The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-01-08

mediums finally consented to have 1t
remain open until the manifestations
first appeared. Under such circum-
stances it became necessary to make 6
change in the manner of keeping
Katie" out of sight. The bolster or
the bed was therefore so arranged that
Katie" could creep into it, and in
this she hid herself beforea the seance
and after it was concluded. The bed
room was many times examined after
the change, and the bed was also in
spected, but no one ever thought of
looking into the bolster to find out what
it was stuffed with. Katie King, during
last summer, when these seances were
being given at No. 80 North Ninth
street, boarded with Mrs. Holmes, and
was at first suspected by Or. Child, but
On several occasions he was requested
by Mrs. Holmes to answer the violent
ringing of the door-bell Immediately
following the close of the seance. He
algays found the suspected lady wait
ing very impatiently to be let IN, and
she often complained that, as she
boarded with Mrs. Holmes, that lady
had no right to lock her out.
The doctors suspicious were soon
quieted by this ruse, and the young
| lady was seldom afterwards thought of.
During the heated term Mr.. and Mrs.
Holmes left the city and travelled
through the west, where they were once
exposed, but as the account was not
clearly written, the effect was not very
| damaging. Upon the return of the me-
diums to Philadelphia in the fall, Dr.
Child was sent for by Mrs. Holmes and
asked to assist them in finding a house.
The doctor gladly complied with the
request, as he was anxious to have the
cabinet placed in a room where it could
stand near solid walls. He found one
or two houses where the front room
would admit of this arrangement, but
| Mrs. Holmes discovered some fault with
them all, and finally decided upon the
house at 1875 North Tenth street. In the
second-story front room of this house
the cabinet was placed in such a posi-
ton that it stood about eighteen inches
from boarded up window.
As already described In the Press,
this window was arranged in such a way
that, with the sash taken out, there was
room for a person to stand between the
boards on the inside and the shutters on
the outside. One of the boards was
apparently fastened by screws, but they
were only dummies. In reality it
/ swung on pivots, and was held in its
place by a stout button on the inside.
A board in the back of the cabinet was
similarly arranged. Before the seancea
began katie King" took her position
in the window and fastened herself in.
The space between the cabinet and the
wall was then concealed by q door,
which at first glance appeared as part of
the cabinet table of musical instTu-
ments was showed up against it, and the
| guests, who were always received in q
downstairs room, were invited to as
cend.
A dark seance always opened the en-.
tertainment, during which Katie would
descend from her perch, and, making
her way into the cabinet, take position
in the corner, where she could not be
seen when the cabinet door was opened.
Mr.. Holmes would then enter the cab,
met, and between the two the usual
manifestations we're produced. The
numerous faces shown were nothing but
rubber masks, SO made that they could
be blown up into different sizes, and at
the same time produce different appear-
ances. Mr.. Holmes could conceal half
a dozen such faces in his inside pocket.
At the Tenth street house Mr.. and Mrs.
Holmes were supposed to live alone,
having only an old colored woman as an
assistant. This "auntie" was quite
dumb, and on several occasions forgot
herself, and sat the table for three in
stead of two, as the Holmeses usually
partook of light supper after the even
ing's performances.
The dark circles given at 1916 North
Tenth street were often quite entertain
ing to lovers of the mysterious and as
they performed almost all of the still
unexplained tests given by the best me-
diums, it was less difficult for them to
avert suspicion than it would have been
had they confined themselves to Katie
King. Their mediUmistic powers are
highly attested, and those who are most
familiar with spirituslism state that
! there is no doubt but that Mr.. and Mrs
Holmes are really excellent mediums,
who have been by cupidity to mix a
| great deal of trickery with their natural
powers. There was published in the
London Spiritualist of Feb. 1, 1873, a
record of a sitting held with the
Holmeses in London, at which Mr..
Luxmore, who reports the seance, de-
clares that the same katie King"
who materialized through Florence
Cook, appeared through Mr.. and Mr..
Holmes. Mr.. Luxmo-e is a wealthy
gentleman, living in one of the fashion
able squares of London, and it was at
his residence that many of the Florence
Cook seances were sdven.
Some of the best-known spiritualists
seem to believe from this that Mr.. and
Mrs. Holmes have at some time pre-
scented the veritable "Katie King"
and, failing to reproduce the manifesto
tions, were led to employ a confederate.
How long the humbug would have pros
pered if the Holmeses and their mis-
guided assistant had not disagreed, it is
impossible to say. "Katie's" conscience,
however, began to trouble her greatly
wien she learned what an effect her per-
formances had created, and at last, feel
ing that she could no longer practice the
deception, she left Mrs. Holmes to her
own devices. For several weeks no
Katie appeared, as the medium"
found 1t a difficult task to secure a |
young woman similar in features and |
form to the first confederate. One |