the spirit-tying, the mediums went into the cabinet with the ropes
examined by the audience lying coiled at their feet. The doors were
closed. They had concealed about their persons ropes in which these trick
knots were already adjusted, and with which they very speedily secured
themselves, having first secreted the genuine ropes. Then the doors were
opened. Seals were affixed to the knots, but this sealing, owing to the
position of the hands, and the careful exposition of the knots did not
affect the slipping of the ropes sufficiently to prevent the mediums from
removing and replacing their hands.
[Illustration: NO. 23. TRICK-TIE IN CABINET WORK.]
In the dark séance, flour was sometimes placed in the pinioned hands of
the Davenports. On being released from their bonds, the flour was found
undisturbed.
This was considered a convincing test; for how could the Brothers possibly
manipulate the musical instruments with their hands full of flour. One day
a wag substituted a handful of snuff for flour, and when the mediums were
examined, the snuff had disappeared and flour taken its place. As will be
understood, in the above test the Davenports emptied the flour from their
hands into secret pockets and at the proper moment took out cornucopias of
flour and filled their hands again before securing themselves in the
famous slip-knots.
Among the exposés of the Brothers Davenport, Herrmann, the conjurer, gives
the following in the _Cosmopolitan Magazine_: "The Davenports, for
thirteen years, in Europe and America, augmented the faith in
Spiritualism. Unfortunately for the Davenports they appeared at Ithaca,
New York, where is situated Cornell University. The students having a
scientific trend of mind, provided themselves before attending the
performance with pyrotechnic balls containing phosphorus, so made as to
ignite suddenly with a bright light. During the dark séance when the
Davenports were supposed to be bound hand and foot within the closet and
when the guitars were apparently floating in the air, the students struck
their lights, whereupon the spirits were found to be no other than the
Davenports themselves, dodging about the stage brandishing guitars and
playing tunes and waving at the same time tall poles surmounted by
phosphorescent spook pictures."
The Davenports had some stormy experiences in Paris, but managed to come
through all successfully, with plenty of French gold in their pockets.
William died in October, 1877, at the Oxford Hotel, Sydney, Australia,
having publicly denounced Spiritualism. Mr. Fay took to raising sheep in
Australia, while Ira Davenport drifted back to his old home in Buffalo,
New York.
Many mediums, taking the cue from the Davenports, have performed the
cabinet act with its accompanying rope-tying, but the conjurers
(anti-spiritists) have, with the aid of mechanism, brought the business to
a high degree of perfection, notably Mr. J. Nevil Maskelyne, of Egyptian
Hall, London, and Mr. Harry Kellar, of the United States. Writing of the
Davenport Brothers, Maskelyne says:
"The instantaneous tying and untying was simply marvellous, and it utterly
baffled everyone to discover, until, on one occasion, the accidental
falling of a piece of drapery from a window (the lozenge-shaped aperture
in the door of the cabinet), at a critical moment let me into the secret.
I was able in a few months to reproduce every item of the Davenports'
cabinet and dark séance. So close was the resemblance to the original,
that _the Spiritualist had no alternative but to claim us_ (Maskelyne and
Cooke) _as most powerful spirit mediums who found it more profitable to
deny the assistance of spirits_."
Robert-Houdin's explanation of the slip-knot, used by the Davenports in
their dark séance, is the correct one, but he failed to fathom the mystery
of the mode of release of the Brothers after they were tied in the cabinet
by a committee selected from the audience. Anyone trying to extricate
himself from bondage _a la_ Houdin, no matter how slippery and serpentine
he be, would find it exceedingly difficult. It seems almost incredible,
but trickery was used in the light séance, as well as the dark. Maskelyne,
as quoted above, claimed to have penetrated the mystery, but he kept it a
profound secret--though he declared that his cabinet work was trickery.
The writer is indebted for an initiation into the mysteries of the
Davenport Brothers' rope-tying to Mr. H. Morgan Robinson (Professor
Helmann), of Washington, D. C., a very clever prestidigitateur.
In the year 1895, after an unbroken silence of nineteen years, Fay,
ex-assistant of the Davenports, determined to resume the profession of
public medium. He abandoned his sheep ranch and hunted up Ira Davenport.
They gave several performances in Northern towns, and finally landed at
the Capital of the Nation, in the spring of 1895, and advertised several
séances at Willard's Hall. A very small audience greeted them on their
first appearance. Among the committee volunteering to go on the stage and
tie the mediums were the writer and Mr. Robinson. After the séance the
prestidigitateur fully explained the _modus operandi_ of the mystic tie,
which is herein for the first time correctly given to the public.
The medium holds out his left wrist first and has it tied securely, about
the middle of the rope. Two members of the committee are directed to pull
the ends of the cord vigorously. "Are you confident that the knots are
securely tied?" he asks; when the committee respond "yes," he puts his
hand quickly behind him, and places against the wrist, the wrist of his
right hand, in order that they may be pinioned together. During this rapid
movement he twists the rope about the knot on his left wrist, thereby
allowing enough slack cord to disengage his right hand when necessary. To
slip the right hand back into place is an easy matter. After both hands
are presumably tied, the medium steps into the cabinet; the ends of the
rope are pushed through two holes in the chair or wooden seat, by the
committee and made fast to the medium's legs. Bells ring, horns blow, and
the performer's hand is thrust through the window of the cabinet. Finally
a gentleman is requested to enter the cabinet with the medium. The doors
are locked and a perfect pandemonium begins; when they are opened the
volunteer assistant tumbles out in great trepidation. His hat is smashed
over his eyes, his cravat is tied around his leg, and he is found to have
on the medium's coat, while the medium wears the gentleman's coat turned
inside out. It all appears very remarkable, but the mystery is cleared up
when I state that the innocent looking gentleman is invariably a
confederate, what conjurers call a _plant_, because he is planted in the
audience to volunteer for the special act.
Ira and William Davenport were tied in the manner above described. Often
one of the Brothers allowed himself to be genuinely pinioned, after having
received a preconcerted signal from his partner that all was right, _i.
e._, the partner had been fastened by the trick tie, calling attention to
the knots in the cord, etc. The trick tie, however, is so delusive, that
it is impossible to penetrate the secret in the short time allowed the
committee for investigation, and there is no special reason for permitting
a genuine tie-up. Once in a great while, the Davenports were over-reached
by clever committee-men and tied up so tightly that there was no getting
loose. Where one brother failed to execute the trick and was genuinely
fastened, the other medium performed the spirit evolutions, and cut his
"confrere" loose before they came out of the cabinet.
The Fay-Davenport revival proved a failure, and the mediums dissolved
partnership in Washington. Kellar, the magician and former assistant of
the original Davenport combination, by a curious coincidence was giving
his fine conjuring exhibition in the city at the same time. His tricks far
eclipsed the feeble revival of the rope-tying phenomena. The fickle public
crowded to see the magician and neglected the mediums.
ANNIE EVA FAY.
One of the most famous of the materializing mediums now exhibiting in the
United States is Annie Eva Fay. She is quite an adept at the spirit-tying
business, and like the Davenports, uses a cabinet on the stage, but her
method of tying, though clever, is inferior to that used by the Brothers
in their balmy days. In the center of the Fay cabinet (a plain, curtained
affair) is a post firmly screwed to the stage. The medium permits a
committee of two from the audience to tie her to this post, and seal the
bandages about her wrists with court plaster. She then takes her seat upon
a small stool in front of the stanchion; the musical instruments are
placed on her lap, and the curtains of the cabinet closed. Immediately the
evidences of _spirit power_ begin: the bell is jingled, the tambourine
thumped, and the sound of a horn heard, simultaneously.
The Fay method of tying is designed especially to facilitate the medium's
actions. Cotton bandages are used, and the committee are invited to sew
the knots through and through. Each wrist is tied with a bandage, about an
inch and a half wide by a half yard in length; and the medium then clasps
her hands behind her, so that her wrists are about six inches apart. The
committee now proceed to tie the ends of the bandages firmly together,
and, after this is accomplished, the dangling pieces of the bandages are
clipped off. It is true, the medium is firmly bound by this process, and
it would be physically impossible for her to release herself, without
disturbing the sewing and the seals, but it is not intended for her to
release herself at all; the method pursued being altogether different from
the old species of rope-tying. All being secure, the committee are
requested to pass another bandage about the short ligature between the
lady's wrists, and tie it in double square knots, and firmly secure this
to a ring in the post of the cabinet, the medium being seated on a stool
in front of the stanchion, facing the audience. Her neck is likewise
secured to the post by cotton bandages and her feet fastened together with
a cord, the end of which passes out of the cabinet and is held by one of
the committee.
The peculiar manner of holding the hands, described above, enables the
medium to secure for her use, a ligature of knotted cloth between her
hands, some six inches long; and the central bandage, usually tied in four
or five double knots, gives her about two inches play between the middle
of the cotton handcuffs and the ring in the post, to which it is secured.
The ring is two and a half inches in diameter, and the staple which holds
it to the stanchion is a half inch. The left hand of the medium gives six
additional inches, and the bandage on her wrist slips readily along her
slender arm nearly half way to the elbow--"all of which," says John W.
Truesdell,[3] who was the first to expose Miss Fay's spirit pretensions,
"gives the spirits a clear leeway of not less than 20 inches from the
stanchion. The moment the curtain is closed, the medium, under spirit
influence spreads her hands as far apart as possible, an act which
stretches the knotted ligature so that the bandage about it will easily
slip from the centre to either wrist; then, throwing her lithe form by a
quick movement, to the left, so that her hips will pass the stanchion
without moving her feet from the floor, the spirits are able, through the
medium, to reach whatever may have been placed upon her lap."
One of Annie Eva's most convincing tests is the accordion which plays,
after it has been bound fast with tapes and the tapes carefully sealed at
every note, so as to prevent its being performed on in the regular manner.
Her method of operating, though simple, is decidedly ingenious. She
places a small tube in the valve-hole of the instrument, breathes and
blows alternately into it, and then by fingering the keys, executes an air
with excellent effect.
Sometimes she places a musical box on an oblong plate of glass suspended
from the ceiling by four cords. The box plays and stops at word of
command, much to the astonishment of listeners. "Electricity," exclaims
the reader! Hardly so, for the box is completely insulated on the sheet of
glass. Then how is it done? Mr. Asprey Vere, an investigator of spirit
phenomena, tells the secret in the following words: ("Modern Magic"). "In
the box there is placed a balance lever which when the glass is in the
slightest degree tilted, arrests the fly-fan, and thus prevents the
machinery from moving. At the word of command the glass is made level, and
the fly-fan being released, the machinery moves, and a tune is played.
When commanded to stop, either side of the cord is pulled by a confederate
behind the scenes, the balance lever drops, the fly-fan is arrested, and
the music stops."
One of the tests presented to the American public by this medium is the
"spirit-hand," constructed of painted wood or _papier mache_, which raps
out answers to questions, after it has been isolated from all contact by
being placed on a sheet of glass supported on the backs of two chairs.
It is a trick performed by every conjurer, and the secret is a piece of
black silk thread, worked by confederates stationed in the wings of the
theatre, one at the right, the other at the left. The thread lies along
the stage when not in use, but at the proper cue from the medium, it is
lifted up and brought in contact with the wooden hand. The hand is so
constructed that the palm lies on the glass sheet and the wrist, with a
fancy lace cuff about it, is elevated an inch above the glass, the whole
apparatus being so pivoted that a pressure of the thread from above will
depress the wrist and elevate the palm. When the thread is relaxed the
hand comes down on the glass with a thump and makes the spirit rap which
is so effective. A rapping skull made on similar principles is also in
vogue among mediums.
CHARLES SLADE.
Annie Eva Fay has a rival in Charles Slade, who is a clever performer and
a most convincing talker. His cabinet test is the same as Miss Fay's, but
he has other specialties that are worth explaining--one is the
"table-raising," and another is the "spirit neck-tie." The effect of the
first experiment is as follows: Slade, with his arms bared and coat
removed, requests several gentlemen to sit around a long table, reserving
the head for himself. Hands are placed on the table, and developments
awaited. "Do you feel the table raising?" asks the medium, after a short
pause. "We do!" comes the response of the sitters. Slade then rises; all
stand up, and the table is seen suspended in the air, about a foot from
the floor of the stage. In a little while an uncontrollable desire seems
to take possession of the table to rush about the stage. Frequently the
medium requests several persons to get on the table, but that has no
effect whatever. The same levitation takes place. The secret of this
surprising mediumistic test is very simple. In the first place, the man
who sits at the foot of the table is a confederate. Both medium and
confederate wear about their waists wide leather belts, ribbed and
strengthened with steel bands, and supported from the shoulders by bands
of leather and steel. In the front of each belt is a steel hinge concealed
by the vest of the wearer. In the act of sitting down at the table the
medium and his confederate quickly pull the hinges which catch under the
top of the table when the sitters rise. The rest of the trick is easily
comprehended. When the levitation act is finished the hinges are folded up
and hidden under the vests of the performers.
The "spirit neck-tie" is one of the best things in the whole range of
mediumistic marvels, and has never to my knowledge been exposed. A rope is
tied about the medium's neck with the knots at the back and the ends are
thrust through two holes in one side of the cabinet, and tied in a bow
knot on the outside. The holes in the cabinet must be on a level with the
medium's neck, after he is seated. The curtains of the cabinet are then
closed, and the committee requested to keep close watch on the bow-knot on
the outside of the cabinet. The assistant in a short time pulls back the
curtain from the cabinet on the side farthest from the medium, and reveals
a sheeted figure which writes messages and speaks to the spectators. Other
materializations take place. The curtain is drawn. At this juncture the
medium is heard calling: "Quick, quick, release me!" The assistant
unfastens the bow-knot, the ends of the rope are quickly drawn into the
cabinet, and the medium comes forward, looking somewhat exhausted, with
the rope still tied about his neck. The question resolves itself into two
factors--either the medium gets loose the neck-tie and impersonates the
spirits or the materializations are genuine. "Gets loose! But that is
impossible," exclaim the committee, "we watched the cord in the closest
way." The secret of this surprising feat lies in a clever substitution.
The tie is genuine, but the medium, after the curtains of the cabinet are
closed, cuts the cord with a sharp knife, just about the region of the
throat, and impersonates the ghosts, with the aid of various wigs and
disguises concealed about him. Then he takes a second cord from his
pocket, ties it about his neck with the same number of knots as are in the
original rope and twists the neck-tie around so that these knots will
appear at the back of his neck. Now, he exclaims, "Quick, quick, unfasten
the cord." As soon as his assistant has untied the simple bow knot on the
outside of the cabinet, the medium quickly pulls the genuine rope into the
cabinet and conceals it in his pocket.
When he presents himself to the spectators the rope about his neck
(presumed to be the original) is found to be correctly tied and untampered
with. Much of the effect depends on the rapidity with which the medium
conceals the original cord and comes out of the cabinet. The author has
seen this trick performed in parlors, the holes being bored in a door.
Charles Slade makes a great parade in his advertisements about exposing
the vulgar tricks of bogus mediums, but he says nothing about the secrets
of his own pet illusions. His exposés are made for the purpose of
enhancing his own mediumistic marvels.
I insert a verbatim copy of the handbills with which he deluges the
highways and byways of American cities and towns.
SLADE
Will fully demonstrate the various methods employed by such renowned
spiritualistic mediums as Alex. Hume, Mrs. Hoffmann, Prof. Taylor,
Chas. Cooke, Richard Bishop, Dr. Arnold, and various others,
IN PLAIN, OPEN LIGHT.
Every possible means will be used to enlighten the auditor as to
whether these so-called wonders are enacted through the aid of spirits
or are the result of natural agencies.
_SUCH PHENOMENA AS_
Spirit Materializations,
Marvelous Superhuman Visions,
Spiritualistic Rappings,
Slate Writing,
Spirit Pictures,
Floating Tables and Chairs,
Remarkable Test of the Human Mind,
Second Sight Mysteries,
A Human Being Isolated from Surrounding Objects
Floating in Mid-Air.
Committees will be selected by the audience to assist SLADE, and to
report their views as to the why and wherefore of the many strange
things that will be shown during the evening. This is done so that
every person attending may learn the truth regarding the tests,
whether they are genuine, or caused by expert trickery.
Do not class or confound SLADE with the numerous so-called spirit
mediums and spiritual exposers that travel through the country, like a
set of roaming vampires, seeking whom they may devour. It is SLADE'S
object in coming to your city to enlighten the people one way or the
other as to the real
TRUTH CONCERNING THESE MYSTERIES.
Scientific men, and many great men, have believed there was a grain of
essential truth in the claims of Spiritualism. It was believed more on
the account of the want of power to deny it than anything else. The
idea that under some strained and indefinable possibilities the spirit
of the mortal man may communicate with the spirit of the departed man
is something that the great heart of humanity is prone to believe, as
it has faith in future existence. No skeptic will deny any man's right
to such a belief, but this little grain of hope has been the
foundation for such extensive and heartless mediumistic frauds that it
is constantly losing ground.
A NIGHT OF
Wonderful Manifestations
THE VEIL DRAWN
So that all may have an insight into the
_SPIRIT WORLD_
And behold many things that are
Strange and Startling.
The Clergy, the Press, Learned Synods and Councils, Sage Philosophers
and Scientists, in fact, the whole world have proclaimed these
Philosophical Idealisms to be an astounding
FACT.
YOU ARE BROUGHT
Face to Face with the Spirits.
_A SMALL ADMISSION WILL BE CHARGED TO DEFRAY EXPENSES._
PIERRE L. O. A. KEELER.
Pierre Keeler's fame as a producer of spirit phenomena rests largely upon
his materializing séances. It was his materializations that received the
particular attention of the Seybert Commission. The late Mr. Henry
Seybert, who was an ardent believer in modern Spiritualism, presented to
the University of Pennsylvania a sum of money to found a chair of
philosophy, with the proviso that the University should appoint a
commission to investigate "all systems of morals, religion or philosophy
which assume to represent the truth, and particularly of modern
Spiritualism." The following gentlemen were accordingly appointed, and
began their investigations: Dr. William Pepper, Dr. Joseph Leidy, Dr.
George A. Koenig, Prof. R. E. Thompson, Prof. George S. Fullerton, and Dr.
Horace H. Furness. Subsequently others were added to the commission--Dr.
Coleman Sellers, Dr. James W. White, Dr. Calvin B. Kneer, and Dr. S. Weir
Mitchell. Dr. Pepper, Provost of the University, was _ex-officio_
chairman; Dr. Furness, acting chairman, and Prof. Fullerton, secretary.
Keeler's materializations are thus described in the report of the
commission:
"On May 27 the Seybert commission held a meeting at the house of Mr.
Furness at 8 p. m., to examine the phenomena occurring in the presence of
Mr. Pierre L. O. A. Keeler, a professional medium.
"The medium, Mr. Keeler, is a young man, with well cut features, curly
brown hair, a small sandy mustache, and rather worn and anxious
expression; he is strongly built, about 5 feet 8 inches high, and with
rather short, quite broad, and very muscular hands and strong wrists. The
hands were examined by Dr. Pepper and Mr. Fullerton after the séance.
"The séance was held in Mr. Furness' drawing-room, and a space was
curtained off by the medium in the northeast corner, thus, (Fig. 25):
[Illustration: FIG. 25. PIERRE KEELER'S CABINET SEANCE.]
"The curtain is represented by A, B; C, D and E are three chairs, placed
in front of the curtain by the medium, in one of which (E) he afterwards
sat; G denotes the position of Mrs. Keeler; F is a small table, placed
within the curtain, and upon which was a tambourine, a guitar, two bells,
a hammer, a metallic ring; the stars show the positions of the spectators,
who sat in a double row--the two stars at the top facing the letter A
indicate the positions taken by Mrs. Kase and Col. Kase, friends of Mr.
Keeler, according to the directions of the medium.
"The curtain, or rather curtains, were of black muslin, and arranged as
follows: There was a plain black curtain, which was stretched across the
corner, falling to the floor. Its height, when in position, was 53 inches;
it was made thus:
[Illustration: FIG. 26. PIERRE KEELER'S CABINET CURTAIN.]
"The cord which held the curtain was 1, 2, and the flaps which are
represented as standing above it (A, B, C, etc.), fell down over A1, B1,
C1, etc., and could be made to cover the shoulders of one sitting with his
back against the curtain. A black curtain was also pinned against the
wall, in the space curtained off, partly covering it. Another curtain was
added to the one pictured, as will be described presently.