The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT- PHOTOGRA P. 4/ S.

(From the A njlo- Anteriym T;ntP,3.)
During the week pr. ceding the departu c t! .s
mail a curious trial was progressiag in New Yoth.
William 11. Mumler has been tried on a charge of
swindling, and New York has had another sensa-
tional episode in Court. Mueller is a spirit-photo-
grapher, who professes to take likenesses of those
who have departed this life, and drove so lucrative
a trade thereby, that the police deemed it necessary
to arrest him and charge him with obtaining money
under false pretences. He professed to take the
photographs of the living, while the shadowy
ghost of the departed could be traced on the picture.
Specimens were hailed into court, which gave
widows midi their hushanis' app %thine bellied
them ; mothers with their children on their knees ;
and Arr. elanaler boldly asserted, and then brought
witnesses to swear, tint the impressions 77.'re
from genuine spirits. iNfueli evidence teas taken to
prove that in the features could be traced the lioe.a-
men ts of the spirits they professed to represent. There
was no mistake as regarded the spectres, for they ap-
pease lon the photograph ; the mystery was, how ?
On the 26th April the defence obtained leave to
re-open their case in order to examine another
witness, when the prosecution submitted testimony,
which proved that the spirit photographs could be
taken by means of a double negative. Of the num-
ber handed into Court in testimony a witness se-
lected ten as thus taken ; but the others he attri-
buted to a different process, though all could
be produced by mechanical means. Desirous of ex-
posing the trick he offered Mumler $5OO to inspect his
process, but no opportunity was afforded him.
Mr. 0. G. Mason, Secretary of the Photographic
branch of the American Institute, had examined
these photographs, and was certain they were the
result of scientific processes. He described how it
was done, and said he could take them as well as
Mumler. Ile also specified, some half dozen dif-
ferent wayssof -procuring the pictures. There are
three means by which the ghosts can be worked—
by a lens introduced into the camera ; by the im-
position of a positive plate upon the negative ; and
the transmission of light through it in the bath. On
the 28th another crowd assembled, when the fourth
day's proceedings commenced. Abraham Bogardus,
a photographer for nearly 23 years, was connect al
with an association for putting down humbegl of
the trade, of which Manlier was not a member. Ile
counted the processes by which spirit photographs
could be taken by scores ; he could take a man with
an angel over his head, or with a pair of horns on
his head. just as heev:shei. The witness went on
to describe some of these processes. "They are made
by taking a plate and coating it in the nal d way,
having au impression taken by any camera out of
reach or sight of the sitter, an I then putting the
plate back into the coating bath, it might be left
there as Ion; as you like, and when a sitter comes it
can be used, and the first impression will appear
with the figure of the sitter ; this is easily done ; i
referring to exhibition No. 20, for the i'eople,
which a hand of the shadowy figure is represented
as placed in the hair of the sitter, the witness seiel
that effect was easily proluced, and by a little
manoeavering the arm might be made to encircle
the waist; numbers 21. and 22 are made from sit-
ters ; the first is taken from a copy ; in taking these
pictures, we first take a dim impression from
sitters prepared for that purpose, sometimes from a
lady dressed in white an I veiled over, an 1 this im-
pression might be preserved fer almost aey length
of time ; I could take thenr less distinct ; that can
be done by not having a proper focus ; the mere
the figure is out of the focue, the more indistinct
the picture; when the focal is perfect the minia-
ture is perfect, such as the eyebrows, &e. ; the re-
cognition of the spirit likenesses depends upon the
imagination of the person sitting. I have known
persons to came into my gallery and require a por-
trait of Henry Clay as General Jackson ; I have
seen a perfect picture taken, and heard four or five
relatives standing by say there was no likenes 3 what-
ever. I have also known persons to come in an.l
want to purchase a portrait of a child, believing it
to be that of one of their children, when I have
known it hes been taken from some one else. N
24 (pro:heel) was taken yesterday from P.
Btrnutn, Esq. ; in Noa. 21 and 13 for the defence,
the so-called spirits could not have been in fro iti of -
the camera. No. 13 is_ evidently a copy from an
old picture, and, I believe, was made by the proc ss
have described. If the camera was good for any-
thing, the focus would have reached the picture
had it been in front. No. 21, for the defence (the
Livermore picture), is, to speak, emphatically, a
transparent lie on its face, the shadow on the sitter
being on one side, the shadow of the spirit on the
other ; it shows that the two pictures must have
been taken at different times. No. 22, for The
People, is taken by the process I have described."
Having assented, in reply to a question, that he was
a believer in the Bible, the counsel, Mr. Townsend,
read from the 2d to the last verse of the 29th chap-
ter of Ist Samuel, asking the witness at the con-
clusion if he believed the spirit alluded to therein
had language and appearance. But such questions
not being permitted, he offered, as showing spirit
appearances, the 10th chap. Genesis, 6th ta 9th
verse ; 19L1i chip. Genesis, from let to 27th verse,
17th chap. and 10th verse ; 22d chap. 10th to 19th
verse; Numbers, 22d chap. and 35th verse; sth
Joshua, 13th to 15th verse ; 6th chap. Judges, 11
to 23 ; 13th chap. Judges, 2 to 22 ; 28th chap. let
Samuel, 31 to 17th verse ; 19th chap. Ist, from sth
to Bth verse ; Ist chap. Ezra ; 27th chap. Matthew,
52d to 54th verse ; 28th Matthew, Ist to Bth verse ;
the 12th chap. Acts of the Aposth.s, 9 to 11 ; 10th
chap. Acts of the Apostles, Ist to sth ; 15th chap.
Corinthians, 44th verse. The photographer, how-
ever, obstinately adhered to his statement that no
likeness could be taken of a person after death with-
out a copy. Mr. Barnum, of all men, was then
examined, touching a certain correspondence some
years ago when Mr. Barnum was about to write a
book representing the humbugs of the world, he
had told Mr. Mumler of his desire to purchase speci-
mens of his spirit-photographs for the museum, the
humbug of which he was going to expose. For
several years the photographs, for which he then
gave two dollars a-piece, were on the walls of
the museum ; the spirits of Napoleon I. and
Henry Clay being among them, exact like-
nesses of the well-known engravings. The chapter
in his book, " Humbug of the World" on Spirit-
photographs, referred to Mumler. lie went ou
the previous day toMr. Bogardus' Gallery, and was
taken with the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Cross-
examination elicited the following replies :—•‘ I
have never been in any humbug business, where I
did not give value for the money ; these spirit-
photographs were labelled humbug' on the walls
of my Museum; the woolly horse was a remarkable
reality and curiosity; it was exactly what I repro-
tented it to be, having a peculiar form and curled
hair; it was exactly a woolly horse ; it was not a
horse ' wooled over ;' the horse was • born' exactly
as he was when exhibited in my Musem, and
there was nothing artificial about him. The
mermaid, at the time I exhibited it, was re-
presented to the public to be precisely as it
was represented to me. I never bad reason to
doubt that it was what I represented it to be.
Have you never presented to the public, matters you
knew to be untrue, and taken money for the exhi-
bition of spurious curiosities ?—A. : I think Imay
have given a little drapery with it sometimes.
was the person
belief
(nLrasauhgihntgetro.n). Q.
Did: yHowen believe about the nurse urse of George
you represent her to .be?—A. : I havebn.loo_
ae
hbasoutit.
got through I
$l,OOO for her, but before she
upon the subject.
have had some little doubt
ever suggested
(Laughter.) Q.: Was this doubttand the bill of
paid.l
never beebnoudgishptrhoervedas. sulcbob'ught her and_
olit
way about it. (Laughter:)
nt Is it was (riven in
deuce produced much mer.runetl,n.ly
i requirr!d. some
a humorous manner, and it cer.
to the public ? —A. : I never,pumnt..ypsealfrnonumt,sofetvhie.
hum-
'
In
counsel for the prosecution, o bri
to s'iow how frequently
towagsiv;aatdesettibmyoinimy:aingarraiiias,ttryyh:iciau
celebratedg
for iesaue cases,
bugs. An
cheek"
A fno
_effortbi
these delusions ended in disordered imagination and
incurable insanity. Mr. Townsend whi!e examin-
ing the witnesses for the prosecution frequently
read chapters of the Bible.

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