ,he then asked me to open my own two slides slightly and sign my name on them4 7,i signed ,j4 ,b4 ,gilchrist47 ,as ,i signed them he moved the lamp to let me see better4 ,this threw the one fourth plate in the shadow4 ,after that he handed me the one fourth plate slide to sign the two plates in the same way4 8,i am sure1 although ,i did not actually see him1 that the slide ,i loaded1 was changed for another one4 ,it was too dark to see under the level of the shelf4 ,i1 for a moment1 considered letting my pencil slip and spoil the plate and load in another from my packet but ,i thought it advisable to let things go on as ,i would then see just what his usual procedure was4 ,i wondered at the time ,why ,i could not have been told to take the plates from the package1 sign them and then place the plates in the slide and place the slide in my pocket until they were to be exposed4 ,why was it necessary to sign my own plates in my dark slide at all8 ,in fact1 there was no necessity for me to take my slide in the dark room4 8,we went back into the studio1 again ,i was asked to examine the camera4 ,however1 ,i took up my position in front of the camera4 ,mrs4 ,buxton stood at one side and ,mr4 ,hope at the other4 ,the dark focusing cloth was low over the lens 7the cap being missing7 and the slide open4 ,mrs4 ,buxton and ,hope sang a hymn and each took an end of the cloth1 uncovering the lens4 ,this was repeated with other plates as well4 8,now my camera was set up4 ,i was asked to open the slide and show them how the shutter worked4 ,the exposure was made4 ,he placed his hand in front of the camera1 covering the lens and asked me to open the slide myself as he did not want to touch it4 ,now why did he close the lens in that way8 ,it would have been simpler to have pushed down the open front of the slide1 closing it1 but ,i believe that on his hand was a spot of some radiant salt or some such substance that would cause a bright spot to appear on the negative1 such as appeared on that plate when it was developed4 ,holding his hand in front of the lens while an exposure was being made is such an unnatural action that ,i believe that was the cause of what he called #8a ,spirit ,light1' when it was developed4 ,the next photograph ,i told him to press the release again to close the shutter4 ,he did so4 8,we then adjourned into the dark room to develop the plates4 ,the two1 one fourth plates were placed by me1 side by side1 in a dish and the two three and a half by two and a half in another dish and developed4 ,by pouring the developer from one dish to another1 one of the one quarter plates flashed up dark4 ,i remarked that one was coming up very quickly and he replied that #8when they come up like that it is a good sign for it is very likely there is an 8extra0 on them4' ,i said no more but in my experience and knowledge of photography1 such an occurrence is impossible unless the plates have been previously exposed4 8,the two plates were taken from the same packet1 loaded into the dark slide at the same time1 with the same dark room light and the same distance from the light4 ,they were then exposed on the same subject immediately after each other2 the same length of exposure being given 7,i counted them mentally7 with the same aperture of lens4 ,the plates were then placed side by side in the same dish of developer and ,i contend that the image must come up at a uniform speed on both plates and that it is impossible for one to flash up before the other and darken all over unless it was previously exposed1 especially when there was no variation in the light when the exposure was made1 it being three ,p4,m41 ,december #af1 clear sky1 no sunshine4 8,an #8extra' did appear on this 7one fourth plate74 ,it is a clean shaven face above mine and drapery hanging from it4 ,on my own three and a half by two and a half a light splotch is over my face4 ,mrs4 ,buxton informed me that it was a #8,spirit light' but ,mr4 ,hope believed he saw the faint features of a face in it40 ,while in ,denver1 ,colorado1 in ,may1 #aibc1 ,i called one morning on ,mr4 ,alexander ,martin1 whom ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle had told me was a noted psychic photographer and a very wonderful man in his particular line4 ,doyle himself had called on ,martin the day before but as ,martin did not feel in the mood there had been no demonstration4 ,in this ,sir ,arthur was no more unfortunate than ,hyslop1 the eminent ,psychic investigator1 who1 according to ,sir ,arthur1 had made a special journey from ,england to ,denver in order to have a seance with ,martin but had not been successful4 ,martin lived about fifteen minutes out of town by taxi4 ,i took with me my chief assistant1 ,james ,collins1 so ,i would have a witness if anything of a psychic nature occurred4 ,collins had my camera as ,i wanted at least to get a picture of ,martin4 ,we found him standing in the doorway of a rear building and after ,i introduced myself he seemed cordial4 ,i showed him some ,spirit photographs which ,i had with me and after a few minutes talk ,i asked him if he was willing that ,collins should take a snap-shot at us4 ,he thought ,i was asking for a sitting and replied that he did not feel good and besides had been engaged to take the pictures of the children in two schools4 ,i kept on talking in my most entertaining manner and before long he invited us into the house saying he would photograph both of us4 ,meanwhile ,collins had secured five snap-shots at close range without ,martin knowing it4 ,when we went into the house ,i walked right into the dark room but ,martin called me saying3 8,now don't you go in there1 just wait a minute40 ,while we waited outside ,martin spent about eight minutes in the dark room4 ,then he came out and we went into his studio1 a simple room with a black background4 ,he had me sit down and placed ,collins behind me on my right4 ,as a test ,i told ,collins to step over to the other side as it might look better4 ,then when he had done so ,i turned to ,martin and asked3 8,is that all right or is it better to have him take the original position80 8,i think it would be nicer if he stood where he was in the first place10 ,martin replied4 ,this led me to think he was keeping that side of the plate clean for something to appear4 ,there was considerable light in the room and ,martin pulled a dark screen on our right explaining that he did not need much light for the psychic stuff1 then putting a shade on his eyes he turned to us and said3 8,now keep quiet and ,i will try and do something40 ,when he uncovered the lens ,i counted the time of the exposure which was about fifteen seconds4 ,as he covered it again he said to us3 ,illustration3 ,,houdini ,,and ,,alexander ,,martin 8,that is all ,i can do to-day4 ,now ,i must hurry away40 ,we thanked him and as we were going out ,i asked him if he had any photographs we could see4 ,he went into an adjoining room but closed the door so we had no opportunity to look in4 ,when he came out he had four photographs which he allowed me to keep but he would not write on them who they were of4 ,the next day ,i went to see him again and he gave me another seance4 ,this time he said he would have to cut a plate and he gave me a book to read while ,i waited4 ,in looking for a piece of paper on which to write my address he picked up a lot of newspapers and ,i noticed some scientific publications systematically inserted between the leaves which led me to think he was trying to hide his knowledge and wished to appear as a simple minded old man who knew but little about photography4 ,i have not the slightest doubt that ,mr4 ,martin's ,spirit photographs were simply double exposures4 ,i think his method was to cut out various pictures1 place them on a background and make an exposure4 ,his plates were then ready for his next sitter1 which in the above instance was myself4 ,being an expert photographer he might have used the original wet plate method of making an exposure1 developing it1 washing the emulsion off the plate and refinishing it with a new emulsion but ,i am convinced that the two ,spirit photos which he made of me were simply double exposures4 ,the technique of photography does not trouble the psychic operator4 ,he has no regard for the laws of light or chemistry4 ,the fact that in all of his pictures the ,spirits appear to be perfectly conscious of posing does not disconcert him1 nor is he disturbed because they always appear as they were in life4 ,how much more interesting it would be and how much more such photographs would add to our knowledge and aid the advancement of science if once in a while the ,spirits would permit themselves to be snapped while engaged in some ,spiritual occupation4 ,from a logical1 rational point of view1 ,spirit photography is a most barefaced imposition and stands as evidence of the credulity of those who are in sympathy with the superstitions of occultism4 ,it is also evidence of how unscrupulous mediums become and how calloused their consciences4 ,in this country there is no such organized group of ,spirit photographers as the ,crewe photographers in ,england4 ,since ,mumler's narrow escape from deserved punishment and his disappearance there have been few who had the courage to operate as boldly as he did4 ,the most conspicuous one practicing at the present time is ,dr4 787 ,w4 ,m4 ,keeler1 who according to ,spiritualistic publications has a nerve and conscience equal to any psychic undertaking4 ,with ,spirit photography as with all other so-called psychic marvels1 there never has been1 nor is now1 any proof of genuineness beyond the claim made by the medium4 ,in each and every case it is a simple question of veracity1 and when the most sincere believers in ,spiritualism unhesitatingly admit1 as they do1 that all mediums at times resort to fraud and lying1 what dependence can possibly be placed in any statement they make8 ,there can be no better evidence of rottenness in the whole structure than the fact that for upwards of forty years there have been standing offers of money in amounts ranging from five hundred to five thousand dollars for a single case of so-called phenomena which could be proven actually psychic4 ,knowing the character of mediums as ,i do ,i claim if proof were possible there is not a single medium1 including ,spirit photographers1 who would not have jumped at the chance to win such a prize4 ,if there are any who are operating honestly let them come forward with proof and take the reward4 ,illustration3 ,,photograph ,,of ,,houdini ,,made ,,by ,,alexander ,,martin1 ,,at ,,denver1 ,,colorado1 ,,on ,,may #aj1 #aibc1 ,,showing ,,so-,,called 8,,spirit ,,extras0 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle ,spiritualism has claimed among its followers numbers of brilliant minds--scientists1 philosophers1 professionals and authors4 ,whether these great minds have been misdirected1 whether they have followed the subject because they were convinced fully of its truth1 or whether they have been successfully hoodwinked by some fraudulent medium1 are matters of conjecture and opinion2 nevertheless they have been the means of bringing into the ranks of ,spiritualism numbers of those who allow themselves to be led by minds greater and more powerful than their own4 ,such a one is ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle4 ,his name comes automatically to the mind of the average human being to-day at the mention of ,spiritualism4 ,no statistician could fathom the influence he has exerted through his lectures and his writings or number the endless chain he guides into a belief in communication with the ,realm ,beyond4 ,his faith and belief and confidence in the movement have been one of the greatest assets of present-day believers and whatever one's views on the subject1 it is impossible not to respect the belief of this great author who has wholeheartedly and unflinchingly thrown his life and soul into the conversion of unbelievers4 ,sir ,arthur believes4 ,in his great mind there is no doubt4 ,he is a brilliant man1 a deep thinker1 well versed in every respect1 and comes of a gifted family4 ,his grandfather1 ,john ,doyle1 was born in ,dublin in #agig4 ,he won popularity and fame in ,london with his caricatures of prominent people4 ,many of his original drawings are now preserved in the museum under the title 8,h4 ,b4 ,caricatures40 ,he died in #ahfh4 ,an uncle of ,sir ,arthur's was the famous 8,dicky ,doyle10 the well-known cartoonist of ,punch and designer of the familiar cover of that magazine4 ,in his later years he became prominent as an illustrator1 making drawings for ,the ,newcomes in #ahec1 and becoming especially successful in illustrating such fairy stories as ,hunt's 8,jar of ,honey10 ,ruskin's 8,king of the ,golden ,river10 and ,montelbas' 8,fairy ,tales of all ,nations40 ,the fact that he leaned toward ,spiritualism is not generally known4 ,sir ,arthur's father1 ,charles ,a4 ,doyle1 was also an artist of great talent though not in a commercial way4 ,his home life is beautiful and ,lady ,doyle has told me on numerous occasions that he never loses his temper and that his nature is at all times sunshiny and sweet4 ,his children are one hundred per cent children in every way and it is beautiful to note the affection between the father1 mother and the children4 ,he is a great reader who absorbs what he reads but he believes what he sees in print only if it is favorable to ,spiritualism4 ,the friendship of ,sir ,arthur and myself dates back to the time when ,i was playing the ,brighton ,hippodrome1 ,brighton1 ,england4 ,we had been corresponding and had discussed through the medium of the mail1 questions regarding ,spiritualism4 ,he invited ,mrs4 ,houdini and myself to the ,doyle home in ,crowborough1 ,england1 and in that way an acquaintanceship was begun which has continued ever since4 ,honest friendship is one of life's most precious treasures and ,i pride myself in thinking that we have held that treasure sacred in every respect4 ,during all these years we have exchanged clippings which we thought might be of mutual interest and on a number of occasions have had an opportunity to discuss them in person4 ,our degree of friendship may be judged best from the following letter of ,sir ,arthur's4 8#ae ,buckingham ,palace ,mansion1 ,s4 ,w4 #a 8,march #h1 #aibc4 8,my dear ,houdini3-- ,for goodness' sake take care of those dangerous stunts of yours4 ,you have done enough of them4 ,i speak because ,i have just read of the death of the 8,human ,fly40#gg ,is it worth it8 8,yours very sincerely1 7,signed7 ,a4 ,,conan ,,doyle40 ,it would be difficult to determine just when ,sir ,arthur and ,i first discussed ,spiritualism1 but from that talk to the present we have never agreed upon it4 ,our viewpoints differ2 we do not believe the same thing4 ,i know that he treats ,spiritualism as a religion4 ,he believes that it is possible and that he can communicate with the dead4 ,according to his marvellous analytical brain he has had proof positive of this4 ,there is no doubt that ,sir ,arthur is sincere in his belief and it is this sincerity which has been one of the fundamentals of our friendship4 ,i have respected everything he has said and ,i have always been unbiased1 because at no time have ,i refused to follow the subject with an open mind4 ,i cannot say the same for him for he has refused to discuss the matter in any other voice except that of ,spiritualism and in all our talks quoted only those who favored it in every way1 and if one does not follow him sheep-like during his investigations then he is blotted out forever so far as ,sir ,arthur is concerned4 ,unfortunately he uses the reasoning1 so common among ,spiritualists1 that no matter how often mediums are caught cheating he believes the only reason for it is that they have overstepped their bounds and resorted to trickery in an effort to convince4 ,i wonder if some day ,sir ,arthur will forget that he is a ,spiritualist and argue a case of trickery with the sound logic of an outsider4 ,i firmly believe that if he ever does he will see and acknowledge some of his errors4 ,i am ready to believe in ,sir ,arthur's teachings if he can convince me beyond the shadow of a doubt that his demonstrations are genuine4 ,there is no doubt in my mind1 ,sir ,arthur believes implicitly in the mediums with whom he has convened and he knows positively1 in his own mind1 they are all genuine4 ,even if they are caught cheating he always has some sort of an alibi which excuses the medium and the deed4 ,he insists that the ,fox ,sisters were genuine1 even though both ,margaret and ,katie confessed to fraud and explained how and why they became mediums and the methods used by them to produce the raps4 8,like ,csar's wife--always above suspicion10 ,hope and ,mrs4 ,dean pass in his category as genuine mediums4 ,he has often told me that ,palladino#gh and ,home some day would be canonized for the great work they did in the interest of ,spiritualism1 even though they were both exposed time and time again4 ,in all gravity he would say to me1 8,look what they did to ,joan of ,arc40 ,to ,sir ,arthur it is a matter of most sacred moment4 ,it is his religion1 and he would invariably tell me what a cool observer he was and how hard it would be to fool him1 or in any way deceive him4#gi ,he told me that he did not believe any of 8the nice old lady mediums0 would do anything wrong and it was just as unlikely for some old gentleman1 innocent as a child unborn1 to resort to trickery4 ,but there comes to my mind the notorious ,mrs4 ,catherine ,nicol and her two daughters who were continuously getting in and out of the law's net1 usually breaking the heads of a few detectives in the process4 ,among the 8nice old lady0 mediums might be mentioned a prominent medium of ,boston who was accused of taking unlawfully from one of her believers over eight thousand dollars in cash4 ,another case was that of a medium who received #a1jjj from a man in ,baltimore for the privilege of a few minutes' chat with the ,spirit of his dead wife4 ,he later sued her for fraud4 ,later she was exposed while giving a seance in ,paris1 but after a few years she appeared in ,new ,york ,city4 ,at this time ,asst4 ,district ,attorney ,krotel asked that she be brought into court to answer to a charge of selling ,california mining stock to her followers through the advice of certain disembodied ,spirits4 ,the stock was found to be worthless4 ,there was also a woman1 who was arrested and convicted for vagrancy in ,seattle and numerous other cases1 such as that of ,katie ,king of ,philadelphia in #ahge2 however1 no matter how many cases ,i cited1 it did not seem to make any impression on ,sir ,arthur4 ,i had known for some time that a number of people wanted to draw ,doyle into a controversy4 ,when ,i saw ,sir ,arthur ,i told him to be careful of his statements and explained a number of pitfalls he could avoid4 ,nevertheless1 despite my warnings1 he would say3 8,that's all right1 ,houdini1 don't worry about me1 ,i am well able to take care of myself4 ,they cannot fool me40 ,to which ,i would reply he had no idea of the subtleness of some of the people who were trying to draw his fire4 ,when ,i called ,sir ,arthur's attention to the number of people who have gone crazy on the subject because of persistent reading1 continuous attendance at seances and trying automatic writing1 his answer would be3 8,people have been going mad#hj for years1 and you will find on investigation that many go mad on other subjects besides ,spiritualism40 ,on being reminded that most of these people hear voices and see visions1 he denied that they were hallucinations1 and insisted that he had spoken to different members of his family4#ha ,i recall several flagrant instances in which ,sir ,arthur's faith has1 ,i think1 misguided him4 ,one particular time was when he attended a public seance by a lady known as 8,the ,medium in the ,mask40 ,among those present at the time was ,lady ,glenconner1 ,sir ,henry ,lunn and ,mr4 ,sidney ,a4 ,mosley1 a special representative of a newspaper4 ,according to reports1 the medium wore a veil like a 8yashmak40 ,she appeared very nervous4 ,a number of articles1 including a ring that had belonged to ,sir ,arthur's deceased son1 were put in a box1 and the medium correctly gave the initials on the ring1 although ,sir ,arthur said that they could hardly be discerned1 even in a good light1 they were so worn off4#hb ,later in describing another article1 the medium said the words1 8,murphy0 and 8button0 and it was afterwards explained that 8,murphy's button0 was a surgical operation term4 ,she said that the person described would die as a result of the operation4 ,unfortunately1 for the medium1 no one present knew of such a case and yet1 ,sir ,arthur described this seance as very clever4#hc ,the 8,masked ,lady0 was sponsored by a theatrical agent and illusionist and all proceedings of the seances were brought to light in a suit against ,mr4 ,george ,grossman and ,mr4 ,edward ,laurillard1 theatrical producers1 to recover damages for breach of agreement to place a ,west ,end theatre at his disposal4 ,accounts of mediums by the name of 8,thompson0 have misled several people4 ,there is a ,thompson of ,new ,york and a ,thomson of ,chicago4 ,sir ,arthur had a seance with the ,thompsons of ,new ,york and according to all the news clippings ,i have had they claimed to have brought back his mother4 ,in fact it was stated that he asked permission to kiss his mother's hand4 ,the ,thomsons got into trouble in ,chicago and ,new ,orleans also4#hd ,as a matter of fact ,i was in ,chicago when their trial took place4 ,i had been present at two of their seances4 ,the first was in ,new ,york at the ,morosco ,theatre and ,i had all ,i could do to keep ,j4 ,f4 ,rinns from breaking up the performance4 ,the second was in ,chicago4 ,it was a special seance given after my performance at the ,palace ,theatre4 ,i was accompanied by ,h4 ,h4 ,windsor1 ,publisher and ,editor of ,popular ,mechanics2 ,oliver ,r4 ,barrett1 a prominent member of the bar2 ,mr4 ,husband ,manning1 author2 and ,leonard ,hicks1 a well-known hotel proprietor4 ,among others present at the seance were ,cyrus ,mc,cormick1 ,jr41 ,muriel ,mc,cormick1 and ,mrs4 ,mc,cormick ,mc,clintock4 ,we witnessed a number of unsatisfactory phenomena and afterwards adjourned to the home of ,cyrus ,mc,cormick and discussed the seance1 being unanimously of the opinion that it was a glaring fraud just as ,i had believed the one in ,new ,york to be4 ,at the ,morosco ,theatre1 ,new ,york ,city1 the ,thomsons made the broad statement that they had been tested by ,stead and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge and at a special seance he had come out and publicly endorsed ,mrs4 ,thomson as being genuine4 ,the following letter not only disproves this but explains the feeling of an active ,spiritualist toward the ,thomsons4 8,normanton1 8,lake1 8,salisbury4 8#gth ,january #aiba4 8,dear ,mr4 ,houdini3-- 8,it is a pleasure to hear from you1 and ,i thank you for asking the question about the ,thomsons4 ,i have replied to one or two other queries of the same kind1 but ,i would be grateful if you would make it known that any statement that ,i have vouched for their genuineness1 is absolutely false4 8,i only saw them once1 at a time when they called themselves ,tomson4 ,it was at ,mr4 ,stead's house1 at his urgent request4 ,i considered the performance fraudulent1 but the proof was not absolutely complete because the concluding search was not allowed1 and the gathering dispersed in disorder1 or at least with some heat4 8,i felt sorry at this termination1 and it is just possible that ,thomson genuinely thought ,i was favourably impressed4 ,that is the charitable view to take1 but it is not the true view1 and ,mr4 ,stead was annoyed with me because of my skeptical attitude4 7,he has since admitted to me1 from the other side1 that he was wrong and ,i was right2 bringing the subject up spontaneously4 ,this latter statement1 however1 is not evidence47 8,what ,i should like the public to be assured of1 is that ,i was not favourably impressed1 and never vouched for them in any way4 8,i am afraid ,i must assume that ,thomson is aware of that1 and therefore is not acting in good faith1 because once in ,england the same sort of statement was made1 either at ,leicester or at ,nottingham ,i think1 and ,i wrote to a paper to contradict it4 8,with all good wishes believe me1 8,faithfully yours1 7,signed7 8,,oliver ,,lodge40 ,sir ,arthur personally told me that he was convinced of the genuineness of the ,welsh miners of ,cardiff1 or ,thomas ,brothers4 ,stuart ,cumberland who was infinitely my superior in investigation 7he had a start of #bj years7 told me that there wasn't a chance of the ,thomas ,brothers being genuine1 and related how1 owing to the great interest of ,sir ,arthur in them1 the ,london ,daily ,express eventually induced them to hold a seance before a committee of investigators4 ,cumberland was to have been one of the committee1 but the mediums refused to allow him to be 8,among those present40 ,as they refused to proceed if ,cumberland was admitted1 it was thought advisable to eliminate him4 ,before leaving1 ,cumberland arranged the musical instruments that were used and instructed the investigating committee how to detect fraud4 ,the feature of the seance was the passing along in the circle1 of a button and a pair of suspenders1 which were thrown on the knees of a news ,editor present4 ,i ask the common-sense reader what benefit this would be--to project a button clear across the room and to find a pair of suspenders on a sitter's knee8 ,if there is any object lesson in this1 please let me know6 ,at the seance1 ,lady ,doyle was asked whether she was cold1 on answering in the affirmative a holland jacket which had been worn by the medium was dropped in her lap4 ,the ,thomas ,brothers claimed this had been done by the ,spirits4 ,when the seance was over1 the medium was found bound but minus his coat4 ,when ,i quizzed ,sir ,arthur about the manner in which the ,thomas ,brothers of ,cardiff were bound during a seance which he attended1 he told me that they were secured so tightly that it was impossible for them to move as they were absolutely helpless4 ,i told him that did not make it genuine1 for any number of mediums had been tied the same way and had managed to free themselves4 ,he replied that ,i might be able to release myself by natural means1 but that mediums do not have to1 as they always receive ,spiritual help4 ,maybe so1 but ,i should like1 sometime1 to tie them myself and see whether the ,spirits could release them under test conditions4#he ,i reminded ,sir ,arthur of the ,davenport ,brothers and called to his attention the fact that they were able to release themselves4 ,sir ,arthur feels very strongly in the matter of the ,davenport ,brothers and although ,i have told him and proven to him that ,i was a pupil of ,ira ,erastus ,davenport#hf and that ,ira personally told me that they did not claim to be ,spiritualists and their performances were not given in the name of ,spiritualism1 ,sir ,arthur insists that they were ,spiritualists and has strongly said that if they did their performances under any other name1 then ,ira was 8not only a liar1 but a blasphemer as he went around with ,mr4 ,ferguson1 a clergyman1 and mixed it all up with religion40 ,i want to go on record that to the best of my knowledge and belief ,i never stated that ,sir ,arthur endorsed the mediumship of the ,new ,york ,thompsons4 ,i did say there were full page articles#hg where he was illustrated as accepting the genuineness of the materialization of his mother4 ,i never claimed that ,sir ,arthur's son or brother came through the ,thomas mediums in ,cardiff4 ,i did state that ,sir ,arthur said they were genuine and that they1 the mediums1 were helpless to move because he had tied them and in his judgment if they were tied in my presence ,i would be convinced of their genuineness4 ,i wish to call attention to the fact that in a letter written by the late ,stuart ,cumberland he agreed with me that there was not a vestige of truth in the mediumship of the ,thomas ,brothers1 and regarding ,sir ,arthur's endorsement of the 8,masked ,lady10 ,i did not say he endorsed her although ,i should judge from newspaper#hh accounts he seemed very much impressed4 ,sir ,arthur has rarely given me an opportunity to deny or affirm any statement4 ,in fact one of our sore points of discussion has been the matter of being quoted1 or misquoted1#hi in newspapers or periodicals and it seems that ,sir ,arthur always believes everything ,i have been quoted as having said4 ,when ,i was in ,oakland1 ,california1 ,i was interviewed by a ,mr4 ,henderson of the ,oakland ,tribune4 ,i gave him some material to work on1 enough for one article from which1 to my surprise1 he wrote a series of eight articles enlarging and misquoting to an 8nth0 degree4 ,sir ,arthur took exception to a number of statements which ,i was supposed to have made and he replied to them caustically through the press and then sent me the following letter in explanation4 8,,the ,,ambassador 8,los ,angeles 8,may #bc1 #aibc4 8,my dear ,houdini3-- 8,i have had to handle you a little roughly in the ,oakland ,tribune because they send me a long screed under quotation marks1 so it is surely accurate4 ,it is so full of errors that ,i don't know where to begin4 ,i can't imagine why you say such wild things which have no basis in fact at all4 ,i put the ,thompsons down as humbugs4 ,i never heard of my son or brother through the ,thomas brothers4 ,they were never exposed4 ,i never said that ,masked ,medium was genuine4 ,i wish you would refer to me before publishing such injurious stuff which ,i have to utterly contradict4 ,i would always tell you the exact facts as ,i have done with the ,zancigs4 8,yours sincerely1 8,a4 ,conan ,doyle40 8,i hate sparring with a friend in public1 but what can ,i do when you say things which are not correct1 and which ,i have to contradict or else they go by default4 ,it is the same with all this ridiculous stuff of ,rinn's4 ,unless ,i disprove it1 people imagine it is true4 8,a4 ,c4 ,d40 ,at the written invitation of ,sir ,arthur and ,lady ,doyle ,mrs4 ,houdini and ,i visited them while they were stopping at the ,ambassador ,hotel in ,atlantic ,city4 ,one day as ,sir ,arthur1 ,mrs4 ,houdini and ,i were sitting on the sand skylarking with the children ,sir ,arthur excused himself saying that he was going to have his usual afternoon nap4 ,he left us but returned in a short time and said 8,houdini1 if agreeable1 ,lady ,doyle will give you a special seance1 as she has a feeling that she might have a message come through4 ,at any rate1 she is willing to try10 and turning to ,mrs4 ,houdini he said1 8we would like to be alone4 ,you do not mind if we make the experiment without you40 ,smilingly1 my good little wife said1 8,certainly not1 go right ahead1 ,sir ,arthur2 ,i will leave ,houdini in your charge and ,i know that he will be willing to go to the seance40 ,doyle said1 8,you understand1 ,mrs4 ,houdini1 that this will be a test to see whether we can make any ,spirit come through for ,houdini1 and conditions may prove better if no other force is present40 ,before leaving with ,sir ,arthur1 ,mrs4 ,houdini cued me4 ,we did a second sight or mental performance years ago and still use a system or code whereby we can speak to each other in the presence of others1 even though to all outward appearances we are merely talking1 pointing or doing the most innocent looking things1 but which have different meanings to us4 ,in that manner ,mrs4 ,houdini told me that on the night previous she had gone into detail with ,lady ,doyle about the great love ,i bear for my ,mother4 ,she related to her a number of instances1 such as1 my returning home from long trips1 sometimes as far away as ,australia1 and spending months with my ,mother and wearing only the clothes that she had given me1 because ,i thought it would please her and give her some happiness4 ,my wife also remarked about my habit of laying my head on my ,mother's breast1 in order to hear her heart beat4 ,just little peculiarities that mean so much to a mother and son when they love one another as we did4 ,i walked with ,sir ,arthur to the ,doyles' suite4 ,sir ,arthur drew down the shades so as to exclude the bright light4 ,we three1 ,lady ,doyle1 ,sir ,arthur and ,i1 sat around the table on which were a number of pencils and a writing pad1 placing our hands on the surface of the table4 ,sir ,arthur started the seance with a devout prayer4 ,i had made up my mind that ,i would be as religious as it was within my power to be and not at any time did ,i scoff at the ceremony4 ,i excluded all earthly thoughts and gave my whole soul to the seance4 ,i was willing to believe1 even wanted to believe4 ,it was weird to me and with a beating heart ,i waited1 hoping that ,i might feel once more the presence of my beloved ,mother4 ,if there ever was a son who idolized and worshipped his ,mother1 whose every thought was for her happiness and comfort1 that son was myself4 ,my ,mother meant my life1 her happiness was synonymous with my peace of mind4 ,for that reason1 if no other1 ,i wanted to give my very deepest attention to what was going on4 ,it meant to me an easing of all pain that ,i had in my heart4 ,i especially wanted to speak to my ,mother1 because that day1 ,june #ag1 #aibb1 was her birthday4#ij ,i was determined to embrace ,spiritualism if there was any evidence strong enough to down the doubts that have crowded my brain for the past thirty years4 ,presently1 ,lady ,doyle was 8seized by a ,spirit40 ,her hands shook and beat the table1 her voice trembled and she called to the ,spirits to give her a message4 ,sir ,arthur tried to quiet her1 asked her to restrain herself1 but her hand thumped on the table1 her whole body shook and at last1 making a cross at the head of the page1 started writing4 ,and as she finished each page1 ,sir ,arthur tore the sheet off and handed it to me4 ,i sat serene through it all1 hoping and wishing that ,i might feel my mother's presence4 ,there wasn't even a semblance of it4 ,everyone who has ever had a worshipping ,mother and has lost earthly touch1 knows the feeling which will come over him at the thought of sensing her presence4 ,the letter which follows1 purported to have come from my ,mother1 ,i cannot1 as much as ,i desire1 accept as having been written or inspired by the soul or ,spirit of my sweet ,mother4 8,oh1 my darling1 thank ,god1 thank ,god1 at last ,i'm through--,i've tried1 oh1 so often--now ,i am happy4 ,why1 of course ,i want to talk to my boy--my own beloved boy--,friends1 thank you1 with all my heart for this40-- 8,you have answered the cry of my heart--and of his--,god bless him--a thousandfold for all his life for me--never had a ,mother such a son--tell him not to grieve--soon he'll get all the evidence he is so anxious for--,yes we know--tell him ,i want him to try and write in his own home4 ,it will be far better40 8,i will work with him--he is so1 so dear to me--,i am preparing so sweet a home for him in which some day in ,god's good time he will come to it1 is one of my great joys preparing for our future40 8,i am so happy in this life--it is so full and joyous--my only shadow has been that my beloved one hasn't known how often ,i have been with him all the while1 all the while--here away from my heart's darling--combining my work thus in this life of mine40 8,it is so different over here1 so much larger and bigger and more beautiful--so lofty--all sweetness around one--nothing that hurts and we see our beloved ones on earth--that is such a joy and comfort to us--,tell him ,i love him more than ever--the years only increase it--and his goodness fills my soul with gladness and thankfulness4 ,oh1 just this1 it is me4 ,i want him only to know that--that--,i have bridged the gulf--that is what ,i wanted1 oh1 so much--,now ,i can rest in peace--how soon--0 8,i always read my beloved son's mind--his dear mind--there is so much ,i want to say to him--but--,i am almost overwhelmed by this joy of talking to him once more--it is almost too much to get through--the joy of it--thank you1 thank you1 friend1 with all my heart for what you have done for me this day--,god bless you1 too1 ,sir ,arthur1 for what you are doing for us--for us1 over here--who so need to get in touch with our beloved ones on the earth plane--0 8,if only the world knew this great truth--how different life would be for men and women--,go on let nothing stop you--great will be your reward hereafter--,good-by--,i brought you1 ,sir ,arthur1 and my son together--,i felt you were the only man who might help us to pierce this veil--and ,i was right--,bless him1 bless him1 bless him1 ,i say1 from the depths of my soul--he fills my heart and later we shall be together--,oh so happy--a happiness awaits him that he has never dreamed of--tell him ,i am with him--just tell him that ,i'll soon make him know how close ,i am all the while--his eyes will soon be opened--,good-by again--,god's blessing on you all40 ,in the case of my seance1 ,sir ,arthur believed that due to the great excitement it was a direct connection4 ,the more so do ,i hesitate to believe and accept the above letter because1 although my sainted mother had been in ,america for almost fifty years1 she could not speak1 read nor write ,english but ,spiritualists claim that when a medium is possessed by a ,spirit who does not speak the language1 she automatically writes1 speaks or sings in the language of the deceased2 however1 ,sir ,arthur has told me that a ,spirit becomes more educated the longer it is departed and that my blessed ,mother had been able to master the ,english language in ,heaven4 ,after the purported letter from my ,mother had been written and ,i had read it over very carefully1 ,sir ,arthur advised me to follow out the advice1 given by my ,mother1--to try to write when ,i reached home4 ,i picked up a pencil in a haphazard manner and said1 8,is there any particular way in which ,i must hold this pencil when ,i want to write1 or does it write automatically80 ,i then wrote the name of 8,powell0 entirely of my own volition4 ,sir ,arthur jumped up excitedly and read what ,i had just written4 ,he saw the word 8,powell0 and said1 8,the ,spirits have directed you in writing the name of my dear fighting partner in ,spiritualism1 ,dr4 ,ellis ,powell1 who has just died in ,england4 ,i am the person he is most likely to signal to1 and here is his name coming through your hands4 ,truly ,saul is among the ,prophets40 ,i must emphatically state that this name was written entirely of my own volition and in full consciousness4 ,i had in my mind1 my friend ,frederick ,eugene ,powell1 the ,american ,magician1 with whom at the time ,i was having a great deal of correspondence regarding a business proposition which has since been consummated4 ,there is not the slightest doubt of it having been more than a deliberate mystification on my part1 or let us say a kindlier word regarding my thoughts and call it 8coincidence40 ,a few days later ,sir ,arthur sent me the following letter in reference to my explanation of the writing of the name1 8,powell40 8,the ,ambassador1 ,new ,york1 ,june #bjth1 #aibb4 8,my dear ,houdini3-- 8444 ,no1 the ,powell explanation1 won't do4 ,not only is he the one man who would wish to get me1 but in the evening1 ,mrs4 ,m41 the lady medium1 got1 8there is a man here4 ,he wants to say that he is sorry he had to speak so abruptly this afternoon40 ,the message was then broken by your ,mother's renewed message and so we got no name4 ,but it confirms me in the belief that it was ,powell4 ,however1 you will no doubt test your powers further4 7,signed7 8,a4 ,conan ,doyle40 ,i had written an article for the ,new ,york ,sun1 ,october #cj1 #aibb1 which gave my views in reference to ,spiritualism and at the same time answered the challenge offered by the ,general ,assembly of ,spiritualists of ,new ,york ,state4 ,this had been called to the attention of ,sir ,arthur1 who wrote as follows3 8,windlesham1 ,crowborough1 ,sussex4 ,november #ai1 #aibb4 8,my dear ,houdini3-- 8,they sent me the ,new ,york ,sun with your article and no doubt wanted me to answer it1 but ,i have no fancy for sparring with a friend in public1 so ,i took no notice4 8,but none the less1 ,i felt rather sore about it4 ,you have all the right in the world to hold your own opinion1 but when you say that you have had no evidence of survival1 you say what ,i cannot reconcile with what ,i saw with my own eyes4 ,i know1 by many examples1 the purity of my wife's mediumship1 and ,i saw what you got and what the effect was upon you at the time4 ,you know also you yourself at once wrote down1 with your own hand1 the name of ,powell1 the one man who might be expected to communicate with me4 ,unless you were joking when you said that you did not know of this ,powell's death1 then surely that was evidential1 since the idea that out of all your friends you had chanced to write the name of one who exactly corresponded1 would surely be too wonderful a coincidence4 8,however1 ,i don't propose to discuss this subject any more with you1 for ,i consider that you have had your proofs and that the responsibility of accepting or rejecting is with you4 ,as it is a very real lasting responsibility4 ,however1 ,i have it at last1 for ,i have done my best to give you the truth4 ,i will1 however1 send you my little book1 on the fraud perpetrated upon ,hope1 but that will be my last word on the subject4 ,meanwhile1 there are lots of other subjects on which we can all meet in friendly converse4 8,yours very sincerely1 7,signed7 8,a4 ,conan ,doyle40 ,to which ,i replied3-- 8,december #ae1 #aibb4 8,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 ,windlesham1 ,crowborough1 ,sussex4 8,my dear ,sir ,arthur3-- 8,received your letter regarding my article in the ,new ,york ,sun4 ,you write that you are very sore4 ,i trust that it is not with me1 because you1 having been truthful and manly all your life1 naturally must admire the same traits in other human beings4 8,i know you are honorable and sincere and think ,i owe you an explanation regarding the letter ,i received through the hands of ,lady ,doyle4 8,i was heartily in accord and sympathy at that seance but the letter was written entirely in ,english and my sainted ,mother could not read1 write or speak the ,english language4 ,i did not care to discuss it at the time because of my emotion in trying to sense the presence of my ,mother1 if there was such a thing possible1 to keep me quiet until time passed1 and ,i could give it the proper deduction4 8,regarding my having written the name #8,powell4' ,frederick ,eugene ,powell is a very dear friend of mine4 ,he had just passed through two serious operations4 ,furthermore ,mrs4 ,powell had a paralytic stroke at that time4 ,i was having some business dealings with him which entailed a great deal of correspondence2 therefore1 naturally1 his name was uppermost in my mind and ,i cannot make myself believe that my hand was guided by your friend4 ,it was just a coincidence4 8,i trust my clearing up of the seance1 from my point of view is satisfactory1 and that you do not harbor any ill feelings1 because ,i hold both ,lady ,doyle and yourself in the highest esteem4 ,i know you treat this as a religion but personally ,i cannot do so1 for up to the present time ,i have never seen or heard anything that could convert me4 8,trusting you will accept my letter in the same honest1 good faith feeling as it has been written4 8,with best wishes to ,lady ,doyle1 yourself and the family1 in which ,mrs4 ,houdini joins1 8,sincerely yours1 7,signed7 8,houdini40 ,in ,january #aibc1 the ,scientific ,american issued a challenge of #bejj4 to the first person to produce a psychic photograph under test conditions4 ,an additional #bejj4 was offered to the first person who1 under the test conditions1 defined1 and to the satisfaction of the judges named1 produced an objective psychic manifestation of physical character as defined1 and of such sort that permanent instrumental record may be made of its occurrence4 ,the committee named were3 ,dr4 ,william ,mc,dougall1 ,d4,sc41 ,professor of ,psychology at ,harvard2 ,daniel ,frisk ,comstock1 ,ph4,d41 former member of the ,faculty of the ,massachusetts ,institute of ,technology2 ,walter ,franklin ,prince1 ,ph4,d41 ,principal ,research ,officer for the ,s4 ,p4 ,r42 ,hereward ,carrington1 ,ph4,d41 ,psychic ,investigator2 ,j4 ,malcolm ,bird1 ,member of the ,scientific ,american ,staff2 and myself4#ia ,sir ,arthur's letter is self-explanatory4 8,windlesham1 ,crowborough1 ,sussex4 8,january #a1 #aibc4 8,my dear ,houdini3 8444 ,i see that you are on the ,scientific ,american ,committee1 but how can it be called an ,impartial ,committee when you have committed yourself to such statements as that some ,spiritualists pass away before they realize how they have been deluded1 etc8 ,you have every possible right to hold such an opinion1 but you can't sit on an ,impartial ,committee afterwards4 ,it becomes biased at once4 ,what ,i wanted was five good clear-headed men who can push to it without any prejudice at all1 like the ,dialectical ,society#ib of ,london1 who unanimously endorsed the phenomena4 8,once more all greetings1 7,signed7 8,a4 ,,conan ,,doyle40 ,on ,may #ba1 #bb and #bd the ,scientific ,american held their first test seances4 ,the permanent sitters were ,mr4 ,walker1 ,mr4 ,lescurboura1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,malcolm ,bird of the ,editorial staff of the ,scientific ,american1 ,mr4 ,owen of the ,times1 ,mr4 ,granville ,lehrmann of the ,american ,telephone and ,telegraph and ,richard ,i4 ,worrell1 a friend of the medium4 ,drs4 ,carrington and ,prince of the ,committee of ,judges sat on ,monday4 ,dr4 ,prince and myself on ,thursday4 ,on ,tuesday the ,committee was represented by ,mr4 ,frederick ,keating1 conjuror4 ,the medium1 a man by the name of ,george ,valentine of ,wilkes-,barre1 ,penn41 claimed to be genuine4 ,he was trapped by being seated on a chair which was so arranged that when he arose an electric light arrangement was fixed in the room adjoining1 together with dictographs and a phosphorous button4 ,in the estimation of the ,committee1 ,mr4 ,valentine was just a common1 ordinary trickster4 ,lady ,doyle1 ,miss ,juliet ,karcher1 ,mrs4 ,houdini1 ,sir ,arthur and ,i were lunching at the ,royal ,automobile ,club in ,london1 ,may #aa1 #aibj1 and ,sir ,arthur called attention to the fact that a few days previously they had been sitting at the same table with a powerful medium1 and he told me in a very serious tone1 which was corroborated by ,lady ,doyle1 that the table started to move all around the place to the astonishment of the waiter1 who was not aware of the close proximity of the medium4 ,all the time he was relating it1 ,i watched him closely and saw that both he and ,lady ,doyle were most sincere and believed what they had told me to be an actual fact4 ,there are times when ,i almost doubt the sincerity of some of ,sir ,arthur's statements1 even though ,i do not doubt the sincerity of his belief4 ,i have been over a number of letters which ,i have received from ,sir ,arthur during the last few years and selected the following excerpts which show his viewpoint regarding many of the matters we have discussed4 8,i do not wonder that they put you down as an occult4 ,as ,i read the accounts ,i do not see how you do it4 ,you must be a brave man as well as exceptionally dexterous40 8,how you get out of the diving suits beats me1 but the whole thing beats me completely40 8,i spoke of the ,davenport ,brothers4 ,your word on the matter knowing1 as you do both the man and the possibilities of his art1 would be final40 8,you are to me a perpetual mystery4 ,no doubt you are to everyone40 8,in a fair light ,i saw my dead ,mother as clearly as ,i ever saw her in life4 ,i am a cool observer and ,i do not make mistakes4 ,it was wonderful--but it taught me nothing ,i did not know before40 8,our best remembrances to your wife and yourself4 ,for ,god's sake be careful in those fearsome feats of yours4 ,you ought to be able to retire now40 8,these clairvoyants whose names ,i have given you are passive agents in themselves and powerless4 ,if left to themselves they guess and muddle--as they sometimes do1 when the true connection is formed1 all is clear4 ,that connection depends on the forces beyond1 which are repelled by frivolity or curiosity but act under the impulse of sympathy40 8,i see that you know a great deal about the negative side of ,spiritualism40 8,if you think of a lost friend before going to a seance and breathe a prayer that you may be allowed to get in touch you will have a chance--otherwise none4 ,it really does depend upon psychic or mental vibrations and harmonies40 8,i fear there is much fraud among ,american mediums where ,spiritualism seems to have deservedly fallen into disrepute4 ,even when genuine it is used for stock exchange1 and other base worldly purposes4 ,no wonder it has sunk low in the very land that was honored by the first ,spiritual manifestations of the series40 8,you certainly have very wonderful powers1 whether inborn or acquired40 8,i envy you the privilege of having met ,ira ,davenport40 8,most of our great mediums at present are unpaid amateurs1 inaccessible to any but ,spiritualists40 8,something must come your way if you really persevere and get it out of your mind that you should follow it as a terrier follows a rat40 8,mental harmony does not in the least abrogate common sense40 8,i heard of your remarkable feat in ,bristol4 ,my dear chap1 why do you go around the world seeking a demonstration of the occult when you are giving one all the time80 8,i know ,hope to be a true psychic and will give you my reasons when ,i treat it1 but you can give no man a blank check for honesty on every particular occasion1 whether there is a temptation to hedge when psychic power runs low is a question to be considered4 ,i am for an uncompromising honesty--but also for thorough examination based on true knowledge40 8,i am amused by your investigation with the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,have they never thought of investigating you80 8,it was good of you to give those poor invalids a show and you will find yourself in the third sphere alright with your dear wife1 world without end1 whatever you may believe40 8,incredulity seems to me to be a sort of insanity under the circumstances40 ,this was in reference to some photographs of ectoplasm which ,i questioned4 8,this talk of #8fake' is in most cases nonsense and shows our own imperfect knowledge of conditions and of the ways of ,controls1 who often take short cuts to their ends1 having no regard at all to our critical idea40 8,our opponents talk of one failure and omit a great series of successes4 ,however1 truth wins and there is lots of time40 8,i never let a pressman 7newspaper man7 get away with it with impunity if ,i can help it40#ic 8,our relations are certainly curious and likely to become more so1 for as long as you attack what ,i know from experience to be true ,i have no alternative but to attack you in turn4 ,how long a private friendship can survive such an ordeal ,i do not know1 but at least ,i did not create the situation40 8,you have a reputation among ,spiritualists of being a bitterly prejudiced enemy who would make trouble if it were possible--,i know this is not so40 ,on page #aej of ,sir ,arthur's book 8,our ,american ,adventure0 he says3 8,houdini is not one of those shallow men who imagine they can explain away ,spiritual phenomena as parlor tricks1 but he retains an open--and ever1 ,i think1 a more receptive--mind toward mysteries which are beyond his art4 ,he understands1 ,i hope1 that to get truth in the matter you have not to sit as a ,sanhedrim of ,judgement1 like the ,circle of ,conjurors in ,london1 since ,spiritual truth does not come as a culprit to a bar1 but you must submit in a humble spirit to psychic conditions and so go forth1 making most progress when on your knees40 ,sir ,arthur has told me time and time again that his whole life is based upon the subject of ,spiritualism and that he has sacrificed some of the best years of his life to the betterment and spread of the cause1 which1 due to his sincerity1 is a beautiful faith4#id ,but in my opinion it is no 8sacrifice0 to convince people who have recently suffered a bereavement of the possibility and reality of communicating with their dear ones4 ,to me the poor suffering followers eagerly searching for relief from the heart-pain that follows the passing on of a dear one are the 8sacrifice40 ,sir ,arthur thinks that ,i have great mediumistic powers and that some of my feats are done with the aid of spirits4 ,everything ,i do is accomplished by material means1 humanly possible1 no matter how baffling it is to the layman4 ,he says that ,i do not enter a seance in the right frame of mind1 that ,i should be more submissive1 but in all the seances ,i have attended ,i have never had a feeling of antagonism4 ,i have no desire to discredit ,spiritualism2 ,i have no warfare with ,sir ,arthur2 ,i have no fight with the ,spiritists2 but ,i do believe it is my duty1 for the betterment of humanity1 to place frankly before the public the results of my long investigation of ,spiritualism4 ,i am willing to be convinced2 my mind is open1 but the proof must be such as to leave no vestige of doubt that what is claimed to be done is accomplished only through or by supernatural power4 ,so far ,i have never on any occasion1 in all the seances ,i have attended1 seen anything which would lead me to credit a mediumistic performance with supernatural aid1 nor have ,i ever seen anything which has convinced me that it is possible to communicate with those who have passed out of this life4 ,therefore ,i do not agree with ,sir ,arthur4 ,,chapter ,x ,,why ,,ectoplasm8 ,years have passed since my first meeting with the ,hon4 ,everard ,feilding6 ,many times during those years ,i have discussed ,spiritualism with him and no one has ever been more interested than he in the results of my investigations and study of it and it was through his help that ,i was able to investigate personally the famous ,eva ,carriere1 better known perhaps as ,mlle4 ,eva4 ,one evening in the spring of #aibj during a quiet dinner at his home in ,london the conversation drifted toward ,ectoplasm4 ,i told ,mr4 and ,mrs4#ie ,feilding about attending a ,sunday meeting of the ,london ,psychical ,college through the courtesy of ,hewat ,mc,kenzie4 ,at this meeting ,mme4 ,bisson and ,mlle4 ,eva were introduced by ,fornieur d',albe and ,mme4 ,bisson while delivering an impromptu talk seized the opportunity to resent the attack of a ,french magician and to explain in unmistakable tones her antagonism toward prestidigitators4 ,mr4 ,feilding assured me ,i was correct about her antipathy towards magicians and suggested that the only way ,i could ever hope to attend one of her seances was to convince the medium that ,i was not one of the biased prestidigitator class1 and proposed as a means to attain this end a theatre party to see my performance and thus enable ,mme4 ,bisson and ,mlle4 ,eva to judge for themselves4 ,this was arranged and the night they came to the theatre to see me ,i did the ,torture ,cell ,mystery1 in which ,i am completely submerged1 head foremost1 in a tank of water1 and it is a physical impossibility to obtain air while locked in the device4 ,they were so much mystified that they expressed a desire to attend another performance of mine sometime in the near future4 ,i had just accepted a challenge to escape from a packing case which was to be built on the stage by experienced carpenters and thinking that it would be an interesting performance for ,mme4 ,bisson to witness ,i extended her an invitation and received the following letter in reply4 8,may #ai1 #aibj4 8,dear ,mr4 ,houdini3 8,we1 ,mlle4 ,eva and ,i1 shall be charmed to see you at the performance of which you have spoken to me1 on next ,wednesday4 ,since you have had the great kindness to offer us several tickets1 it gives me great pleasure to accept1 and if you wish1 you may send us four1 as we expect to join in the applause with ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,feilding4 8,i also wish to tell you something else6 8,you know that we give seances here1 showing the phenomena of materialization4 ,these are not spirit studies4 ,they are scientific4 8,it would interest ,mr4 ,feilding and ourselves to have at our seances a master in the art of prestidigitation1 but ,i have always refused to admit to my house1 an ordinary prestidigitator1 or even one of better rank4 ,our work is serious and real1 and the gift of ,mlle4 ,eva might disappear forever1 if some awkward individual insists on thinking there is fraud involved1 instead of real and interesting facts1 which especially interest the scientific4 8,for you this does not hold6 ,you are above all this4 ,you are a magnificent actor1 who can not call himself a prestidigitator1 a title beneath a man of your talent4 8,i shall therefore1 7rather we shall7 be proud to see you attend our seances and hear you tell us all1 after you have been thoroughly convinced yourself1 that their merit is far beneath your own1 for these manifestations depend merely upon allowing the forces of nature to act1 and lie simply in truth of fact4 ,whereas with you1 it is your merit1 your talent1 and your personal valor that have enabled you to attain the place of ,king in your art4 8,with kind and esteemed regards to ,mme4 ,houdini and yourself1 7,signed7 ,juliette ,bisson40 7,translated47 ,when ,i showed this letter to ,mr4 ,feilding he was both surprised and pleased for it gave him an opportunity to invite me to become one of the ,committee which was to investigate ,mme4 ,bisson and ,mlle4 ,eva's seances to be held by the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 and so at the combined invitations of the mediums and ,mr4 ,feilding ,i attended eight4 ,each of them lasted three hours and ,i firmly believe that a description of them and their results is important4 ,at these seances my word was pledged to give full and sacred thoughts and ,i tried to control my thoughts so that my whole attention could be given to the medium4 ,there was no scoffing and there was the will to believe4 ,i felt that if anything was manifested by the ,spirits my conscience would be clear4 ,however1 ,i sat with my eyes open1 taking in even the most minute details and keeping on my guard against any trickery4 ,a number of times ,i occupied a 8control0 chair at the medium's left with her left limb between mine and both of my hands holding her left hand and wrist1 while ,eric ,dingwall had the ,committee seat on her right4 ,eva was accompanied at all of the seances by ,mme4 ,bisson and the method of procedure was always the same4 ,after ,eva had been stripped and searched#if in an adjoining room by the lady members of the ,committee1 she returned dressed in tights and ,mme4 ,bisson would then put her into a mesmeric sleep4 ,there is no doubt in my mind that the girl was really put to sleep4 ,we were requested to all join in asking her in unison for about fifteen minutes at each crisis to 8give0--8donnez0--then1 after about three hours1 she would bring forth this alleged ectoplasm4 ,at one of the seances the ,hon4 ,feilding did insist on ,eva's eating crackers and drinking coffee1 so that if she had anything concealed in her stomach1 which she might by regurgitation expel1 the coffee would discolor it4 ,the seance of ,june #bb1 #aibj1 was held at #bj ,hanover ,square1 ,london4 ,mme4 ,bisson and ,eva retired to another room and ,eric ,dingwall sewed a black lace veil to the tights which ,eva wore4 ,this veil completely enshrouded her and looked like a sort of bag or net4 ,the object of this was to prevent her from placing anything in her mouth or get anything from her tights to the neck--in fact1 it was a double security against fraud4 ,we sat and waited and finally she expelled from her mouth a great deal of foam4 ,feilding and ,baggley stated that it looked as though it had come from her nose4 ,i saw distinctly that it was a heavy froth and was adhering to her veil on the inside4 ,dingwall1 who sat next to the medium1 agreed with me it had emanated from her mouth1 but when she leaned forward it looked as though it was coming from her nose4 ,she produced a white plaster and eventually managed to juggle it over her eye4 ,there was a face in it which looked to me like a colored cartoon and seemed to have been unrolled4 ,the last thing she produced that evening was a substance which she said she felt in her mouth and asked permission to use her hands to show4 ,this was granted and she took a load from her mouth behind the veil which was wet and looked soaked4 ,it appeared to be inflated rubber4 ,no one saw a face painted on it4 ,presently it seemed to disappear4 ,they all said it 8vanished suddenly10 but my years of experience in presenting the ,hindoo needle trick#ig convinced me that she 8sleight-of-handed0 it into her mouth while pretending to have it between her fingers4 ,i know positively that the move she made is almost identical with the manner in which ,i manipulate my experiment4 ,dingwall was very confident and told ,mme4 ,bisson that he was nearly satisfied with ,eva's experiments4 ,she showed her peevishness to ,feilding so plainly that ,i could scarcely conceal my smiles4 ,in the course of conversation after the seance1 ,mme4 ,bisson told the ,committee that at one time ,eva had materialized on the top of her knees the head of an ,american soldier with a heavy mustache and blue eyes4 ,it caused some merriment when ,dingwall asked her how she could tell the color of a man's eyes in the dark4 ,mme4 ,bisson1 perplexed and in grieved tones1 asked whether they were suspicious or simply did not believe her4 ,they tried hard to pacify her but to no avail4 ,illustration3 ,,mme4 ,,bisson1 ,,mrs4 ,,feilding 7,,tomchick71 ,,and ,,mlle4 ,,eva ,at the seance of ,june #bdth1 held in the same place1 ,i arrived somewhat late but the ,committee allowed me to come in4 ,that evening ,i felt that there was something wrong in the air and after the lapse of two hours ,mme4 ,bisson told us that she was in grief and greatly disheartened because there was so much suspicion aimed at her4 ,she was especially peeved at ,dingwall1 who had told her that he was only 8almost0 convinced4 ,at no time was ,i antagonistic but1 on the contrary1 willing to help along4 ,presently ,feilding in a rather jovial mood left the room for a breath of fresh air4 ,when he came back he was very serious and asked that they continue4 ,mme4 ,bisson thought he was trying to tease her and became very angry4 ,she was wrong1 in my opinion1 but they argued and expostulated for half an hour and then the seance broke up4 ,during the argument ,eva1 who was in a cabinet in a 8trance state10 spoke out as though she had not been in a trance4 ,i afterwards asked ,mr4 ,feilding if this was not suspicious1 but he told me that it was possible for a human being while in a trance or hypnotic state to carry on a conversation consciously4 ,when ,mme4 ,bisson left us ,mr4 ,feilding told me that he was very sorry about the unpleasantness and would make all possible amends to her4 ,after a number of sittings with ,eva during which nothing startling occurred ,i made up my mind to be lenient with the medium and help her1 so ,i held her hands for some time and gradually withdrew both of mine1 giving her all the leeway she needed in case there was any desire on her part to use the hand which ,i was supposed to be holding1 but she made no move whatever4 ,i was not in any way convinced by the demonstrations witnessed4 ,i believe that ,eva's feats are accomplished by regurgitation4 ,if not1 the work she is reputed to do is an 8inside job40#ih ,i regret that ,i do not believe ,mme4 ,bisson entitled to a clean bill of health4 ,during the seances which ,i attended she kept up a quasi hypnotic work full of gestures and suggestions as to what could be seen1 putting into the minds of those present 8shadowy forms and faces40 ,in my estimation she is a subtle and gifted assistant to ,eva whom ,i do not believe to be honest4 ,on the contrary1 ,i have no hesitation in saying that ,i think the two simply took advantage of the credulity and good nature of the various men with whom they had to deal4 ,in this conclusion ,i am not alone1 for in reviewing the ,villa ,carmine seances of ,mlle4 ,eva1 ,mr4 ,heuze states in the ,london ,telegraph of ,september #dth1 #aibb3 8,the whiteness supposed to have come from the #8world beyond' was nothing but a ,communicant's veil rolled up in the medium's pocket40 ,he also quotes ,mlle4 ,eva as saying3 8,monsieur1 ,i never made any confession40 8,in that case10 he comments1 8all ,i can say is that ,m4 ,carborrnel1 ,m4 ,coulom1 ,matre ,marsault1 ,matre ,jourman1 ,dr4 ,demis1 ,mlle4 ,mare1 ,m4 ,verdier1 ,cochet ,m4 ,portal1 ,mme4 ,portal and others must have all lied in a body to persecute ,mlle4 ,eva40 ,also the ,sorbonne scientists at ,paris1 according to a report in the ,new ,york ,times1 stated officially that during fifteen seances with ,mlle4 ,eva there was nothing beyond the simple act of regurgitation4 ,in two instances there was no ectoplasm seen at any time in spite of the fact that ,mme4 ,bisson suggested that two little discs produced by ,mlle4 ,eva were assuming forms and faces4 ,none of the professors1 however1 were able to see anything of the kind1 but on the contrary declared that3 8,the substance was absolutely inert1 only moving as movement was given it by the medium's mouth4 ,the substance having been reabsorbed the medium seemed to be chewing for some seconds and then apparently swallowed it40#ii ,w4 ,j4 ,crawford1 ,doctor of ,science1 and a lecturer on ,mechanical ,engineering1 of ,belfast1 ,ireland1 became very much interested in a family of mediums consisting of a father1 four daughters1 a son1 and a son-in-law and known as the ,goligher ,circle4 ,of the seven1 the most successful was ,miss ,kathleen ,goligher4#ajj ,while at ,mr4 ,feilding's home in ,london ,i had the pleasure of meeting this ,dr4 ,crawford and talking with him for several hours4 ,during the talk he showed me pictures of what he claimed was ectoplasm exuding from different parts of ,kathleen ,goligher's body and told me he was going to use them in a forthcoming book4 8,do you honestly believe that everything you have experienced through your contact and experiments with the girl is absolutely genuine80 ,i asked him4 8,i am positive in my belief10 he answered4 ,after he had gone ,mr4 ,feilding turned to me and asked3 8,what do you think of ,dr4 ,crawford80 8,he seems mad to me10 ,i answered4 8,houdini1 you are mistaken10 he replied4 ,nevertheless ,i do not think that ,dr4 ,crawford was the right man or had the right sort of a mind for an investigation4 ,to me his credulity seemed limitless4 ,e4 ,e4 ,fournier d',albe's report of ,dr4 ,crawford's seance with the ,goligher ,circle coincides with my judgment4 ,in a communication addressed to 8,light0 in ,august1 #aibb1 d',albe referring to his own tenth seance says3 8,i found to my surprise that ,i could myself with some little management1 produce the phenomena with my feet exactly as ,i had observed them40 ,dr4 ,von ,schrenk-,notzing#aja charged d',albe with entering his investigation with 8prejudice against the genuineness of the ,goligher phenomena40 ,this d',albe denied1 saying3 8,i had gone to ,belfast fresh from ,eva ,c's seance with a strong conviction of reality and with firm faith in ,dr4 ,crawford's reliability and accuracy4 ,i expected a gifted medium surrounded by her honest folks1 but then came the blows3 first1 the contact photographs1 then the evidences of trickery4 ,the sight of the #8medium' raising a stool with her foot1 filled me with bitter disappointment4 ,the simple1 honest folks all turned out to be an alert1 secretive1 troublesome group of well-organized performers40 ,here is the experience of a man1 who1 with a mind prejudiced in favor1 entered upon a series of tests expecting full confirmation of impressions already gotten from his experiences with ,eva ,c41 but though ready to believe1 not biased against the conclusions or rational deduction4 ,his summary1 though brief1 is worthy of note3 8,the ,goligher ,circle has repeatedly been urged1 by myself and others1 to submit to further investigations by a fresh investigator1 but so far without success4 ,if it does consent1 ,i can predict two things with confidence3 ,i4 ,no genuine psychic phenomena will be observed4 ,,ii4 ,no evidence of fraud will be obtained1 as the members of the ,circle are exceedingly wary1 and the evidence of trickery which ,i obtained was gathered under conditions which they had not foreseen1 but which they will doubtless avoid in the future4 8,i also feel safe in predicting that if ,miss ,goligher's feet and hands are controlled1 and the cooperation of the other sitters eliminated1 there will be no levitation of any kind4 7,signed7 ,e4 ,e4 ,fournier d',albe4 #ba ,gower ,street1 ,w4,c4#a ,poor ,dr4 ,crawford6 ,he committed suicide in ,belfast in #aibj and left a note saying that his research into ,spiritualism had nothing to do with his self-murder4 ,i am very sorry indeed that this sincere investigator became his own judge because what he had written had been done in good faith4 ,a short time after ,dr4 ,crawford's death his literary executor requested ,dr4 d',albe1 early in #aiba1 to undertake a further series of researches with the same medium and circle in order1 if possible1 to obtain an independent confirmation of his results and theories and to collect more data concerning the nature of these manifestations4 d',albe tells in his book how he caught ,katie ,goligher manipulating and how he saw against the dim1 red background of the wall the stool held by ,katie's foot and a portion of her leg4 ,in some of these manipulations the people around the table assisted4 ,when he left ,belfast he wrote a very nice letter in which he intimated that the result of his three months' experience with the ,goligher ,circle did not furnish any definite proofs of the psychic origin of the numerous phenomena witnessed by him1 and as they were of no scientific value he had decided to have no more sittings4 ,it was suggested that ,katie ,goligher give twelve more sittings under test conditions1 but she refused on the ground that her health would not permit her to entertain such a proposal for at least a year4 ,i sat with d',albe at one of ,mlle4 ,eva's seances4 ,i liked his methods and believe him to be a sincere investigator4 ,i have the following note from him in answer to a letter of mine4 ,kingston-on-,thames4 ,october #aj1 #aibb4 8,dear ,houdini3 8,yours of the #bfth ult4 just received4 ,yes1 the ,goligher legend has lost its glamour4 ,i must say ,i was greatly surprised at ,crawford's blindness4444 8,sincerely yours1 8d',albe40 ,in #aibj1 ,capt4 ,c4 ,marsh ,beadnell1 of ,london1 published a pamphlet in which he offered twenty pounds if ,dr4 ,crawford's mediums would produce a single levitation under conditions which would preclude trickery4 ,i am certain that any magician with a circle of six of his own choosing and with only one observer of the ,crawford type could1 under the same conditions1 produce effects much more startling than any of those recounted by the trustful doctor4 ,the book to which ,dr4 ,crawford referred when he showed me the photographs he intended to use in it has1 since his death1 been published by ,david ,gow1 ,editor of the ,spiritualistic paper ,light4 ,in a prefatory note he writes3 8,i could say much about the present book with its remarkable elucidation of many problems connected with the psychical phenomena of ,spiritualism1 but ,i content myself with a reference to such experiments as those with the soft clay and the methylene blue1 which finally clear away certain suspicions which have always attached to psychical mediums in connection with materialization phenomena amongst uninstructed investigators4 ,this is not the least valuable part of a valuable book40 ,the above statement raises the question of what bearing any of these experiments1 supposing every detail claimed were a fact1 has on a future state4 ,what possible information could impressions in clay1 or stockings soiled by dye1 furnish concerning the future state of a soul8 ,ejner ,nielson1 of ,copenhagen1 was sponsored by ,dr4 ,oscar ,jaeger1 ,professor of ,economics at the ,university of ,christiania1 ,norway1 and ,president of the ,norwegian ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,professor ,jaeger was invited by the ,editor of the ,politikon1 at ,copenhagen1 to hold a seance with ,neilson4 ,he accepted and it took place in ,january1 #aibb1 before a specially selected committee#ajb appointed by the president of the ,norwegian ,university1 ,professor ,frederick ,stange4 ,a few weeks later the committee reported that ,nielson had not been capable of producing any so-called teleplasma or phenomena of materialization4 ,subsequently the ,society for ,psychical ,research reported that teleplasma had been 8artificially brought into the body of the medium40 ,paul ,heuze1 writing of the ,polish medium1 in the ,london ,daily ,telegraph of ,september #ah1 #aibb1 says3 8,s4 ,d4 ,stamislaski arrived in ,paris on ,april #gth4 ,on the #ajth he had an interview at the ,sorbonne with ,professor ,piron and on the #aath ,i went1 at his request1 to take part in the initial seance which was held in a bedroom of his hotel4 ,this was1 of course1 merely a preparatory seance4 ,my impression was not at all favorable40 ,in speaking of the subsequent seances of this medium he declares3 8,the whole thing may be summed up in a single sentence2 the result was pitiable4 ,suffice it to say that in spite of inadequate control1 not only did ,i never see any of the luminous phenomena of the first seances but that hardly anything took place at all and when it did it was merely one of those clumsy pieces of deception that are practiced in the most ordinary ,spiritualistic seances3--,articles moved1 thrown forward1 touchings1 slaps1 books dropped on the head1 etc4 ,the whole thing carried out in such a manner that there could not be the slightest doubt as to the gross trickery with which it was performed40 ,i have personally attended seances held by two of the ectoplasmic mediums1 ,mlle4 ,eva and ,mrs4 ,thompson1 and ,i have no doubt that it is only a question of time when all such mediums1 as well as these two1 including ,stamislawa1 ,p4 ,frank ,kluski1 ,s4 ,g4 ,stamislaski1 ,jean ,guzek1#ajc ,kathleen ,goligher1 ,ejner ,nielson1 ,frau ,siebert and ,willy ,sch1 will be authentically classified as questionable4 ,bear in mind1 ,i am not a skeptic4 ,it is my will to believe and if convincing evidence is brought forward ,i will be the first to acknowledge my mistake1 but up to the present day nothing has crossed my path to make me think that the ,great ,almighty will allow emanations from a human body of such horrible1 revolting1 viscous substances as ,baron ,von ,schrenk ,notzing claims1 hideous shapes1 which1 like 8genii from the bronze bottle10 ring bells1 move handkerchiefs1 wobble tables1 and do other 8flap-doodle0 stunts4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,by-,,products ,,of ,,spiritualism ,it has come to my attention in talking to numbers of laymen that the general public thinks of ,spiritualism only in terms of mediums and seances and that the average man does not seem to realize the suffering1 losses1 misfortunes1 crimes and atrocities of which it is the underlying cause and must bear the primary responsibility4 ,during the more than thirty years in which ,i have been investigating ,spiritualism ,i have industriously collected all possible data on the subject and in the thousands of clippings1 dating from #ahed to the present time1 which are filed away in my library1 there are hundreds which tell of crimes attributable to ,spiritualism4 ,in my great collection of books there are many by world-renowned writers1 men of science1 physicians1 and philosophers1 each dealing with the curse of ,spiritualism4 ,it touches every phase of human affairs and emotions1 leaving in its wake a crowd of victims whose plight is frequently pathetic1 sometimes ludicrous1 oftener miserable and unfortunate1 and who are always deluded4 ,it is to these effects of ,spiritualism which are seldom considered that ,i wish to call the reader's attention in this chapter4 ,the ,new ,york ,herald on ,june #af1 #aibc1 told under a ,syracuse date line the following incident3 8,william ,h4 ,burr of ,rochester1 speaking to-day at the business session of the ,new ,york ,state ,assembly of ,spiritualists1 of which he is ,president1 said he could prove scientifically and conclusively the fact of communication with the ,spirit world4 ,mr4 ,burr appealed for the abolition of capital punishment4 ,he explained that he had communicated with ,spirits from the bodies of murderers and realized their sufferings1 as those skeptical of psychic communication never can40 ,the ,new ,york ,evening ,world of ,march #h1 #aibb1 reports that3 8,thurs ,bergen ,vigelius1 a student in chemistry1 of ,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y41 with faith that a ,spiritual #8glimpse' of the hereafter and power to write a book thereof would be a distinct contribution to science and literature if he could #8project himself into a comatose condition simulating death1' drugged himself frequently into experimental sleep1 but on his last experiment his consciousness not only deserted him1 but breath and life accompanied it4 ,he was regarded as an exceptionally bright student with every prospect of a promising career1 had he not been susceptible to a fallacious belief40 ,one of the saddest cases of modern times is that of the young ,barnard ,college student1 ,miss ,marie ,bloomfield1 who declared herself in love with a ,spirit and finally was driven to suicide in order to join him4 ,the young lady had been an ardent student of ,spiritualism and very active in its cause4 ,all the newspapers of ,february #i1 #aibc1 carried an account of her death1 which attracted so much attention that a law was proposed in the ,new ,york ,assembly to prevent seances but it failed of being passed4 ,the ,washington ,times 7,d4 ,c47 of ,january #ad1 #aibc1 tells of an ,earl ,l4 ,clark who secured a divorce on the grounds that his wife claimed that she had a 8,spirit affinity0 named ,alfred and that this ,alfred through ,clark's wife made his life unbearable1 even predicting his death so that she might marry some man who would 8accept ,alfred's ,spiritual guidance40 ,according to an account in the ,new ,york ,world1 ,john ,slater1 chief medium of the ,national ,spiritualists ,association1 claims that there were over five hundred ,spiritualists who served with the ,american ,expeditionary ,force1 none of which were wounded or afflicted with 8cooties40 ,the freedom from wounds he attributed to the influence of ,spirits4 ,the ,new ,york ,times on ,april #bg1 #aibb1 told of a ,john ,cornyn1 in ,san ,francisco1 who shot and killed two of his boys1 one seven and the other eight1 because1 according to the police1 he had been in 8communication0 with his wife who had been dead a year and she 8had asked him to send all of their five children to her40 ,the following story in the ,new ,york ,times of ,april #bb1 #ahhg1 comes from ,philadelphia3 8,the jury in the case of ,mrs4 ,sarah ,patterson1 an alleged medium1 charged by the ,county ,medical ,society with practising medicine and surgery without being registered as a physician1 this afternoon returned a verdict of guilty4 ,the defence set up by the defendant's counsel was that ,mrs4 ,patterson was a medium and under the control of ,spirits1 and was not therefore responsible for what she did in a trance4 ,the defendant's counsel are both ,spiritualists and the case has attracted considerable interest1 the court room being crowded since the trial began40 ,these are the sort of things for which ,spiritualism is responsible that are being told of in the papers frequently4 ,to these few examples ,i could add hundreds from my files and they are constantly growing4 ,a hoax which usually creates a sensation1 but which is apt1 ultimately1 to have a decidedly bad effect on believers' nerves1 consists in allowing some person to touch or even fondle a materialized ,spirit4 ,one such demonstration occurred in a ,southern city1 where there lived a medium known as ,mrs4 ,m----4 ,her seances were always well attended and largely made up of the elite of the town4 ,on one particular night a ,spirit came forth and called for ,andrew1 saying in the most austere tones3 8,i am the ,spirit of #8,josie' and ,i want to see my beloved whom ,i left twenty years ago4 ,i know that he is present and that he wants to hear from me1 and more important1 ,i know he still loves me1 for in those twenty years he has never married40 ,with trembling knees and shaking hands the man climbed to the stage and in the midst of sobs recognized and embraced his sweetheart4 ,it was a very touching and pathetic scene and the believers were greatly affected1 and at some one's suggestion an ex-minister and editor of a ,spiritualistic magazine1 who was present1 married the ,spirit bride to the live groom4 ,it was a sensational proof of mediumship and ,mrs4 ,m---- was headlined in all the local papers4 ,unfortunately1 however1 for the cause of ,spiritualism1 my old friend1 ,professor ,harry ,cook1 happened to be in the neighborhood and on hearing about it hired a hall1 challenged the medium to a test1 and with a lady assistant performed and exposed the miracle4 ,i recall another instance where one of my friends was investigating a materialization seance4 ,it was claimed that the ,spirit of his deceased wife was manifesting and he asked permission to kiss her4 ,this was graciously granted and he told me later that she must have forgotten to shave for she had a stubble beard4 ,incidentally ,i might add that while he attended the seance his real wife waited for him at a nearby theatre4 ,such an eminent scientist as ,sir ,william ,crookes evidently fell for the materialization hoax1 judging from what he tells us about his experience at a seance where ,florence ,cook was the medium and ,katie ,king the phantom4 ,i will quote the story in his own words as he tells it in his book 8,researches in ,spiritualism40 8,several times she took my arm and the impression ,i received that it was a living woman at my side and not a visitor from the other world was so strong that the temptation to repeat a recent and curious experiment became almost irresistible4 8,realizing then that if it were not a ,spirit beside me it was in any case a lady1 ,i asked her permission to take her in my arms in order to verify the interesting observation that a bold experimenter had recently made known4 ,this permission was graciously given1 and ,i took advantage of it respectfully1 as any gentleman would have done in the same circumstances4 ,the #8ghost1' which made no resistance1 was a being as material as ,miss ,cook herself4 8,katie then declared that on this occasion she felt able to show herself at the same time as ,miss ,cook4 ,i lowered the gas and with my phosphorus lamp entered the room which served as a cabinet4 ,it was dark and ,i groped for ,miss ,cook1 finding her crouched upon the floor4 ,kneeling down1 ,i let the air enter my lamp and by its light saw the young woman dressed in black velvet1 as she had been at the beginning of the seance1 and appearing completely insensible4 8,she did not stir when ,i took her hand and held the lamp near her face1 but she continued to breathe quietly4 ,raising my lamp1 ,i looked around me and saw ,katie1 who was standing close behind ,miss ,cook4 ,she was clad in flowing white drapery1 as we had already seen her in the seance4 ,holding one of ,miss ,cook's hands in mine1 and still kneeling1 ,i raised and lowered the lamp1 as much to illuminate the whole figure of ,katie as to convince myself fully that ,i really saw the true ,katie1 whom ,i had held in my arms a few moments ago1 and not the phantom of a disordered brain4 8,she did not speak but nodded her head in recognition4 ,three different times ,i carefully examined ,miss ,cook1 crouching before me1 to assure myself that the hand ,i held was indeed that of a living woman1 and thrice turned my lamp toward ,katie to scrutinize her with sustained attention1 until ,i had not the slightest doubt that she was really there before me40 ,another instance of this sort is told of by ,florence ,marryat in her book 8,there ,is ,no ,death40 8,i opened the curtains of the cabinet and there stood ,john ,powles himself1 stalwart and living4 ,he stepped up brusquely and took me in his arms and kissed me1 four or five times1 as a long departed brother might have done2 and strange to say1 ,i did not feel the least surprised at it1 but clung to him like a sister4 ,john ,powles had never once kissed me during his life time4 ,although we had lived for four years in the closest intimacy1 often under the same roof1 we had never indulged in any familiarity40 ,unfortunately mere deception is not the only or the worst evil in these ,spiritualistic materializations4 ,frequently they are made the means of accomplishing criminal designs4 ,there came to my attention a case of a very peculiar nature in which a widow was robbed of a large fortune4 ,it appears that there was a wealthy old widower1 a devoted ,spiritualist1 who was easily influenced by certain mediums4 ,these same mediums also had among their clients a rather weak-minded widow4 ,at a seance they got the old man to propose marriage to this widow who1 in turn1 was being advised through them by the ,spirit of her husband to marry the old man4 ,the old man did not live very long after the wedding and on his death bed promised the woman that he would come back to aid her and give her financial advice4 ,he had previously made a will giving her absolute control of his estate4 ,the body was taken to an undertaking establishment to be cared for until the funeral and on the day before the service the widow attended a seance at which her husband told her3 8,you go to my coffin to-morrow morning before the ceremony and ,i will speak to you1 giving you my final instructions from my mortal body40 ,the next morning1 accompanied by a nurse1 the woman went to the undertaker's and was taken to the room where the body lay in its casket4 ,she spoke and to her astonishment the corpse opened its eyes and said3 8,i want you to give half of the fortune ,i willed you to ,b---- and ,m----1 the mediums4 ,they have helped me for years and ,i would like to show them my appreciation4 ,farewell1 ,i will speak to you at seances but never again from the body40 ,the astounded widow threw herself on the body crying3 8,i promise6 ,i will6 ,i promise60 8,promise80 asked the corpse4 8,i promise faithfully10 she replied4 ,true to her word1 the widow divided the fortune with the mediums1 who are now in foreign countries living a peaceful life unless troubled by their consciences4 ,the deception was worked as follows3 the mediums1 taking advantage of the undertaker's weakness1 kept him intoxicated and were thus free to do whatever they cared to around his establishment4 ,the casket was arranged with a false bottom which ran in and out on ball bearings and one end was made to open4 ,just before the widow's visit to the undertaking establishment this false bottom with the old man's body was run out of the casket and hidden in an adjoining room and one of the mediums1 made up to represent the dead man1 was placed in the casket4 ,as soon as the act was over the corpse was put back in its proper place4 ,this is not the only instance of this sort by any means4 ,i have known of two other instances in which corpses have been used for purposes of fraud4 ,in one a man was dying4 ,a lawyer was sent for and the nurse gotten out of the way on some plausible excuse4 ,after the man died1 but before the lawyer arrived1 his body was hidden under the bed4 ,one of the gang took his place in the bed and dictated a will with gasping breath and afterwards made his mark in the presence of a perfectly honest attorney and witness4 ,before the nurse got back the corpse had been placed in the bed and there was nothing to show that a fraud had been committed4 ,to show that such things are possible and that exchanging bodies in a coffin can be accomplished1 ,i want to call attention to the coffin act which ,i did for the ,boston ,athletic ,association4 ,a solid oak coffin was furnished by the ,national ,casket ,company and delivered to the ,association4 ,six-inch screws were used to fasten down the lid but ,i managed to escape nevertheless1 leaving no traces4 ,it is not generally known that ,charles ,j4 ,guiteau1 the assassin of ,president ,garfield1 was a pronounced ,spiritualist4 ,he claimed that he was inspired by the ,spirits four times4 ,once in connection with his entering the ,oneida community4 ,once preceding his attempt to establish a newspaper called 8,the ,theocrat40 ,again when writing his book 8,the ,truth a ,companion to the ,bible10 and still again when he was inspired to kill the ,president4 ,another case in which ,spirits were claimed to have been responsible for diverting funds is told in 8,the ,fallacies of ,spiritualism40 8,in ,september1 #aibj1 an action was brought in the ,new ,york ,courts against a medium named ,mrs4 ,mabelle ,hirons1 for the recovery of twelve thousand four hundred dollars1 alleged to have been obtained by #8,spiritualistic' means from ,dr4 ,j4 ,b4 ,hubbell1 of ,rockville1 ,maryland4 ,dr4 ,hubbell declared that after the death of ,clara ,barton1#ajd founder of the ,american ,red ,cross1 to whom he had been secretary1 it was intended to erect a memorial to that lady1 to which he proposed contributing twelve thousand four hundred dollars of his own money1 including nine hundred dollars bequeathed him by ,clara ,barton herself4 ,in #aiad he visited ,mrs4 ,hirons1 who1 he said1 went into a trance and gave him a #8message' that was supposed to come from ,clara ,barton and which directed him to give all the money to ,mrs4 ,hirons for the memorial4 ,dr4 ,hubbell believed the #8message' to be genuine and gave her the money1 but the memorial was never erected--hence the action40 ,a few years ago the papers told of the case of a woman in the ,middle ,west who was sensationally and cruelly deceived by a medium4 ,when she lost her little girl it was feared that she would not recover from the intense grief with which she was overcome4 ,on the woman's farm was a hired man whose wife was a medium4 ,he talked sympathetically with her and got her to allow him to send for his wife1 who was in ,chicago4 ,she began preaching ,spiritualism as soon as she arrived1 finding the woman a willing listener4 ,when it was apparent to the medium that the woman thoroughly believed her doctrine she began to advise her to pray nightly for the restoration of her child and finally one night she announced to the credulous woman that at midnight four days later her child would be restored to her4 ,she cautioned her that she must fast that day1 dress her room and bed in white1 and sleep alone that night4 ,the instructions were followed to the letter4 ,at midnight she heard the stairs creak4 ,then suddenly her door was pushed open and she saw something luminous approaching her bed4 ,it carried a bundle and a voice announced that her daughter was coming back to her4 ,after the apparition left the woman found a baby girl in the bed with her4 ,soon after the medium persuaded the woman and her husband to dispose of their property and go to a ,spirit ,colony in ,california4 ,after nearly three years they came back to their home with practically no means but with the knowledge that the baby girl came from a foundling society in ,chicago4 ,not the least of the evils of ,spiritualism is the insanity which it causes4 ,a mental specialist of high standing in ,birmingham1 ,england1 issued a warning in #aibb quoting numerous cases which came under his observation and were the result of ,spiritualistic teaching4 ,an ,english doctor has estimated the number of such cases at a million4 ,it is a well-established fact that the human reason gives way under the exciting strain of ,spiritualism4 ,the list is not limited to ,european countries2 we have a goodly share of baneful results right at home4 ,not long ago ,dr4 ,curry1 ,medical ,director of the ,state ,insane ,asylum of ,new ,jersey1 issued a warning concerning the 8,ouija-board0 in which he said3 8,the #8,ouija-board' is especially serious because it is adopted mainly by persons of high-strung neurotic tendency who become victims of actual illusions of sight1 hearing and touch at ,spiritualistic seances40 ,he predicted that the insane asylums would be flooded with patients if popular taste did not swing to more wholesome diversions4 ,in ,march1 #aibj1 it was reported in the papers that the craze for the ,ouija-boards1 with which it was thought spirit messages could be received1 had reached such a pitch in the little village of ,carrito1 across ,san ,francisco ,bay1 that five people had been driven mad4 ,the available amount of evidence of this sort is almost unbelievable1 but enough has been given to show the extent of the evil4 ,the average medium works only for the money he or she can extract from the public2 money obtained by moving the deepest sentiments in the human soul4 ,is it right to legally sanction the medium1 to allow him to prey on the public--not only allowing him to take the earthly possessions of his victims1 but their soul1 and oftentimes their mind as well8 ,spiritualism is nothing more or less than mental intoxication1 the intoxication of words1 of feelings and suggested beliefs4 ,intoxication of any sort when it becomes a habit is injurious to the body but intoxication of the mind is always fatal to the mind4 ,we have prohibition of alcohol1 we have prohibition of drugs1 but we have no law to prevent these human leeches from sucking every bit of reason and common sense from their victims4 ,it ought to be stopped1 it must be stopped1 and it would seem that the multiplicity of exposures and the multitude of prosecutions that have followed rational investigation should be sufficient to justify1 yes1 demand legislation for the complete annihilation of a cult built on false pretence1 flimsy hear-say evidence1 and the absurdity of accepting an optical illusion as a fact4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,investigations--,,wise ,,and ,,otherwise ,spiritualism has been the cause of much discussion between men of science1 men of magic1 and believers in the 8,spirit ,world40 ,countless investigations1 wise and otherwise1 have been held in most of the countries of the globe4 ,many of them have been made by fair-minded1 unbiased men2 men who delved deep into the unknown with a clear conscience and whether successful or not were willing to give the world the result of their probings4 ,men who were not afraid to admit that their experience was not sufficient to cope with the medium's skill and years of training and that they had been fooled4 ,but there have been other so-called investigators who have attended seances wishing to be fooled and as 8the wish is father of the thought0 they have been misled4 ,what these investigators see done and what they think they see done are in reality two entirely different things and by the time they start to write their experiences there are usually complications4 ,i rarely believe a full hundred per cent the explanations ,i hear or read4 ,it is to be said to the credit of the investigators that they do not deliberately make misstatements but the nature of the brain is such that it is almost impossible to avoid mal-observation and these mal-observations are the curse of investigation4 ,investigations under conditions favorable to the medium cannot be termed 8investigations40 ,they are nothing more than a demonstration of the medium's power to divert the attention1 carrying it at will to any place they wish and numbing the subconscious mind4 ,under such conditions they are not only able to delude the innocent and simple-minded but also men whose accomplishments have proven their intellects to be above the average4 ,when a medium is subjected to conditions which are1 to say the least1 disconcerting1 and the usual effects are not obtained1 almost invariably the claim is made that there are antagonistic waves and that the 8auras0 are bad1 and if1 as often happens1 the result is an unqualified expos and the medium's fall from power the followers of ,spiritualism usually put forth a statement saying the medium overstepped the bounds in trying to give results and resorted to trickery1 but that the majority of previous seances were genuine4 ,perhaps my ideas on the subject of how to conduct an investigation are wrong2 ,i am fully convinced1 however1 that the only way to conduct a successful one is to get the committee together previous to the seance1 discuss the expected manifestations1 formulate some plan for concerted action and if possible assign each member some specific part as was done in the case of ,palladino's fall4 ,these parts should be rehearsed and then when the seance is held there is a much greater possibility of the committee being able to judge intelligently4 ,but when scientists report some feat of legerdemain as being abnormal simply because they cannot detect the deception1 ,i think it is time to add to each investigating committee a successful and reputable professional mystifier1 and ,i might add that all mediums hate to have a magician attend a seance4 ,of the many investigations1 since the beginning of modern ,spiritualism1 ,i have selected a few of the most important and will try and show the reader the necessity of placing on investigating committees men who cannot be prejudiced or influenced by subdued lights or weird and mystifying sounds2 men who use their ,god-given gift of reason to the best of their ability2 men whose attention cannot be diverted by the medium2 men whose brain cells are versatile and not overdeveloped in one particular direction2 men who can pay strict attention to their commission and not be led astray by the glib-tongued medium's misdirection4 ,then we will have real investigations and the world at large will benefit4 ,a short time before his death ,henry ,seybert1 an enthusiastic ,spiritualist with a conscientious desire that ,spiritualism should be authentically established1 gave the ,university of ,pennsylvania sufficient money to establish a chair of ,philosophy on condition that a commission should be appointed to investigate 8all systems of morals1 ,religion or ,philosophy which assume to represent the truth and particularly modern ,spiritualism40 ,accordingly there were selected from among the doctors and professors of the ,university ten men to be known as the 8,seybert ,commission40 ,a fairer-minded and more impartial commission could not have been appointed4 ,each man had declared himself holding an open mind and ready to accept whatever there was evidence to prove1 but realizing 8that men eminent in intelligence and attainment yield to ,spiritualism an entire credence10 they felt that one could not 8fail to stand aside in tender reverence when crushed and bleeding hearts are seen to seek it for consolation and for hope40 ,in order to be amply prepared to do their work in an intelligent and understanding manner they provided themselves with the best literature of the day on the subject and such records of previous investigations as were available4 ,after a careful digest of all this information the ,commission was ready to begin its actual work in ,march1 #ahhd4 ,the entire ten men of the ,commission were willing to believe1 and their adviser1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,r4 ,hazard1 had been a personal friend of ,mr4 ,seybert and was known throughout the land as an uncompromising ,spiritualist40 ,the first medium to which the ,commission gave its attention was ,mrs4 ,s4 ,e4 ,patterson1 a slate writing mystifier and automatic writer4 ,the result of this first case was nil4 ,after waiting patiently an hour and a half for the spirits to move the meeting adjourned to the disappointment of all4 ,mr4 ,hazard was especially chagrined1 for the medium was considered 8one of the very best in the world40 ,she had given him a private sitting the evening before at which 8messages from the ,spirit of ,henry ,seybert came thick and fast10 but they declined to manifest for the ,commission4 ,this seance proved to be typical of all that fell to the lot of the ,seybert ,commission to investigate4 ,it continued its work for three years and investigated every case of importance which came before it4 ,one of these was ,margaret ,fox1 with whom the ,commission had two sittings and became convinced that the raps came from her person4 ,when she was told of its conclusion she admitted that the seances were not satisfactory but declined further sittings on the ground of ill health and because she doubted if more satisfactory results would follow and admitting that they might result in a 8confirmation0 of the ,commission's belief as to the cause of the raps4 ,many of the most prominent mediums of the day appeared before the ,commission during its three years of work4 ,some of them underwent a whole series of tests and the phenomena covered the whole gamut from simple rapping to spirit photography1 automatic and slate writing1 materialization1 etc4 ,in every case with but one exception the result was either a blank seance1 a positive failure1 or a deliberate cheat4 ,the exception was when ,mr4 ,harry ,kellar was called in as a magician to demonstrate his power as a slate writer4 ,the ,commission was successfully baffled1 not a single member being able to fathom his method until he explained it4 ,the ,commission carefully weighed all the evidence placed before it and formed its conclusions with such deliberation and thoroughness that the most critical on either side found no cause for objecting or saying that it was swayed or biased by any undue influence whatever4 ,it pursued its work on purely rational1 scientific lines1 strenuously avoiding all conditions which might be construed as conducive to doubtful conclusions4 ,it was looking for facts in a matter-of-fact way and as there was no opportunity for screening artifices no occult or psychic phenomena were proven to have existed4 ,as an evidence of the fairness with which the ,commission was considered to have done its work1 ,i quote the following letter to the ,commission from ,dr4 ,henry ,slade4 8,no4 #aa ,e4 #acth ,street1 ,n4 ,y41 ,feb4 #d1 #ahhe4 8,dear ,mr4 ,furness3--,i take this opportunity to express to you1 and through you to the other members of the ,seybert ,commission1 my hearty approval of the course pursued by them in their investigation of phenomena occurring in my presence4 ,fully realizing that ,i am only the instrument or channel through which these manifestations are produced1 it would be presumption on my part to undertake to lay down a line to be followed by the unseen intelligence1 whose servant ,i am4 ,hence ,i did say their conditions must be acceded to or ,i would return to ,new ,york4 ,that they did so1 is evident to my mind from the results obtained1 which ,i regard as a necessary preliminary to a continuation1 when other experiments may be introduced with better prospects of success4 ,it may be well not to insist on following the exact course followed by ,professor ,zollner1 but leave it open to original or impromptu suggestions that may be adopted without previous consideration1 which1 if successful1 would be of equal value as evidence of its genuineness1 at the same time give greater breadth to the experiments4 ,in conclusion1 allow me to say that in the event the ,committee desires to continue these experiments through another series of sittings with me1 it will give me pleasure to enter into arrangements for that purpose4 8,very truly yours1 8,henry ,slade40 ,if all the investigators were to adopt the rational methods of the ,seybert ,commission they might easily discover the truth and no longer submit to imposition by charlatans nor aid and abet them by accepting as true the claims made by a class which they admit is of a low type1 dishonest1 and otherwise disreputable4 ,if sincere1 they would assist in all reasonable attempts to detect fraud and not accept the irrational pretext that light and touch are detrimental to the health or life of a medium4 ,following in the footsteps of the ,seybert ,commission the ,society for ,psychical ,research was organized in ,america and ,england for the purpose of investigating all so-called phenomena and freak occurrences not easily accountable for by natural law and in spite of the following message which it is claimed was sent by the spirit of the late ,william ,walker1 ,president of the ,buxton ,camera ,club1 to the ,crewe ,circle1 ,i believe they are doing good work4 8,dear ,friends of the ,circle1#aje 8,i would not spend a moment with the ,psychical ,research ,society1 because they are nothing more or less than fraud hunters and ,i want you to come to ,buxton for a sitting with ,mrs4 ,walker1 #c1 ,palace ,rd41 about the #hth1 #ith1 of ,aug4 ,then the spirit friends can further demonstrate the wondrous powers which to-day are needed more than ever4 ,peace be with you4 8,yours faithfully1 8,w4 ,walker40 ,the membership of these societies is made up of men and women who have a certain degree of scientific training1 all classes of scholarship and all professions being represented4 ,as a consequence the investigations have been most exhaustive and carried out by persons especially qualified for the work1 but the results have been most emphatically against a belief in the return of a soul after death in the guise of a spirit or the occurrence of anything supernatural at the bidding of a medium4 ,naturally1 we might not expect a general agreement among a group of scientific scholars who had entered the field of research from different points of view1 but ,i believe ,i can say without fear of contradiction1 that of all who have undertaken the task without prejudice the majority agree in the opinion that all phenomena ascribed to spirit power developed through1 and presented by1 a medium1 are without foundation in fact1 and that the result of their investigations has agreed perfectly with the findings of the ,seybert ,commission4 ,in ,january1 #ahfi1 the ,london ,dialectical ,society appointed a committee with thirty-three members to investigate the phenomena alleged to be ,spiritual manifestations and to report on its findings4 ,professor ,huxley1 ,professor ,john ,tyndall1 and ,mr4 ,george ,henry ,lewes1 were invited to co-operate with the ,committee4 ,professor ,huxley refused to have anything to do with the investigation and in the following letter1 written in answer to the ,committee's invitation1 he terms ,spiritualism a 8gross imposture40#ajf 8,sir1--,i regret that ,i am unable to accept the invitation of the ,council of the ,dialectical ,society to co-operate with a ,committee for the investigation of #8,spiritualism'1 and for two reasons4 ,in the first place1 ,i have no time for such an inquiry1 which would involve much trouble and 7unless it were unlike all inquiries of that kind ,i have known7 much annoyance4 ,in the second place1 ,i take no interest in the subject4 ,the only case of #8,spiritualism' ,i have had the opportunity of examining into for myself was as gross an imposture as ever came under my notice4 ,but supposing the phenomena to be genuine--they do not interest me4 ,if anybody would endow me with the faculty of listening to the chatter of old women and curates in the nearest cathedral town1 ,i would decline the privilege1 having better things to do4 8,and if the folk in the ,spiritual world do not talk more wisely and sensibly than their friends report them to do1 ,i put them in the same category4 8,the only good that ,i can see in a demonstration of the truth of #8,spiritualism' is to furnish an additional argument against suicide4 ,better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a #8medium' hired at a guinea a seance4 8,i am1 ,sir1 c41 8,t4 ,h4 ,huxley40 8#bith ,january1 #ahfi40 ,a few days later ,mr4 ,lewes declined the ,committee's invitation as follows3 8,dear ,sir1--,i shall not be able to attend the investigation of #8,spiritualism'2 and in reference to your question about suggestions would only say that the one hint needful is that all present should distinguish between facts and inferences from facts4 ,when any man says that phenomena are produced by no known physical laws1 he declares that he knows the laws by which they are produced4 8,yours1 c41 8,g4 ,h4 ,lewes4 8,tuesday1 #bnd ,february1 #ahfi40 ,under date of ,december #bb1 #ahfi1 ,professor ,tyndall wrote the following in response to his invitation to aid the ,committee4 8,sir--,you mention in your note to me three gentlemen1 two of whom are personally known to me1 and for both of whom ,i entertain a sincere esteem4 8,the house of one of these1 namely ,mr4 ,wallace1 ,i have already visited1 and made there the acquaintance of the lady who was the reputed medium between ,mr4 ,wallace and the supernatural4 8,and if earnestly invited by ,mr4 ,crookes1 the editor of the #8,chemical ,news1' to witness phenomena which in his opinion #8tend to demonstrate the existence of some power 7magnetic or otherwise7 which has not yet been recognized by men of science1' ,i should pay due respect to his invitation4 8,but understand my position3 more than a year ago ,mr4 ,cromwell ,varley1 who is1 ,i believe1 one of the greatest modern ,spiritualists1 did me the favor to pay me a visit1 and he then employed a comparison which1 though flattering to my spiritual strength1 seems to mark me out as unfit for spiritual investigation4 ,he said that my presence at a seance resembled that of a great magnet among a number of small ones4 ,i throw all into confusion4 ,still he expressed a hope that arrangements might be made to show me the phenomena1 and ,i expressed my willingness to witness such things as ,mr4 ,varley might think worth showing to me4 ,i have not since been favored by a visit from ,mr4 ,varley4 8,i am now perfectly willing to accept the personal invitation of ,mr4 ,crookes1 should he consider that he can show me phenomena of the character you describe4 8,i am1 sir1 your obedient servant1 8,john ,tyndall40 8,g4 ,w4 ,bennett1 ,esq40 ,unlike the ,seybert ,commission1 which made a formal report to the ,university of ,pennsylvania immediately on the completion of its work1 the ,committee of the ,dialectical ,society which was appointed in #ahfi did not make any report until #ahgg and then only what seems to be a garbled report of sub-committees4 ,the ,spiritual ,magazine in #ahgj commented on this lack of a report as follows3 8,where is the report of the ,dialectical ,society8 ,this is the question which many people are asking1 but to which no one seems prepared to give a satisfactory reply4 ,has this ,report1 which was to settle the question of ,spiritualism1 only unsettled the ,dialectical ,society--causing1 as we learn1 some of its principal officers and members to secede from it on finding that the investigations of the ,committee pointed in a different way to what they anticipated1 and to which they had committed themselves8 ,people ask--,have the ,committee come to an opinion on the subject or have they too many opinions80 ,the only information ,i have come in contact with referring to the ,dialectical ,committee and its work has been from ,spiritualistic publications1 most of them under authorship of ,mr4 ,james ,burns1 and ,i copy the following from 8,the ,medium and ,daybreak0 of ,november #af1 #ahgg3 8,objection has been taken in some quarters to the fact that the ,society itself did not publish the ,report1 but left the matter of the publication as an open question to its ,committee40 ,again3 on the #bjth of ,july1 #ahgj1 the council passed a resolution--8that the request of the ,committee1 that the ,report be printed under the authority of the ,society1 be not acceded to40 ,the exact nature of the work done by the ,dialectical ,society's ,committee can be summed up by another extract from the same issue of 8,the ,medium and ,daybreak03 8,in due time the ,committee presented to the ,council the ,general and ,sub-,reports1 supplementing the same by a voluminous mass of evidence taken directly from the lips of ,spiritualists practically acquainted with the subject--persons of the highest respectability and representing nearly every grade of society40 7,the italics are mine47 ,another element of discord in the ,dialectical investigation is shown by the following3 8,attempt has been made1 of course1 to undervalue these telling researches4 ,the non-successful ,committees have been brought gleefully into prominence1 in hope that positive results obtained by the successful ,committees might thereby be discredited40 ,it seems to be a published fact that this movement on the part of the ,dialectical ,society resulted in much discord amounting to a split in the ,society4 ,mr4 ,burns in his editorial column of the 8,medium and ,daybreak0 says3 8,our present issue affords an important and valuable addition to the cheap literature of ,spiritualism4 ,it is filled with useful matter for investigators1 judiciously extracted from the ,report of the ,london ,dialectical ,society40 7,my italics47 ,the supporters of ,spiritualism lay great stress and importance on the fact that a few of their co-workers are men prominent in scientific and literary circles1 but these are in such a minority1 when compared with men of the same time who do not co-operate1 that the ,spiritualists in order to give force and dignity to their argument 8ring the changes0 on these few names and keep them prominently to the front1 notwithstanding that it has been proven beyond question1 time and again1 that these sages themselves have frequently been the victims of fraudulent mediums1 sometimes knowingly4 ,doyle in his book 8,the ,new ,revelation0 says3 8,the days are surely passing when the mature and considerate opinions of such men 444 can be dismissed with the empty #8all rot' or #8nauseating drivel' formul40 ,perhaps the most prominent man in this respect and whose conclusions1 especially in his later years1 were pointed to by ,spiritualists as being beyond dispute was the eminent chemist1 ,sir ,william ,crookes4 ,he became intensely interested in ,spiritualistic research work as early as #ahgj and for the first four years devoted most of his attention to ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 who seemed successful in baffling ,crookes' super-knowledge of scientific investigation4 ,in #ahgd he turned his attention to ,florrie ,cook1 a fifteen year old medium who had been commanding attention for about three years4 ,she seems to have captivated him within the first month to such an extent that he went to her defense in print after a 8disgraceful occurrence0 had given rise to a 8controversy10 after which he entertained her at his house4 ,the most convincing test1 though1 took place at her home in ,hackney4 ,in ,february1 #ahgd1 he wrote3 8,these seances have not been going on many weeks but enough has taken place to thoroughly convince me of the perfect truth and honesty of ,miss ,cook1 and to give me every reason to expect that the promises so freely made to me by ,katie will be kept4 ,all ,i now ask is that your readers will not hastily assume that everything which is prima facie suspicious necessarily implies deception1 and that they will suspend their judgment until they hear from me again on this subject40 ,it was not long1 evidently1 before the scientist awoke from his dream1 for on ,august #ast1 #ahgd1 he wrote to a ,russian lady that after four years of investigation1 including months of experience with ,home1 ,katie ,fox1 and ,florence ,cook1 he found 8no satisfactory proof that the dead can return and communicate40 ,a copy of this letter was sent by ,aksakoff to ,light1 and was published in that journal on ,may #ab1 #aijj4 8,sir ,w4 ,crookes did not dissent40#ajg ,sometime along about #ahge forty-four photographic negatives which he had made of ,katie ,king and her medium1 ,florrie ,cook1 together with what prints he had1 were1 for some reason not given1 accidentally destroyed and he forbade friends who had copies to reproduce them4 ,he must have made some sort of a discovery for he 8buried himself in a sulky silence which he would not break0 for forty years4 8,no one knew whether he was a ,spiritualist or not10 his only statement being that 8in all his ,spiritualistic research he had #8come to a brick wall4'0#ajh ,in #aiad when asked plainly if he were a ,spiritualist 8he evaded the question40 ,perhaps the change in his opinions came over him when he learned that ,florence ,cook 7who became ,mrs4 ,corner7 was exposed#aji on a continental tour and sent back disgraced4 ,but in #aiaf1 notwithstanding his statement in #aijj and other previous statements1 he went on record in the ,december #ith issue of ,light as accepting ,spiritualism4 ,all of this stands as proof that ,professor ,crookes1 even after he was knighted1 was of a vacillating mind and for some reason seemed to be deficient in rational methods of discovering the truth1 or at least disinclined to put them in force outside of his particular line of science4 ,possibly1 one of the convincing proofs to him may have been the 8tricks0 played on him by ,annie ,eva ,fay1 for if ,i am not in error his failure to detect her trickery was the turning point which brought him to a belief in ,spiritualism4 ,she told me that when ,maskelyne1 the magician1 came out with an expos of her work she was forced to resort to strategy4 ,going to the home of ,professor ,crookes she threw herself on his mercy and gave a series of special tests4 ,with flashing eyes she told of taking advantage of him4 ,it appears that she had but one chance in the world to get by the galvanometer#aaj but by some stroke of luck for her and an evil chance for ,professor ,crookes1 the electric light went out for a second at the theatre at which she was performing1 and she availed herself of the opportunity to fool him4 ,one of the tests was duplicated by ,professor ,harry ,cooke1 a magician4 ,there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that this brainy man was hoodwinked1 and that his confidence was betrayed by the so-called mediums that he tested4 ,his powers of observation were blinded and his reasoning faculties so blunted by his prejudice in favor of anything psychic or occult that he could not1 or would not1 resist the influence4#aaa ,this seems more difficult to comprehend when one remembers that he did not accept ,spiritualism in full until he was nearing the end of his earthly career4 ,the weakness and unreliability of ,sir ,william's judgment as an investigator is further proved by the fact that he admitted that many of the tests he proposed were rejected by the mediums he was investigating4 ,such conditions made the test impossible and he did not seem to realize it1 but notwithstanding all this he is one of the most quoted authorities in ,spiritualistic realms1 particularly by ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle4 ,another who was misled by the chicanery of mediums which he investigated during many years of research is ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4 ,he failed to find sufficient evidence to prompt him to spread the teachings of ,spiritualism until #aijd1 after which he occasionally sent a 8glow through the ,spiritualistic world by some bold profession of belief40 ,in #aije he was not quite ready to endorse but strongly commended mediums4 ,but by #aiaf he had become 8the great scientist of the movement1 the link between the popular belief and scientific theory40 ,it is extremely difficult1 however1 to understand how a leading scientist can permit his pen to lay before a thinking world such inconsistent impossibilities as the following3 8,a table can exhibit hesitation1 it can seek for information1 it can welcome a newcomer1 it can indicate joy or sorrow1 fun or gravity1 it can keep time with a song as if joining in the chorus and most notably of all it can exhibit affection in an unmistakable manner40 ,what has all this to do with the spirit of the departed8 ,how is it possible to accept such silly nonsense8 ,think of it6 ,a table with intelligence1 brains--a table with consciousness--a table with emotion4 ,yet that is the sort of reasoning used by ,sir ,oliver in his book 8,raymond0 and it is acceptable to all enthusiastic advocates of occult teaching4 ,when we read of a mind of such high culture being overcome by such misfortune we are moved to compassion rather than censure and can only conjecture that the loss of his beloved son1 ,raymond1 in an accursed war was the cause of it4 ,margaret ,deland wrote3 8,as for the scientific value of the evidence submitted by ,sir ,oliver1 one must not lose sight of the fact that by far the greater part of it is from the experience of others and accepted by him as established facts1 in many cases with little or no investigation as applied to telepathy4 ,by following his career1 one familiar with the psychology of deception will see that he has been an exceptionally #8easy mark4'0 ,in describing a private performance of what is known among magicians as 8long-distance second-sight10 after detailing the tests in full1 ,sir ,oliver writes3 8,as regards collusion and trickery1 no one who has witnessed the absolutely genuine and artless manner in which the impressions are described1 but has been perfectly convinced of the transparent honesty of all concerned4 8,this1 however1 is not evidence to those who have not been present1 and to them ,i can only say that to the best of my scientific belief1 no collusion or trickery was possible under the varied circumstances of the experiments40 ,from the above1 the reader may form his own opinion as to the value of ,sir ,oliver ,lodge's investigation1 and at the same time should bear in mind that his so-called investigation is typical of all the investigations by scientists and sages who have accepted ,spiritualism as a fact or a religion 7874 ,the remaining figure of this type most conspicuously in the spotlight on the ,spiritualistic stage at the present time is my esteemed friend1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle4 ,very much like ,sir ,oliver1 his opinion hung in the balance during many years of investigation1 some thirty or thirty-five1 and it is significant that he did not manifest his deep concern in the cult until he too1 like ,sir ,oliver1 had lost a son in the late war and his heartstrings had been wrung by a similar grief4 ,in 8,the ,new ,revelation10 which was written after he had lost his son1 he tells us that for thirty years he had studied the subject of ,spiritualism 8carelessly10 then suddenly in a crisis of emotion1#aab he sees a possible balm in it1 but instead of realizing that this was1 or should be1 the time for real investigation1 he threw up his hands with the cry3 8,the objective side of it ceased to interest1 for having made up one's mind that it was true there was an end of the matter40#aac ,it is evident from his own confession that he decided to accept ,spiritualism regardless of any real revelation that might present itself at a future time and the fact that he did cease intelligent investigation is proved by his own published statements quoted below4 ,in a letter in the ,new ,york ,evening ,mail1 ,dec4 #bi1 #aiba1 he says3 8,i don't need scientific proof of what ,i hear with my own ears1 see with my own eyes4 ,nobody does4 ,this is one of the fine things about ,spiritualism4 ,each person can prove it for himself4 ,it proves immortality and the better you live here1 the further you'll go there1 progressing finally to the perfect state40 ,in the ,new ,york ,world1 ,june #bb1 #aibb1 he says3 8,that mediums ,i have recommended have been convicted of fraud2 any medium may be convicted1 because the mere fact of being a medium is illegal by our benighted laws1 but no medium ,i have ever recommended has been shown to be fraudulent in a sense which would be accepted by any real psychic student4#aad ,this same applies ,i believe to mediums recommended by ,sir ,oliver ,lodge40#aae ,in connection with his corroboration of ,sir ,oliver's opinion about mediums ,sir ,arthur is reported to have said3 8,sir ,oliver is too damn scientific40 ,and the ,new ,york ,world of ,june #crd1 #aibb1 quotes him as saying3 8,most mediums take their responsibilities very seriously and view their work in a religious light4 ,a temptation to which several great mediums have succumbed is that of drink4 ,this comes about in a very natural way1 for overworking leaves them in a state of physical prostration and the stimulus of alcohol affords a welcome relief and may tend at last to become a custom and finally a curse4#aaf ,alcoholism always weakens the moral sense1 so that these degenerate mediums yield themselves more readily to fraud4 ,tippling and moral degeneration are by no means confined to psychics4 8,far from being antagonistic to religion1 this psychic movement is destined to revivify religion4 ,we come upon what is sane1 what is moderate1 what is reasonable1 what is consistent with gradual evolution and the benevolence of ,god4 ,this new wave of inspiration has been sent into the world by ,god40 ,i will not1 at this time1 dissect and analyze the above statements1 preferring to let the reader decide for himself after reading them over carefully and digesting their literal meaning4 ,it is sufficient to direct attention to the various contradictory statements and variance in the subjects of law1 morality1 and religion1 and their application to the subject of ,spiritualism4 ,sir ,arthur is reported as saying that mediumship is like an ear for music and might exist in 8some vulgar person10 but that the medium is only a carrier of messages comparable to the boy who delivers telegrams4 ,from the foregoing excerpts of ,sir ,arthur's own statements it will be seen that he depends solely on his senses of seeing and hearing 7the two weakest and most easily deceived7 for his evidence4 ,when once a medium has his confidence he believes implicitly what the medium tells him1 accepts their 8hear-say evidence0 as gospel truth1 notwithstanding that he admits they are possibly of a vulgar1 dishonest class1 often addicted to alcoholism to a degree of debauchery4 ,it is extremely difficult to harmonize these statements4 ,as to the sense of sight coupled to the sense of hearing3 while at ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 ,sir ,arthur had a 8sitting0 with the ,zancigs and after witnessing phenomena at their expert hands and minds1 he gave them a letter of which the following is a transcript3 8,i have tested ,professor and ,mrs4 ,zancig to-day and am quite assured that their remarkable performance1 as ,i saw it1 was due to psychic causes 7thought transference7 and not to trickery4 7,signed7 8,arthur ,conan ,doyle40 ,mr4 ,jules ,zancig is a magician1 a member of the ,society of ,american ,magicians of which ,i have been the ,president for the past seven years4 ,i believe he is one of the greatest second-sight artists that magical history records4 ,in my researches for the past quarter of a century ,i have failed to trace anyone his superior4 ,his system seems to be supreme4 ,he never at any time claimed telepathy and as he has not1 to my knowledge1 obtained money by pretending telepathy or spirit presentations1 it would not be fair to disclose his methods despite the fact that ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle put the stamp of genuineness on his work4 ,undoubtedly it appeared unfathomable to ,sir ,arthur and he therefore concluded that it was psychic and that there could be no other solution4 ,mal-observation is responsible for a lot of misunderstanding1 consequently misrepresentation1 and as a result much investigation is rendered valueless4 ,such misrepresentation is not intended to deceive but is an honest expression of a conviction based on supposed facts by persons unaware that they are victims of illusion4 ,one of the most1 if not the most1 flagrant instances of mal-observation ,i have ever known of is told of in a book by ,j4 ,hewat ,mc,kenzie1 ,president of the ,british ,college of ,psychic ,science1 entitled 8,spirit ,intercourse40 ,on page #ajg he says3 8,houdini1 called the #8,handcuff ,king1' who has so ably demonstrated his powers upon public-hall platforms is enabled by psychic power 7though this he does not advertise71 to open lock1 handcuff1 or bolt that is submitted to him4 ,he has been imprisoned within heavily barred cells1 doubly and trebly locked1 and from them all he escaped with ease4 ,this ability to unbolt locked doors is undoubtedly due to his mediumistic powers1 and not to any normal mechanical operation on the lock4 ,the force necessary to shoot a bolt within a lock is drawn from ,houdini the medium1 but it must not be thought that this is the only means by which he can escape from his prison1 for at times his body has been dematerialized and withdrawn1 but this will be treated in another part of this chapter40 ,as ,i am the one most deeply concerned in this charge ,i am also the best equipped to deny such erroneous statements4 ,i do claim to free myself from the restraint of fetters and confinement1 but positively state that ,i accomplish my purpose purely by physical1 not psychical means4 ,the force necessary to 8shoot a bolt within a lock10 is drawn from ,houdini the living human being and not a medium4 ,my methods are perfectly natural1 resting on natural laws of physics4 ,i do not dematerialize or materialize anything2 ,i simply control and manipulate material things in a manner perfectly well understood by myself1 and thoroughly accountable for and equally understandable 7if not duplicable7 by any person to whom ,i may elect to divulge my secrets4 ,but ,i hope to carry these secrets to the grave as they are of no material benefit to mankind1 and if they should be used by dishonest persons they might become a serious detriment4 ,on page #aab of his book ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie again refers to me saying3 8,houdini of world wide fame1 previously mentioned1 has for years demonstrated dematerialization1 and the passage of matter through matter upon the public platform1 while ,mrs4 ,thompson of ,america1 has demonstrated materialization4 ,mrs4 ,zancig has1 with her husband1 publicly exhibited her psychic gift1 called #8thought transference1' which is purely soul projection1 in all the leading world centres4 ,miss ,fay1 and several well known ,japanese mediums1 for years demonstrated the passage of matter through matter1 and also materialization4 ,these are only a few of the many who might be mentioned1 who demonstrate psychic gifts before the public4 ,such public mediums do not1 of course1 advertise themselves as performing their wonders by occult powers1 or through the help of spirits1 and the public are therefore left in ignorance of how they perform their marvelous tricks1 as they are called4 ,the author has tested each of those mentioned1 by a personal experiment from the stage1 and several also in private1 and can testify that they are mediums1 performing most1 if not all of their great wonders by spirit agency4 ,they are naturally reluctant to acknowledge the fact1 for the music-hall public would instantly resent any claims they might make that they performed their wonders by spirit power4 ,their audiences would regard such claims as #8bunkum1' and probably subject them to insult1 if not to ill treatment1 for the general public are entirely ignorant of such possibilities in the manipulation of psychical matter as related in this book1 which a medium can develop with the co-operation of spirit entities4 ,it can be left to the reader's imagination to picture the face of a music-hall manager if he were asked to allow upon the stage a demonstration of spirit powers4 ,horrors6 ,the poor man would not be able to sleep for nights if he thought ghosts were working around his buildings or upon his stage4 ,thus1 knowing the attitude of men toward such things these wonders of wonders are produced upon the music-hall stage as clever #8mystery' tricks4 ,the author does not wish his readers to suppose that the mechanical sleight-of-hand tricks carried out by ,maskelyne and ,devant and similar operators1 have anything to do with the mediumistic gift1 for they are a mechanical copy of true magic4 ,these tricks are performed with tons of machinery1 whereas the genuine medium can produce his wonders1 if necessary1 naked and in an empty room4 8,the last occasion on which the author1 under strict test conditions saw ,houdini demonstrate his powers of dematerialization1 was before thousands1 upon the public stage of the ,grand ,theatre1 ,islington1 ,london4 ,here a small iron tank1 filled with water1 was deposited upon the stage1 and in it ,houdini was placed1 the water completely covering his body4 ,over this was placed an iron lid with three hasps and staples1 and these were securely locked4 ,the body was then completely dematerialized within this tank within one and a half minutes1 while the author stood immediately over it4 ,without disturbing any of the locks1 ,houdini was transferred from the tank direct to the back of the stage in a dematerialized state4 ,he was there materialized1 and returned to the stage front1 dripping with water1 and attired in the blue jersey suit in which he entered the tank4 ,from the time that he entered it to his appearance on the stage only one and a half minutes had expired4 ,while the author stood adjacent to the tank1 during the dematerialization process1 a great loss of physical energy was felt by him1 such as is usually experienced by sitters in materializing seances1 who have a good stock of vital energy1 as in such phenomena1 a large amount of energy is required4 ,dematerialization is performed by methods similar in operation to those in which the psycho-plastic essence is drawn from the medium4 ,the body of the medium may be reduced to half its ordinary weight in the materializing room1 but in the case of dematerialization the essence continues to be drawn until the whole physical body vanishes1 and the substance composing it is held in suspension within the atmosphere1 much in the same way as moisture is held by evaporation4 ,while in this state1 ,houdini was transferred from the stage to the retiring room behind1 and there almost instantaneously materialized4 ,the speed with which this dematerialization was performed is much more rapid than is possible in the materializing seance room1 where time is required for the essence to be crystallized into psycho-plastic matter4 ,not only was ,houdini's body dematerialized1 but it was carried through the locked iron tank1 thus demonstrating the passage of matter through matter4 ,this startling manifestation of one of nature's profoundest miracles was probably regarded by most of the audience as a very clever trick40 ,with the indulgence of the reader1 ,i may be pardoned perhaps1 if ,i insist that it is just what ,i claim it to be--simply a superior trick4 ,the effect is original with me and was invented in the course of my professional career as a public entertainer1 for the sole purpose of entertaining audiences by mystifying them4 ,my success seems to be attested by ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie in his acknowledgment that he was deceived into the belief as to my mediumistic powers2 that ,i dematerialized my body and material substance1 and materialized these things1 so restoring them to a normal condition4 ,in rebuttal of this misconception ,i can only say that it is a demonstration of mal-observation2 there was nothing supernatural in my performance4 ,if ,i really possessed such abnormal powers as ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie credits me with1 ,i should be only too ready to prove it for the enlightenment of a waiting world4 ,i disagree with ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie that such acknowledgment would displease the 8music-hall0 or theatrical managers2 on the contrary ,i am sure they would gladly open their stages to the demonstration and regard it as good management and showmanship4 ,as to the performance of ,mrs4 ,thompson of ,america1 and ,miss ,fay their work is no more psychic than mine4 ,it is simply another phase of magical deception1 and ,i stand ready to reproduce such performances in an emergency4 ,regarding the personally conducted tests of my work1 by ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie1 he did no more or less than all my committees are privileged to do while on the stage during my acts4 ,just as all ,spiritualist believers do1 so ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie relied on what he thought he saw1 and therefore failed to affirm or negative his misguided and misdirected vision by rational application of his conscious intelligence4 ,had he brought his reasoning faculties to bear1 as all sincere1 unbiased investigators should1 he would have discovered the utter inconsistency of his deductions and never have gone on record as the author of such folly1 without a particle of real evidence with which to substantiate his claim4 ,dr4 ,crawford1 whose life was devoted to scientific pursuit and research1 gave the last three years of his life to investigating occult or psychic phenomena1 and failed utterly4 ,his mind became impaired and he ended his own life by suicide1 acknowledging that his brain was overtaxed with abstruse problems4 ,he was so completely nonplussed and befuddled by the tricks of the ,goligher family1 that he gave them publicity as being genuine mediums2 and the unfortunate man died without discovering his own weakness and error4 ,had he retained his mental balance a year or two longer1 he would have been disillusioned by his co-worker in science1 my friend ,mr4 ,e4 ,e4 ,fournier d',albe1 the result of whose investigation is to be found elsewhere in this volume4 ,the unsuccessful investigations of those ,i have referred to are typical of all ,i have come in contact with or have learned of1 and the barrier to their success has been their perfect willingness to be deceived4 ,they agree to and tolerate the most absurd propositions as to the conditions under which the so-called investigations are conducted2 just as they are fixed by the mediums themselves4 ,they acquiesce in and assist the medium to produce results1 and accept such results as conclusive evidence of the supernatural4 ,what does it all mean8 ,what importance can be attached to any one of these supposed phenomena as proof of the return of departed spirits8 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,how ,,mediums ,,obtain ,,information ,we read in the newspapers of some payroll bandit who holds up the paymaster of a big concern and steals thousands of dollars1 or of burglars entering homes and stores and breaking open safes and taking valuable loot1 but these cases which we read of are nothing in comparison to some of the news which never reaches our ears1 news of mediums who1 because resourceful in obtaining information have made millions of dollars2 blood money made at the cost of torture to the souls of their victims4 ,suppose a medium comes to your town4 ,he advertises a private seance4 ,like the average person you are curious and wish to be told things about yourself which you honestly believe no one in the world knows not even your most intimate friend4 ,perhaps you would like to learn some facts about a business deal1 or know what is to be the outcome of a love affair1 or it may be that you seek the comfort and solace that one is hungry for after the death of a near one4 ,you go to this medium and are astounded by the things which are told you about yourself4 ,i do not claim that ,i can explain all the methods used by mediums to obtain this knowledge4 ,a reader might attend a seance where the medium would use altogether different means to get the facts1 but ,i am familiar with a great many of the methods of these human vultures4 ,i think though that it is an insult to that scavenger of scavengers to compare such human beings to him but there is1 to my mind1 no other fit comparison4 ,the stock-in-trade of these frauds is the amount of knowledge they can obtain4 ,it is invaluable and they will stop at nothing to gain it4 ,they will tabulate the death notices in the newspapers2 index the births and follow up the engagement and marriage notices2 employ young men to attend social affairs and mix intimately with the guests1 particularly the women4 ,it is seldom that one of these mediums will see a person the day he calls but will postpone the seance from a day or two to a week or more4 ,as the person leaves the building he is followed by one of the medium's confederates who gathers enough information about him to make the medium's powers convincing when the seance is held4 ,it is a common occurrence for mediums of this stamp to hunt through the court records of property and mortgages4 ,cases have been known where they have employed men to read proof sheets in the press rooms of newspapers to find material with which to 8foretell0 events at seances4 ,they frequently tap telephone wires4 ,it is customary for these mediums to search letter boxes1 steam open the letters1 and make copies for future use4 ,they have been known to buy the old letters sold to paper mills by big concerns1 one useful letter1 out of a ton of rubbish1 being enough to pay them a great profit4 ,it is also a common thing for mediums to 8plant0 assistants as waiters in restaurants for the purpose of overhearing conversation1 especially in restaurants of the better class1 business clubs1 and luncheon clubs1 where men of note freely discuss their plans and secrets1 and in the 8gilded lobster palaces0 of ,broadway and many hotel cabarets in other towns there are men who check and tabulate the good spenders and who in one way or another1 usually when the victims are under the influence of drink1 get into their confidence and secure information which is sold for money4 ,my attention was called to a case where it was said that a medium 8planted0 clerks in a ,metropolitan hotel who would open1 read1 and re-seal the letters of guests4 ,the medium was also able to get girls at the switchboard who intercepted messages and made a typewritten record of telephone conversations for him4 ,in many apartment houses the elevator boys1 superintendents and servants are bribed to make a daily report of the inside happenings of the house4 ,most of the mediums work in the dark and many of them have employed expert pickpockets who cleverly take from the sitters' pockets letters1 names1 memorandums1 etc41 while they are being interviewed4 ,these are passed to the medium who tells the sitter more or less of their contents4 ,having served their purpose they are returned to the pockets of the sitter who1 none the wiser1 goes out to help spread reports of the medium's wonderful ability4 ,mediums' campaigns are planned a long time ahead4 ,they make trips on steamers gathering1 tabulating and indexing for future reference the information to be overheard in the intimate stories and morsels of scandals exchanged in the smoking rooms1 card rooms1 and ladies' salons4 ,a man in a confidential moment told some very intimate secrets of his business to a chance traveling acquaintance while they sat in the smoking compartment of a ,pullman car4 ,unfortunately for him this acquaintance belonged to an unscrupulous gang of mediums who used the information to blackmail him4 ,these gangs of clairvoyant blackmailers will stop at nothing4 ,they will move into the apartment house in which their victim lives and watch his habits4 ,when sure of ample time they will break into his rooms1 not to steal valuables1 but information which nets them far more than the small amount of diamonds and cash which they might snatch4 ,if it is possible to steal the records of great political parties how much easier to steal the secret papers of a family4 ,if you doubt that information leaks out look up some of the cases that have been brought to the attention of the courts2 cases where papers from secret organizations were missing2 where the most intimate documents have been given publicity4 ,such information is far more difficult to obtain than the records of the dead4 ,the ,bar ,association protects its reputation by weeding out lawyers who prey on clients but it cannot so easily discover a dishonest employee in a lawyer's office who takes advantage of information which he knows to be sacred and secret4 ,mediums are especially desirous of keeping in touch with disgruntled employees4 ,there is no limit to what they will do4 ,they have been known to arrange for the employment of accomplices as domestics and chauffeurs in families where they were particularly anxious to get information and have frequently had dictagraphs placed in homes by fake or disloyal servants and after a month or so of tabulating secrets and information were prepared for a seance at which the sitters could only account for the amazing things told them by believing the medium had occult aid4 ,the result was an unqualified confidence in the mediumistic powers which in the end cost the sitters an exorbitant sum4 ,i heard of a medium who employed a quiet couple for the express purpose of attending funerals1 mixing with the mourners1 and gathering information which was eventually turned into gold1 and what is known as a 8sure-fire0 method is to dress some little woman demurely and place her in the reception room where she greets the visitors1 telling them her troubles and naturally receiving their confidences in return4 ,i have even known of two cases in which these human wolves1 apparently out of the kindness of their hearts1 sent girls to a young ladies' seminary where they were able to wheedle from their roommates secrets which caused the loss of several fortunes4 ,one of the biggest scoops and one that is talked of in hushed tones even among the fraud fraternity is that of an old-time circus grafter who1 having been cleaned out in ,wall ,street1 was at his wits' ends to make a living4 ,one evening1 tired and weary from a day's unsuccessful efforts to find honest employment1 he overheard his two daughters discussing a bit of scandal they had listened to in the hairdressing parlor where they were employed and which compromised a prominent society woman's name4 ,the old man pricked up his ears1 recognized the possibilities1 and a very short time after invested what little capital he had and all he could borrow in a beauty parlor and with the information it furnished him through the aid of his wife and daughters he was able to set himself up as a medium1 the venture yielding handsomely the first year4 ,a most novel method of obtaining information was devised by a man who decided after listening to the conversation in a ,turkish bath to open one himself4 ,most of his attendants were accomplices and while the patrons were enjoying the bath their clothes were searched1 letters opened and signatures traced4 ,the end of the first year found him enjoying a country home in an aristocratic neighborhood4 ,during one of my engagements in ,berlin1 ,germany1 ,i made the acquaintance of the foreman of a safe factory who told me that he made a duplicate key#aag for every safe which passed through his hands and that he sold these keys to mediums but with the express understanding that there should be nothing stolen4 ,the mediums assured him that all they wanted was an opportunity to read the mail and private papers which the safes contained4 ,i have known of a number of cases in which the medium used a drug addict to secure information giving the poor tortured creature his necessary drug only in return for facts he wanted1 knowing that when the addict was suffering for the drug's stimulus he would stop at nothing to secure it4 ,in small towns 8,bible sellers0 have sometimes been employed who were able to get exact dates1 names1 and birth places which were eventually used in some form4 ,men employed by mediums to gather information are often disguised as agents4 ,one in particular ,i know of who goes from house to house trying to sell typewriters and washing machines on the installment plan4 ,even if he does not make a sale he can at least engage the lady of the house in conversation1 drawing on her sympathy by telling of the trials and tribulations of a canvasser and a pitiful tale of how he was driven to such work and in return usually receiving the particulars of some similar case among her friends or relatives4 ,information which is carefully saved for use in the future4 ,it has been necessary for the ,united ,states ,government to assign special men to break up a band of fake census enumerators1 which1 going from neighborhood to neighborhood1 secures complete family histories which are later sold to mediums for large sums of money4 ,one of the most interesting cases ,i have heard of lately is that of a young man who was greatly in debt and sought the advice of a medium4 ,the medium offered to pay his debts if he in return would take a position which the medium would secure for him in the ,bureau of ,records and in addition to his work furnish the medium with copies of certain documents4 ,fear of his debts becoming known to his parents forced him to accept the offer and the medium got the desired data but before an improper use could be made of it the young man's conscience led him to make a clean breast of the whole affair to the police and a gigantic fraud was 8nipped in the bud40 ,the most dastardly and unscrupulous methods that ,i ever heard of1 methods almost beyond belief1 were those used by a medium who made arrangements with a ring of 8white slavers0 by which he paid them a certain specified sum for any information which the 8girls0 in their 8houses0 were able to secure4 ,in addition he also established a number of places where1 under the direction of a woman1 the girls drew out many secrets which would never have been told under any other circumstances4 ,one thing which makes the work of these mediums easier is the fact that many people tell things about themselves without realizing it4 ,i have known people to deny emphatically that they had made certain statements or mentioned certain things in a seance although ,i had personally heard them say those very things not more than twenty minutes before4 ,under the excitement of the moment their subconscious mind#aah speaks while their conscious mind forgets4 ,this does not escape the medium who takes advantage of everything which it is possible to4 ,an incident related to me by the late ,harry ,kellar shows in a striking way what can be done with information the possession of which is not suspected nor its source accounted for by the victim4 ,he had met in ,hong ,kong a troupe of travelling players1 known as the 8,loftus ,troupe0 which was featuring ,jefferson ,de ,angelus4 ,among these players was one1 ,jim ,mass1 who1 during a discussion of ,spiritualism scoffed at anyone's belief in it4 ,kellar told him to visit his hotel the following night and he would be given a seance4 ,mass did and ,kellar pretended to go into a deep trance rolling his eyes and imitating all the other effects4 ,while in the trance he told ,mass his history from the time he ran away from ,newark1 ,n4 ,j41 relating his trials and tribulations and his efforts to make a success on the stage up to the time when a young lady committed suicide in ,san ,francisco because of his jealousy4 ,then ,kellar turned to him and said3 8,what is your name80 8,jim ,mass10 was the answer4 8,that is not your right name10 ,kellar retorted1 8your right name is ,james ,cropsey60 8,it is a lie10 said ,mass4 8,no1 it is not a lie1 for ,i see before me your name4 ,i see that your father has just died of a broken heart because of your behaviour4 ,i see your mother writing you a letter to that effect1 begging you to come home and be her son again4 ,i see the grave of your father and on the tombstone is inscribed1 #8,james ,cropsey4'0 ,kellar came out of the trance and ,mass sprang up exclaiming3 8,my ,god1 you have told me things that only the ,almighty and ,i know60 ,kellar claimed to ,mass that he did not know anything which had transpired in the trance4 ,the following day a letter came from ,mass' mother telling him of the death of his father4 ,this fully convinced him that ,kellar had strong mediumistic powers1 and to such an extent that when they met a few days later and ,kellar told him that it was all a fake1 ,mass refused to believe it4 ,illustration3 ,,kellar ,,and ,,houdini ,kellar explained to me that while in ,manila a few weeks previous he had met an ,american traveller who1 while they were discussing the different theatrical companies in the ,orient1 had told him all the incidents he had repeated to ,mass in the supposed trance4 ,this traveller had written home to ,mass' mother telling her of her son's whereabouts and therefore ,kellar felt fairly safe in saying that a letter would arrive in a few days1 but in spite of ,kellar's confession ,mass continued to believe firmly that he was a genuine psychic4 ,mediums have been known after gaining the sitter's confidence sufficiently1 to advise1 through a ,spirit1 the purchase of certain stocks1 bonds1 or 8swamp lands10 and a certain group which ,i know has made over a million dollars by this system4 ,one of the keenest and most unscrupulous of this class1 a man who at present is abroad waiting for things to blow over1 had a method which gained him a huge fortune4 ,he would acquire the confidence of a widow whose husband had not been dead long and for months he would search into her private affairs without her knowledge4 ,then he would arrange for a meeting with her at which he would mention casually that he was a ,spiritualist and that she could find solace and comfort in ,spiritualism4 ,at an impromptu seance he would tell her so many things of a most intimate character that she would be convinced4 ,after a series of seances he would materialize and manifest what was supposedly the ,spirit of her husband who would tell her to turn over certain property and deeds to this medium who would take care of them in a business-like manner4 ,invariably the poor deluded widow would surrender to his machinations and that would be the last she would ever hear of medium or money4 ,at a time when it was a ,british society fad to delve into the affairs of the beyond a house of clairvoyance was opened in ,london's most exclusive section1 the fashionable ,west ,end4 ,it was exquisitely furnished and the interior decorating was the show work of a well-known firm4 ,though known as 8,madame ----0 the proprietor was in reality the daughter of an ,english aristocrat4 ,she had formed a partnership with a man known to society as 8,sir ----0 and thought of as being simply a 8man about town10 but was in reality the head of a desperate band of the underworld4 ,a rich clientele soon became accustomed to a rule which required sittings to be arranged for at least a week in advance which gave ,madame ---- plenty of time for her confederates to investigate the client's affairs4 ,after several sittings the ,madame would tell her client that she was exhausted but could reveal more if allowed to enter the atmosphere of the home and come in personal contact with some of the intimate belongings of the client4 ,this hint invariably secured the desired invitation4 ,once a guest in the client's home1 she went from room to room selecting various things and finally suggesting1 at the psychological moment1 that she be shown all of the client's jewelry4 ,while this was being brought out ,madame ---- supposedly went into a trance but was in reality watching closely to see where the jewelry was kept4 ,back in her own home again she at once got in touch with ,sir ---- giving him such detailed information about the client's house that it was easy for him to plan its successful robbery by his men1 while the victims never suspected how their secret hiding places had been discovered4 ,it only took the pair five years to acquire a fortune of three million dollars by these methods4 ,then ,scotland ,yard became suspicious of their actions and in a search for a more congenial climate they came to ,america and began working their system in ,new ,york4 ,sir ---- learned through underworld channels of a rich eccentric who would have nothing to do with banks and safe deposit vaults but kept all his money and valuables in his home where he boasted so many burglar alarms and other protective devices as to practically dare thieves to rob him4 ,after making sure that this man had very strong ,spiritualistic tendencies ,madame ---- wrote him a letter in which she told him that she had been requested by the spirit of his dead brother to get into communication with him4 ,an interview followed and then a seance at which the brother's spirit was claimed to have been materialized4 ,the man was so convinced that he had received a message from his brother that the instructions to safeguard his money and valuables by placing them in a certain bank were followed implicitly even to the extent of taking them to the president 787 of the bank at his home instead of going to the bank with them4 ,it is needless to say that the 8bank president0 was none other than ,sir ----4 ,this exploit netted them about four hundred thousand dollars4 ,not long after they appeared in ,paris4 ,madame ---- proceeded to dupe a jeweler out of a quantity of valuable jewels and with ,sir ---- succeeded in escaping to ,germany where they tried to repeat the performance but were arrested4 ,the majority of the people who are fleeced do not blame the medium but really believe that the ,spirit of their departed one prescribed the loss and that the medium simply acted as an agent4 ,it is only when the mediums fall out2 when there ceases to be 8honor among thieves0 that the cases are brought to the attention of the police4 ,although ,i realize that it would be difficult to enforce1 there should be a law to prevent these frauds1 for as the result of investigation ,i know that this particular line has netted many millions of dollars from unwary1 trusting1 and believing people4 ,an end ought to be put to it4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,what ,,you ,,must ,,believe ,,to ,,be ,a ,,spiritualist ,there is an old adage that 8truth is stranger than fiction0 but some of the miraculous things attributed to the ,spirits would not be told1 could not be told1 even by such a famous writer of wild fiction as ,baron ,munchausen1 but under the protecting mantle of ,spiritualism these vivid tales are believed by millions4 ,the conglomerated things you are asked to accept in good faith are almost inconceivable4 ,if you do not then you are not a real ,spiritualist4 ,there must not be the shadow of a doubt in your mind as to the truth of the extravagant feats claimed to be performed by the ,spirits through their earthly messengers the mediums4 ,among the spirits who have come back and written stories1 according to the ,spiritualists1 are no less personages than ,shakespeare1 ,bacon1 ,charles ,dickens who completed his 8,mystery of ,edwin ,drood10 ,jack ,london1 ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 ,mark ,twain1 and lately ,oscar ,wilde4 ,magazines have been published by the 8,spirits0#aai and there are numbers of cases where entire books have been claimed to be their work4 ,i ask the reader if he believes the following incidents which ,i have selected from various ,spiritualistic publications in my library4 ,if so he is entitled to join the cult4 ,the 8,medium and ,daybreak0 of ,june #i1 #ahga1 tells of an instance where 8,the ,spirits #8floated' ,mr4 ,herne to ,mrs4 ,guppy's in open day as was reported by us two weeks ago4444 ,this has been speedily followed by other cases some of which are exceedingly well substantiated4 ,on ,saturday evening1 as a circle consisting of about nine persons1 sat within locked doors1 with ,messrs4 ,herne and ,williams1 at these mediums' lodgings1 #fa ,lambs' ,conduit ,street1 after a considerable time an object was felt to come upon the table1 and when a light was struck1 their visitor was found to be ,mrs4 ,guppy4 ,she was not by any means dressed for an excursion1 as she was without shoes1 and had a memorandum book in one hand and a pen in the other4 8,the last word inscribed in the book was #8onions4' ,the writing was not yet dry and there was ink on the pen4 ,when ,mrs4 ,guppy regained her consciousness she stated that she had been making some entries of expenses1 became insensible and knew nothing until she found herself in the circle4 ,a party of gentlemen accompanied ,mrs4 ,guppy home2 a deputation went in first and questioned ,miss ,neyland as to how or when ,mrs4 ,guppy had been missed4 ,she said that she had been sitting in the same room2 ,mrs4 ,guppy was making entries in her book1 and ,miss ,neyland was reminding her of the items to put down4 ,miss ,neyland was reading a newspaper in the intervals of conversation1 and when she raised her head from her reading ,mrs4 ,guppy could not be seen4 ,it was intimated1 through raps on the table1 that the ,spirits had taken her1 and as ,mrs4 ,guppy had every confidence in the beneficence of these agents1 ,mrs4 ,guppy's abduction gave no concern4 ,both ,mr4 ,herne and ,mr4 ,williams were #8floated' the same evening4 ,mr4 ,williams found himself at the top of the stairs1 the doors being shut all the while4 8,at the seance at the ,spiritual ,institution1 a young lady who was a sceptic was levitated4 ,at ,messrs4 ,herne and ,williams' seance1 at the same place1 a geranium in a pot was brought into the room from the staircase window above1 while doors and windows were closed4 ,mrs4 ,burns had a knife taken out of her hand1 which #8,katie' 7the ,spirit7 said she would deposit at ,lizzie's1 meaning ,mrs4 ,guppy4 ,a gentleman had two spirit photographs taken from his hand4 ,a cushion was carried from the front room to the back room1 where the seance was held1 the door being shut4 ,mr4 ,williams' coat was taken off while his hands were held4 ,mr4 ,herne was floated4 ,mr4 ,andrews1 a gentleman who has not the use of his limbs1 held a very interesting conversation with #8,katie' who promised to try and benefit him4 ,the generous sympathy of these good spirits was very apparent from their eagerness to help the distressed4 ,a letter from ,northampton intimates that similar phenomena are being produced in that town4 ,these feats are doing a mighty work in convincing hundreds of the power4 8,at a seance given by ,mrs4 ,guppy 7#8,medium and ,daybreak1' ,november #ah1 #ahgj71 the ,spirits knowing it was tea time1 first of all brought through the solid wall the dishes and placed them on the table1 then transported cake and hot tea1 and in the center of the table was placed violets1 mignonette1 geranium leaves and fern leaves1 all wet with rain1 which had been gathered by the ,spirits4 8,herne1 with whom ,williams was associated1 made it his business to have his ,spirits bring in the slates from the hallway through the closed door4 ,he had books ooze through the solid floors1 from the library overhead1 and drop on the seance table4 ,williams would be entranced in the cabinet and the ,spirits would disrobe him much to his #8entranced' embarrassment4 ,on the testimony of ,orville ,pitcher1 ,john ,king at a seance stood in the full glare of the daylight for twenty minutes4 ,he then retired and was followed by no less a personage than ,oliver ,cromwell1 who walked around1 embraced his medium and all the sitters4 ,he afterwards controlled the medium and gave utterance to thoughts of a most elevated nature4 8,mrs4 ,catherine ,berry goes on record 7#8,medium and ,daybreak1' ,july #i1 #ahgf7 that through the mediumship of ,mrs4 ,guppy she had seen the ,sultan of ,zanzibar on the previous day4 8,he had a handsome copper-colored face and a large black beard1 on his head he had a white turban such as worn by the ,spirit of ,john ,king40 8,dr4 ,monck1 ex-preacher1 disappeared one night from the bed in which he slept with another man in ,bristol and to his surprise1 when he awoke1 found himself in ,swindon40 7,spiritualism1 by ,joseph ,mc,cabe47 8,mr4 ,harris1 his wife and a friend1 who happened to be a medium1 were just about to sit down to a mid-day meal when the medium1 a man named ,wilkinson1 was suddenly #8controlled4' ,he fought hard against this unexpected behaviour of his ,spirit control1 but to no avail4 ,in his unconscious state he jangled money in his pocket1 then pointed to a cigarette box which was lying on a shelf in the opposite corner4 ,in that box1 it seemed1 was the sum of #ags1 #f;d4 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,harris were wondering what this all meant1 when suddenly the box virtually flew from the shelf1 passed through the closed door1 and was gone4 ,mrs4 ,harris immediately left the room and tried to find trace of the box4 ,,she ,,found ,,it ,,upstairs ,,underneath ,,the ,,pillow ,,on ,,the ,,bed4 ,the money was intact40 7,an ,amazing ,seance and an ,exposure1 by ,sidney ,a4 ,mosley1 page #ba47 ,at a seance held on ,february #ae1 #aiai1 at the home of ,mr4 ,wallace ,penylan at ,cardiff1 by ,mr4 ,thomas1 there were present ,sir ,arthur1 ,lady ,doyle1 and others1 numbering about twenty in all4 8,thomas1 speaking from his chair 7apparently still under control7 then asked1 #8,is ,lady ,doyle cold8' ,then ,lady ,doyle said she felt #8a little bit shivery' and ,thomas said1 #8,oh1 you'll be warm soon1' and in a second or two something fell on her lap4 ,at the close of the seance1 this was found to be the ,holland jacket which somehow had been removed from the medium40 7,an ,amazing ,seance1 page #ea47 ,most mediums to-day have perfected the art of levitating tables and chairs and other pieces of furniture1 though ,i doubt if any of them have ever reached the mark of perfection attained by ,palladino with her years of experience1 inscrutable face and uncanny knowing when to seize opportunities to fool her investigators1 but you are also asked to believe that ,daniel ,dunglas ,home1 floated out of one window1 over the street1 and rushed through another one into a different room4 ,col4 ,olcott asks in 8,communication0 ,what is this performance compared with the experience of ,webster ,eddy 7a younger brother of the ,eddy ,brothers7 when a grown man1 in the presence of three reputable witnesses1 was carried out of a window and over the top of a house and landed in a ditch a quarter of a mile distant8 8,william ,eddy was carried bodily to a distant wood and was kept there three days under control and was carried back again4 8,horatio ,eddy was taken bodily three miles to a mountain top and was obliged to find his way home alone the next morning4 8,in ,lyceum ,hall1 ,buffalo1 ,horatio was levitated for twenty-six consecutive evenings1 while bound to a chair and he and the chair were hung on a chandelier hook in the ceiling4 ,he was then lowered safely to his former position4 8,mary ,eddy was raised to the ceiling in ,hope ,chapel1 in ,new ,york ,city1 and while there wrote her name4 ,her little boy1 ,warren1 was floated many evenings in dark circles and squealed lustily all the while to be let down4 8,since #acdg authenticated reports prove that similar experiences occurred to ,edward ,irving1 ,margaret ,rule1 ,st4 ,philip of ,neri1 ,st4 ,catherine of ,columbine1 ,loyola1 ,savonarola1 ,jennie ,lord1 ,madame ,hauffe and many others40 ,col4 ,olcott omitted mentioning myself4 ,i stand ready to vouch for the fact that ,i personally floated in the air and levitated many times and marvelled at the ease with which ,i did it1 but ,i woke up later in the night4 ,horatio ,eddy in a personal letter to me under date of ,july #f1 #aibj1 wrote3 8,a book six inches thick would not hold my history4 ,i cannot give any version of our floating in the air1 but it is just as stated in #8,communication4' ,webster ,eddy is my youngest brother4 ,my father did put live coals on ,william's head and poured hot water down his back4 ,we all used to get horsewhipped by him to prove the devil was in us40#abj ,in another letter dated ,july #c1 #aibb1 he writes that he and his sister had been giving a joint exhibition with ,ira ,erastus ,davenport1 who had been ordered by the authorities in ,syracuse to take out a juggler's license1 but would not4 8,the result was while we were holding a private seance we were handcuffed and taken to jail2 on the way the handcuffs were taken off4 ,we did not ride to jail but were dragged along through the snow for more than a mile4 ,they did not put us in cells1 as ,i told them if they did ,i would have every prisoner's door open before daylight1 so two police sat up all night with us4 ,in the morning a ,mr4 ,mc,donald of #g ,beach ,street went our bail for fifteen thousand dollars4 8,our trial was to be held in ,schenectady in ,march4 ,we arrived there and had to wait three weeks1 then they put it over to ,albany three months later and our bail was renewed4 ,we stayed in ,albany until court was almost through4 ,the day our trial was to take place the judge stated we claimed it to be a phase of religion and ruled it out of court40 ,if you are to be a ,spiritualist you must believe that fifteen persons1 several of them reporters1 met in ,mrs4 ,young's parlors in #bgth ,street1 ,new ,york ,city1 and at the request of the ,spirit several ,english walnuts were placed near the piano1 and that the piano rose and descended on the walnuts without crushing them4 ,col4 ,olcott writes that seven of the heaviest persons in the room were asked to sit upon the instrument4 ,the invitation being accepted ,mrs4 ,young played a march and the instrument and the persons surmounting it were lifted several feet4 8,a portfolio containing ,eliza ,white's ,katie ,king note and ,john's duplicate was at this time in my coat pocket1 where it had been constantly since the preceding evening4 ,john broke in upon our expressions of surprise by rapping out #8,do you folks want me to commit forgery for you8 ,i can bring you here the blank check of any ,national ,bank and sign upon it the name of any president1 cashier or other official4' ,i thanked his ,invisible ,highness and declined the favor upon the sufficient ground that the police did not believe in ,spiritualism and ,i did not care to risk the chance of convincing them in case the forged papers should be found in my possession40 7,people from the ,other ,world1 ,henry ,s4 ,olcott1 page #deh47 8,in a house on ,ferretstone ,road1 ,hornsey1 ,london1 explosions like bombs were heard1 lumps of coal were propelled by some unknown agency in all directions4 ,brooms were thrown violently from a landing into the kitchen4 ,glass and china had been smashed and windows broken and to top it all off a boy sitting on a chair had been raised with the chair from the ground40 7,the ,london ,evening ,news1 ,feb4 #ae1 #aiba47 ,vincenzo ,gullots1 a ,sicilian violinist at ,batavia1 ,ill41 well known by reason of his ,chautauqua concerts1 decided to take a bride chosen for him after death 8by the companion of my most thrilling hours1 my departed wife4 ,she died in ,august and ,i was almost frantic with grief but in the night ,i could sense her presence and ,i followed her guidance implicitly4 ,my new mate will comfort her40 7,the ,new ,york ,world1 ,may #ag1 #aibb47 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle in an interview at the ,hotel ,ambassador1 ,new ,york ,city1 as reported by the ,new ,york ,world1 ,april #aa1 #aibb1 stated that 8in #8,summerland' marriage is on a higher and more spiritual plane than here and is merely the mating of affinities1 who are always happy4 ,no babies are born however4 ,the spirits as they go about their daily tasks1 keep a watchful eye on earthly matters and are extremely interested in the births here40 ,he stated that there is a plane called 8,paradise0 where 8normally respectable0 persons go after death and this 8plane0 is only slightly removed from this earthly sphere4 ,bad people when they die are transported to a plane considerably lower than that tenanted by respectable ones and they continue to sink lower and lower unless they repent4 ,after a considerable probationary period they are able to climb into 8,paradise40 ,the average length of time they stay in 8,paradise0 is about forty years after which they float to higher and still higher planes4 ,all mediums have guardian angels to whom they are especially subject1 but they can communicate with other ,spirits1 the 8guardian angel0 acting as a sort of master-of-ceremonies upon such occasions4 ,sir ,arthur proclaimed that he once saw his dead mother's face in the ectoplasm of a medium4 ,this was a few months after her death and he added1 8,there was not the slightest question about it4 ,that was while ,i was in ,australia4 ,the face seemed as solid as in life4 ,my mother wrote me a letter through the medium signing a pet name1#aba which could not have been known to the medium4 ,there is no question about having been in communication with my son either40 ,an account in the ,new ,york ,american1 ,april #e1 #aibc1 says that ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle told the reporters that he had recently hurt the ligaments in his right leg from the shin to the thigh1 and that his son ,kingsley who had died in the ,war had massaged the limb with beneficial results3 8,i was sitting with ,evan ,powell1 a very unusual and powerful medium10 he said1 8when my son ,kingsley appeared1 saying #8it will be alright1 ,daddy2 ,i will get you fixed up alright1' and began massaging my leg40 ,in an article in the ,london ,magazine1 ,august1 #aibj1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,w4 ,leadbeater1 a prominent member of the ,theosophical ,society and an authority on occult theories1 speaking of the apport of ,spirits says3 8living astrally as they do1 the ,fourth ,dimension is a commonplace fact of their nature1 and this makes it quite simple for them to do many little tricks which to us appear wonderful1 such as the removal of articles from a locked box or an apport of flowers into a closed room40 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 in his book 8,wanderings of a ,spiritualist10 devotes seven pages to ,charles ,bailey1 who was known as an 8apport medium40 ,sir ,arthur defends ,bailey1 notwithstanding that he has been exposed many times4#abb ,among the things ,bailey claims to have apported are birds1 oriental plants1 small animals1 and a young shark eighteen inches long which he pretended the ,spirit guides had brought from ,india and passed through the walls into the seance room4 ,mrs4 ,johnson of ,newcastle-on-,tyne1 ,england1 told me personally that the ,spirit of her deceased son was very mischievous at times and caused her a great deal of embarrassment4 ,one of his favorite jokes when she was on a journey was to open her travelling bag and allow all her belongings to be strewn about4 ,she also told me that the boy's ,spirit would light the fire for her to get breakfast4 ,a widow in ,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y41 became a mother and claimed that the ,spirit of her husband was the father of the child4 ,the celebrated ,professor ,hare1 a professor of chemistry in the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 graduate of ,yale and ,harvard1 and associated with the ,smithsonian ,institute of ,washington1 tells that when travelling with a boy and while in his room1 after they had locked up the iron ,balled ,spiritscope1 shaving case1 etc41 in his carpet bag1 in some inscrutable manner all the contents were taken from the bag and fell about him in a shower4 ,anna ,stuart1 a medium of ,terre ,haute1 could produce ,spirits that would weigh from practically nothing to more than a hundred pounds1 and ,spiritualists are expected to believe that one human being can go into a trance and bring forth three or four beings with his own ,spirit form4 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead1 one of the most brilliant ,spiritualists1 now dead1 claimed to have seen the ,spirit of an ,egyptian who left the 8earthly life0 in the time of ,semir-,amide1 three thousand years ago4 8,for several minutes the ,spirit was distinctly visible to us munching an apple1 but ,i felt so exhausted by the loss of magnetism and nervous as well that ,i begged him to leave us4 ,i will never forget his soulful expression40 ,florence ,marryat1 the daughter of ,capt4 ,marryat1 the famous writer of sea stories1 has written a number of books on ,spiritualism4 ,she wrote one of the best introductions in favor of ,spiritualism that ,i ever read1 nevertheless some of the things she claims to have witnessed and lived through are of such a nature that ,i will only give a brief mention of them without comment1 letting the reader form his own opinion4 ,they are taken from her book 8,there is no ,death40 ,she tells of her brother-in-law coming into the room after rifle practice and while showing his rifle it was 8accidentally discharged1 the ball passing through the wall within two inches of my eldest daughter's head40 ,she claims that she foresaw the occurrence the night previous4 ,she writes of having joined ,mr4 d-,oyley ,carte's 8,patience0 company to play the part of ,lady ,jane1 and tells that the different members of the company on different occasions mentioned the fact that although she was standing on the stage she appeared to be seated in the stalls4 ,this always occurred at the same time1 just before the end of the second act4 ,in another place she says3 8,we unanimously asked for flowers4 ,it being ,december and a hard frost1 simultaneously we smelt the smell of fresh earth1 and we were told to light the gas again1 when the following extraordinary sight met our eyes4 ,in the middle of the sitters1 still holding hands1 was piled up on the carpet an immense quantity of mold1 which had been torn up apparently with the roots that accompanied it4 ,there were laurestenius1 laurels and holly and several others1 just as they had been pulled out of the earth and thrown in the midst of us4 ,mrs4 ,guppy looked anything but pleased at the sight of her carpet and begged the ,spirits to bring cleaner things next time4 ,they then told us to extinguish the lights again and each sitter was to wish mentally for something for himself4 ,i wished for a yellow butterfly1 knowing it was ,december1 and as ,i thought of it a little cardboard box was put in my hand4 ,prince ,albert whispered to me #8,have you got anything8' #8,yes1' ,i said1 #8but not what ,i asked for4 ,i expect they have given me a piece of jewelry4' ,when the gas was relit ,i opened the box and there lay two yellow butterflies1 dead of course1 but none the less extraordinary for that40 ,while talking of a seance with ,katie ,king she said3 8,she told me to take the scissors and cut off her hair4 ,she had a profusion of ringlets flowing to her waist that night4 ,i obeyed religiously1 hacking the hair wherever ,i could whilst she kept on saying #8,cut more6 cut more6 not for yourself you know1 because you cannot take it away4' ,so ,i cut off curl after curl and as fast as they fell to the ground1 the hair grew again on her head4 ,when ,i had finished1 #8,katie' asked me to examine her hair and see if ,i could detect any place where ,i had used the scissors1 and ,i did so without any effect4 ,neither was a severed hair to be found4 ,it had vanished out of sight40 ,in another place she says3 8,once a conductor spoke to me4 #8,i am not aware of your name1' he said 7and ,i thought #8,no1 my friend1 and won't be aware of it just yet either6'7 #8but a ,spirit here wishes you would come up to the cabinet4' ,i advanced1 expecting to see some friend1 and there stood a ,catholic priest1 with his hand extended in blessing4 ,i knelt down and he gave me the usual benediction1 and then closed the curtain4 #8,did you know the ,spirit8' the conductor asked me4 ,i shook my head and he continued1 #8,he was ,father ,hayes1 the well known priest in this city4 ,i suppose you are a ,catholic8' ,i told him #8,yes' and went back to my seat4 ,the conductor addressed me again #8,i think ,father ,hayes must have come to pave the way for some of your friends1' he said4 #8,here is a ,spirit who says she has come for a lady by the name of ,florence1 who has just crossed the sea4 ,do you answer to that description8' ,i was about to say yes when the curtain parted again and my daughter #8,florence' ran across the room and fell into my arms4 #8,mother1' she exclaimed1 #8,i said ,i would come with you and look after you1 didn't ,i8' ,i looked at her4 ,she was exactly the same in appearance as when she came to me in ,england under the different mediumships of ,florence ,cook1 ,arthur ,coleman1 ,charles ,williams and ,william ,ellington40 ,she tells of a business man who attended a seance every night and presented a white flower to the ,spirit of his wife who had died on her wedding day eleven years before4#abc ,the book is full of such incidents as these but ,i think enough have been repeated to show the reader what it is necessary to believe to be a good ,spiritualist4#abd ,in ,judge ,edmonds' book 8,spiritualism10 we read that it was customary to receive on blank sheets of paper messages from the ,spirits of well-known men2 that ,benjamin ,franklin came in accompanied by two other ,spirits2 that a pencil got up of its own accord and wrote five lines of ancient ,hebrew2 that books were levitated from a table numerous times1 and a number of other incidents which drew upon the reader's imagination4 ,daniel ,dunglas ,home in testifying in ,july1 #ahfi1 as reported in the ,london ,times1 told of an incident which had occurred several years previous4 8,we were10 he said1 8in a large room in the ,salon de ,quatorze4 ,the ,emperor and ,empress were present1--,i am now telling the story as ,i heard the ,emperor tell it1--a table was moved1 then a hand was seen to come4 ,it was a very beautifully formed hand4 ,there were pencils on the table4 ,it lifted1 not the one next to it1 but the one on the far side4 ,we heard the sound of writing1 and saw it writing on fine note paper4 ,the hand passed before me and went to the ,emperor1 and he kissed the hand4 ,it went to the ,empress2 she withdrew from its touch1 and the hand followed her4 ,the ,emperor said1 #8,do not be frightened1' and she kissed it too4 ,the hand seemed to be like a person thinking and as if it were saying1 #8,why should ,i8' ,it came back to me4 ,it had written the word #8,napoleon' and it remains written now4 ,the writing was the autograph of the ,emperor ,napoleon ,i1 who had an exceedingly beautiful hand40 ,mr4 ,home also said that the ,emperor of ,russia as well as the ,emperor ,napoleon1 had seen hands and had taken hold of them1 8when they seemed to float away into thin air40 ,such are the things ,spiritualists are expected to believe and do believe4 ,i could continue to recite incidents ad infinitum1 ad nauseam1 but ,i believe the reader can form his own judgment from the above4 ,it is the kind of material which drives people insane for when some poor1 sick1 human being is just on the verge of recovery such nonsensical utterances often overthrow reason4 ,is it any wonder that the population of our insane asylums is swelled with 8followers0 who have attempted to believe these things8 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,magicians ,,as ,,detectors ,,of ,,fraud ,the alacrity with which ,spiritualists seize upon letters or other statements of magicians that they believe the so-called spirit manifestations which they have witnessed were not accomplished by means of legerdemain but were attributable to supernatural or occult powers has astonished me and while ,i intend to refute them ,i want to call attention at the same time to the incompetence of the opinion of the ordinary magician with a knowledge of two or three experiments in ,spiritualism who stands up and claims that he can duplicate the experiments of any medium who ever lived4 ,my personal opinion is that notwithstanding the fact that innumerable exposures have been successfully made1 such fact is no proof that any investigator1 legerdemain artist or otherwise1 is fully capable of fathoming each and every effect produced4 ,some magicians with a knowledge of pseudo-,spiritualistic effects imagine that they have all they need to qualify them as investigators1 and should anything transpire at a seance which they cannot explain they are mystified into temporary belief and write letters or make statements which they are quite likely to regret as the years roll on4#abe ,a good card 8shark0 or 8brace game0#abf gambler can cheat and fleece the slickest sleight-of-hand performer that ever lived1 unless the performer has made a specialty of gambling tricks4 ,it seems strange1 but it is true1 that card magicians are poor gamblers1 and mediums1 like the gamblers1 resort to deception and take advantage of the sitters at all angles4 ,it is manifestly impossible to detect and duplicate all the feats attributed to fraudulent mediums who do not scruple at outraging propriety and even decency to gain their ends4 ,a slick medium will even resort to drawing on the sitters#abg for desired information by recourse to what may be palmed off for a mere lark1 and if the bait is swallowed by the sitter the circumstance is turned to good account for the perpetration of deliberate fraud to his consternation and bewilderment4 ,again many of the effects produced by mediums are impulsive1 spasmodic1 done on the spur of the moment1 inspired or promoted by the attending circumstances1 and could not be duplicated by themselves4 ,because the circumstances of their origin and performance are so peculiar detection and duplication of ,spiritualistic phenomena is sometimes a most complex task4 ,not only are mediums alert to embrace every advantage offered by auto-suggestion but they also take advantage of every accidental occurrence4 ,for instance1 my greatest feat of mystery was performed in #aibb at ,seacliffe1 ,l4 ,i41 on the ,fourth of ,july1 at the home of ,mr4 ,b4 ,m4 ,l4 ,ernest4 ,the children were waiting to set off their display of fireworks when it started to rain4 ,the heavens fairly tore loose4 ,little ,richard in his dismay turned to me and said3 8,can't you make the rain stop80 8,why certainly10 ,i replied and raising my hands said appealingly1 8,rain and ,storm1 ,i command you to stop40 ,this ,i repeated three times and1 as if by miracle1 within the next two minutes the rain stopped and the skies became clear4 ,toward the end of the display of fireworks the little fellow turned to me and with a peculiar gleam in his eyes said3 8,why1 ,mr4 ,houdini1 it would have stopped raining anyway40 ,i knew ,i was risking my whole life's reputation with the youngster but ,i said3 8,is that so8 ,i will show you40 ,walking out in front ,i raised my hands suppliantly toward the heavens and with all the command and force ,i had in me called3 8,listen to my voice1 great ,commander of the rain1 and once more let the water flow to earth and allow the flowers and trees to bloom40 ,a chill came over me for as if in response to my command or the prayer of my words another downpour started1 but despite the pleading of the children ,i refused to make it stop again4 ,i was not taking any more chances4 ,i am also aware of the fact that there are effects produced by magicians which they declare are accomplished by natural agencies1 which other magicians are entirely unable to account for or satisfactorily explain4 ,a notable case was a card performance by ,dr4 ,samuel ,c4 ,hooker which included the levitation of a life-sized head of an animal1 possessed of life-like movement while in a state of suspension and still there were no visible means of support4 ,a number of these seances were given to groups of magicians only4 ,on one occasion a dozen or more of the most expert professional magicians were in attendance1 but no one could offer a satisfactory solution4 ,many magical mysteries as practised for entertainment are just as incomprehensible as so-called ,spiritualistic ,phenomena and it is not to be wondered at that even minds trained to analytical thinking are deceived and misguided4 ,were ,i at a seance and not able to explain what transpired it would not necessarily be an acknowledgment that ,i believed it to be genuine ,spiritualism4 ,the fact that ,i have mystified many does not signify that what ,i have done1 though unexplainable to them1 was done by the help of the ,spirits4 ,mr4 ,kellar frequently1 particularly during the last two years of his appearance on the stage1 said to the audience3 8,do not be ashamed if ,i mystify you2 ,i have seen ,houdini and his work and ,i do not know how he does it40 ,the simple fact that a thing looks mysterious to one does not signify anything beyond the necessity of analytic investigation for a fuller understanding4 ,but to return to possibilities2 ,i believe that the great majority of so-called manifestations can be duplicated but ,i am not prepared to include all1 because1 as before explained1 some are spontaneous1 and cannot be reproduced by the mediums themselves unless the identical opportunity should present itself1 which is as uncertain as lightning striking twice in the same place--possible but improbable4 ,it would be extremely difficult1 if not out of the question1 to reproduce much of the 8phenomena0 by description as given by those who have witnessed it4 ,the lapse of time and the fact that a story twice told never loses1 renders such reproduction extremely doubtful4 ,were ,i to be challenged to duplicate any particular phase as presented by a medium1 permission would have to be granted to allow me not less than three demonstrations4 ,at the first1 not wishing to accept any one's word as to what happened ,i should want to see the manifestation so that there would be no surprise attack on my mind afterwards4 ,at the second sitting ,i would be prepared to watch what ,i had seen at the first sitting and the third time ,i would try to completely analyze for duplication4 ,it might be that some peculiar formation or years of special practice enabled the medium to do a certain action and naturally it would require at least three seances to become thoroughly cognizant of the modus operandi1 or the manipulative process used4 ,if there were no fraud1 then there could be no objection to the demonstrations4 ,let us dissect a few of the magician's statements4 ,first3 ,belachini1 conjuror to the imperial ,german ,court1 is claimed by ,spiritualists as a great magician countenancing and acknowledging the genuineness of ,spiritualism1 but by no possible stretch of imagination could he be so classed despite the efforts of modern ,spiritualists to prove that he was1 for the very nature of his tricks belie his statement4 ,no present day magician would permit him to be mentioned as an authority on ,spiritualism notwithstanding the fact that ,spiritualists are trying to prove from his letters that he was1 just as they have ever since the letters were written4 ,i have received reports from ,karl ,wilmann1 of ,hamburg2 ,a4 ,herman1 of ,berlin1 and ,rosner of ,haisenhaid1 to the effect that ,belachini was solely an apparatus or mechanical conjuror with an adroit and daring address4 ,in fact1 his unbounded self-confidence won him the position for which he is famous4 ,he was performing for ,kaiser ,wilhelm ,i4 who sat amazed at his suave dexterity4 ,the climax of the performance came when ,belachini1 bowing1 proffered a pen to ,wilhelm4 8,take this1 your ,majesty10 he requested1 8and attempt to write with it4 ,i warn you it is a magical pen and subject only to my control2 ,i can write anything with it or cause anything to be written2 you cannot40 ,wilhelm laughingly took the pen with a confident mien1 hiding his real awe of ,belachini4 ,he applied it to the paper before him but in spite of his most careful efforts1 the pen balked1 spluttering and splashing ink1 while ,belachini stood by smiling4 8,well10 said the ,kaiser1 8tell me what to write40 ,belachini reflectively caressed his chin1 then replied with a dry smile3 8,write this4 ,i hereby appoint ,belachini ,court ,conjuror40 ,the monarch chuckled at the wit and without difficulty wrote and signed the order4 ,a second1 famous in his day1 was 8,herr ,alexander10 a magician whose full name was ,alexander ,heinberger4 ,he gave seances at the ,white ,house for ,president ,polk who sent him to ,south ,america once on a man-of-war4 ,the ,president was willing to believe that ,heinberger was guided and aided by the ,spirits but ,heinberger would neither affirm nor deny the suspected origin of his feats but like a good showman left his observers to their own deductions as was the practice of the ,davenport ,brothers4 ,he lived to be ninety years old1 and was a most remarkable old man4 ,i visited him at his home in ,munster1 ,westphalia4 ,sometimes a misunderstanding entangles a magician with ,spiritualism4 ,the following instance comes to my mind4 ,it is a popular belief among ,spiritualists that certain letters and statements bearing the signature of ,robert ,houdin are acknowledgments of his belief in ,spiritualism4 ,on the contrary they refer simply to certain acts of clairvoyance purported to have taken place at the instance of one ,alexis ,didier4 ,the first statement has been translated as an interview of considerable length which is concluded as follows3 8,ah1 ,monsieur 7,alexis ,didier1 as addressed by ,houdin71 that may seem so to a man of no experience in these matters1 to the ordinary person1--though even then such a mistake is hardly admissible1--but to the expert6 ,just consider1 ,monsieur1 that all my cards are faked1 marked1 often of unequal sizes1 or at least artistically arranged4 ,again ,i have my signals and telegraphs4 ,but in this case a fresh pack was used which ,i had just taken out of its wrapper1 and which the somnambulist cannot have studied4 ,there is another point1 where deception is impossible1 namely1 in the handling of the cards3 in the one case1 the entire artlessness of the performance1 in the other1 that tell-tale air of effort which nothing can entirely disguise4 ,add to this his total blindness1 for need ,i insist on the impossibility--the absolute impossibility--of his having seen4 ,besides1 even supposing he could see1 how can we account for the other phenomena8 ,with regard to my own #8second-sight' performances1 without being able to divulge my secret to you now1 bear in mind that ,i am careful to tell you every evening1 that ,i only promise a second sight6 ,consequently in my case a first sight is indispensable4 8,the following day ,robert ,houdin gave me 7,alexis ,didier7 the following signed statement3 8#8,while ,i am by no means inclined to accept the compliments which ,m---- is kind enough to pay me1 and while ,i am particularly anxious that my signature should not be held to prejudice in any way my opinion1 either for or against magnetism1 still ,i cannot refrain from affirming that the incidents recorded above are ,,absolutely ,,correct1 and that the more ,i think about them the more impossible ,i find it to class them with those which form the subject of my profession and of my performances4 8#8,robert ,houdin4 8#8,may #dth1 #ahdg4'0 ,it will be seen at a glance that the signature in this case refers to a mystification by card handling1 clairvoyance1 forecasting1 etc4 ,his second letter was written a fortnight later and is as follows3 8,monsieur1 7,alexis ,didier7 as ,i informed you1 ,i was anxious to have a second sitting4 ,this sitting which was held at ,marcillet's house yesterday proved even more extraordinary than the first1 and has left me without a shadow of a doubt as to the clairvoyance of ,alexis4 ,i went to this seance1 fully determined to keep a careful watch on the game of cart1 which had astounded me so much before4 ,this time ,i took much greater precautions than at the first seance1 for distrusting myself ,i took a friend1 whose natural imperturbability enabled him to form a cool judgment and helped me to steady mine4 ,i append an account of what took place1 and you will see that trickery could never have produced such results as those which ,i am about to recount4 8,i undo a pack of cards1 which ,i had brought with me in a marked wrapper to guard against another pack being substituted for it4 ,i shuffle and it is my deal4 ,i deal with every precaution known to a man well up in all the dodges of his profession4 ,it is all of no use1 ,alexis stops me1 and pointing to one of the cards that ,i had just placed in front of him on the table1 says3 8#8,i've got the ,king4' 8#8,but you can't possibly know yet2 the trump card has not been turned up4' 8#8,you will see1' he replies4 #8,go on4' 8,as a matter of fact ,i turn up the eight of ,diamonds1 and his was the ,king of ,diamonds4 ,the game was continued in an odd enough manner1 for he told me the cards ,i had to play1 though my cards were hidden under the table and held close together in my hands4 ,to each lead of mine he played one of his own cards without turning it up1 and it was always the right card to have played against mine4 ,i left this seance then in the greatest possible state of amazement1 and convinced of the utter impossibility of chance or conjuring having been responsible for such marvellous results4--,yours1 etc41 7,signed7 8,robert ,houdin1 8#afth ,may1 #ahdg40 ,i here embrace the opportunity to make a correction of a statement in 8,the ,unmasking of ,robert ,houdin0 7page #bhg74 ,the record and source of information at that time was published in ,berlin1 ,germany4 ,it gave the impression that the 8letters0 cited above referred to ,spiritualistic phenomena1 but now1 having come into possession of a true translation of these documents complete1 as published by the ,society for ,psychical ,research1#abh ,i am of the opinion that ,houdin did treat the subject of ,spiritualism with conservative prudence and impartiality1 as recorded by ,professor ,hoffmann4 ,but ,i wish to say that in my estimation of ,robert ,houdin1 despite his wonderful reputation and record as mentioned in ,larousse's ,encyclopedia1 ,i cannot agree with his statements1 because he misrepresented so much in his 8,memoirs of a ,magician40 ,in 8,the ,unmasking of ,robert ,houdin0 ,i devoted a whole chapter to his ignorance of magic and by investigating ,i have found that he was not competent as an investigator of the claims of ,spiritualists4 ,it came quite as a shocking surprise to me to find that the letters which were supposed to refer to ,spiritualistic seances1 and which have been quoted so often as being such1 refer only to his experience with ,alexis the clairvoyant4 ,it must be apparent1 even to the casual observer1 that they have no bearings whatsoever on ,spiritualism1 but refer only to sittings with a clairvoyant in a game of sharp card practice4 ,knowing1 as ,i do now1 what it all meant1 the fact that he wrote the letters does not surprise me in the least4 ,i believe a lot of things transpired in that room which he could not see1 or know whether there was confederacy1 for clairvoyants as well as mediums often get information from the most unexpected sources4 ,clairvoyance1 like ,spiritualism1 was not in the direct line of professional observation to ,robert ,houdin4 ,what would he or any of his confreres1 who were supposed to be adepts at that time1 say if they could visit a seance of some of our present day clairvoyants who are appearing before the public and making use of radio1 wireless1 induction coils1 etc48 ,what a wonderful bunch of letters they might write because of the simple fact that they could not tell how the effects were produced4 ,it is ridiculous for any magician to say that the work he witnesses is not accomplished by conjuring or legerdemain simply because he cannot solve the problem4 ,as to his qualifications for adjudging the work of a clairvoyant1 we have but to revert to his own narration of the origin and development of second-sight as used by himself4 ,this account can be found in the ,english edition of his ,memoirs3 8,my two children were playing one day in the drawing-room at a game they had invented for their own amusement2 the younger had bandaged his elder brother's eyes and made him guess the objects that he touched1 and when later he guessed right they changed places4 ,this simple game suggested to me the most complicated idea that ever crossed my mind4 ,pursued by the notion1 ,i ran and shut myself in my workshop1 and was fortunately in that happy state when the mind follows easily the combinations traced by fancy4 ,i rested my head in my hands1 and in my excitement laid down the first principles of second sight40 ,it is hard to reconcile this statement with truth in view of the fact that memory training1 as he describes it1 was in vogue and practised long before#abi his time and is not the way second sight is learned4 ,it could not have been discovered or invented by him except coincidentally by his utter lack of knowledge bearing on the methods of seership and clairvoyance as practised either in his time or antiquity4 ,let me explain clearly1 and ,i hope once for all1 the valuelessness of his letters as far as they relate to ,spiritualism and clairvoyance4 ,in the first place the blindfold test#acj as produced by ,alexis ,didier to mystify ,houdin4 ,putting cotton on the eyes and covering it with a handkerchief is now used by amateurs in the cheapest kind of what we term 8muscle reading40 ,there is not the slightest difficulty in seeing beneath such a bandage1 sometimes over it1 and the range of vision can easily be determined by a test4 ,in ,paris ,i saw a mysterious performer1 named ,benoval1 who had his eyes glued together with adhesive paper1 on top of it cotton was placed1 and over the cotton a handkerchief1 but he danced around bottles and burning candles without any difficulty4 ,regarding the information given clairvoyantly to ,madame ,robert ,houdin during another seance with ,alexis2 ,houdin at that time was one of the best known characters of ,paris1 a public person1 and it was the easiest thing in the world for ,alexis to gather information concerning him and his family4 ,houdin may not have been acquainted with the subtlety of what we now term 8fishing10 8stalling10 or 8killing time10 in order to get information or put something over4 ,he might have been mystified but his knowledge of ,spiritualism and clairvoyance was nil according to his own statement4 ,one of the demonstrations presented by ,alexis to mystify ,houdin was the reading from a book1 by the seer1 several pages in advance of a page designated by the person holding the book at the time4 ,there does not seem to be any really authentic details reported regarding the exact performance of this man1 ,alexis1 consequently much must of necessity be left to conjecture and a knowledge of the orthodox methods for doing such things4 ,such information as there is available seems to have passed through several hands and in all probability was first presented to the public through a ,spiritualistic publication4 ,however1 the particular effect referred to is neither new nor strange but has always been a feature in second sight acts and with clairvoyants4 ,the reading of a book from memory is quite possible to persons of abnormal mind or special training in co-relative memorizing2 a very clever system with surprising possibilities4 ,there are many cases on record of persons who1 having read a book once1 could repeat every word and even tell where the punctuation was4 ,the ability to recite entire chapters or parts of them is much more common1 and is not difficult for trained minds such as are possessed by members of theatrical stock companies1 who are oftentimes obliged to commit to memory simultaneously three or four plays1 and this too while on the road4 ,in order to be prepared to play one part in the afternoon and an entirely different one the same night1 stock actors frequently have to do some marvellous memorization work on short notice4 ,it is not an exception but the rule4 ,they get long parts with from fifty to a hundred and fifty 8sides10 each side containing from one to ten speeches4 ,the foster-mother's speech in 8,common ,clay0 is over three pages1 and the ,duchess' in the first act of ,oscar ,wilde's 8,lady ,wildmere's ,fan0 is about four pages4 ,the well-known actress1 ,miss ,beatrice ,moreland1 told me that she memorized them both in an hour and was almost letter perfect4 ,the actor's rule for memorizing parts is to take ten pages first and when they have been committed to memory take ten more4 ,if such feats can be done as the result of training how easy it must be for an abnormal mind to memorize a book4 ,there comes to my mind a phenomenal memory feat by a blind slave boy called 8,blind ,tom40 ,he would listen while a composer played an original composition4 ,as soon as the composer finished ,tom seated himself at the piano and reproduced the entire piece with all the composer's delicacy of shading and technique4 ,there is a case on record of a memory performance1 ,i think in ,rousseau's time1 where a poet read a piece of poetry1 a long monody1 to the ,king4 ,at its conclusion the ,king said3 8,why1 that is quite an old story1 ,i have heard it before4 ,as a matter of fact the man who related it to me is in my palace now2 ,i will send for him and have him recite it for you40 ,he spoke to a servant who left the room and returned in a few minutes with the memory man who stood in the center of the room and recited the entire poem4 ,it appears that the ,king1 wishing to mystify the poet1 had the memory man hidden in a closet where he could hear the poem read4 ,inaudi1 a ,frenchman1 has given performances both in ,america and ,europe in which he looks at a blackboard covered with figures written by a committee1 then turns around and immediately tells correctly every figure on the board and its position2 adds1 subtracts1 and multiplies them1 with lightning-like rapidity1 and all without looking at the board a second time4 ,he makes no claim to psychic or clairvoyant powers but simply explains his wonderful performance as being the result of a photographic memory4 ,i might repeat such instances indefinitely but ,i think ,i have given enough to substantiate my claim of precedence for ,god's natural laws and their marvellous1 even incomprehensible working1 over any so-called supernatural endowment of a class of people so thoroughly disqualified by all known laws of moral sociology1 as many professional mediums are admitted to be by their most ardent supporters4 ,even such an eminent mystifier as ,robert ,houdin can misjudge when it comes to fathoming the so-called manifestations of the professional medium4 ,as ,i have explained in 8,the ,unmasking of ,robert ,houdin10 page #bia1 he makes two flagrant errors in attempting to explain the ,davenport ,brothers' trick4 ,first he claims that 8by dint of special practice on the part of the mediums1 the thumb is made to lie flat in the hand1 when the whole assumes a cylindrical form of scarcely greater diameter than the wrist40 ,secondly1 he declares that the ,davenport ,brothers possessed the power of seeing in the dark as the result of practice or training4 ,releasing myself from fastenings of all sorts1 from ropes to straightjackets1 has been my profession for over thirty-five years1 therefore ,i am in a position to positively contradict ,houdin's first statement4 ,i have met thousands of persons who claimed that the rope trick as well as the handcuff trick was accomplished by folding the hand together or by making the wrist larger than the hand1 but ,i have never met the man or woman who could make the hand smaller than the wrist4 ,i have even gone so far as to have iron bands made to press my hands together1 hoping to make them smaller than my wrists eventually1 but it was no use4 ,even if the thumbs were cut away ,i believe it would be impossible to slip a rope that is properly bound around the wrist4 ,furthermore ,i know that ,houdin was wrong in regard to the ,davenports because of what ,ira ,erastus ,davenport himself told me4 ,equally preposterous is the gift of seeing in the dark with which ,houdin endowed the ,davenports4 ,professor ,hoffmann defends ,houdin by citing instances of prisoners who had been confined in a dungeon for an indefinite period and had learned to see in the dark4 ,ira ,erastus ,davenport laughed at the idea and ,morelle1 who was confined in a dungeon for a number of years1 told me that all the years he had spent in darkness did not accustom his eyesight at all and that to have seen an article plainly he would have been forced to hold it close to his eyes and even then would have had to stretch his imagination4 ,baggally1 an investigator1 a member of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,london1 ,england1 emphatically records that he believes the ,zancigs are genuine telepathists1 and my friend1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 though he says that ,zancig has given proof numerous times that he works with a code1 nevertheless has stated in writing that he believed the ,zancigs to be genuine4 ,i want to go on record that the ,zancigs never impressed me as being anything but clever1 silent and signal codists4 ,zancig has admitted freely to members of the ,society of ,american ,magicians1 of which he is a member1 that they were not telepathists but1 as we term it1 8second sight artists40 ,they simply have a wonderful code which the public cannot detect4 ,it is interesting to know that after ,mrs4 ,zancig's death1 ,zancig took a street-car conductor from ,philadelphia and broke him in to do the act4 ,this young man soon quit his teacher1 married1 and began presenting the act with his wife4 ,then ,zancig took young ,david ,bamberg1 an intelligent son of ,theodore ,bamberg1 one of our well-known magicians4 ,the boy proved exceptionally clever but on account of unexpected circumstances he left and went abroad4 ,zancig came to me for an assistant and ,i introduced him to an actress4 ,he said he would guarantee to teach her the code inside of a month1 but they never came to an agreement on financial matters4 ,zancig has now married again1 this time a school teacher1 and they are doing a very clever performance4 ,in passing ,i would note that in #aijf or #aijg ,i engaged ,zancig to go with my show4 ,i had ample opportunity to watch his system and codes4 ,they are swift1 sure1 and silent1 and ,i must give him credit for being expertly adept in his chosen line of mystery1 but ,i have his personal word1 given before a witness1 that telepathy does not enter into it4 ,charles ,morritt has a code for second sight which is very simple and can be taught to anyone in thirty minutes4 ,he has given me the secret4 ,he gave this code to a banker who performed it with his sister1 and ,morritt1 although he had taught the signals1 could not follow or detect them once they began to work smoothly4 ,of course he knew what they were doing but simply could not follow them4 ,regarding the possibility of using codes and cues before others without being detected ,i can say positively that it is not only possible but simple and practical4 ,i had a fox terrier by the name of 8,bobby0 that ,i trained to pick up cards by a cue4 ,on ,may #ca1 #aiah1 ,i performed with this dog before the ,society of ,american ,magicians and ,i do not believe that there was one in the audience who detected my silent cue4 ,i spoke about this to a number of expert professionals who thought1 to all intents and purposes1 that ,bobby was listening to my speech1 whereas ,i was silently cueing him all the time4 ,i do not wish to expose the silent cue as ,i know that the great dog trainers of the world use it and it would not be fair to them to make it public4 ,i was able to give ,bobby his silent cue in any room or even a newspaper office and the spectators could watch me closely all the time because ,i never made a move they could see or a sound they could hear4 ,it is common to train other animals in a similar way4 ,during one of my tours in ,germany ,i saw a horse called 8,kluge ,hans0 that was able to spell1 add1 subtract1 pick out cards1 and with his feet make one tap for yes and two taps for no4 ,kluge ,hans fooled the professors for a long time but finally it came out that he got his cues from the trainer's assistant4 ,it is not generally known that1 owing to the position of his eyes1 a horse can look backwards to a certain degree and the investigators did not notice the assistant who stood just back of the horse's head4 ,at one time ,william ,eglinton1 an ,english medium1 was undoubtedly considered by ,spiritualists the most powerful professional psychic not only in ,england but throughout a greater part of ,europe4 ,in #ahgf he held the palm as a successor to ,slade in slate writing tricks4 ,he was a strong card for the cause and was extolled and lauded to the skies by the ,spiritualistic press4 ,he produced varied phenomena in addition to his slate writing effects1 such as the movement of articles1 production of ,spirit lights1 and materialization4 ,the ,spiritualists have told that 8he was so skillful that several practised conjurors as well as many investigators0 were at a loss to detect or account for his methods4 ,that may have been so4 ,half a century ago conjurors were not up on ,spiritualism as they are to-day1 and besides1 it must be conceded that even conjurors are not immune to being deceived4 ,nevertheless there were conjurors and lay investigators fully qualified to discover and expose his frauds4 ,in #ahgf1 while in his prime as a medium1 he was exposed in the materialization of an ,arab4 ,this ,arab's flowing beard and draperies were very familiar to ,english ,spiritualists and as proof of the actual materialization sitters were permitted to cut fragments from the beard and robes4 ,archdeacon ,colley1 an interested member of a circle of sitters1 suspecting fraud1 secured some clippings and a few days later when opportunity offered 8he found in ,eglinton's portmanteau a false beard and a quantity of muslin to which the detached relics perfectly corresponded40 ,he was also exposed several other times but this did not prevent the ,spiritualist paper1 ,light1 from publishing in ,october1 #ahhf1 a mass of testimony given by more than a hundred observers1 including persons of high culture and social standing1 to show that the phenomena at his seances were not due to any deliberate action on the part of the medium but to 8conclusively establish the existence of some objective1 intelligent force1 capable of acting externally to the medium and in contravention of the recognized laws of matter40 ,the publication of such statements inspired ,professor ,h4 ,carvill ,lewis#aca to visit ,eglinton for the purpose of investigation and arrangements were made for him to have a first sitting in ,november just a month after the extravagant statement in ,light4 ,aware of the frailty of memory ,professor ,lewis made notes during the seance and wrote out his deductions and conclusions immediately after4 ,he discovered at an early stage that close scrutiny did not produce an atmosphere sufficiently wholesome for desired results4 ,while his attention was concentrated on the medium the 8objective intelligent force0 seemed totally inoperative1 but whenever he turned his attention from the medium and apparently became absorbed in making notes the 8intelligent force0 became active instanter4 ,under the observation of ,professor ,lewis1 ,eglinton failed utterly at times and at others simply declined to work when conditions were against him4 ,professor ,lewis quotes him as claiming that he had converted ,kellar to ,spiritualism but refutes such a claim in the following words3 8,so far is this from being the case that ,mr4 ,kellar1 whom ,i know personally1 is nightly offering in ,america twenty pounds to anyone who will produce ,spiritualistic phenomena that he cannot imitate by conjuring40 ,the facts are that ,kellar had a sitting with ,eglinton in ,calcutta to see if he could reproduce his effects by natural means4 ,his mind was unbiased1 and failing to detect ,eglinton's method he remarked1 8,if my senses are to be relied on the writing is in no way the result of trickery or sleight-of-hand40 ,but note the qualification in his remark3 8,if my senses are to be relied upon40 ,evidently he had his misgivings then and he must have worked out the problem soon after for two years later1 as ,professor ,lewis told1 he was producing the effect in ,america1 and not long after performed both the ,slade and ,eglinton slate tricks before the ,seybert ,commission in ,philadelphia to its complete amazement4 ,it was not strange that ,kellar did not detect ,eglinton's method instantly nor is it strange that he acknowledged that he was baffled4 ,no magician is immune from being deceived and it is no way beneath a magician's dignity or demeaning to professional reputation to openly admit that he cannot always account for what he thinks he sees4 ,ernst ,basch1 of the famous ,basch family1 who made the major apparatus for the magicians of the world1 told me that he made hundreds of wireless tables before wireless was so well known under the name of 8,the ,bewitched ,table40 ,he was a great illusion inventor and builder with a wonderful knowledge but in all his experience and contact with mediums he had never seen anything which would make him believe in ,spiritualism4 ,neither has ,francis ,j4 ,martinka1 who traveled around the world with ,haselmeyer1 the magician1 and who has sold magical apparatus in ,new ,york ,city for over forty years4 ,i have the following letter from him in regard to ,spirit-communication4 8#adf ,east #edth ,street1 ,new ,york ,city1 ,march #bcrd1 #aiba4 8,dear ,mr4 ,houdini3 8,in answer to your question if ,i believe in ,spiritualism1 or the possibility of the return to this earth after death1 how can ,i believe in such a thing as ,spiritualism1 when for more than two score years as the prominent magical dealer and manufacturer of mysterious effects ,i have supplied almost every known and thousands of unknown tricks or apparatus to the great majority of magicians1 and indirectly to well-known mediums 7one instance you may remember owing to the hullabaloo it raised at the time1 when ,i sold luminous paint to ,hereward ,carrington1 at the exact time when he was manager of the celebrated medium1 ,e4 ,palladino1 who had baffled the scientists of the world71 also to all the managers of magician supply houses in existence4 8,no1 ,i must say positively ,i do not believe in ,spiritualism and it has always amused me to see how easy it is to deceive the human beings who seek solace for their grief or those who delve into the mysteries of which they know nothing4 8,in the forty years experience ,i have never seen anything that could convince me that such a thing as ,spiritualism existed4 8,and to show you that ,i wish my letter to be positively authentic1 have two friends sign as witnesses4 8,regards4 8,sincerely yours1 7,signed7 8,francis ,j4 ,martinka4 8,witnesses4 7,signed7 ,jean ,a4 ,leroy1 #acc #crd ,ave4 7,signed7 ,billy ,o',connor1 ,magicians' ,club1 ,london40 ,another who finds nothing but 8gross fraud0 in ,spiritualism after sixty years of study is ,a4 ,m4 ,wilson1 ,m4 ,d41 of ,kansas ,city1 ,mo41 ,editor and ,publisher of ,the ,sphinx4 ,he wrote me as follows3 #ajjg ,main ,st41 ,kansas ,city1 ,mo4 ,my dear ,houdini3-- ,for almost sixty-one years ,i have been witnessing and investigating ,spiritualism and ,spiritism as propagated by mediums through their so-called communications with the dead4 ,up to this time ,i have not met a medium1 celebrated or obscure1 that was not a gross fraud1 nor seen a manifestation that was not trickery and that could not be duplicated by any expert magician and that without the conditions and restrictions demanded by the mediums or explained by perfectly natural mental or physical methods4 ,sure there are certain mental and psychic phenomena peculiar to a few persons who use their special gift to delude believers 7as well as other credulous persons7 with the belief that their work is supernatural1 but even these phenomena can be analyzed and explained by any competent psychologist4 ,the thing that first aroused my suspicion and disbelief and started me to thinking and investigating1 was1 why could not the dear departed communicate direct with their relatives and friends8 why talk1 or rap1 or write or materialize through a medium1 the majority of whom are ignorant men and women1 though shrewd and cunning2 and if through a medium why should the medium need a control1 especially of an old ,indian chief or prattling ,indian maiden8 ,why a control at all8 ,true there are a few well educated1 intelligent and refined mediums in the business and which advantage makes them the more dangerous but none the less fraudulent than their more ignorant confreres4 ,i repeat1 that from my first seance in ,aurora1 ,ind41 ,february1 #ahfc1 until this date of #aibc ,i have never met a medium that was not a fraud or seen a manifestation of any kind or character that was not fraudulent4 ,in other words was a more or less crude or skillful magical performance by a clever trickster or tricksteress4 7,signed7 ,a4 ,m4 ,wilson1 ,m4 ,d41 ,editor ,the ,sphinx4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,conclusion ,it has been my desire in this book to convey to the reader my views regarding ,spiritualism which are the result of study and investigation1 the startling feature of which has been the utter inability of the average human being to describe accurately anything he or she has witnessed4 ,many sitters1 devoid of the sense of acute observation1 prefer to garnish and embellish their stories with the fruits of their fertile imaginations1 adding a choice bit every time the incident is reported1 and eventually1 by a trick of the brain1 really believing what they say4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that by clever misguidance and apt misdirection of attention1 a medium can accomplish seeming wonders4 ,the sitter becomes positively self-deluded and actually thinks he has seen weird phantoms or has heard the voice of a beloved one4 ,to my knowledge ,i have never been baffled in the least by what ,i have seen at seances4 ,everything ,i have seen has been merely a form of mystification4 ,the secret of all such performances is to catch the mind off guard and the moment after it has been surprised to follow up with something else that carries the intelligence along with the performer1 even against the spectator's will4 ,when it is possible to do this with a highly developed mind like ,mr4 ,kellar's1 one trained in magic mystery1 and when scientific men of the intelligence of ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 the late ,william ,crookes and ,william ,t4 ,stead1 can be made to believe by such means how much easier it must be in the case of ordinary human beings4 ,i cannot accept nor even comprehend the intelligence which justifies the conclusion1 so often put in print as the opinion of brainy men supporting ,spiritualism1 that admits the possibility of a result being accomplished by natural means but nevertheless assert their sincere belief that the identical performance by a professional medium is solely of supernatural origin and guidance1 nor can ,i understand the reasoning that1 acknowledging the disreputable character of certain practitioners or mediums1 deliberately defends the culprits in the performance of what has been proven a crime4 ,is it true logic1 logic that would stand either in court or club room1 to say that a medium caught cheating ninety-nine times out of a hundred was honest the hundredth time because not caught8 ,would the reader trust a servant who stole ninety-nine articles and then professed innocence when the hundredth article was missing8 ,sir ,conan ,doyle asks in all innocence1 8,is it really scientific to deny and at the same time refuse to investigate80 ,my answer is most emphatically 8no40 ,nevertheless1 they absolutely oppose all honest efforts at investigation1 and justify the mediums in refusing to work when the conditions are not just as they want them4 ,when one is invited to a dark seance for the purpose of investigation and finds the conditions so fixed as to bar him from enquiring too closely and compel him to be content with merely looking on he stands a poor chance of getting at the facts1 and should he dare to disregard the 8rules of the circle0 and the seance results in a blank1 the investigator is charged with having brought an atmosphere of incredulity to bear which prevents manifestation4 ,i do not affirm that the claims of ,spiritualism are disproved by such failures but ,i do say that if under such circumstances one dared to investigate properly and sanely1 and to cross-examine1 as he most certainly would do in any other form of investigation1 scientific1 or in the other walks of life1 ,spiritualism would not be so generously accepted4 ,in justification the psychic says that darkness or excessively dim light is perfectly legitimate and that tangible investigation might result in injury or even death to the medium4 ,the folly of any such fear has been proven time and again by the unexpected play of a flash light4 ,even the ardent supporters who lay emphasis on such an absurdity have1 according to their own confession1 made1 or had made1 flashlight photographs and there has never been a single case of harm or disaster reported4 ,this necessity for darkness seems but the grossest invention of the medium to divert1 even to the point of intimidation1 the attention of the sitters4 ,such a necessity cannot be accorded a logical reason for existing under test conditions to demonstrate a scientific subject4 ,it can be supported only as a visionary1 speculative superstition2 an instrument to foster hallucinatory illusion and as an admirable subterfuge to cover fraud4 ,sir ,arthur says3 8,if you want to send a telegram you must go to a telegraph office4 ,if you want to telephone you must first pick up the receiver and give your message to either an operator or a waiting automaton40 ,very well1 ,i have gone to the operator between the ,beyond and this earthly sphere1 ,i have gone to the telegraph office that receives the message in code1 to the so-called medium4 ,what would be more wonderful to me than to be able to converse with my beloved mother8 ,surely there is no love in this world like a mother's love1 no closeness of spirit1 no other heart throbs that beat alike2 but ,i have not heard from my blessed ,mother1 except through the dictates of the inmost recesses of my heart1 the thoughts which fill my brain and the memory of her teachings4 ,would not my private secretary1 ,john ,william ,sargent1 come back to me and tell me the secrets of the beyond if it were possible8 ,did he not1 just before he died1 tell me that he would come to me if there was any way of doing it8 ,more than being a private secretary1 he was my friend1--true1 loyal1 sacrificing1--knew me for thirty years4 ,he has not come back to me and he would if it were possible4 ,i had compacts with a round dozen4 ,each one promised me faithfully to come back if it were possible4 ,i have even gone so far as to create secret codes and hand-grips4 ,sargent had a certain word he was to repeat to me2 ,william ,berol1 the eminent mental expert1 gave me the secret handshake a few hours before he died and did not regain consciousness after silently telling me that he remembered our compact2 ,atlanta ,hall1 niece of ,president ,pierce1 a woman ninety years of age1 who had had seances with the greatest mediums that visited ,boston1 called for me just before her death1 clasped my hand and gave me our agreed-upon grip which she was to give me through a medium4 ,they have never come back to me6 ,does that prove anything8 ,i have attended a number of seances since their death1 the mediums have called for them1 and when their spirit forms were supposed to appear not one of them could give me the proper signal4 ,would ,i have received it8 ,i'll wager ,i would have4 ,there was love of some kind between each of these friends who are gone and myself4 ,it is needless to point out the love of a mother and son2 the love of a real friend2 the love of a woman of ninety toward a man who held her dear2 the love of a philosopher toward a man who respected his life study1--they were all loves1 each strong1 each binding4 ,if these persons1 with all the love they bore in their heart for me and all the love ,i have in my heart for them1 did not return1 what about those who did not hold me close1 who had no interest in me8 ,why should they come back and mine not8 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle has repeatedly told the ,spiritualists that ,i will eventually see the light and embrace ,spiritualism4 ,if the memory of a loved one1 gone to the protection of the hands of the ,great ,mystifier means ,spiritualism1 then truly ,i do believe in it4 ,but if ,spiritualism is to be founded on the tricks of exposed mediums1 feats of magic1 resort to trickery1 then ,i say unflinchingly ,i do not believe1 and more1 ,i will not believe4 ,i have said many times that ,i am willing to believe1 want to believe1 will believe1 if the ,spiritualists can show any substantiated proof1 but until they do ,i shall have to live on1 believing from all the evidence shown me and from what ,i have experienced that ,spiritualism has not been proven satisfactorily to the world at large and that none of the evidence offered has been able to stand up under the fierce rays of investigation4 ,it is not for us to prove that the mediums are dishonest1 it is for them to prove that they are honest4 ,they have made a statement1 the most serious statement in recent times1 for it affects the welfare1 the mental attitude and means a complete revolution of age-old beliefs and customs of the world4 ,if there is anything to ,spiritualism then the world should know it4 ,if there is nothing to it1 if it is1 as it appears1 built on a flimsy framework of misdirection1 then too the universe must be told4 ,there is too much at stake for a flighty passing1 for unsubstantiated truths4 ,,appendix ,a ,statement of ,margaret ,fox 8,do you know that there is something behind the shadowy mask of ,spiritualism that the public can hardly guess at8 ,i am stating now what ,i know1 not because ,i actually participated in it1 for ,i would never be a party to such promiscuous nastiness1 but because ,i had plenty of opportunity1 as you may imagine1 of verifying it4 ,under the name of this dreadful1 this horrible1 hypocrisy--,spiritualism--everything that is improper1 bad and immoral is practiced4 ,they go even so far as to have what they call #8,spiritual children4' ,they pretend to something like the immaculate conception6 ,could anything be more blasphemous1 more disgusting1 more thinly deceptive than that8 ,in ,london ,i went in disguise to a quiet seance at the house of a wealthy man1 and ,i saw a so-called materialization4 ,the effect was produced with the aid of luminous paper1 the luster of which was reflected upon the operator4 ,the figure thus displayed was that of a woman1 virtually nude1 being enveloped in transparent gauze1 the face alone being concealed4 ,this was one of those seances to which the privileged non-believing friends of believing ,spiritualists could have access4 ,but there are other seances where none but the most tried and trusted are admitted1 and where there are shameless goings on that vie with the secret ,saturnalia of the ,romans4 ,i could not describe these things to you1 because ,i would not40 ,from 8,the ,death ,blow to ,spiritualism10 by ,ruben ,briggs ,davenport4 ,page #ej4 ,b ,irving's ,speech ,speech of ,henry ,irving preceding his imitation of the ,davenports ,february #be1 #ahfe1 at the ,manchester ,athenum1 ,manchester1 ,england4 8,ladies and gentlemen3--,in introducing to your notice the remarkable phenomena which have attended the gentlemen1 who are not brothers1 who are about to appear before you1 ,i do not deem it necessary to offer my observations upon their extraordinary manifestations4 ,i shall therefore at once commence a long rigmarole for the purpose of distracting your attention1 and filling your intelligent heads with perplexity4 ,i need not tell this enlightened audience that the manifestations they are about to witness are produced by occult power1 the meaning of which ,i don't clearly understand2 but1 we simply bring before your notice facts1 and from these you must form your own conclusions4 ,concerning the early life of these gentlemen1 columns of the most uninteresting description could be written2 ,i will mention one or two interesting facts connected with these remarkable men1 and for the truth of which ,i personally vouch4 ,in early life1 one of them to the perfect unconcern of everybody else1 was constantly and most unconsciously floating about his peaceful dwelling in the arms of his amiable nurse1 while1 on other occasions1 he was frequently tied with invisible hands to his mother's apron strings4 ,peculiarities of a like nature were exhibited by his companion1 whose acquaintance with various ,spirits commenced many years ago1 and has increased to the present moment with pleasure to himself and profit to others4 ,these gentlemen have not been celebrated throughout the vast continent of ,america1 they have not astonished the civilized world1 but they have travelled in various parts of this glorious land--the land of ,bacon--and are about to appear in a phase in your glorious city of ,manchester4 ,many really sensible and intelligent individuals seem to think that the requirement of darkness seems to infer trickery4 ,so it does4 ,but ,i will strive to convince you that it does not4 ,is not a dark chamber essential to the process of photography8 ,and what would we reply to him who would say #8,i believe photography is a humbug1 do it all in the light and we will believe otherwise'8 ,it is true that we know why darkness is essential to the production of a sun picture2 and if scientific men will subject these phenomena to analysis1 they will find why darkness is essential to our manifestations4 ,but we don't want them to find out1 we want them to avoid a common-sense view of the mystery4 ,we want them to be blinded by our puzzle1 and to believe with implicit faith in the greatest humbug in the nineteenth century40 ,c ,lord ,adare's ,story4 ,that is the way ,spiritualistic chroniclers tell this story1 but ,lord ,dunraven1 in a letter to the ,editor of ,the ,weekly ,dispatch1 ,london1 ,eng41 ,march #ba1 #aibj1 gives quite a different version of the occurrence1 and because of its intrinsic worth as refutation of the loud claim made by ,spiritualists ,i am reproducing the entire article including head lines3 8,,medium',s ,,entry ,,by ,,window 8,,what ,i ,,saw ,,at ,,ashley ,,house 8,by ,lord ,dunraven4 8,my attention has been drawn to accounts of a debate on #8,spiritualism' on ,march #aa between ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle and ,mr4 ,joseph ,mc,cabe1 in which the latter is reported to have described the alleged wafting of ,mr4 ,d4 ,d4 ,home from window to window as one of the greatest pieces of trickery to be found in the whole ,spiritualistic movement4 8,assuming the substantial accuracy of the report1 ,i1 as the sole survivor of those present on the occasion1 think it my duty1 in justice to the dead1 to mention the facts as recorded by me at the time4 8,they are extracted from a long letter descriptive of the evening to my father1 who was much interested in the subject4 ,whether my letter was submitted to the others present ,i cannot now say for certain4 ,i have no doubt that it was1 for my custom was always to ask others present to test the accuracy of any record that ,i kept4 8,the date was ,december #af1 #ahfh4 ,those present were myself 7then ,lord ,adare71 the late ,lord ,crawford1 7then ,master of ,lindsay71 a cousin of mine1 ,mr4 ,wynne 7,charlie7 and ,mr4 ,d4 ,d4 ,home4 8,,on ,,the ,,third ,,floor 8,the scene was ,ashley ,house 7in ,ashley-place74 ,speaking from memory1 it consisted of two rooms facing the front--that is1 looking on ,ashley-place--a passage at the back running the length of the two rooms1 a door in each room connecting it with the passage4 ,the locality is thus described in the letter to my father3 8#8,outside each window is a small balcony or ledge1 #ai in4 deep1 bounded by stone balustrade1 #ah in4 high4 ,the balustrades of the two windows are #g ft4 #d in4 apart1 measuring from the nearest points4 ,a string-course1 #d in4 wide1 runs between the windows at the level of the bottom of the balustrade1 and another1 #c in4 wide1 at the level of the top4 ,between the window at which ,home went out and that at which he came in the wall recedes #f in4 ,the rooms are on the third floor4' 8,the following account of the incident is extracted from the letter to my father3 8,he 7,home7 then said to us1 #8,do not be afraid1 and on no account leave your places2' and he went out into the passage4 8,,from ,,room ,,to ,,room 8,lindsay suddenly said1 #8,oh1 good heavens6 ,i know what he is going to do2 it is too fearful4' ,adare3 #8,what is it8' ,lindsay3 #8,i cannot tell you2 it is too horrible6 ,adah says that ,i must tell you2 he is going out of the window in the other room1 and coming in at this window4' 8,we heard ,home go into the next room1 heard the window thrown up1 and presently ,home appeared standing upright outside our window4 ,he opened the window and walked in quite cooly4 #8,ah1' he said1 #8you were good this time1' referring to our having sat still and not wished to prevent him4 ,he sat down and laughed4 8,charlie3 #8,what are you laughing at8' ,home3 #8,we are thinking that if a policeman had been passing and had looked up and seen a man turning round and round along the wall in the air he would have been much astonished4 ,adare1 shut the window in the next room4' 8,i got up1 shut the window1 and in coming back remarked that the window was not raised a foot1 and that ,i could not think how he had managed to squeeze through4 8,,out1 ,,head ,,first 8,he arose and said #8,come and see4' ,i went with him2 he told me to open the window as it was before1 ,i did so2 he told me to stand a little distance off2 he then went through the open space1 head first1 quite rapidly1 his body being nearly horizontal and apparently rigid4 ,he came in again1 feet foremost1 and we returned to the other room4 8,it was so dark ,i could not see clearly how he was supported outside4 ,he did not appear to grasp1 or rest upon1 the balustrade1 but rather to be swung out and in40 8,such are the facts as narrated at the time4 ,i make no comment except this4 ,rigorously speaking1 it is incorrect to say1 as ,i think has been said1 that we saw ,mr4 ,home wafted from one window to the other4 8,as to whether he was or was not1 ,i am concerned only to state the facts as observed at the time1 not to make deductions from them40 ,in view of this publication1 it is quite natural to infer that ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle was cognizant of it at the time of its appearance1 because of his controversy with ,mr4 ,joseph ,mc,cabe1 on that subject2 therefore1 it is difficult to reconcile that thought with the fact of ,sir ,arthur's unmitigated praise and endorsement of a man such as all adduced evidence has branded a charlatan4 ,d ,luther ,r4 ,marsh and the ,huylers ,in #aijc1 ,luther ,r4 ,marsh again fell into the hands of charlatans as ,mr4 ,isaac ,k4 ,funk tells in his book 8,the ,widow's ,mite and ,other ,psychic ,phenomena40 ,a court set aside the assignment of several insurance policies which ,marsh had made to a medium known as ,mrs4 ,huyler4 ,mr4 ,funk tells the story as follows3 8,on the day ,mr4 ,marsh transferred the policies he 7,huyler7 and his wife had gone to ,mr4 ,marsh's room1 where ,mrs4 ,huyler claimed to hold communication with the ,spirits and told ,mr4 ,marsh there was a terrible uproar in ,spiritland because he declined to transfer the policies4 ,she told him that his ,spiritualistic wife1 ,adelaide ,neilson1 was tearing her hair and weeping1 and heaping reproaches upon him4 ,his wife1 ,mrs4 ,marsh1 was acting in the same fashion1 and his father-in-law1 #8,sunset1' ,alvin ,stewart1 was exceedingly wroth4 8,mr4 ,marsh was alarmed at this manifestation of ,spiritualistic displeasure1 and agreed to transfer the policies4 ,at the last moment he hesitated and claimed that because his will was made out he thought it better to postpone the matter a little while2 but ,mrs4 ,huyler insisted that he go across the way to a lawyer's office1 and he did so4 8,while he was gone ,mrs4 ,huyler admitted that the trance was a #8fake' and said that she wanted to get all she could from the #8old fool' before he died4 8,mr4 ,marsh returned to the room presently and assured her that the transfer had been made as she desired4 ,as soon as this evidence had been given by ,huyler1 ,justice ,marean ended the proceedings4 8#8,this man is a thief and a fraud1' he said turning to ,huyler1 #8and he acted the part of a thief when he and his wife conspired to secure those policies by the means he has just related4'0 ,e ,police ,record of ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar4 ,editha ,loleta1 ,jackson1 alias ,the ,swami--#e--c--sallow4 ,hair brown1 turning gray4 ,blue eyes4 ,occupation1 authoress4 ,sentence3 #f mos41 ,new ,york4 #ai4f4hh4 ,swindling4 ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar4 #b years1 ,geneva4 #be4c4ic4 ,larceny4 ,vera ,p4 ,ava4 ,expelled from ,new ,orleans4 #g4e4ii4 ,swindling1 ,susp4 ,person4 ,edith ,jackson4 #cj days1 ,new ,orleans4 #af4e4ii4 ,susp4 ,person4 ,edith ,jackson4 #g years penal servitude1 ,central ,criminal ,court1 ,london4 #af4ab4ja4 ,aiding and abetting the commission of rape4 ,editha ,loleta ,jackson4 ,f ,judge ,edmonds ,judge ,edmonds was born in ,hudson1 ,n4 ,y41 in #agii1 received a college education and studied law4 ,in #ahai he entered the law office of ,president ,van ,buren4 ,in #ahbh he was appointed ,recorder of ,hudson and in #ahca was elected to the ,state ,senate by an unprecedented majority4 ,in #ahdc he was appointed ,inspector of the ,state ,prison at ,sing ,sing holding the position until #ahde when he resigned to become a ,circuit ,judge of the ,first ,judicial ,district4 ,later he was elected ,judge of the ,state ,supreme ,court and finally in #ahea became a member of the ,court of ,appeals4 ,these various offices gave him experience in the widest range of judicial duties2 he had a greatly developed mentality and was known as the shrewdest judge of his time4 ,in #ahej he lost his wife with whom he had lived for over thirty years4 ,he was very much affected by her death and his mind became occupied with inquiries concerning the nature and conditions of death1 frequently spending the greater part of the night reading and reflecting on the subject4 ,one midnight he seemed to hear the voice of his wife speaking a sentence to him4 ,it was his doom4 ,he started as though shot and from that time on devoted all his time1 money and energy to ,spiritualism4 ,his faith did not waver to the end4 ,on his death bed he claimed to be surrounded by ,spirit forms and declared that by reason of entering their sphere in an advanced state of spiritual development he would be able to send back messages and proofs of ,spiritualism at once4 ,he died ,april #eth1 #ahgd 7the very date of my birth74 ,i doubt if the history of ,spiritualism can point out a man of greater brilliancy who ruined his life following up this 8will-o-the-wisp0 to relieve his grief4 ,g ,doyle and the 8,denver ,express40 ,this reminds me of a conversation which we had in ,denver in ,may1 #aibc1 when he admitted to me that he was frequently misquoted and made to say things which he never even thought of4 ,by some prank of fate1 ,sir ,arthur was booked to lecture in ,denver at the same time ,i was performing there4 ,lady ,doyle1 ,sir ,arthur1 ,mrs4 ,houdini and myself went out motoring in the morning and when we returned to the hotel ,sir ,arthur excused himself4 ,about two hours later on my way to the ,orpheum ,theatre1 ,sir ,arthur came dashing through the lobby of the hotel excitedly looking around for someone4 ,i walked up to him saying1 8,anything ,i can do for you80 ,he put his arm around me and said1 8,houdini1 there is a challenge of #e1jjj in this paper which ,i am purported to have issued4 ,i want you to know that ,i would never dream of doing such a thing1 to you above everyone else40 ,i replied1 8,sir ,arthur1 this is just another case1 where you have been misquoted4 ,no doubt you are thinking that ,i am going to believe it1 for ,i know that if conditions were reversed you would have believed it2 therefore1 you see it is best to investigate before giving credence to anything as being a fact4 ,i am not even upset about it--things happen that way4 ,will you please remember this incident the next time you read an interview supposedly issued by me80 ,sir ,arthur left for ,salt ,lake ,city the next morning4 ,i walked into the ,editorial ,department of the ,denver ,express1 saw ,mr4 ,sydney ,b4 ,whipple1 the ,managing ,editor1 and told him that ,i had met ,sir ,arthur the night before and that he was very indignant at the challenge which the paper reported he issued4 ,i said1 8,you see1 ,mr4 ,whipple1 ,sir ,arthur1 ,lady ,doyle1 ,mrs4 ,houdini and myself were out motoring all yesterday afternoon1 and when ,sir ,arthur returned he saw the 8scare head-line0 to the effect that he had challenged me for #e1jjj6 ,whipple asked1 8,you mean to say that ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle denies having challenged you80 ,i replied1 8,most emphatically1--he said that it was not true and he never made such a statement and added he had written to the ,editor to let him know what he thought of him for misrepresenting and misquoting what he said40 ,mr4 ,whipple asked me to wait a moment until he got to the bottom of the matter4 ,whipple called over ,mr4 ,sam ,jackson and said1 8,regarding this challenge of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 did he or did he not challenge ,houdini during your interview80 ,jackson answered1 8,why he positively did4 ,you do not think1 ,mr4 ,whipple1 that ,i would come in with a story which is not true8 ,sir ,arthur distinctly made his statement in terms positive1 that he was willing to challenge ,houdini for #e1jjj4 ,miss ,jeanette ,thornton was there at the time interviewing ,lady ,doyle1 and she overheard the conversation4 ,will you please call her and have her confirm my statement40 ,miss ,thornton came over and upon being questioned1 answered1 8,most assuredly ,i heard ,sir ,arthur's challenge yesterday4 ,i thought it was a very interesting incident so ,i paid particular attention4 ,i am surprised that ,sir ,arthur now denies having made it40 ,whipple turned to me saying1 8,there you are--any further proof you want1 is there anything we can do for you to contradict this8 ,do you wish us to make a statement80 ,to which ,i replied1 8,no1 just let it go1 we will let it pass40 ,the following letters which ,i received from ,mr4 ,whipple are self-explanatory3 8,,the #8,,denver ,,express' 8,,the ,,truth--,,quick4 8,may #aa1 #aibc4 8,dear ,mr4 ,houdini3-- 8,i am enclosing a letter from ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle complaining that the report of his challenge regarding mediumistic appearances was garbled in this paper4 8,i must also say that our reporter1 who talked with ,doyle insists that his report of the conversation was absolutely correct1 and that ,doyle said what we printed4 8,cordially yours1 7,signed7 8,sydney ,b4 ,whipple4 8,,the ,,brown ,,palace ,,hotel ,denver1 ,colo4 8,may #i1 #aibc4 8,sir3-- 8,the report in the ,denver ,express that ,i offered to bring back the spirit of my mother for five thousand dollars1 in order to confute ,mr4 ,houdini1 is a monstrous fabrication1 and ,i cannot imagine how you dare to print such a thing1 which is on the face of it so blasphemous and absurd4 8,what actually occurred was that your reporter said that my friend ,mr4 ,houdini had wagered #e1jjj that he could do anything any medium could do1 to which ,i answered 8,to do that he would have to show me my mother40 ,this is surely very different4 8,yours faithfully1 7,signed7 8,a4 ,conan ,doyle40 ,h ,exposure of ,mrs4 ,stewart ,it is significant to note that on ,december #bh1 #aibc1 at ,st ,louis1 ,mo41 ,i was fortunate in forming acquaintance with ,judge ,daniel ,g4 ,taylor1 who presided over ,division ,no4 #b of the ,circuit ,court1 to which division ,josie ,k4 ,folsom-,stewart1 as ,president1 ,charles ,w4 ,stewart1 ,secretary1 and ,phoebe ,s4 ,wolf1 as ,treasurer1 made application for incorporation of the 8,society of ,scientific and ,religious ,truthseekers10 who claimed that they had associated themselves by articles of agreement in writing1 as a 8,society for religious and mutual improvement purposes40 8,the articles of agreement and association are signed by some forty persons40 ,as was customary in such cases1 ,judge ,taylor 8appointed ,j4 ,lionberger ,davis1 then a practicing attorney1 now ,president of ,security ,national ,bank1 as amicus curiae to examine into the matter and report whether or not the charter should be granted40 ,the outcome of which was evidence of guilt of fraudulent manifestations of mediumship4 ,in the course of investigation1 ,miss ,martha ,grossman1 a member of ,mrs4 ,folsom's 8,development ,class10 testified that ,mr4 ,stewart and ,mrs4 ,folsom were conducting meetings which she had attended for six months1 at which time she saw writing on cards which ,mrs4 ,folsom said was done by ,spirits4 ,miss ,grossman testified that what ,mrs4 ,folsom claimed to be spirit photographs were mere transfers from prints in the ,post-,dispatch1 advertising 8,syrup of ,figs0 and 8,lydia ,pinkham's0 concoction4 ,it also developed that ,miss ,alice ,c4 ,preston confessed to having been a confederate and in that capacity 8assisted ,mrs4 ,folsom in producing1 physically1 and by natural means1 the supposed supernatural demonstrations40 ,a reference to this testimony is contained in the memorandum document on the evidence which is signed by the attorney for the petitioners and which is in the court files4 ,as a conclusion1 ,judge ,taylor denied the petition for incorporation1 which in any event could have been granted for the purpose of holding real estate only1 and not for promulgating teachings of a cult4 ,the ,judge acknowledged that he himself was convinced that ,mrs4 ,folsom was a fraud2 and this is the same ,mrs4 ,stewart1 who appeared before the ,scientific ,american ,committee of ,investigation in #aibc1 wherein she was detected in her card-trick4 ,mrs4 ,folsom was forced to acknowledge to the court in #aije that she was the author of a small book under title of 8,non-,godism10 a copy of which together with documentary evidence bearing on the court proceedings referred to above are now in my possession4 ,,footnotes #a 8,oh1 no1 ,houdini1 ,i never was more serious in my life40 #b ,sir ,john ,franklin was a celebrated ,arctic explorer4 ,in #ahde he was appointed to the command of an expedition sent out by the ,british ,admiralty in search of the northwest passage4 ,the expedition sailed from ,greenhithe1 ,may #ah1 #ahde1 and was last spoken off the entrance of ,lancaster ,sound1 ,july #bf1 #ahde4 ,thirty-nine relief expeditions1 public and private1 were sent out from ,england and ,america in search of the missing explorer between #ahdg and #aheg4 ,mc,clintock found traces of the missing expedition in #ahei1 which confirmed previous rumors of its total destruction4 #c ,new ,york ,world1 ,october #ba1 #ahhh4 #d ,see ,appendix ,a4 #e ,could this possibly have been 8in answer to prayer0 as now claimed8 #f ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle in his book1 8,our ,american ,adventures10 states3 8,the original house was removed by pious hands and reconstructed1 as ,i understand it1 at ,lily ,dale4 ,it is not generally known that when it was pulled down or it may have been before1 the bones of the murdered peddler and his tin box were discovered buried in the cellar1 as was stated in the original rappings4 ,the rappings were in #ahdh1 the discovery in #aijc4 ,what have our opponents to say to this80 ,according to ,margaret ,fox's confession1 ,doyle's statements are misleading and contrary to the facts4 #g ,there were three investigations by competent investigators4 ,one in ,buffalo by medical doctors1 one in ,philadelphia by the ,seybert ,commission of the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 and one in ,boston by a committee of professors from ,harvard ,university4 ,any one of the three would have resulted disastrously for the medium had the conditions and requirements demanded by the investigators been complied with4 ,a suspicion was well founded in the minds of the investigators as to the actual solution of the problem1 but they were not permitted to proceed to a finish1 the mediums hedging each time when a crucial test was proposed4 #h ,i have been warned while writing this book to be careful regarding my statement of the confession of ,margaret ,fox4 ,i am also fully aware of the fact that ,dr4 ,funk writes in his book1 8,the ,widow's ,mite03 8,margaret ,fox1 not long before her death1 confessed that she and her sister had duped the public4 ,this unfortunate woman had sunk so low that for five dollars she would have denied her own mother and sworn to anything4 ,at that time her affidavit for or against anything should not be given the slightest weight40 ,mr4 ,w4 ,s4 ,davis1 himself a practicing medium1 who knew ,margaret ,fox ,kane personally1 wrote me3 8,one would think that ,margaret ,fox got drunk1 and in that condition1 was induced to confess that she was a fraud1 but when she became sober she renounced her confession4 ,that is what we would think to hear some ,spiritualists talk4 ,she was sober when the made her confession2 she was sober when she appeared in the theatre and gave her expos4 ,in fact she was usually sober4 ,she drank considerably during the later years of her life1 and often drank too much1 but usually she was sober4 ,one of her reasons for drinking was that her hypocrisy had become more and more distasteful to her4 ,living a constant lie got on her nerves1 and1 when the later years came1 she didn't have the same degree of vital force that she had in her younger days to battle off the dictates of her conscience40 #i ,new ,york ,world1 ,october #bb1 #ahhh4 #aj ,from ,ruben ,briggs ,davenport's 8,the ,death ,blow to ,spiritualism40 #aa ,ibid4 #ab ,these statements are fully corroborated by letters on file in my library and ,i consider it not only a privilege1 but a duty as well to truthfully present them here4 #ac ,ira1 the surviving brother1 was so touched by this little act that he taught me the famous ,davenport rope-tie1 the secret of which had been so well kept that not even his sons knew it4 #ad ,it was in ,paris too that the other brother1 ,william ,henry ,harrison ,davenport1 met the great ,adah ,isaacs ,menken1 called the 8,bengal ,tiger10 and though not generally known she later became his wife4 ,she was considered one of the 8,ten ,super-,women of the ,world40 ,she was born within a few miles of ,new ,orleans1 ,la41 in #ahce4 ,upon the death of her father she embarked on her stage career and instantaneously won success4444 ,she made her first appearance in ,new ,york ,city at the ,national ,theatre in #ahfj4 ,she was married a number of times4 ,her first marriage was to ,john ,c4 ,heenan1 the prize fighter1 better known as 8,benicia ,boy40 ,she was the first woman to do the ,mazeppa in tights1 playing the rle both in ,america and ,europe4 ,while in ,london she became the literary and professional star of the hour and her hotel was the meeting place for such men as ,charles ,dickens1 ,swinburne1 ,alexander ,dumas1 ,charles ,reade1 ,watts ,phillips1 ,john ,oxenford1 ,the ,duke of ,hamilton and many others4 ,she wrote a book of poems named 8,infelicity10 which she dedicated to ,charles ,dickens4 ,she had a penchant for being photographed with many of her admirers and there is a rare photograph of her and ,swinburne which he tried hard to suppress4 ,another famous one is of ,dumas and the fair lady4 #ae ,they were married in ,london during ,march1 #ahff4 #af ,long after ,ira died his only daughter1 ,zellie1 a well known actress1 told me that while her father and ,i were so absorbed in discussing and experimenting with the rope trick she and her mother cautiously slipped behind the curtains and watched us through the bedroom window4 #ag ,ira told me that at first they used to work unbound in a corner of the room with a curtain to conceal their methods4 ,at one of their seances they were asked if the ,spirits would work if the ,brothers allowed themselves to be tied4 ,this led them to try out different rope methods1 gradually developing the one used all over the world which ,ira taught me1 saying smilingly after he had done so3 8,houdini1 we started it1 you finish it40 #ah ,i had the honor of being instrumental in launching and directing ,dean ,kellar's farewell at the ,hippodrome in ,new ,york ,city and he selected me to be his last assistant4 ,as a part of the performance he presented with some table tipping what he called the 8,davenport ,cabinet and ,rope ,mystery40 ,after the performance he walked to the footlights and said3 8,ladies and gentlemen1 ,i am finished giving performances to-night4 ,as ,i will have no further use for the cabinet and table ,i publicly present them to my dear friend ,houdini40 ,in this cabinet1 made in imitation of the one used by the ,davenport ,brothers1 the benches are fitted into a groove making it possible for them to be slipped out in case of an extra severe tie-up1 giving enough freedom to ring bells and do a number of other things without releasing the hands in the usual way4 ,this is something of an improvement in mystery cabinets4 #ai ,they rubbed vaseline into their hands and wrists to facilitate their movements4 ,the rope generally used was similar to the ,silver ,lake sash cord4 #bj ,it was sometimes claimed that after their demonstrations were over the ,davenports turned the papers and remarked them4 ,this ,ira said was a deliberate lie as they never left their places throughout the entire performance4 #ba ,at one of their seances a man tied the brothers so tightly that it was necessary for them to make a desperate struggle to effect a release4 ,the next night the man tried a more difficult test1 simply laying the ropes all over their bodies1 but the ,davenports worked so slowly1 deftly1 and with such inexhaustible patience that they saved their reputation4 #bb ,nor did he hesitate to tell me that he sometimes used as many as ten confederates at a seance for protection4 #bc ,william ,fay1 in order to be prepared for an emergency1 always carried a piece of rope in his mandolin1 and boasted to his partners3 8,i'll not chaw the ropes like you fellows1 ,i'll cut40 #bd ,the original cabinet of the ,davenports1 made of bird's-eye maple1 was pawned for thirty pounds in ,cuba many years ago and is still there4 #be ,in order to prove to the public that they did not make use of their hands test conditions were imposed by filling both the brothers' hands with flour and then tying them behind their backs4 ,almost every publication that has written an expos of the ,davenport ,brothers claims with glee that the trick was performed by putting flour into their pockets from which they took a fresh handful after the manifestations were finished and pretending that their hands were clenched all the time4 ,it is claimed that once a committeeman instead of placing flour in their hands filled them with snuff and after the manifestations had been performed they had their hands fulls of flour4 ,ira told me that this was a deliberate lie as they did not need to get rid of the flour in their hands as they could do all the tricks with their hands clenched using the free thumb4 #bf ,the levitation act which has helped to swell the ranks of the ,spiritualists and which mystified scientist and laymen alike1 was one of the simplest deceptions ever practiced on the guileless masses by cunning mediums4 ,a reformed medium in ,bristol1 ,england1 told me that he would endeavor to free himself from his restraints1 and by deft manipulations managed to pick up a person who sat in a chair nearby4 ,although the sitter had only been lifted a few inches from the floor he believed in all good faith that his head had actually brushed the ceiling1 this impression being created by the medium gently passing his hand over the top of the sitter's head4 #bg ,as to the delusion of sound4 ,sound waves are deflected just as light waves are reflected by the intervention of a proper medium and under certain conditions it is a difficult thing to locate their source4 ,stuart ,cumberland told me an interesting test to prove the inability of a blindfolded person to trace sound to its source4 ,it is exceedingly simple2 merely clicking two coins over the head of the blindfolded person4 #bh ,this refers to our contemplated tour of the world4 ,when ,i first became acquainted with ,ira ,davenport in #aiji ,i found that he was very anxious to re-enter the entertainment field and we set about planning a tour of the world together4 ,by combining his reputation and my knowledge and experience we would have been able to set the world agog4 ,under no circumstances1 however1 would we have claimed our performance ,spiritualistic1 but just a mystery entertainment4 #bi ,the start of the ,liverpool riot can be laid indirectly to ,ferguson4 ,he protested the way the boys had been secured and without waiting for instructions or a word from the ,brothers1 whipped out a knife and cut the ropes4 ,ira told me that it was too bad that ,ferguson did that for they never could have secured them so they could not have produced some manifestations4 #cj ,ira told me that during the disturbance in ,liverpool1 ,john ,hughes1 ,fenian head1 offered him five hundred ,irishmen to clean up any mob of ,englishmen4 #ca ,ira told me that he believed that their success so diminished the popularity of the theatre where ,irving was playing that the stars were forced to resort to various schemes to counteract the dwindling receipts at the box office4 ,see ,appendix ,b for ,irving's speech4 #cb ,the reader should not confuse this man ,jacobs with ,jacoby1 the ,german escape-artist1 a rope specialist who invented a number of rope tricks that are still well worth presenting4 #cc ,he wrote me a letter on ,july #eth1 #aiaa1 and was waiting to see me at the time of his death on the #hth4 ,i was to leave ,new ,york on receipt of his letter but his daughter ,zelie wired me of his passing away4 #cd ,when ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle was appearing in ,australia in #aibj he met ,bendigo ,rymer1 the grandson of ,j4 ,s4 ,rymer1 who had entertained ,home lavishly4 ,bendigo showed ,sir ,arthur a number of letters from his grandfather which proved conclusively that ,home had been guilty of taking advantage of the man's friendship4 ,rymer had entertained ,home in ,england and sent him to ,rome with his son to study art4 ,from ,rome young ,rymer wrote his father that as soon as ,home had been able to elbow his way into society he totally ignored him though as host he was paying ,home's expenses4 ,finally ,home ran away and lived with a titled ,english woman1 shunning ,rymer altogether4 ,sir ,arthur in his book1 8,the ,wanderings of a ,spiritualist10 says in reference to ,home3 8,for weeks he lived at her villa1 although the state of his health would suggest that it was rather as a patient than a lover40 ,in his introduction to ,madame ,home's book ,sir ,arthur entirely forgives this rude action of ,home and strongly defends his base ingratitude4 #ce ,home1 the ,spiritualist1 is giving readings in ,boston4 ,has he given up his ,spiritualism in disgust at finding that people who strained at his manifestations have swallowed the ,davenports8 ,we are glad to think he has adopted an honest profession at last1 and we hope before long to see his rivals rising to sweeping a crossing or something as respectable4--,london ,fun1 #ahfd4 #cf 8,incidents in ,my ,life10 ,london1 #ahfc--8,lights and ,shadows of ,spiritualism10 #ahgg4 #cg ,it is quite unnecessary for me to repeat the many proofs of fraud perpetrated by ,home1 but if the reader is interested he will find many such cases reported by ,mr4 ,frank ,podmore in 8,modern ,spiritualism10 ,london1 #aijb1 and 8,newer ,spiritualism10 ,london1 #aiaj4 ,mr4 ,podmore was a ,spiritualist himself and a member of the ,society of ,psychical ,research and would naturally make out as good a case for ,home as he could honestly4 #ch ,see ,appendix ,f4 #ci ,she only lived about four years4 #dj ,in his introduction to the #aiba edition of 8,d4 ,d4 ,home's ,life and ,work10 by ,madame ,home1 ,doyle declares that he commends the book to the student1 saying3 8,very especially the second series is commended to the student of ,home1 because in it will be found all the papers dealing with the ,home-,lyon lawsuit showing conclusively how honorable was the action of ,home40 ,does he wish us to infer that it was ,home who brought the suit against ,mrs4 ,lyon1 rather than the opposite8 ,does he wish it understood that he is sincere in his commendation of a charlatan8 ,throughout the introduction he defends ,home and seems to deliberately twist the history of the man4 #da ,it is interesting to note that ,sir ,william ,crookes1 the eminent scientist1 who must have known of the history and character of ,home as unveiled at the ,lyon trial1 should have permitted himself to fall within the mesh of ,d4 ,d4 ,home4 #db ,taking for granted that the committee in the room was not able to see or permitted to leave the table the method ,home could have used with the greatest ease was3 first actually get out of the window1 or pretend to2 then1 go back and noiselessly crawl on all fours through the door into the next room and shake the window2 and lastly1 boldly return to the first room1 closing the door with a bang4 ,there is a possibility that a man of ,home's audacity with levitation feats might have resorted to swinging from one window to another1 which means nothing to any acrobat with a wire properly placed in readiness4 ,the idea of ,home losing his physical weight and floating out of the window head first is merely a suggestion of his1 a ruse which is still being used by mediums4 #dc ,see ,appendix ,c for ,lord ,adare's story4 #dd ,there are numerous versions of the cause of his death4 ,mme4 ,blavatsky1 who made a special investigation of the deaths of prominent mediums1 wrote3 8,this ,calvin of ,spiritualism suffered for years from a terrible spinal disease1 brought on through his intercourse with the #8,spirits1' and died a perfect wreck40--8,key to ,theosophy10 #ahij4 #de ,table lifting was a strong card with her4 #df 8,she was taken in a menial position into a family given to ,spiritualistic practices4 ,being called one day to make up the circle at a seance1 certain new and surprising manifestations took place1 and she was pronounced to be a medium4 ,so it appears that the ,spiritualists actually pushed her into the matter1 and she immediately took advantage of the opportunity40--,proceedings1 ,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,november1 #aiji1 pp4 #caa1 #cab4 #dg ,robert ,owen1 ,prof4 ,hare1 ,prof4 ,challis1 ,prof4 ,zollner1 ,prof4 ,weber1 and ,lombroso were all near the end of their lives when they embraced ,spiritualism4--,see 8,spiritualism10 by ,joseph ,mc,cabe1 page #bjg4 #dh ,another adroit method of freeing one hand when the sitter thinks he has evidence that the two hands of the medium are being kept busy1 is for the medium to keep up a continuous clapping of the hands1 working the hands near the face or some other exposed part of the body and simply change the clapping of one hand against another to the clapping of one hand against the body4 ,in the dark the effect is the same and the sitter believes that both the medium's hands are busily engaged in clapping4 #di ,not difficult to accomplish in the dark4 #ej ,mr4 ,baggally had a reputation as a conjuror and ,i think he has done much in the way of exposing mediums4 ,he is also a believer in telepathy and has recently published a book on that subject1 8,telepathy1 ,genuine and ,fraudulent10 ,chicago1 #aiah4 #ea ,the 8human-clamp0 is one of the simplest and yet one of the most effective and mystifying means of table levitation4 ,the medium and her subjects place the tips of their fingers on the top of the table lightly4 ,the medium gently rocks the table back and forth until she gets it in a correct position to place her foot1 or the hem of her dress1 under one of the legs4 ,when she perfects her position she presses down with the hand above the table leg that is resting on her foot4 ,from then on it is only a matter of raising the foot to whatever height she wishes the table to rise4 ,if she wants it levitated to a great height1 she gives it an upward kick and then withdraws her foot1 and the table rises and falls true to the laws of gravitation4 #eb ,at one time during the series of tests in ,new ,york ,city1 a man from ,philadelphia1 ,mr4 ,edgar ,scott1 who was standing in the background1 took advantage of the darkness and crawled along the floor to the cabinet and attempted to grab ,eusapia's foot while she was using it for trick purposes but just as his hand touched her foot ,eusapia had a spasm of screeching4 ,professors ,jastrow and ,miller were witnesses of this fact4 #ec ,palladino wanted her own interpreter1 also a personal friend1 but that obstacle was avoided4 ,neither was her business manager1 ,mr4 ,hereward ,carrington1 present on this particular occasion4 #ed ,the full details of this seance were published in the ,journal of the ,american ,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,section 8,b10 ,august1 #aiaj4 #ee ,in an interview with ,walter ,littlefield1 a noted journalist1 ,palladino revealed three methods by which she was able to employ substitution in regard to hands at the table1 four in regard to foot substitution1 half a dozen methods of table levitation1 several ways of producing knocks1 two ways in which she produced the illusion of a current of air coming from her forehead4 ,she told him that she was not annoyed when caught practicing tricks1 nor did she deny their use when caught4 ,she said to him1 8,all mediums indulge in tricks--all40 ,she also told him that she was a good ,catholic1 went to ,mass1 made her confession1 and said she hated to hear people talk about 8super-normal10 or 8supernatural0 phenomena4 ,the famous 8current of air from the forehead0 which ,mr4 ,littlefield mentions was simply her breath blown with force and diverted by her under lip4 #ef ,i am informed on good authority that ,eusapia threw her legs into the laps of her male sitters6 ,that she placed her head upon their shoulders1 and did various other things calculated to confuse and muddle men1 all of which was explained on the theory of 8hysteria40 ,in her younger days ,eusapia was a buxom woman and it is not strange that a lot of old scientists were badly flabbergasted by such conduct4 #eg ,see ,appendix ,d4 #eh ,i have a full record of the proceedings in my reference file4 #ei ,in order to prove that fraud and trickery were the tools which had been used in fleecing the unwary1 magicians were induced to appear in evidence1 and on ,may #bg1 #ahhh1 ,alexander ,hermann gave a public ,demonstration at the ,academy of ,music in ,new ,york ,city for the purpose of duplicating the phenomena produced by ,diss ,debar and as an aid to the ,new ,york ,press ,club ,fund4 ,the audience included many prominent people and notables including ,col4 ,cockerell2 ,edward ,s4 ,stokes1 of the ,hoffman ,house2 ,joseph ,howard2 ,district ,attorney ,fellows2 ,ex-,judge ,donohue2 ,lawyer ,newcombe2 ,judge ,hilton2 ,luther ,r4 ,marsh2 and 8,dr40 ,lawrence1 one of the attaches of the ,diss ,debar ,temple4 ,professor ,hermann read spirit messages1 did table tipping1 cabinet1 light seance1 and produced spook pictures1 finishing with a dark seance of ghostly music and materializations4 #fj ,new ,york ,times1 ,april #ba1 #ahhh4 #fa ,new ,york ,world1 ,june #ah1 #ahhh4 #fb ,when the ,london press was full of sensational stories following the arrest of ,laura and ,theodore ,jackson1 ,carl ,hertz1 on picking up his paper one morning1 was astonished to recognize the woman who had lured young girls into joining her immoral cult as ,ann ,o',delia ,diss ,debar1 with whom he had measured swords at the ,marsh trial4 ,he got in touch with ,scotland ,yard immediately and gave it all the information he had regarding ,diss ,debar's connection with fraud activities4 #fc 8,miss ,croisdale1 who was one of the victims1 testified that she had been initiated into the #8,theocratic ,unity1' the sect which the ,jacksons claimed to head1 with a rope fastened about her2 passes were made over her1 she said1 with a lamp1 water and a saw3 ,jackson told her that he was ,christ re-incarnated4 ,miss ,croisdale then described the oath in which she swore she would allow no one else to hypnotize her and she would keep all the secrets under the penalty of #8submitting myself to a deadly and hostile current of will set in motion by the ,chief of the order1 with which ,i would be slain or paralyzed without visible weapons1 as if blasted by lightning4' ,mrs4 ,jackson 7or ,diss ,debar7 looked as if she wished to carry out the threat on the spot4 ,miss ,croisdale further testified that ,theodore had outraged her in his wife's presence4 ,jackson declared he was physically incapable and demanded a doctor's examination to prove his statement40--,dispatch from the ,london ,times in the ,new ,york ,sun1 ,october #aa1 #aija4 #fd ,chicago ,daily ,tribune1 ,august #ad1 #aijf4 #fe ,new ,york ,sun1 ,october #aa1 #aija4 #ff ,if alive she is now 7#aibd7 seventy-five years old4 #fg ,see ,appendix ,e for ,police ,record4 #fh ,if the reader cares to look the matter up ,i would refer him to ,podmore's 8,modern ,spiritualism10 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pages #bjd and #bba2 also to the story of ,dr4 ,slade in the same volume2 to the proceedings of the ,american ,s4 ,p4 ,r41 ,vol4 ,,ii1 part ,i1 pages #ag1 #cf-ei2 to ,abbot's1 8,behind the ,scenes with ,mediums10 pages #aad to #aib2 to 8,revelations of a ,spirit ,medium10 page #aba-aeg2 to 8,bottom ,facts10 pages #adc-aei2 to the ,report of the ,seybert ,commission2 8,spirit ,slate ,writing10 by ,wm4 ,e4 ,robinson1 and newspaper exposures without number4 #fi ,according to 8,the ,medium and ,daybreak10 ,october #f1 #ahgf1 ,slade 8discovered0 the phenomena of slate-writing while experimenting at the private house of ,mr4 ,gardiner ,knapp1 ,new ,albany1 ,indiana1 where ,slade was visiting4 #gj ,as he reached for the sponge1 which had been placed purposely on centre of table1 he held slate just below range of vision and with the reaching for sponge1 twisted slate around1 blank side on top and pretended to wipe off the sentence he had 8read0--when in fact he had written something entirely different4 #ga ,in regard to involuntary and subconscious table rapping and tapping3 ,some people rap and tip table in all seances of table tipping and rapping4 ,i have attended seances where ,i have caught some one obligingly cheating to relieve the monotony1 and the imposition once started is forced to be kept up4 #gb ,coined by ,andrew ,jackson ,davis1 in #ahde1 and meaning the hereafter4 ,now used frequently by ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle4 #gc ,see ,appendix ,f4 #gd ,in those days there were no dry plates and with the old 8wet0 plates it was quite possible to expose a plate1 develop it1 and then prepare it again and expose it the second time4 ,when this was done both pictures appeared in the print4 ,such a plate could be used under the strictest test conditions without detection4 #ge ,in speaking of ,spirit photography1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle usually brings up as proof positive1 that his fairy photographs are genuine4 ,according to the ,london ,star1 ,december #bj1 #aiba1 there were many interesting developments regarding these3 8,messrs4 ,price and ,sons1 the well known firm of candle makers1 inform us that the fairies in this photograph are an exact reproduction of a famous poster they have used for years1 to advertise their night lights4 8#8,i admit on these fairies there are wings1 whereas our fairies have no wings1' said a representative of the firm to a ,star reporter1 #8but1 with this exception1 the figures correspond line for line with our own drawing4'0 #gf ,i would like to say for the benefit of the reader that ,de,vega is a skilled magical entertainer2 has invented a number of legerdemain feats2 contributed a number of interesting articles to magical publications2 is a skilled artist and a clever photographer4 ,i was very fortunate in being able to secure a man of his ability for the investigation4 #gg ,on ,march #e1 #aibc1 ,harry ,f4 ,young1 known as 8,the ,human ,fly10 fell ten stories from a window ledge of the ,hotel ,martinqiue1 ,new ,york ,city4 ,he succumbed before he reached the hospital4 ,for the benefit of those who do not know1 8,a ,human ,fly0 is an acrobat who makes a specialty of scaling tall buildings1 simply clinging to the apertures or crevices of the outward architecture of such building for the edification of an assembled throng1 for which he receives a plate collection1 a salary or is engaged especially for publicity purposes4 ,it is not a very lucrative profession and its dangers are many4 #gh ,on ,april #ad1 #aibb1 in ,new ,york ,city1 ,sir ,arthur1 according to his book1 8,our ,american ,adventure10 attended a seance given by a young ,italian by the name of ,pecoraro4 ,during the seance the name ,palladino was given and he was told that the famous medium was present4 ,a voice from the cabinet1 supposedly ,palladino's1 said1 8,i1 who used to call back the ,spirits1 now come back as a ,spirit myself10 to which ,sir ,arthur answered1 8,palladino1 we send you our love and our best encouragement40 ,however1 the force was broken by 8the absurd and vile dancing of the table10 and there was no physical manifestation4 ,this shows ,sir ,arthur's will to excuse even ,palladino1 who was on numerous occasions exposed as a fraudulent medium4 #gi ,,all ,spiritualists say that4 #hj ,dr4 ,a4 ,t4 ,schofield wrote in the ,daily ,sketch1 ,february #i1 #aibj1 that thousands of persons were estimated by a famous mental specialist to have been driven to the asylum through ,spiritualism4 ,a truly pitiful record4 #ha ,letter from ,sir ,arthur to ,h4 ,h4 7dated ,april #b1 #aibj73 8,i have had very conclusive evidence since my two books were written4 ,six times ,i have spoken face to face with my son1 twice with my brother and once with my nephew1 all beyond doubt in their own voices and on private matters1 so for me there is not1 nor has been for a long time1 any doubt4 ,i know it is true1 but we can't communicate that certainty to others4 ,it will come--or not1 according to how far we work for it4 ,it is the old axiom1 #8,seek and ye shall find4'0 #hb ,report of trial before ,mr4 ,justice ,darling--,morning ,post1 ,july #af1 #aibj4 #hc ,i have it on the positive word of ,stuart ,cumberland1 who was at one of the seances of the 8,masked ,medium0 and he gave me definite specifications and positive facts of the reading of the initials in the ring submitted by ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle to the 8,masked ,medium0 whom he said possessed remarkable powers4 ,stuart ,cumberland told me a number of ways this feat could be done4 ,among them1 the black boxes were exchanged surreptitiously in the dark1 and then brought back4 ,it is an easy thing to present a box for inspection and yet have false compartments in it so that the contents will fall out4 ,it was only after the methods were told innumerable times to ,sir ,arthur that he condemned it as a fraud4 #hd ,according to the ,new ,orleans ,times-,picayune1 ,march #i1 #aibc1 ,clarence ,thomson1 self-styled missionary1 ,president and member of the ,board of ,directors of the ,international ,psychical ,association1 was fined #be and sentenced to serve #cj days in jail4 ,he admitted he had been arrested in ,chicago and ,kansas ,city for conducting seances1 but said he had been honorably discharged4 #he ,other performers are doing this feat4 ,i have performed it regularly for thirty years without any supernatural power whatever4 #hf ,see ,davenport chapter4 #hg ,these articles were syndicated1 ,new ,york ,american1 ,sept4 #crd1 #aibb4 #hh ,morning ,post1 ,july #af1 #aibj4 #hi ,see ,appendix ,g4 #ij ,this was not known to ,lady ,doyle4 ,if it had been my ,dear ,mother's ,spirit communicating a message1 she1 knowing her birthday was my most holy holiday1 surely would have commented on it4 #ia ,so far1 all of the several seances of investigation held under the auspices of the ,scientific ,american1 have failed in proving the existence of supernatural power or force1 such as might with logical consistency be conceded as psychic4 ,valentine1 the ,wilkesbarre medium1 proved to be a failure4 ,rev4 787 ,jessie ,k4 ,stewart the same4 ,mrs4 ,elizabeth ,allen ,tomson of ,chicago1 a complete fiasco1 not possessing sufficient courage to attempt a sitting other than under conditions and in a place prescribed by herself4 ,and lastly the ,italian lad1 ,nino ,pecoraro1 has accomplished nothing beyond the possibility of human exertion1 and failed utterly in so doing when securely fettered1 as proved to be the case1 when ,i personally did the tying4 ,see also ,appendix ,h4 ,and from the results gotten thus far from the series of sittings with this 8medium0 it is safe to predict that the final analysis will place him in the same category as all others to date4 #ib ,according to ,spiritualistic publications ,the ,dialectical ,society never made a full report4 ,the 8,reports0 of sub-committees only were published by ,spiritualist papers used by writers in books but such reports were based on 8hear-say0 evidence taken from ,spiritists4 ,they told their ghost stories to ,committees and they were believed4 ,there never was a unanimous report or conclusion4 ,the non-,spiritual 787 members of the ,dialectical ,society refused to have anything to do with the investigation4 ,the great majority of the ,committee were full-fledged ,spiritualists1 and the few whom they claimed to have convinced were simply credulous4 #ic ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle seems to imagine that all the newspapers in the world are against him4 ,after his ,australian tour he accused the ,australian papers of refusing to publish the truth about his seances4 ,writing about ,american newspapers in his book1 8,an ,american ,adventure10 he says3 8,the editors seem to place the intelligence of the public very low1 and to imagine that they cannot be attracted save by vulgar1 screaming headlines4 8,the ,american papers have a strange way also of endeavoring to compress the whole meaning of some item into a few words of headline1 which1 as often as not1 are slang40 ,even in ,canada ,sir ,arthur claims to have badly used by the newspapers4 ,in 8,our ,american ,adventure0 he writes3 8,there were some rather bitter attacks in the ,toronto papers1 including the one leader in the ,evening ,telegram1 which was so narrow and illiberal that ,i do not think the most provincial paper in ,britain could have been guilty of it4 8,it was to the effect that ,british lecturers took money out of the town1 that they did not give the money's worth1 and that they should be discouraged4 8#8,poking ,them in the ,eye' was the dignified title4 8,it did not seem to occur to the writer that a comic opera or a bedroom comedy was equally taking the money out of the town1 but that the main purpose served by lectures1 whether one agreed with the subject or not1 was that they kept the public in first hand touch with the great current questions of mankind4 ,i am bound to say that no other ,toronto paper sank to the depth of the ,evening ,telegram but the general atmosphere was the least pleasant that ,i had met with in my ,american travels40 #id ,in an article in ,truth1 ,april1 #aibc1 entitled 8,the ,new ,revelation10 by ,rev4 ,p4 ,j4 ,cormican1 ,s4 ,j41 he asks3 8,does the knighted prophet of the ,new ,revelation 7,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle7 tell the whole truth about ,spiritism8 ,we think not4 ,he says nothing about the evil consequences1 physical1 intellectual and moral1 to those who dabble in ,spiritism4 ,he gives a one-sided account of the matter4 ,he says nothing about what ,spiritism has done1 and is still doing1 to fill our lunatic asylums all over the world4 ,there are over thirty thousand lunatics in ,england alone who lost their mind through this modern necromancy4 ,doyle does not even hint at the countless cases of insanity and suicide1 of blasphemy and obscenity1 of lying and deception1 of broken homes and violated troth1 all caused by ,spiritism4 ,to suppose that a ,god of truth and sanctity is giving a new message through such sources and with such consequences1 is blasphemy pure and simple4 ,furthermore1 to assert that this ,new ,revelation is to supersede a worn-out creed is both gratuitous and absurd4 ,christianity will last till the crack of doom1 when titled prophets shall have ceased to cross the ,atlantic in quest of ,american shekels40 #ie ,mrs4 ,feilding is ,mme4 ,tomchik1 the ,polish medium examined by ,professor ,ochorowiz1 and is the best known medium who 8levitates0 things without physical contact4 #if ,at no time1 to my knowledge1 did the search include the orifices of her body4 #ig ,in this trick ,i swallow 7if one's eyes are to be trusted7 anywhere from fifty to a hundred and fifty needles and from ten to thirty yards of thread2 then after a few seconds ,i bring up the needles all threaded4 ,the length of thread is governed by the size of my audience4 ,for instance1 at the ,hippodrome1 in ,new ,york1 ,i used one hundred and ten feet of thread and two hundred needles2 at the ,berlin ,winter ,garden one hundred feet of thread and one hundred needles4 ,in the regular large size theatres ,i use about eighty feet of thread and a hundred needles but for ordinary purposes thirty-five feet of thread and seventy-five needles are sufficient4 ,so far this trick has never been properly explained but that does not prove that ,i have abnormal powers4 ,this needle mystery has been examined by a great many physicians and surgeons and in ,boston at ,keith's ,theatre it was presented at a special performance to over a thousand physicians and they were unable to explain it4 ,however1 there is nothing abnormal in it4 ,it is nothing more than a clever and natural mystification4 #ih ,that is1 has a secret accomplice4 ,one who does things to help along 8unknown40 ,one who is in the 8click40 #ii ,after my last seance with ,mlle4 ,eva ,mr4 ,feilding discovered by accident that ,i was writing a book on the subject4 ,he begged me not to say a word or publish anything about the seances until after the ,society for ,psychical ,research had published a full report4 ,now that it has done so there is nothing to keep me from writing my experiences4 #ajj ,the result of his investigations are published in three books3 8,reality of ,psychic ,phenomena10 8,psychic ,structures at ,goligher ,circle10 and 8,experiments in ,psychical ,science40 #aja ,it would be difficult to convince me that the many things photographed and described by ,baron ,schrenck-,notzing could be presented under rigid test conditions4 #ajb ,dr4 ,troup1 ,professor of ,psychology2 ,dr4 ,stormer1 ,professor of ,mathematics2 ,dr4 ,scheldrup1 ,professor of ,physics2 ,dr4 ,monrad ,krhn1 ,professor of ,neurology2 ,dr4 7med47 ,leegaard1 and ,mr4 ,john ,dammann1 a prominent expert of conjuring tricks4 #ajc ,guzek was exposed in ,paris as ,i predicted1 the exposure occurring sooner than expected4 #ajd ,one of the greatest women born in ,america4--,h4 ,h4 #aje ,this ,spirit ,message is taken from ,doyle's book1 8,the ,case for ,spirit ,photography10 ,english ,edition4 #ajf ,this and letters of ,tyndall and ,lewes1 from 8,report on ,spiritualism10 by ,j4 ,burns1 pp4 #bbi1 #bcj1 #bfe4 #ajg 8,spiritism1 a ,popular ,history10 by ,joseph ,mc,cabe4 #ajh 8,master ,workers10 ,mc,cabe4 #aji ,florence ,cook was repeatedly exposed4 #aaj ,the 8galvanometer0 is an instrument used to control the medium4 ,it is an electric device provided with a dial and two handles1 so constructed that if the medium were to let go of either handle the contact would be broken and the dial fail to register4 ,the medium in fooling the sitter simply placed one of the handles on the bare flesh under her knee and gripping it there with her leg kept the circuit intact and left one hand free to produce 8spirits40 #aaa ,an honest scientist does not dream that his confidence is being betrayed and that the bland innocence1 the 8stalling0 for breath1 or the almost fainting scenes are only camouflages to help mal-observation so that the medium can successfully ply her trade4 #aab ,the italics are mine4 #aac ,the reader will do well to read ,tuke's 8,influence of the ,mind upon the ,body0 7or similar work7 and he will find an explanation of what grief will do to a sensitive mind4 #aad ,perhaps so1 but would not be accepted as evidence before any court of equity4 #aae ,he has personally repeated the same thing to me4 #aaf ,drink is no excuse for crime4 #aag ,the great majority of ,continental safes are opened by keys and not by combination locks as in ,america4 #aah ,i firmly believe in the workings of the subconscious mind4 #aai ,the ,spirit ,messenger and the ,star of ,truth were published in #aheb by ,r4 ,p4 ,ambler of ,springfield1 ,mass4 ,they were 8edited and composed by spirits40 ,the ,spirit of the ,sixth ,circle took entire charge of the ,spirit ,messenger1 and not even the publisher was permitted to dictate in the least4 ,there were elucidations by the ,spirits on 8,hope1 ,life1 ,truth1 ,initiation1 ,marriage ,relations1 ,evils of ,society1 and ,destiny of the ,race40 ,the ,northwestern ,orient1 published in #aheb by ,c4 ,h4 ,white1 contained communications from ,john ,adams1 ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 ,john ,wesley1 ,john ,whitefield1 ,thomas ,paine1 et al4 ,it also contained several poems by the ,spirits4 ,copies are on file in my library4 #abj 8,when ,william was in a trance his father tried to bring him out by slapping1 pinching and other cruelty1 and finally tried to pour boiling water down his back4 ,this failing1 he took a blazing ember from the hearth and placed it on the young man's head1 but ,william slept on1 with only the scars as reminders of his parent's deep concern for his well being and safety40--8,eddy ,brothers10 by ,henry ,s4 ,olcott4 #aba ,i gave a pseudo seance for ,sophie ,irene ,loeb and had two slates which were examined by the ,circle and marked4 ,i asked if the ,spirits would manifest and when the slates were opened there was a message containing a code word4 ,miss ,loeb was astounded1 for the message signed by ,jack ,london contained a word which she claimed no one in the whole world knew about4 ,i did it by trickery but she declared that if she had not known ,i was a magician she would have believed readily that ,i had psychic powers4 #abb ,a man by the name of ,rider1 professionally known as 8,kodarz10 exposed ,bailey in ,new ,zealand in #aiaf4 #abc ,without any reservation she says she has investigated the majority of mediums and given them a hundred per cent clean bill4 ,she writes that ,eglinton actually materialized the spirit of ,grimwaldi1 the great clown4 ,eglinton was detected on four different occasions and so far as ,i have been able to learn1 almost every medium she mentions in her books has1 at some time or other1 been detected and exposed4 #abd ,see ,appendix ,f4 #abe ,maskelyne1 ,kellar1 and ,hoffmann were all three magicians who changed their minds4 #abf ,any prepared gambling device or game1 like electrically controlled steel dice2 roulette2 pointer and arrow revolving artifice2 prepared cards1 either marked1 concave or convex cut1 which gives the dealer the advantage at all times4 ,brace games include everything from a put and take to the changing of a black bag on the top of an innocent looking chiffonier4 ,the games1 while appearing to be governed by the law of chance1 are secretly controlled by the gambler1 or his confederate1 in so subtle a manner that it is impossible for the poor dupe1 who wagers on the result1 to detect it4 #abg ,known as fishing4 #abh ,society for ,psychical ,research ,proceedings1 ,vol4 ,,xiv1 pp4 #chj1 #cha4 #abi 8,second sight0 was presented by ,pinetti1 the celebrated ,italian magician1 at the ,haymarket ,theatre1 ,london1 ,england1 ,dec4 #a1 #aghd4 #acj ,a girl named ,shireen is holding a similar seance to-day and is able to hit a bulls-eye with a rifle4 #aca ,a full detailed account of the clever work done by ,professor ,lewis will be found in ,proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,vol ,,iv1 pp4 #cch-ceb4 ,,index ,academy of ,music1 ,new ,york1 #aa4 8,ackroyd1 ,jack10 #abd4 ,adams1 ,john1 #bbi4 ,adare1 ,lord1 #dg1 #dh1 #bgc1 #bgd4 ,albert1 ,prince1 #bdj4 ,albus1 ,remigius1 #id4 8,alexander1 ,herr10 #bdi4 ,alexis1 #bec4 ,amazing ,seance and an ,exposure1 #bcc4 ,ambler1 ,r4 ,p41 #bbi4 ,american ,expeditionary ,force1 #ahb4 ,american ,magicians1 ,society of1 #bei1 #bfj4 ,american1 ,new ,york1 #adh1 #bcg4 ,american ,red ,cross1 #ahh4 ,american ,society for ,psychical ,research1 #eh4 ,andrews1 #bca4 8,apport ,medium10 #bch4 ,arabian ,nights1 ,the1 #ce4 ,ava1 ,vera1 #gh4 ,bacon1 #bbi4 ,baggally1 ,worthy ,w41 #eb1 #fc4 ,baggley1 #afi4 ,bailey1 ,charles1 #bch4 ,baldwin1 ,s4 ,s41 #ajg4 ,bamberg1 ,david1 #bei4 ,bamberg1 ,theodore1 #bei4 ,barlow1 ,mr41 #abf4 ,barnum1 ,phineas ,taylor1 #aah4 ,barrett1 ,oliver ,r41 #ade4 ,barton1 ,clara1 #ahh4 ,basch1 ,ernst1 #bfc4 ,beadnell1 ,capt4 ,c4 ,marsh1 #agf4 ,behind the ,scenes with ,mediums1 #gi4 ,belachini1 #cc1 #bdh1 #bdi4 8,bengal ,tiger10 #ai4 8,benicia ,boy10 #ai4 ,bennett1 ,g4 ,w41 #bjj4 ,benoval1 #bed4 ,berol1 ,william1 #bfi4 ,berry1 ,catherine1 #bcb4 ,bewitched ,table1 ,the1 #bfc4 8,bible ,sellers10 #bbb4 ,bible1 ,truth a ,companion to1 #ahh4 ,bird1 ,j4 ,malcolm1 #aei1 #afj4 ,bishop1 ,washington ,irving1 #dc4 ,bisson1 ,juliette1 #aff1 #afg1 #afh1 #agj1 #aga1 #agb1 #agc4 ,blavatsky1 ,mme41 #di4 8,blind ,tom10 #bef4 ,bloomfield1 ,marie1 #aha4 ,bonaparte1 ,napoleon1 #ab4 ,see also ,napoleon4 ,borderland1 #fd4 ,boston ,athletic ,association1 #ahg4 ,bottom ,facts1 #hg4 ,bottom ,writing1 #gi4 ,boucicault1 ,dion1 #cd1 #ce4 ,brady1 ,william ,a41 #fj4 ,brewster1 ,sir ,david1 #db4 ,british ,college of ,psychic ,science1 #abg1 #baa4 ,browning1 ,elizabeth ,barrett1 #b4 ,browning1 ,r4 ,barrett1 #da1 #db4 ,bryant1 ,william ,cullen1 #db4 ,buguet1 #abj1 #aba4 ,burns1 ,j41 #aih1 #bja4 ,burns1 ,mrs41 #bca4 ,burr1 ,mr41 #aha4 ,burton1 ,richard ,francis1 #ce4 ,bury1 ,lord1 #cd4 ,bush1 ,edward1 #abd4 ,buxton1 ,mrs41 #abc1 #abd1 #aca1 #acb1 #acc4 8,cabinet and rope mystery1 ,davenport10 #ba4 ,cagliostro1 #ff1 #if4 ,carriere1 ,eva1 #aff4 ,carrington1 ,hereward1 #eb1 #eh1 #fj1 #fa1 #fb1 #fc1 #aei1 #afj1 #bfc4 ,carte1 d-,oyley1 #bdj4 ,carter1 ,capt4 ,r4 ,k41 #hi1 #ij4 ,case for ,spirit ,photography1 ,the1 #aig4 ,catholic ,church1 #e1 #aj4 ,challis1 ,professor1 #ea4 ,chemical ,news1 #aii4 ,chiaia1 ,professor1 #ea4 ,cicero1 #gb4 ,circle of ,conjurors in ,london1 #afd4 8,circle1 rules of10 #bfg4 ,coleman1 ,arthur1 #bda4 ,clark1 ,earl ,l41 #aha4 ,clarke1 ,bishop1 #db4 ,cleveland1 ,president1 #ab4 ,cockrell1 ,senator1 #d1 #ga4 ,colby1 ,luther1 #gf4 ,colley1 ,archdeacon1 #bfa4 ,collins1 ,james1 #acc1 #acd4 ,columbine1 ,st4 ,catherine of1 #bcd4 8,common ,clay10 #bef4 ,communication1 #bcc1 #bcd4 ,comstock1 ,ph4,d41 ,daniel ,fisk1 #aei4 ,conference to the ,psychological ,studies at ,paris1 #cd4 8,confession10 ,margaret ,kane's1 #ae4 ,conjurers1 ,circle of1 #afd4 ,cook1 ,florence1 #ahd1 #bjc1 #bjd1 #bda4 ,cook1 ,professor ,harry1 #ahc1 #bje4 ,cormican1 ,s4,j41 ,rev4 ,p4 ,j41 #afd4 ,corner1 ,mrs41 #bjd4 ,cornyn1 ,john1 #ahb4 ,county ,medical ,society1 #ahb4 ,crawford1 ,lord1 #bgc4 ,crawford1 ,dr4 ,w4 ,j41 #agc1 #agd1 #age1 #bae4 ,crewe1 #abc1 #abi4 ,crewe ,circle1 #aig4 ,croisdale1 ,miss1 #gg4 ,cromwell1 ,oliver1 #bcb4 ,crookes1 ,sir ,william1 #df1 #dg1 #ahc1 #aii1 #bjj1 #bjb1 #bjc1 #bje1 #bff4 ,cropsey1 ,james1 #bbd4 ,cross1 ,judge1 #gf4 ,cumberland1 ,stuart1 #bf1 #add1 #adg1 #adi4 ,curry1 ,dr41 #ahi4 ,daily ,express1 ,london1 #adg4 ,daily ,sketch1 #adc4 ,daily ,telegraph1 ,london1 #agh4 ,daily ,tribune1 ,chicago1 #gh4 d',albe1 ,e4 ,e4 ,fournier1 #aff1 #agd1 #age1 #baf4 ,dammann1 ,john1 #agg4 8,dark seances10 #be4 ,darling1 ,justice1 #add4 ,davenport ,brothers1 ,the1 #ag-cg1 #adh1 #afa1 #bdi1 #beg4 ,davenport1 ,ira ,erastus1 #ag-cg1 #adh1 #afb1 #bce1 #beh4 ,davenport1 ,mrs41 second1 #ah4 ,davenport1 ,ruben ,briggs1 #ad1 #bga4 ,davenport1 ,william ,henry ,harrison1 #ag-cg4 ,davis1 ,andrew ,jackson1 #aag4 ,davis1 ,w4 ,s41 #aa1 #af1 #ed1 #ef1 #eg1 #ei1 #fj4 ,de ,angelus1 ,jefferson1 #bbd4 ,dean1 ,hope1 #ada4 ,deland1 ,margaret1 #bjf4 ,demis1 ,dr41 #agb4 ,dessenon1 ,m41 #aba4 ,devant1 #bac4 ,de ,vega1 #abi4 8,dexterity1 physical10 #bj4 ,dialectical ,society1 #afj1 #bjj1 #bja1 #bjb4 ,dickens1 ,charles1 #ai1 #bbi4 ,didier1 ,alexis1 #bej1 #bea1 #bed1 #bee4 ,dimension1 ,fourth1 #bch4 ,dingwall1 ,eric1 #fc1 #afh1 #afi1 #agj1 #aga4 ,diss ,debar1 ,ann ,o',delia1 #ci1 #ff1 #fi-gh1 #bgf4 ,diss ,debar1 ,general1 #fi1 #ga4 ,donkin1 ,sir ,horatio1 #hj1 #ha1 #hb4 ,donohue1 ,ex-,judge1 #ga4 ,donovan1 ,d4 ,c41 #cb4 ,doyle1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan1 #g1 #dj1 #df1 #dh1 #ei1 #hc1 #aag1 #abd1 #abf1 #acc1 #ach-afe1 #bjb1 #bje1 #bjg1 #bji1 #baj1 #bcc1 #bcf1 #bcg1 #bch1 #beh1 #bff1 #bfg1 #bfh1 #bgj1 #bgc1 #bge1 #bgg-bhj4 ,doyle1 ,charles ,a41 #aci4 8,doyle1 ,dicky10 #aci4 ,doyle1 ,john1 #aci4 ,doyle1 ,kingsley1 #bcg1 #bch4 ,doyle1 ,lady1 #aci1 #adg1 #aej1 #aeb1 #aeg1 #aeh1 #afj1 #afa1 #bcc1 #bgh1 #bgi4 ,dumas1 ,alexander1 #ai4 ,dunraven1 ,lord1 #bgc4 ,ectoplasm1 #aff-agi4 ,eddy ,brothers1 #bcc1 #bcd4 ,eddy1 ,horatio1 #bcc1 #bcd4 ,eddy1 ,mary1 #bcd4 ,eddy1 ,warren1 #bcd4 ,eddy1 ,webster1 #bcc1 #bcd4 ,eddy1 ,william1 #bcc4 ,edmonds1 ,judge ,john ,w41 #db1 #aah1 #bdb1 #bgg4 ,edwin ,drood1 ,mystery of1 #bbi4 ,ellington1 ,william1 #bda1 #bfj-bfc4 ,encyclopedia1 ,larousse's1 #beb4 ,ernest1 ,b4 ,m4 ,l41 #bde4 ,eva1 ,mlle41 #afg1 #agj1 #aga1 #agb1 #agc1 #agd1 #agf1 #agh4 ,evening ,mail1 ,new ,york1 #bjh4 ,evening ,news1 ,london1 #bcf4 ,evening ,telegram1 ,new ,york1 #afd4 ,evening ,world1 ,new ,york1 #aha4 ,evidences of ,spiritualism1 #cb4 ,evils of society1 #bbi4 ,expeditionary ,force1 ,american1 #ahb4 ,experiments in ,psychical ,science1 #agc4 ,exposure1 ,amazing ,seance and an1 #bcc4 ,express1 ,denver1 #bgg1 #bgh1 #bgi4 8,fair play1 ,english10 #bi4 ,fallacies of ,spiritualism1 ,the1 #ahh4 ,fay1 ,annie ,eva1 #bjd1 #bab1 #bae4 ,fay1 ,william ,m41 #ah1 #bc1 #bg1 #cd4 ,fechner1 #hc4 ,feilding1 ,hon4 ,everard1 #eb1 #ec1 #fc1 #aff1 #afi1 #agj1 #aga1 #agc4 ,feilding1 ,mrs41 #aff4 ,fellows1 ,district ,attorney1 #ga4 ,ferguson1 ,j4 ,b41 #bf1 #bh1 #ca1 #adh4 ,first ,society of ,spiritualists1 #af4 ,fish1 ,mrs41 #b1 #c1 #f1 #g1 #h1 #i4 ,see also ,underhill1 ,mrs4 ,fox1 ,john ,d41 #a4 ,fox1 ,kate1 #a-af4 ,fox1 ,margaret1 #a-af1 #bga4 ,see also ,kane1 ,margaret ,fox4 8,fox ,sisters1 ,the10 #a-af1 #ch1 #ci1 #aaj1 #ada1 #bjc4 ,france1 ,emperor and ,empress of1 #dc4 ,see also ,napoleon4 ,franklin1 ,sir ,john1 #d4 ,fraud1 spiritualism a1 #aj2 magicians as detectors of1 #bdd4 ,fullerton1 ,geo4 ,s41 #hc4 ,fun1 ,london1 #da4 ,funk1 ,dr41 #aa4 ,funk1 ,isaac ,k41 #bge4 ,furness1 ,horace ,howard1 #hd1 #aie4 ,gardner1 ,dr41 #aag4 ,garfield1 ,president1 #ahg4 ,general ,assembly of ,spiritualists1 #aef4 ,gilchrist1 ,j4 ,b41 #aca4 ,glenconner1 ,lady1 #abd1 #add4 ,goligher ,circle1 #agc1 #agd1 #age1 #agf1 #baf4 ,goligher1 ,kathleen1 #agc1 #age1 #agf1 #agh4 ,gow1 ,david1 #agg4 ,greeley1 ,horace1 #c4 ,grossman1 ,george1 #add4 8,guardian angel10 #bcg4 ,guiteau1 ,charles ,j41 #ahg4 ,gullots1 ,vincenzo1 #bcf4 ,guppy1 ,mrs41 #bcj1 #bcb1 #bdj4 ,guzek1 ,jean1 #agh4 ,hackney ,spiritualistic ,society1 #abe4 ,hall1 ,atlanta1 #bfi4 ,hamilton1 ,duke of1 #ai1 #ce1 #cf4 8,handcuff ,king10 #baa4 ,handcuff trick1 #beh4 ,hare1 ,professor1 #ea1 #bci4 ,harris1 ,mrs41 #bcb4 ,harrison1 ,will1 #ab1 #abj4 ,haselmeyer1 #bfc4 ,hauffe1 ,madame1 #bcd4 ,hayes1 ,father1 #bda4 ,hazard1 ,thomas ,r41 #aid4 ,heenan1 ,john ,c41 #ai4 ,heinberger1 ,alexander1 #bdi4 ,henderson1 #adi4 ,heredia1 ,father de1 #aad4 ,hermann1 ,alexander1 #ga1 #bdh4 ,herne1 #ha1 #bcj1 #bca4 ,herald1 ,new ,york1 #ahj4 ,hertz1 ,carl1 #gb1 #gc1 #gd1 #ge1 #gg4 ,heuze1 ,paul1 #agb1 #agh4 ,hicks1 ,leonard1 #ade4 ,hilton1 ,judge1 #ga4 ,hirons1 ,mabelle1 #ahh4 ,hodgson1 ,dr4 ,richard1 #eb4 ,hoffmann1 #bdd1 #beb1 #beh4 ,home1 ,daniel ,dunglas1 #ch-di1 #ei1 #fg1 #hj1 #bjb1 #bjc1 #bdb1 #bgc1 #bgd1 #bge4 ,home's1 ,d4 ,d41 ,life and ,work1 #df4 ,hooker1 ,dr4 ,samuel ,c41 #bdf4 ,hope1 ,william1 #abc1 #abd1 #abi1 #acj1 #aca1 #acb4 ,houdin1 ,madame ,robert1 #bee1 #bgh4 ,houdin1 ,robert1 #cc1 #cf1 #bdi1 #bea-bee1 #beg1 #beh4 8,houdin1 ,unmasking of ,robert10 #beb4 ,houdini1 #bj1 #ba1 #gd1 #hb1 #id1 #aci1 #adj1 #adc1 #adf1 #adi1 #aej1 #aea1 #aee1 #aef1 #aeh-afj1 #afg1 #afh1 #agd1 #agf1 #baa-bad1 #bdf1 #bfc1 #bgi1 #bhj4 ,howard1 ,joseph1 #ga4 ,howe1 ,mr41 #gf4 ,hubbell1 ,dr4 ,j4 ,b41 #ahh4 ,hughes1 ,john1 #bi4 ,hughes1 ,rupert1 #eh4 8,human clamp10 #eg4 ,human nature1 #abb4 ,humbuggery1 spiritualistic1 #ab4 ,humbugs of the world1 #aah4 ,hunt1 #aci4 ,huxley1 ,professor1 #aih1 #aii4 ,huyler1 ,mrs41 #bgf4 ,huylers1 ,the1 #bge4 ,hyslop1 #acc4 ,inaudi1 #beg4 ,incidents of ,my ,life1 #da4 ,infelicity1 #ai4 ,influence of the ,mind upon the ,body1 #bjh4 ,information1 how mediums obtain1 #bag4 ,initiation1 #bbi4 ,intercourse1 spirit1 #baa4 ,international ,psychical ,association1 #ade4 ,investigations--,wise and ,otherwise1 #aia-baf4 ,irving1 ,edward1 #bcd4 ,irving1 ,sir ,henry1 #cj1 #bga4 ,jackson1 ,laura1 #gg4 ,jacobs1 ,e41 #cc1 #cd4 ,jacoby1 #cd4 ,jaeger1 ,oscar1 #agg4 8,jar of ,honey10 #aci4 ,jastrow1 ,professor1 #eh4 ,johnson1 ,mrs41 #bch4 ,johnson1 ,sam1 #hg4 ,jourman1 ,matre1 #agb4 ,judgment1 ,sanhedrim of1 #afd4 ,kane1 ,dr4 ,elisha ,kent1 #c1 #i4 ,kane1 ,margaret ,fox1 #d1 #e1 #aj1 #aa1 #ab1 #af4 ,karcher1 ,juliet1 #afj4 ,keating1 ,frederick1 #afj4 ,kellar1 ,dean1 #ba1 #bh1 #acf4 ,kellar1 ,harry1 #hd1 #he1 #hf1 #hg1 #aie1 #bbc1 #bbd1 #bbe1 #bdd1 #bdg1 #bfb1 #bfc1 #bff4 ,kellogg1 ,james ,l41 #ed1 #ee1 #ef1 #eg1 #eh4 ,key to ,theosophy1 #di4 ,kidder1 #bf4 ,king1 ,john1 #bcb4 ,king1 ,kate1 #adc1 #ahd1 #bjc1 #bce4 8,kluge ,hans10 #bfj4 ,kluski1 ,p4 ,frank1 #agh4 ,knapp1 ,gardiner1 #gi4 ,kodarz1 #bch4 ,krhn1 ,dr4 ,monrad1 #agg4 ,krotel1 ,asst4 ,district ,attorney1 #adb4 8,lady ,wildmere's ,fan10 #bef4 ,landsfeldt1 ,countess1 #fh1 #gj4 ,lankester1 ,sir1 #hj1 #ha1 #hb4 ,laurillard1 ,edward1 #add4 ,lawrence1 8,dr410 #ga4 ,leadbeater1 ,c4 ,w41 #bch4 ,leegaard1 ,dr41 #agg4 ,lehrmann1 ,granville1 #afj4 ,leroy1 ,jean ,a41 #bfd4 ,lescurboura1 #afj4 ,levitation1 table1 #ed-eg1 #ga4 ,see also ,table lifting4 ,lewes1 ,george ,henry1 #aih1 #aii4 ,lewis1 ,professor ,h4 ,carvill1 #bfa1 #bfb4 ,leymaire1 ,m41 #abj4 ,life1 #bbi4 ,light1 #bjc1 #bjd1 #bfa1 #bfb4 ,lights and ,shadows of ,spiritualism1 #da4 ,lincoln1 ,abraham1 #ab4 ,littlefield1 ,walter1 #fc4 ,liverpool riot1 #bh4 ,livingston1 #ee4 ,lodge1 ,raymond1 #bjf4 ,lodge1 ,sir ,oliver1 #ea1 #ade1 #adg1 #bje1 #bjf1 #bjg1 #bjh1 #bff4 ,loeb1 ,sophie ,irene1 #bcg4 8,loftus ,troupe10 #bbd4 ,lombroso1 ,professor1 #ea4 ,london ,dialectical ,society1 #aih4 ,london1 ,jack1 #bbi1 #bcg4 ,london ,magazine1 #bch4 ,london ,psychical ,college1 #aff4 ,lord1 ,jennie1 #bcd4 ,louis ,i of ,bavaria1 #fg4 ,loyola1 #bcd4 ,lunn1 ,sir ,henry1 #add4 ,lyon1 ,daniel ,home1 #de4 ,lyon1 ,jane1 #dd1 #de1 #df4 ,lytton1 ,sir ,e4 ,bulwer1 #db4 ,magicians' ,club1 #bfd4 ,magicians1 ,society of ,american1 #baj1 #bei4 ,manning1 ,husband1 #ade4 ,mare1 ,mlle41 #agb4 ,marsault1 ,matre1 #agb4 ,marsh1 ,luther ,r41 #bge4 ,martinka1 ,francis ,j41 #bfc1 #bfd4 8,masked ,lady10 #add1 #adi4 ,maskelyne1 ,john ,nevil1 #hj1 #ha1 #bjd1 #bac1 #bdd4 ,mass1 ,jim1 #bbd1 #bbe4 ,master ,workers1 #bjd4 ,marriage relations1 #bbi4 ,marryat1 ,captain1 #bci4 ,marryat1 ,florence1 #bci4 ,marsh1 ,luther ,r41 #gj1 #ga1 #gb1 #gc1 #ge1 #gf4 ,martin1 ,alexander1 #acc1 #acd1 #ace4 ,martineau1 ,harriet1 #b4 ,mc,cabe1 ,joseph1 #ea1 #bjc1 #bjd1 #bcb1 #bgc1 #bge4 ,mc,clure's ,magazine1 #fa4 ,mc,cormick1 ,cyrus1 #ade4 ,mc,cormick1 ,muriel1 #ade4 ,mc,dougall1 ,dr4 ,william1 #aei4 ,mc,kenzie1 ,j4 ,hewat1 #abg1 #aff1 #baa1 #bab1 #bad1 #bae4 ,m----1 ,mrs41 #ahc4 8,medium and ,daybreak10 #gi1 #bja1 #bjb1 #bcj1 #bca1 #bcb4 ,medium in the mask1 the1 #add4 ,mediums1 how they obtain information1 #bag-bbh4 ,memoirs of a ,magician1 #beb4 ,menken1 ,adah ,isaacs1 #ai4 ,messant1 ,mrs41 #fi1 #gj4 ,miller1 ,professor ,dickinson ,s41 #ed1 #ee1 #eh4 ,mitchell1 ,c4 ,r41 #abe4 8,mite1 ,the ,widow's10 #aa1 #bge4 ,modern ,spiritualism1 #da1 #gi1 #abj4 ,monck1 ,dr41 #bcb4 ,montez1 ,lola1 #fg1 #gf4 ,moreland1 ,beatrice1 #bef4 ,morning ,post1 ,london1 #add1 #adi4 ,morritt1 ,charles1 #bei4 ,moses1 ,rev4 ,stainton1 #abj1 #abb4 ,mosley1 ,sidney ,a41 #add1 #bcc4 ,mumler1 ,wm4 ,h41 #aag1 #aah1 #aai1 #abj1 #abb1 #acf4 ,munchausen1 ,baron1 #bbi4 8,murphy's button10 #add4 ,myers1 ,f4 ,w4 ,h41 #fd4 ,mystery1 ,torture ,cell1 #afg4 ,mystery of ,edwin ,drood1 #bbi4 ,napoleon ,i1 #bdb1 #bdc4 ,national ,spiritualists ,association1 #ahb4 8,neck1 the tie around the10 #bb4 ,neilson1 ,adelaide1 #bgf4 ,newcombe1 ,lawyer1 #ga4 ,newcomes1 ,the1 #aci4 ,newer ,spiritualism1 #da4 8,new ,revelation1 ,the10 #afd1 #bjg4 ,newton1 ,mr41 #af4 ,new ,york ,press ,club ,fund1 #ga4 ,new ,york ,state ,assembly of ,spiritualists1 #ahj4 ,neyland1 ,miss1 #bcj4 ,nichols1 ,thomas ,l41 #bf4 ,nicol1 ,catherine1 #adb4 ,nielson1 ,ejner1 #agg1 #agh4 ,northwestern ,orient1 #bbi4 ,occult ,committee of the ,magic ,circle1 #abf4 ,ochorowiz1 ,professor1 #aff4 ,o',connor1 ,billy1 #bfd4 ,olcott1 ,col4 ,henry ,s41 #bcd1 #bce1 #bcf4 ,orion1 ,madame1 #bbf4 ,other ,world1 #bcf4 ,our ,american ,adventures1 #g1 #ada1 #afc1 #afd4 8,ouija board10 #ahi1 #aij4 ,owen1 ,robert1 #db1 #ea1 #afj4 ,oxenford1 ,john1 #ai4 ,paine1 ,thomas1 #bbi4 ,palladino1 ,eusapia1 #ej-fe1 #ada1 #adb1 #aib1 #bcc1 #bfd4 ,papal opposition1 #ea4 8,paradise10 #bcg4 ,parker1 ,commodore1 #c4 ,patterson1 ,s4 ,e41 #aid4 ,patterson1 ,sarah1 #ahb4 ,pecoraro1 ,nino1 #aei4 ,penylan1 ,wallace1 #bcc4 ,philip of ,neri1 ,st41 #bcd4 ,phillipi1 ,mons41 #dc4 ,phillips1 ,watts1 #ai4 8,philosophy1 preternatural10 #ca4 ,photographers of ,england1 ,crewe1 #abc1 #acf4 ,photographic memory1 #beg4 ,photography1 ,case for ,spirit1 #aig4 ,photography1 spirit1 #aag-acg4 ,pierce1 ,president1 #bfi4 ,piron1 ,professor1 #agh4 ,pinetti1 #bed4 ,pitcher1 ,orville1 #bcb4 ,podmore1 ,frank1 #da1 #gi1 #abj1 #aba4 ,poe1 ,edgar ,allan1 #bbi4 8,poking ,them in the ,eye10 #afc4 ,politikon1 #agg4 ,polk1 ,president1 #bdi4 ,portal1 ,cochet ,m41 #agb4 ,portal1 ,mme41 #agb4 ,popular ,mechanics1 #ade4 ,post1 ,london1 #be4 ,powell1 ,ellis1 #aee4 ,powell1 ,evan1 #bch4 ,powell1 ,frederick ,e41 #hh1 #ic1 #aee1 #aeh4 ,powers1 8occult10 #b4 ,powles1 ,john1 #ahe4 8,preternatural philosophy10 #ca4 ,price1 ,harry1 #abh4 ,prince1 ,ph4,d41 ,walter ,franklin1 #aei1 #afj4 ,psychic ,phenomena1 ,reality of1 #agc4 ,psychic ,science1 ,british ,college of1 #baa4 ,psychical ,association1 ,international1 #ade4 ,psychical ,college1 ,london1 #aaf4 ,psychical ,research1 ,society of1 #da1 #eb1 #ec1 #abd1 #afc1 #afh1 #agc1 #agg1 #aif1 #beb1 #beh1 #bfa4 ,psychical ,science1 ,experiments in1 #agc4 ,psychological ,studies1 ,conference to the1 #cd4 ,punch1 #aci4 ,pyne1 ,warner ,c41 #ed1 #eg4 ,race1 destiny of the1 #bbi4 8,rappings10 #b4 ,rasputin1 #dc4 ,reade1 ,charles1 #ai4 ,red ,cross1 ,american1 #ahh4 8,revelation1 ,the ,new10 #afd1 #bjb4 ,revelations of a ,spirit ,medium1 #gi4 ,revue ,spirits1 #cc1 #abj4 ,rhys1 ,m41 #cf4 ,richet1 ,professor1 #ea4 ,richmond1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,m41 #ab4 ,rickards1 ,harry1 #ah4 ,rinn1 ,joseph ,f41 #ed1 #eg1 #fa1 #ade4 ,robin1 ,henri1 #cc4 ,robinson1 ,william ,e41 #gi4 ,rope-tie1 ,davenport1 #ah1 #bj-bd4 ,rope tricks1 #ag-cg1 #aad1 #beh4 ,rosenthal1 ,baroness1 #fh1 #gj1 #gh4 ,rosner1 #bdh4 ,rule1 ,margaret1 #bcd4 ,russia1 ,czar of1 #dc1 #ii1 #bdc4 ,rymer1 ,bendigo1 #dj4 ,rymer1 ,j4 ,s41 #dj4 ,salomen1 ,editha1 #fg1 #fh1 #gj4 ,sanhedrim of ,judgment1 #afd4 ,sargent1 ,john ,w41 #ed1 #eh1 #fe1 #bfi4 ,savonarola1 #bcd4 ,scheibner1 #hc4 ,scheldrup1 ,dr41 #agg4 ,scientific ,american1 #aeh1 #afj4 ,scientific ,american staff1 #aei4 ,schofield1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,t41 #adc4 ,scott1 ,edgar1 #eg4 8,second ,sight10 #bed1 #bei4 8,second sight artists10 #bei4 ,sedgwick1 ,professor1 #ea4 ,seeing in the dark1 #beg1 #beh4 ,sellers1 ,coleman1 #he4 ,seybert ,commission1 #i1 #hc-hd1 #hf1 #id1 #aic1 #aid1 #aie1 #aig1 #bfb4 ,seybert1 ,henry1 #aic1 #aid4 ,seymour1 ,mr41 #abh4 ,shakespeare1 #bbi4 ,shireen1 #bed4 ,siebert1 ,frau1 #agh4 8,sir ----10 #bbf4 ,sixth ,circle1 ,spirit of1 #bbi4 ,slade confession1 #ie1 #ii4 ,slade1 ,dr4 ,henry1 #cj1 #gi1 #hj1 #aja1 #aie1 #aif1 #bfj1 #bfb4 ,slate writing1 #gi1 #hd1 #aja1 #bfj4 ,society1 evils of1 #bbi4 ,society for the ,study of ,supernormal ,pictures1 #abf4 ,society of ,american ,magicians1 #ed1 #hh1 #baj4 ,society of ,spiritualists1 #b4 ,sothern1 ,edward ,a41 #cj4 ,sphinx1 ,the1 #bfd1 #bfe4 8,spirit1 disembodied10 #b1 #f4 8,spirit extras10 #abb1 #abd1 #abf1 #abg1 #abh1 #abi1 #acb1 #acc4 ,spirit intercourse1 #baa4 ,spirit manifestations1 #a4 ,spirit photography1 #aag-acg4 ,spirit ,messenger1 #bbi4 ,spirit states1 #gi4 ,spirit world1 #b4 ,spiritual ,athenum1 ,the1 #dd4 ,spiritual children1 #bga4 ,spiritual ,institution1 #bca4 ,spiritual ,magazine1 #bjj4 ,spiritualism1 #ea1 #bjc1 #bcb1 #bdb4 ,spiritualism1 by-products of1 #ahj4 ,spiritualism1 ,fallacies of1 #ahh4 ,spiritualism1 ,report on1 #aih4 ,spiritualism1 ,researches in1 #ahd4 ,spiritualism1 ,the ,death ,blow to1 #ad1 #bga4 ,spiritualism1 the founders of1 #a-af4 8,spiritualistic ,humbugs10 #aah4 ,spiritualist ,society1 #acj4 ,spiritualist1 ,the1 #cc4 ,spiritualist1 ,wanderings of a1 #bch4 ,spiritualist1 what you must believe to be a1 #bbi4 ,spiritualists1 ,general ,assembly of1 #aef1 #ahj4 ,stamislaski1 ,s4 ,d41 #agh4 ,stamislawa1 #agh4 ,stange1 ,prof4 ,frederick1 #agg4 ,star1 ,london1 #abd4 ,star of ,truth1 #bbi4 ,stead1 #ade1 #adf1 #bci1 #bfg4 ,stewart1 ,alvin1 #bgf4 ,stewart1 ,jessie ,k41 #aei4 ,stokes1 ,edward ,s41 #ga4 ,stormer1 ,dr41 #agg4 ,st4 ,paul1 #gf4 ,stuart1 ,anna1 #bci4 ,subconscious mind1 #bbc4 ,sun1 ,new ,york1 #gg1 #gh1 #aef1 #aeg4 8,sunset10 ,alvin ,stewart1 #bgf4 ,see also ,stewart1 ,alvin4 ,swinburne1 #ai4 8,swindle10 ,fox1 #af4 ,table levitation1 #ej1 #ed1 #eg1 #ga4 ,telegraph1 ,london1 #agb4 ,telepathists1 #beh4 ,telepathy1 #bei4 ,telepathy1 ,genuine and ,fraudulent1 #eb4 ,that ,other ,world1 #dc4 ,theocrat1 ,the1 #ahg4 8,theocratic ,unity10 #gg4 ,theosophical ,society1 #bch4 ,there ,is ,no ,death1 #ahe1 #bci4 ,thomas ,brothers1 #adg1 #adh4 ,thompson1 ,mrs41 #agh1 #bae4 ,thompsons1 the1 #add1 #ade1 #adf1 #aej4 ,thomson1 ,clarence1 #ade4 ,thornton1 ,jeanette1 #bgi4 ,thurs1 ,bergen ,vigelius1 #aha4 ,tiedemann1 ,dr4 ,heinrich1 #ie1 #ii4 ,times1 ,london1 #db1 #gg1 #bdb4 ,times1 ,new ,york1 #fj1 #fa1 #gc1 #gf1 #afj1 #agb1 #ahb4 ,times-,picayune1 ,new ,orleans1 #ade4 ,times1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 #aha4 ,tomchik1 ,mme41 #aff4 ,tomson1 ,elizabeth ,allen1 #aei4 ,torture ,cell ,mystery1 #afg4 ,transcendental ,physics1 #hj4 ,tribune1 ,oakland1 #adi4 8,tricks1 all mediums indulge in10 #fc4 ,trollope1 ,t4 ,a41 #db4 ,troup1 ,dr41 #agg4 ,truesdell1 ,john ,w41 #hg1 #hh4 ,truth1 #abe1 #afd1 #bbi4 ,truth a ,companion to the ,bible1 ,the1 #ahh4 ,tuttle1 ,hudson1 #ie1 #ii4 ,twain1 ,mark1 #bbi4 ,tyndall1 ,professor ,john1 #aih1 #aii1 #bjj4 ,underhill1 ,mrs41 #g1 #h1 #i4 ,unmasking of ,robert ,houdin1 ,the1 #beb1 #beg4 ,valentine1 #aei1 #afj4 ,van ,buren1 ,president1 #bgg4 ,vearncombe1 ,mr41 #abc1 #abf1 #abg4 ,verdier1 ,m41 #agb4 ,varley1 ,cromwell1 #bjj4 ,von ,schrenk-,notzing1 ,baron1 #agd1 #agi4 ,walker1 ,william1 #afj1 #aif1 #aig4 ,wallace1 ,mr41 #aii4 ,wanderings of a ,spiritualist1 ,the1 #dj4 ,weber1 ,professor1 #ea1 #hc4 ,weekly ,dispatch1 #bgc4 ,weiss1 ,remigius1 #id1 #ii1 #ajj4 ,wertheimer1 ,mr41 #ie1 #ih4 ,wesley1 ,john1 #bbi4 ,whipple1 ,sydney ,b41 #bgh1 #bgi4 ,white1 ,c4 ,h41 #bbi4 ,white1 ,eliza1 #bce4 ,whitefield1 ,john1 #bbi4 ,widow's ,mite and ,other ,psychic ,phenomena1 #aa1 #bge4 ,wilde1 ,oscar1 #bbi1 #bef4 ,wilhelm1 ,i41 ,kaiser1 #bdh1 #bdi4 ,williams1 #ha1 #bcj1 #bca1 #bcb1 #bda4 ,wilmann1 ,karl1 #bdh4 ,wilson1 ,m4,d41 ,a4 ,m41 #bfe4 ,windsor1 ,h4 ,h41 #ade4 ,world1 ,new ,york1 #e1 #aa1 #ab1 #ac1 #gg1 #ahb1 #bcf4 8,world1 ,ten ,super-women of the10 #ai4 ,worrell1 ,richard ,i41 #afj4 ,wynn1 ,rev4 ,walter1 #abe4 ,wynne1 #bgc4 ,young1 ,harry ,f41 #adj4 ,young1 ,mrs41 #bce4 ,zancig1 ,jules1 #baj4 ,zancig1 ,mrs41 #bab4 ,zancigs1 the1 #beh4 ,zollner1 ,professor1 #ea1 #hj1 #hb1 #hc1 #aif4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious1 and otherwise left unbalanced4 ,illustrations in this e,book have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations4 ,in versions of this e,book that support hyperlinks1 the page references in the ,list of ,illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations4 ,the index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references4 ,discrepancies between spellings in the ,index and on referenced pages were resolved in favor of the latter4 ,text refers to 8,tomson0 and 8,thomson01 and has both in the ,index4 ,transcriber removed redundant book title preceding page #a and redundant 8,index0 heading just before the ,index4 ,footnotes1 originally at the bottoms of pages1 have been resequenced1 collected1 and moved to precede the ,index4 ,the book refers twice to ,dr4 ,monrad ,krhn1 but the correct spelling is 8,krohn04 ,page #aa3 8,expecting0 may be a misprint for 8,excepting04 ,page #bg3 8all ,south of ,central ,america0 was printed that way1 but in the image of the actual letter that is shown in the book1 it is 8all ,south and ,central ,america04 ,footnote #ei1 originally the third footnote on page #ga3 8attaches0 was printed that way1 not as 8attachs04