Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1834-11-20
Prom the Bosfsa -uerca,l,Le .idtersiser.
THE MYSTERiOITS IAny

There seems 60 be something extremely ry.
markabie 'n the sceoes which we're lately enacted
IA public BY the Ms strrious Lady. She appears
10 possess power hey Dad that Of i.yer,lsinsin.
and TO puzzle the ply BIOLOGISTS We have al
v.ys thought that si,e acquired = know ledge Of
the events which took place IN her presence, be-
You'd The ordinary sphere Of visioa, by means Of
some secret understanding. With individuals pre-
sent-.nd that the deception was 90 inrrniou,ly
planned and Adroiuy executed 40 20 defy the srr,-
tiny OF the speetators but according To the fol-
loving account from the Boston Medical and
Surgical Journal, the whole affair assume. a diff
ierent s.peet-and the question 10 actually start
ed whether she does not in reality possess peeu-
liar faculty which enables her 20 perform what
have hSti,erto been deemed inposEibihfies For
our part we are still inereduioua With regard
TO 'onf'1!oqia<H' being the agent by which the
Jeeepton Is carried on, the idea - ridiculous
Tor Nrntriloquism itself - Que Of the CREATES,
hil"ao1y' Of the d.y-and begins To be 50 UNDER
stood
Mrs. Harrington, familiarly called
the Mysterious Lady, whose maiden
name was J Julia Ann Hue born Of French
parents, in England, and now in her
10Th year, is an intelligent woman, of
small stature-rather tacitun, though
agreeable In conversation. Before an
audience of strangers, on her first ap-
Pearance in this city, she was obvious
ly considerably embafrassed-which
might perhaps easily be accounted for.
even in person who has often been
before such an assembly, by the fact
that she is now eacienfe. Her faculty
OF memory, we were informed by Mr..
Harrington, is quite as remarkable as
any thing hereafter 10 be related, ena-
bling her to repeat long poems, biblical
readings, sc. without the slightest eff
fort, after having once read them
We noticed, however, no phrenologi-
cal indications Of such memory-her
eyesby no means being more prominent
than they should be to harmonic efIec-
tually with the rest Of her fair features.
Without further introduction, we
shall briefly relate what we saw and
heard at her first public exhibition, not
pretending to give an opinion upon
the subject. Mrs. III. having taken a
chair in the centre Of a spacious hall.
her husband would place his finger on
articles Of wearing apparel of specta-
tor at the extremity of the room, to-
wards which her back was turned.
when she would not only designate the
article instantly, but its color also
Whether bonnet, a reticule, ribbon,
watch guard, or head of hair, il
made no difference, as she always gave
prompt and correct answer. A gem
tleman asked of what metal his spec
tacles were made, and, when answer
ed, he further desired her to tell the
company how many glasses the bows
contained. She said, four. This was
at first thought by the spectators to be
incorrect; but on examination there
were found to be actually four distinct
glasses-the two upper ones being for
distant objects. and the lower ones for
nearer views-giving an appearance,
on close inspection, of a horizontal
seam through the centre of each eve
When any particular figure on a watch
dial was designated, she told the num-
ber-and moreover gave the exact
hour and minute of time, at any dis
lance from her chair.
A box was handed around, into
which whatever article was dropped.
was quickly named. A professional
gentleman very secretly placed in the
bottom a small cake Of liouorice
paste. Mrs. Harrington said il was a
cake. This was called a mistake
Well" said the lady, cit is some
thing black"-and after a moment s
reflection, said 1t was liquorice. In a
similar adroit manner, the doctor put
an bat of paper, on which he had writ
ten something, and which the oracle
correctly pronounced 10 be the word
"rhubarb." On depositing our own
shagreen lancet case, she Immediately
remarked that IT was a case containing
fIco kIneefS. We were not certain how
many there were, tall the top was open
ed 10 ascertain the number, which was
found 20 be as she had said. She GER
family never before saw il. nor had il
been IN any other place that day but q
SIDE pocket, from whence it was drawn,
IN a clenched hand, 10 be secretly de.
posted IN apaPer box. These are only
few Of the many performances. Of 4
similar order, that might be related in
illustration Of the manner Of conduct
ing the exhibition.
, Another class Of mysteries consisted
IN divining what any one might wins
+ per VA her husbands ear. II should
r be- remembered. however, that III,
name Of some animal food, or drink
must invariably be gwen, or she mad,
no attempt at a solution. The name
r of various edible fishes some Of which
r are certainly peculiar 10 the place. an,
therefore Wholly new 10 her, were un
heshatngiy pronounced as readily a