The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1867-04-05
ANorHER HUMBUa Exposed.
A Medium Comes to Grief.
MANY of our readers will remembe

many VI OuF ACouCi6 Will >
says the st. Louis Democrat. a great
spirit medium named W. T. Church, who
asionished both believers and skeptics by
his wonderful manifestations in this
city about a year ago. Church BAN
boozeled some of our most intelligent
spiritualists in the most effectual manner
OBe of them showed US a. lock Of hair
which be sOlemnly ayoWed be cut with
his penkife from the head of ''the little
Swiss girl" while she was sitting loving
= on his lap. Church q attendant spir-
us were immense on kissing-good- look
ing ladies especially received showers of
salula:ion from the so called Swiss girl,
and all expires ed themselves as delighted
with the manifestations The subse-
qusni exposure Of the tricks of this Jug
gler showed that the Swiss girl was
Church himself. The sly rouge bad been
stealing kisses in The dark, and thus OBJ
tanning goods under false prelenees. So.
During bis "seaUces" here Church was
so well guarded by his spiritual friends
that it was impossible TO expose his tricks,
as every one was required to make pledge
that he would not make an attempt TO
unvaiI the mystery by striking light or
leaving his seat. All the Conditions
had to be complied with before admmit-
lance could be obtained to the charmed
circle. ~ ......--
But. in an unlucl hour, Church went
over to Belleyille to hold a "seauce."
He was followed by two or three skeptics,
and the result was an ignominious expo
sure In Lincoln. Illinois. aud more recent
" in louisville, Kentucky. The Louis
vile Journal of the 18Th ult., gives the
GLOWING account of the doings of Church
in that city:
w. 7. Church, a spiritual medium,
who has been holding, for some months,
series of seances in rooms over Ger
mans grocery store, near the corner Of
Eleventh and Green streets, with his two
confederates, came to decided and palpa
BILE grief on Saturday night. The con-
federates are Dr.. Church,a healing me-
dunn. and the reputed father of w. T.,
and DR.. Jenkins, an ex Methodist minis
ter, eK PHYSICIAN and cousummate Sound
rel generally, who has been acting as
agent of the Churches. #. g.. as..l., 3.
The modus operandi of Church con-.
sisted-we use the word in its past tense,
as the little affair has been "busted"-
in suffering himself to be confined to q
chair. the ends of the restraining cord
tackled TO the floor and sealed with wax.
The audience were then seated In a circle
around the room. hymns were sung, and
the ghost of NimWaukee, "big in
jun" would appear, stalk heavily over
the floor, aud crack old Joe Millsrisms in
style that strongly reminded one Of
that prince of the motley brother hood,
Dan Rice. Next would come the spirit.
of little Swiss girl, who performed cred
itablY upon the ACCORDION, bestowed am J,
orous kisses upon the audience. and per
formed other loving exploits, clearly
eYincing the fact that, if men laid off the
old Adam when they put on the new.
women carried good deal Of the nature
Of their mother Eve across the Styx with
them. The way all these manifestations
were brought about was very simple.
Churcb's clothes were gotten up world
too wide for him, and after the tights
were extiuguished-(all these thiGgs,
mind you, reader, were performed in the
dark )--he would slip out of his coat, vest
and boots, go anywhere about the room
he pleased, play upon whatever musical
instrument be might have at hand, per
senate the Indian, the Swiss girl, angles,
&C., and then return to his chair, where
he would resume his clothing and his
original position, and, when one of his
confederates brought in the lights, there
would Church be, sitting as though he
had never moved. These things were
wonderful-were inexplicable. Many
ladies and gentleman, who should have
possessed sense, were imposed upon, and
actually began to believe that angels
would leave the regions ofgthe blest, and
revisit the pale glimpses of the moon for
the purpose Of turning an honest penny
by running opposition to Slgnor BInz
and Mazzoni in the prestidigitateur line
But the hair by which the sword of
Damocles was suspended above the head
of Church was burned In two by locofo
CO matches on Saturday night. Our
friend DR.. G. O. jonas, %ha5 was interest
ed III sud jug he mysteries of spiritual
ism as practiced by Church, and the pres
+tige of whose name the latter had used 10
gain himself position in society, determ-
ined upon probing the affair to the bottom.
CoB6diug hisintenlions TO several friends,
they cordially united with him ia the ex
pertinent, aud on the night Ia question,
when Church hadshpped from his bonds
and was in the middle of tie floor per.
sonating the Swiss, playing upon the &C.
cordeon, the Doctor slipped off his boots
and stole up to tie chair, where The me
! dunn should have been sitting. As be
Isupecled, the chair was vacant. He ther
give signal-by Wbistliug--which haC
6een agreed upon, half a dozen matches
were lighted, and The impostsr WAS re
tvealed 10 the act of impo itionI As soeu
AS Church discovered the game shat va:
: tbeing played-uPeR him, he strated for hi
chsiFs bnts discovering that it was occu
.bpied, Immediately tried the trance dodge
But it was no go. A policeman was zen
for, AID the parties arrested and lodged i
Jail. -s1-sA -- -.s.l g ? :
, This is not the Erst time Church bs
been exposed, as may be seen from an AZ
liele Ne repubish 10 40 other coIum
, Ifrom the. Spiritual Republic. His exDs
Iriepce at Lincoln, Illinois, il appeaFs
did not benefit him, but he must see
IOtbsTc communities upon whom to prat
lice his rascalities. Church is smooth
!, faced, piausi6le-speakiug rascal, and il
- 10 be hoped that Soma law exisls vbir