The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-08-19
An Extraordinary Test of Spiritual
istic Phenomenon.

istic Phenomenon.
HE st. Louis papers of Aug. 10 contain
lengthy accounts of an extraordinary ties
which has been submitted to in that city
by a spiritualistic medium. A Mr.. Henry
Timkens, wclI-knOwn and highly-re
spected carriage maker, offered to Mr.. w
c. Clark the sum of fifty dollars for the
production of spirit sufficiently material
lied to be shot at. Mr. c. accepted the
offer, and on the evening of the 9th a small
crowd assembled at hall III St Louis tC
witness the experiment. The medium was
carefully searched and clothed in garments
furnished by Mr.. Timkens The cabinet
was thoroughly examined and placed on d
couple Of saw-hOrses. The medium was
then bound by Mr.. T., assisted by three OF
four reporters. Holes were bored on each
side of each of his legs above and below the
knee joints, and pieces of seaming-cord
were passed through each of the four sets
Of holes They emerged below the cabi-
net floor, where they were securely tied
] anu biICll ldSltIttl " lIlt saw -DuChS on
which the cabinet rested. Holes were
also bored on each side of the medium s
back, and piece of rope passed around
his waist and tied on the outside of the
cabinet, besides being secured to the saw
bucks. The mediums hands were sepa-
rately bound and then tied together the
cord being made to pass through hole in
the floor. between his legs At the dis
lance of fifteen feet from the cabinet, and
directly in front of the black curtain, was
placed stand, where, by means of wise,
IA small, breech-loading rifle was fastened
and leveled so that the ball would inevita-
bly, pierce the curtains center when fired.
Mr.. A. B. Cunningham, of the Globe Dem
ocrdt, who is crack shot, with steady
nerve, was requested by Mr.. Timkins to
fire the rifle.
After considerable time had elapsed
subsequent to the closing of the cabinet
the curtain of the window was suddenly
drawn aside, and a face-apparently of
glrl-made its appearance at the aper
ture and was distinctly seen by all pres
ent. The Republican says: There it
was. A pale, ghostly countenance that
looked as though it might have belonged
to girl of seventeen at some previous
time in the worlds history 1t didn't look
bit like actual flesh and blood Had 1t
been possible to remove the front of the
cabinet suddenly one never would have
expected to see any pinned-back gear
about the neither portion of the material
ization. 1t was IA face that might have
belonged to some Greek maiden 1000
years ago, and reminded one of the marble
countenance of some statue All who saw
were fairly transfixed with establishment.
The features were perfectly clear and dis
tinct being Illuminated by soft light.
There was not the slightest movement of a
muscle or an eyelid that could be distin-
guished. While all were eagerly gazing
at the vision there was an explosion that
caused rude interruption of the imagi-
native reveries the more superstitious had
fallen into.
1.-The wide-open eyes looked almost into
the muzzle of the gun without any sign of
Without the tremor of muscle
Cunningham fired, apparently thinking
no more of shooting couple of girls than
a Comanche would. AT the shot the face
remained steadfast. 1t wasn't scared and
didn't wink. A few seconds it remained
as before, and then the curtain mysterious
ly slid across and obscured it from view.
After about ten minutes waiting the me-
dun asked for glass of water. This
was given him, and in little while after
he asked to be let out. When the door
was opened he was found tied just as he
was left when the door was first closed. |
The cords had evidently been strained
little, and that was all. Everybody said it
vas good thing, and nobody could tell !