TABLE LIFTING AND SPIRIT RAPPING.
[Illustration: Fig. 27.--Table Lifting Trick.]
So much has been heard about table tipping and floating tables, it
will, I think, prove interesting to explain a few of the clever
devices employed to produce the above phenomena. Small, light
tables are lifted by the mere “laying on of hands.” The arms are
raised in the air and the table is seen to cling to the hands and
follow every motion. This is accomplished by a pin driven well into
the table, and a ring with a slot in it (Fig. 27) worn on one of
the medium’s fingers. The body of the pin easily enters the slot in
the ring, but the head of the pin, being larger, prevents the table
from falling away from the hand. After the table has been floated
successfully, an extra strong upward pressure of the hand pulls the
pin out, and the table can be examined. Another test on somewhat
similar lines is the lifting of a bowl of water by immersing the
hand in the basin of water. In this case a pin is fastened firmly
into a leather or rubber sucker, and the finger ring again does
the work. (Fig. 28.) This can also be used to lift anything that
is not of a porous nature. A table with a well polished top can
be easily lifted. In lifting large tables the medium is assisted
by a confederate among the assembled guests. It is his duty to
get as near opposite the medium as possible. The medium and the
confederate have fastened to their wrists, by means of a leather
cuff and straps, a bent hook. (Fig. 29.) Their hands rest on top
and the hooks under the table. By this means it is a simple task
to raise the table. Sometimes the above device is varied; instead
of hooks fastened to their wrists they use hooks from under their
vests, hanging by a loop from their necks. (Fig. 30.) I have seen a
square table lifted without the use of either of the above devices.
The medium and his confederate simply got the linen cuffs of their
right hands well under the corner of the table, and with their
hands on top they found no difficulty in raising the table by this
improvised means.
[Illustration: Fig. 28.--The Sucker.]
Although spiritualists claim they have, and can, make pianos float
in the air, I have never seen it accomplished, and I could never
get a medium who was able to produce the effect, and I sincerely
doubt if any one can honestly and truthfully acknowledge they have
witnessed it.
[Illustration: Fig. 29.--The Leather Cuff and Hook.]
I saw a small, round table once floated in the air without the
medium touching it. It was accomplished by means of two threads
running across the room and worked by two confederates. The threads
were on the floor and lifted up and allowed to catch under the
table.
I have also seen a letter raised from a table and float in the air
into the medium’s hand. This was done also with a thread, one end
fastened in the wall above the table the letter rested on, the
other near the medium. The letter is not sealed. This allows the
thread to go between the flap and letter, or envelope, and when the
medium pulled the thread taut, it made an incline for the envelope
to travel on, right up to the outstretched hand.
[Illustration: Fig. 30.--The Loop and Hook for Table Raising.]
Years ago Robert-Houdin, the celebrated French conjurer, produced,
at his pretty little theater in Paris, an illusion which, for
startling effects, has not since that time been excelled; and the
means which he employed for operating the stage machinery have
been employed in many stage tricks of more recent date. The stage
is set to represent a drawing-room, and, in stage parlance, would
be called a “box set.” There are side scenes, as well as a “drop”
or back piece. In the center of the room is a large door, and a
grand piano rests against one of the side scenes, a small table
being placed near the door. When the illusion is to be performed,
a lady enters carrying a bouquet, which she leaves on the table
and advances to the piano. (See Frontispiece.) She seats herself,
opens the cover of the piano and plays a short piece; then, closing
down the cover, remarks that she does not feel in the humor to
play. She extends her hand toward the bouquet on the table, which
mysteriously rises and falls through the air into her hand; and, at
the same time, she is seen to rise upward in the air still seated
upon the piano stool. When she reaches a point midway between the
ceiling and the floor she glides toward the opposite sides of the
room, and the piano, which seems as if it will not be outdone,
rises also and follows her through the air. This is usually
received with great applause by the audience, and the curtain
falls. The explanation of the phenomena is the following (Fig.
31): In the first place, the piano case is cleverly made out of
_papier maché_, and is really a mere shell containing no keyboard
or action. The back of the piano is open; immediately behind it, in
the side scene, is a trap, and at the back of this scene is a real
piano mounted on a truck, so that it can be easily moved backward
and forward. Our engraving shows both the piano and the trap. When
the real piano is run into the _papier maché_ case the keyboard is
in its normal position, so that the lady can play upon it. When the
lady finishes playing she closes the lid of the false piano. As
soon as this is done an assistant behind the scene moves the piano
back, thus leaving the empty shell, and the trap in the scene is
closed. The false piano is, of course, very light, and to it are
fastened fine wires, which are invisible at a short distance; one
is secured to each corner. These wires run up over pulleys on a
truck overhead, which can be run backward and forward immediately
over the scene. Each wire is terminated by a bag of sand or shot,
which counter-balances the weight of the piano. It will be noticed
that there is a fifth wire secured to the false case. It is run
up also over the pulley in the truck, and then off to the side of
the stage beyond the side scenes. By pulling this wire the piano
is raised or lowered to any desired distance. Counterweights hold
the instrument at any position. There is a rope attached to the
overhead truck, so that it can be pulled back and forth, thus
causing the piano to move across the stage. There are, of course,
slits in the ceiling of the mimic stage which allow the wires to
pass through.
[Illustration: Fig. 31.--The Mystery Explained.]
The lady is raised by a curious device. There is attached to the
piano stool a clear piece of plate glass, which comes up through a
slot in the stage technically known as a “slider.” This glass is
made to raise or lower by means of a windlass. The glass rests on a
cross-piece of wood and works up and down in a grooved frame, which
is secured to a movable truck under the stage. The slot in the
stage is continued in the direction in which the glass is to move,
and the carpet is of a marked design which will cover the narrow
opening.
The bouquet is secured with a thread attached to the piano, and it
then goes through the door, where an assistant holds the loose end.
A small loop of wire is attached to the bouquet, and a thread runs
through it. When the lady enters the room and lays the bouquet on
the table, this thread is passed through the loop of wire. When the
bouquet is desired to travel to the lady, the assistant has only to
raise the end of the thread high enough and the bouquet slides down
the incline into the lady’s hand.
[Illustration: Fig. 32.--The Telegraph Set.]
A medium in Detroit, Mich., has lately been hoodwinking the public
and coining money with an idea that was quite original. He employed
a small, shallow box, composed of wooden sides and ends and slate
top and bottom. The box and its lid were about of even height, and
were hinged together. (Fig. 32.) The box contained a telegraph
key connected up to a sounder and a dry battery sitting outside
of the box on the table. The medium allowed everything to be well
examined. It was proved that the battery on the table was the
only means of operating the sounder whenever the key was worked.
If one of the wires were disconnected, or the box were closed and
the key thus out of the way of manipulation, the sounder would
not work. After everything was satisfactorily explained, notes
were written on pieces of paper, which were folded and placed
upon the table. These are taken, one at a time, and placed in the
box and the lid closed. If conditions are favorable, the spirits
will be enabled to read one of the inclosed notes, and will send
a telegraphic reply over the sounder; and such is ofttimes the
result. Of course, we know spirits do nothing of the sort; it is
the medium who accomplishes all of this. How does he know the
contents of the note? How does he cause the ticker to work with
the key inclosed in the box? The visitor is placed on one side of
the table, generally facing a window, so as to have the light shine
into his or her eyes. The medium sits opposite with his back toward
the window; the box containing the key is at his side of the table,
with the hinges, or the back of the box, toward the visitor. Now,
if the lid of this box is opened and a paper taken off the table
and placed in the box and the lid closed, you could not tell for
certain if the paper was actually placed in or not, for the simple
reason that the cover of the box, when up, completely masked the
operation. It is by the above scheme that the medium obtains the
notes on the paper. The first one or two are actually placed in the
box; then the next one is deliberately dropped into the medium’s
lap instead of the box. He unfolds it, reads it, refolds it, and,
on opening the box, apparently takes it from there and places it
back on the table and does not lose track of it. Two or three other
papers are placed in it by the visitor, and again taken out by him.
Again the visitor is asked to place in it the one the medium knows
the contents of. Now the ticker commences to work. With his left
hand carelessly resting on the corner of the closed box, the medium
writes with his right hand, with a pencil, on a pad of paper, the
communication received over the ticker. The visitor removes the
paper from the box, and the answer just written by the medium on
the pad is found to be a reasonable one to the written request.
All that remains to be explained is the working of the sounder. It
is very simple. In the first place, the lid and box are hinged so
as to be hinge bound; that is, they will not, of their own weight,
quite touch each other, possibly about an eighth of an inch, or
less, apart. But by the pressure or weight of the hand they will
come together. Now, the telegraph key, like all such instruments,
is provided with a tension screw, which can be screwed one way
or the other. When the medium desires his instrument to work, he
raises this tension screw, to which is fastened the button of the
key, just high enough to touch the lid on the inside of the box
when it is closed of its own weight. Now, when the hand is resting
on the box, he proceeds to make the sounder “speak” at will, with
no perceptible movement of his hand. A simple muscular contraction
of the palm of the hand, which cannot be detected, is sufficient
to control the sensitive key, by pressure of the box cover on it.
The whole thing is so simple, and at the same time puzzling, that
it makes one laugh to think how little it takes to make a fool of
a man.
In the case of this medium, the head of the tension screw was
brass, and left a brassy mark on the slate top. He soon observed
this, and changed it for a hard rubber one, which left no telltale
marks behind. Sometimes he did not raise the tension screw, but
laid the folded paper the question was written on on top of
it. This made up the required height. Other mediums improved
on the above method by working the key through the box by an
electro-magnet concealed in the table top. The current to the
magnets was turned on and off, or broken, as the line is used, by
means of a small button in the body of the table, pressed by the
medium’s leg. This method allowed him to keep his hand off the box.
The raps, or noises, are produced in various manners. Press your
boot heel gently against a table leg. The slipping of the leather
against the wood makes perfect spirit raps, wood being a good
conductor of sound. The raps apparently come from the table top if
attention is directed in that direction. Some mediums, with the
tips of their fingers pressed firmly on a table top, slip them,
by a dexterous movement, along the varnished surface, thus making
very fair examples of raps or thuds. Some mediums, in their own
homes, have tables provided with electro-magnets concealed in them,
by which the knocks are accomplished. Medical experts claim that
a very good result can be obtained by the mere displacement of
the tendons of the muscle called _peroneus longus_, in the sheath
in which it slides behind the external _malleolus_. Others again
produce it by snapping the toe or knee joints. Watch a boy some
day as he snaps his finger joints, and if he were to rest his
elbows on the table while doing so, the sound would be intensely
strengthened.