New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-12-21

effE,Al JOURNAL OF the UNITED STATES
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS
TTaR DAyENPORT,s OUTDoNB

-o0-
oeejciAl JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS
THE DAyENP0RT's OUTD0NB.
A New CuDbord Mystery.
tFrom the Chicago Post.]
Our reporter, hearing that Thayer, III,
Wisconsin physical and musical medium,
W. hsldinE seances here, dropped In OF
Friday evening at select gathering. IN.
na1ifestAttous were go far superior IN KING
md degree to the Davenport Brothers
which made so much excitement thro1gi
the6tatAs Eve years ago, that BRET aeeoun
IT the doings "a in order.
To begin with, there was no putting on
Oe turning down lights. The gas burnet
brightly throughout the entire evening II
al parfs Of the room. The only article o
fnrniture. except the chairs, was Q cabinet
a hlsck walnut, about a. large az an Ordi
nary double wardrobe-say five feet high
four feet wide and three feet deep-ant
mounted ON high strips Of boards fox legs
It had pair Of doors in front, which. whel
was Q carpet, stretched taut upon the hoo
md buttoned over carriage buttons at thu
corners. Upon this were placed snare
drum and two drum sticks, . guitar, thret
table bells Of various sizes, and . rubber
Vhistling ball These were deposited OF
the left side of the cabinet from the audience
The cabinet was of the plainest construc
ton, loosely screwed together, and the tine
dunn asked the company to examine it
and offered to take it to pieces, if desired
No "wires" or other illegitimate traps were
found. A committee of skeptice was ap
@pointed to look out for tricks. "a
The cabinet was locked, and one Of the
committee retained the key. The medium
then took his seat ut the right Of the cabinet,
and put his hand through a small hole in
tho lower corner of the case, and rested it
- the floor within, The whole Of the me-
dunn, up to his right wrist, was in full view
of the audience. The committee sat within
three feet Of him. It was obvious that he
could not reach within three feet Of the
nearest musical instrument
\ In five minutes there was Q rafting in
aide. There's rats !" exclaimed one Of the
company, and . laugh followed. Presently
emo string Of the guitar uttered sound.
Everybody glanced at Thayer, but there he
rat, passive, and, in fact, rather stcid. He
locked innocent, and his arm was like a
stick. Then there was p shrin whistle on
the ball. Then the bells were sounded, in
the order Of their rotes, and afterward all
together. Then there was a proniscuous
rattling and shaking up all around the
/ At this juncture Thayer whistled "Cap-
tain Jinks," Johnny Comes Marching
Home,~ and other lively airs, and the
cooped-up intelligence, whatever it was,
kept perfect and really wonderful time on
the bells, whistle and guitar.
Then gentlemen in the audience whistled
tunes and wero similarly accompanied, one
'of them being q new air composed for the
occasion. No sound having yet been heard
from the drum, Thayer inquired what was
THO tar Thav nr ~ the fhivr ;priHo
demanded, by an uproarous humping, that
the alphabet be rehearsed, and, on being
accommodated, spelled out, 1.-THE drummer
IL away" "Isn't he coming 8" asked Thayer
in disappointed tone. Don't know; hope
so," was the response" . IN.
Then there was o. repetition Of the same,
with variations; and the imprisoned must
CLANS struck up Yankee Doodle on their
own hook, and played it through, without
apparent assistance Suddenly there was
: tremendous uproar inside, and long
roll, beautifully executed, on the drum.
The whistle sQuealed, the bells tangled, the
guitar thrammed, and there were such
bangs dpon the sides and doors of the cabi-
net as threatened to knock it to pieces.
Thayer explained that the disembodied
drummer had arrived, and the rest Of the
band were rejoicing! 1t certainly was
very earnest, but very andigni6ed Joy.
&A0 DOO0 0O VAC oRAO0A AulEI uutlCO XOE Il
moment, there was heard q drumming, and
,Thayer informed IA that .'Tracy" was .'tun-
ing bis guitarr Then followed Emusic by
the band, }" and drumming, sees1ndxns a-tem.
1t was certainly frst-rate drumming-the
operator might have been the ghost Of the
pathetic drunmer-bOy who was slain
70 often during the Late war. He
played one tune through, drumming the
lines alternately, one limo with tho sticks
and the other-you'd not believe it. but
that il what Thayer averred, and also what
it sounded ike-the other with the finger.
,nailsl "Where does he get his fnger-nailsP
ventured one of the committee to inquire.
HE matezjalises them, explained the ready
Thayer. -
Then the cooped-up eonoerters favored
the audience with clog dance, keeping time
with guitar, bells and whistles veritable
clog-dance - far las the human ear could
testify. 1t was evident that the carpet was
up, and the disenbodied dancer hoed it
down on the floor Of the cage with all the
.vebomence of . minstrel In tho moment Of
his most abandoned vigor. There were also
simultaneous thumps on the top and sides
;0f the cabinet; the doors were seen to
.spring outward from the battering, and it
;soomed at one time a. If the whole structure
would tumble down before our eyes. And
there sat the impertxrbsble Thayer, and
! there perambulated the vigilant committee,
and We couldn't sec how anybody had got
inside.
Then there was more music and more
noise, al jaf~jtssW. But all things must
have An end, and at last there came an end
to this scene. 'Thsyer s0lemnly said,
i..go0d night" the turbulent musicians
vigorously raped good night on the side Of
their oaken prison. the Instruments dropped
t. tho floor and all was still. Two Of the
committee rushed to the doors md flung
them open while one seized Thayer. No
wires were found. No secret door was
found, and nobody could have got into it
tAore had been one. It was plain to all
that there had been nobody within tho cage
except Thayer's right hand, and that. had
apparently not stirred. The carpet was
rolled up In one corner. The guitar was on
tho drum. The bells were scattered about.
And that was all
Well, the question which troubles our
practical repOrter-0ur very Gadgrind Of a
Reporters, 'sWhat was it,"
The Missouri Dissensions.
2 A special to the St. Louis Democrat, says
WARRINGTON, December l4-There IS a
fair chance Of settling the divisions which
arose among the Missouri Republicans
during the late campaign, SO far as it extends
to the delegation here, and the position as
sumed by the Executive. Members Of the
House, representing both parties in the late
campaign, have been in consultation with
each other and with members OF the admin
istration for week past, and to-day mat
ters illuminated in An interview with the
President at which the whole situatiOn Was