Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-03-21
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE SPIRIT
OF THE DEAD DICK,

] lr-spondence Cincinnati Commercially
WAsHgNGIoN, March D.. ls65.
The Loyal LeaguerS, not satisfied with
/ one revelation from the other world on
I the subject OF ''The Apostate," " mustered
I the spirits into the service for a second
installment, or rather, delighted with
I their first interview, secured its repeti-
ton. The fair "meiumn was one fully
. competent to speak about apOstacy, even
I without the intervention or inspiration
of spirits, inasmuch as she was not long
! since "a successful applicant for q divorce
! IN the courts Of New York. The loyal
/ folks who attended the lecture say il was
/ gTandly severe on the President, and en-
tirely demolished that TyieriZed indi-
vidual. was not present on either Occa-
sion, but rather than miss hearing what
I the spirits had TO say about the Presi-
dents policy, / went to Il "mejum" and
opened communication with the other
world for my own private information.
I The "mejum " after a few vigorous raps,
attracted the attention of one Of the dis
embodied, who inquired what was
/ wanted There is a person here who
desires 70 converse with the spirit of the
! dead duck, y replied the ''meium.n
pl 90 and see if I can find him, -
said the spirit, "but he's so far down it
viii he hard to get at him. -
The diseEibodied started of, leaving
myself and the mejUm all alone. At the
end Of an hour the table began to Tip
gently, andOn inquiry ! learned that the
spirit Of the dead duck was on hand.
- Win the dead duck converse with
me sim IN the body2h I asked
"That depends on circumstances, p re-
piled the spirit, through the mejum, who
! should have mentioned before, was a
writing mejum as well As a rapping
mejum,
4" Well, / wautyour opinion Of Andrew
Johnson ~ said ].
"GOu can have that right now. He's
a damned son Of''-here the table shook
50 violently that the mejum couldn't
write out any more Of the deceased
ducks reply.
Keep cool, my dear bird" said I.
+" You're writing history now, and YOU
must be impartial -
Impartial damnation, " said the spirit
0f the u. u. Its easy 10 talk about
impaytiality, but if man had applied
the toe Of his boot 10 the terminal joint
Of your yertebra, As Andrew Johnson has
20 mine, YOU wOuldn'tfeel very impartial
toward him.
l again requested the spirit of the dead
duck TO curb his anger a little, as / was
very anxious to arrive at historical truth.
/ asked him il he thought the country
was safe under Andrew johnson. IN re-
ply he upset the table and sent a chair
Whirling through the room, which the
melum said was a spiritual mode of eN-
pressing very emphatic denial. / be-
gan 10 despair Of getting any reliable
news from the spirit of the duck, and
plainly signiied my intention Of leaving.
unless he would treat my questions more
eourteou-ly. The spirit promised TO do
the fair thing, and the following colloquy
took Place:
Question to the spirit Of the D. D.
What is thought Of Andrew JohusOnin
the spirit woTldgn
Answer by the s2iritofth the d. d, "a He
Is looked upon a. an vXeCFable renegade"
q. What was thought Of him a year
ago?n
A. 81 don't know. / wasn't here"
Q. Chow long have you been in the
spirit world 20
a. Since the 22d of February"
q. Chow do you Ike it As far as you've
goten
A. at is a little warm, bat guessrn
have TO get along with it."
q. What was the immediate cause Of
your belief in Andrew JohnsOn's apos-
tacy ."
A. "Being patriot, ! couldn't think
Otherwise ~
Q. Tel the honest truth, We're you
/ not a good, straightfOrwardJo Johnson man
| TIL YOU were kicked down the kitchen
stairs Of the White HouseSn
A. None OF your d--n business ~
/ and great disturbance among the chairs
aud tables,
q. Is it true that Andrew johnson
was tight ON the 4th Of March, 1864 -
A. " 1t is, and lie has been tight ever
since.n
q. "But didn't he drink out Of your
bottle on the Inauguration day, and
didn't you drug the liquor 50 as to get an
Office out OF him, IN one Of his uncon-
sciOus moments ="
/ The spirit was 50 incensed at this qles-
ton that he smashed all the chinaware
in the room, and made me think for
| while that 10 was the devil instead Of the
dead duck 10 whom i was talking. II
was with great difficulty he was per
| ~uaded 10 remain longer with US. being
much disposed 10 leave ahraptly ON ac-
/ count Qf what lac termed my impeYtinent
questions. lNace being again restored, /
resumed the important Investigation.
U. "pid IOhpsuu treat you amy worse
! than Buchanan didY Didn't they both
! treat you kidd o. ruUghHh
A. " Yes, they did Of the two ] think
| johnson was the worse"
q. Whose boots did you polish with
the greatest degree Of Vigor and bril-
liancy, Johnson's or Old Bucks 9"
The spirit gpt 80 enraged ~ this inter
! rogatQr5 u,at he could not be detained
in the Witpas UoX mOment longer, but,
with great rudeness, as | thought, put
out the lights, upset all the tables and
chairs, and leaving the mejum aud my
self amid darkness 9Ra psROs took his
depart3gr aver BaYipg tb,e mejum five
dollars for broken furniture and a dollar
fer the secy,ce left