National Republican., 1874-07-06
9atioual gspnbIifau
THE LAST OFmKATTR KING y

oD"Hhd!ISt: having taken very prominent
part Of late at Miss Cooks seanees, and hay-
ing been very successful In taking numerous
photographs of Katie King by the aid of the
electric light, have thought that the publica-
ton Of few Of the details would be of inter
est. During the week before Kate took her
departure she gave seances at my house almost
nightly, to enable me to photograph her BY
artificial light. Five complete sets Of photo
graphic apparatus were accordingly fitted up
for the purpose, consisting Of five CAMERAS
one Of the whole-plate size, one half plate, one
quarter plste, and two blnocular stereoseopic
cameras-Which were all brought to bear
upon Katie II the same time on each occasion
on which she stood Bor her portraR Five
se1sitizing and fixing baths were used. and
plenty of plates were cleaned ready fox
use in advance, so that there might be no
hitch or delay during the Photographic opera
tionsr which were performed by myself, aided
BY one assistant My library was used a. .
DARK eaolnet. 1t has folding doors opening into
the laboratory; one Of these doors was taken
of its hinges, and curtain suspended in its
place to enable Katie to pass IN and out easily
Those of our friends who were present we're
seated in the'laboratory facing the curtain, and
the cameras were placed little behind them,
| ready to photograph Katie when she came out
/ side, and to photograph anything also inside
the cabinet, whenever the curtain was with
drawn for the purpose. Each evening there
were three or four exposures of plates In the
/ nVe cameras, giving at least fifteen separate
/ pictures at each seance; some of these were
sPout in the developing, and some in regulating
the amount of light. Altogether have forty
tour negatives, some inferior, some Indifferent,
| and some excellent. Katie instructed all the
sitters but myself to keep their seats and. to
| keep conditions, but for some time past she has
| given me permission to do what liked-to-
| touch her, and to enter and leave the cabinet
almost whenever pleased. l have frequently
| followed her into the cabinet, and have some
! times seen her and her medium together. but
most generally have found nobody but the
entranced medium lying on the floor, Katie and
her white robes having instantaneously disap-
peared. During the last six months Miss Cook
has been frequent visitor at my house re-
naming sometimes week at q time. She
brings nothing with her but little hand bag,
not locked. During the day she is constantly
in the presence of Mrs. CrOOkeE, myself, or
some member of my family, and, not sleeping
by herself, there is absolutely no opportunity
for any preparation even OF less elaborate
character than would be required for enacting
katie King prepare and arrange my library
myself as the dark cabinet, and usually, after
Miss Cook had been dining and conVersing with
U.s. aLl4 Jul VI Jul olSu LOE q l4uuLGg.
| she walks directly into the cabinet, and l. at
her request lock its second door, and keep pos
! session of the key all through the seance. The
gas is then turned out and Miss Cook is left in
darkness. On entering the cabinet Miss Cook
lies down upon the floor, with her head on 3
| pillow, and Is soon entraneed. During the pho
| tOgraphic seances Katie muffied her mediums
head up in a shawl to prevent the light falling
upon her face. frequently drew the curtain
| on one side when Katie was standing
near, and it was q common thing for the seven
| or eight of US IN the laboratory to see Miss
| Cook and Katie at the same time, under the
/ full blaze of the electric light. We did not on
! these occasions actually sec the face of the
medium, because Of the shaw, but we saw her
hands and feet; we saw her move uneasily
under the influence of the intense light, aud
| we heard her moan occasionally. Ihave one
| photograph of the two together, but Katie is
| seated in front of Miss Cooks head. During
the time l have taken part in the seances
Katie's confidence in me gradually grew, until
she refused to give a seance unless l took
charge Of the arrangements. She said sE
always wanted me to keep close to her, "a
| near the cabinet, and / found that after ans
confidence was established, and she was aus
| fed l would not break any promise IulsnC
make to her, the phenomena increaseds Ley
in power, and tests were freely given tsS mOIlu .L
have been unObtainable had app, SAIL sCueu Ihe-
subject in another manner. ShfoI'eh S eon-
suited me about persons present 'S asHSSos'
and where they should be pla1, tOL VI Iate
| she had become very nervous - sequence e
of certain ill-adyised sugC't.o!u @ Hna1 IUIce
should be employed as an ad ny ny ~ loLe Scieu-
tifc modes Of research. o. OL @ tLe nos' L IhSeI-
| inc bv the si5a of x otia. 1e has her bare foot
80 ne ,,ortjcIlo- ,,a-t me floor. Afterwards
| 7 dressed MIS- Co6I- IL Katie, placed her and
myself in exactly II saGie POSILOuI anu He
were photographedy Lhe same cameras,
placed exactly as irhe o'neL anu
two TictTIros sra aced over each other the two
| nbotpoo-renbs Of yself coincide exactly as re-
G9ar5s s+5tnre &C., but Katie is half head
| 3sIIsr tban iss Cook, and looks q big
woman i'm corJarison with her. lnthe breadth
| of her face i; many of the pictures, she differs
| esssntiaTIv i size from her medium, and the
TbotogroSy show several points Of difference.
| But n5otGraphy is as inadequate to depict the
Derfect b.uty Of Katie's face as words are
6overIe, to describe her charms of manner.
| PbotogIphy may, indeed, give 3 map Of her
| count sance; but how can it reproduce the
| briIIsS purity of her complexion, or the ever
yory1g expression of her most mobile features,
noy5YershadOwed with sadness when relating
zoe of the bitter experiences of her past life,
/ M smiling with all the innocence Of happy
| rilhoOd when she had collected my children
! Sund her, and was amusing them by recount
Ing anecdotes of her adventures in India.
Round her she made an atmosphere Of life;
The very air seemed lighter from her eyes,
They wore so soft and beautiful, and rife
With all We can imagine Of the skies:
Her OyerpOwering presence made you feel
1t would not be tdOIatry to kneel.'
''Having seen so much of Katie lately when
she has been Illuminated by the electric light,
l am enabled to add to the points Of difference
between her and her medium which mentioned
in former article. have the most absOlue
certainty that Miss Cook and Katie are 'wo
separate individuals so fa= as their bOdjes are
concerned. Several little marks on Miss Cooks
face are absent on Katie's. Miss Cooks harris
so dark brown as almost to appeSf black
lock of Katie's which is now be!Ore me, and
which she allowed me to cut frOm her iuXu-
RANT tresses. having first trared II up 70 the
scalp and satisfied myself that it actually grew
there, is a rich golden auburn. On one even
ing l timed Katis's pulse. 1t beat Steadliy at
seventy five, while Miss Cooks pulse, a NttIe
time sitter, was going at its usual rate oil niue
ty. On aPPlying my ear to Katie chest could
hear heart DeaeinQ rhythmically inside, and
pulsating even more rtaadily than did Miss
Cooks heart when she allowed NE try 4 SINH
lar experiment after the seance. Tested iutbe
same way, katie's lungs were found TO Le
soundsr than her mediums, for at the time l
tried my experiment Miss Cook was under med
ical treatment for severe cough. When the
time came for Katie to take her farewell asked
that she would let me see the last of her. Ac-
cordingly when she had called each Of the COM
pany up to her and spOkento them few words
in private, she gave some general directions for
the further guidance and protection Of Miss
Cook. From these, which were taken down
in shorthand, | quote the following: "Mr.
Crookes has done very well throughout, and l
leave Florrie with the greatest confidence in
his hands, feeling perfectly sure that he will
not abuse the trust l place in him. He can
3 t in any emergency better than can myself,
Tor he has more strength Having concluded
her directions Katie invited me into the cabinet
with her, and allowed me to remain there to
the end. After closing the curtain she con-
Yersed with me for some time, and then walked
across the room to where Miss Cook was lying
senseless on the floor. STOPPING over her
Katie touched her and said, wake up, Flor
rie, wake upl must leave you now Miss
Cook then woke up and tesrfully entreated
Katie to stay little time longer. My dear,
can't; my work is done. God bless yOu,'
Katie replied, and then continued speaking to
Miss Cook For several minutes the two were
cOnyersing with each other, till at last Miss
Cooks tears prevented her speaking. Follow
ing Katie's instructions then came forward to
h E,II{ 20 Nha