The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-11-19
The Experiments with Brown by
DR.. Beard Of New York.

lFrom the Springfield Republican, Oct. g.
The attempt Of DIR. G. nj. Beard of
New York to overthrow the claims of
j. R. Brown as mind.reader at New
Haven on Thursday evening seems to
have left the question about as it was
before the tests were made. He Ger
tainly failed to prove that Brown is q
charlatan, and some of the exhibitions
Of the man. powers the doctor will
find it very hard to explain away. In
some cases, however, Brown frankly
admitted that he could not do what was
required Of him. The audience were for
the most part in sympathy with Brown.
Music Hall was we'll filled with the
most respectable people of New Haven,
among them number of the Yale pro-
| lessons, whose presence DR.. Beard par
ticularly requested. The doctor re-
CURED at the start that Brown should
declare plainly what he proposed to do
namely, to read the thoughts Of
other peop!e-that every precauion
should be taken against collision with
others, and that Brown should assume
the burden of proof. inaslnuch as the
phenomena were so contrary to COM
mon experience. The doctor expected
to prove that when Brown, blindfolded,
was in search of some concealed object,
he was guided to it by the unconscious
muscular action of the person whose
hand he held.
Postmaster Sperry was president of
the meeting, ana the committee to de-
eide upon the results of the experi-
ments were as follows: Chosen by
Mr.. Brown-Prof. Brewer, M. S.
Phelps, Judge Foster and Judge Rob-
inson; by DR.. Beard-Dr. S. l.. San
ford, DR.. Charles Lindsey. DR.. Burge,
of Brooklyn, and Gen. Colin NJ. lnger-
soil. They chose Prof. Newton, chair
man, and took their places on the stage.
The first task was to find person in
the audience thought of by some one
selected by the committee. Brown
was blind-folded, and, having establish
ed connection with Henry B. Harrison,
the well-known lawyer, by taking Har-
rison's hand and placing his own hand
on Harrison S forehead, he went almost
directly to the person thought of,
whose name had been left With tho
chairman; and the audience broke out
into vociferous applause. Mr.. Harri-
son stated that he was conscious of
no muscular action that could have
led Brown to the proper per-
son. Mr.. Beard desired Mr.. Brown
to repeat the experiment with himself,
but Mr.. Brown stated that he was un-
willing to operate with DR.. Beard, as
he was an interested person, and as he
did not claim to operate successfully
with him. The ''mind-reader" at
tempted to find small articles that had
been hidden by Others, but failed. One
striking success, he achieved, however,
i'll connection with DR.. Frank Gala
CHER. The latter imagined a pain in q
certain part of his body, and Brown in
stantly designated the spot.
After the experiments were over. DR..
Beard promptly threw aside the charge
of fraud. He said that Brown was the
only man that ever gave him q fair
chance to investigate the phenomena,
and that he, in previous test at New
York, had confessedly failed. Brown,
at the last, refused to operate any
more, alleging that he was too much
exhausted.
The committee report has not yet
been made, but it is understood that
they consider DR.. Boards explana-
tons quite unsa .isfactory. The show
men have already got hold Of Brown,
and he is soon to be exhibited in the
larger cities.