The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1881-08-09
MESMERISM IN A CHURCH.
A Remarkable Entertainment at a
Ladies' Sociable.
From tn e New York Times.

cable of the Madison Avenue Congregational
Church at Forty-first street wss varied last
evening by a rather striking feature. The
lecture-room was pretty well filled. Three
or four pretty girls distributed boutonnieres
at extravagant prices and made very large
sales. Seated near the ~lecture-desk was Mr..
e. B. Jennings, professor of psychology and
mesmel ism, who, it was announced, woul"
entertain the audience with some mesmeric
experiments conducted upon such pc. sons as
were willing to volunteer their services. 1t
was 8 O'Clock or after when Prof. Jennings
was introduced with a few brief sentences.
Alter a brief address Prof. Jennings invited
volunteer %susjecs to come forward and
range themselves upon a dozen chairs placed
in a semi circle in front of the platform. AT
ter some hesitancy a slender young man
about 25 years old, who had served DR.. Beard
aud Prot. Hamilton in the capacity of a sub
iect, advanced, followed by a gray. haired gen.
tleman some so years of age, a fat boy of
10, a middle. aged English lady Of refined
manners and appearance, two young ladies
and two Young men.
TIE ENGLIsH LADY'S EXPERIENCE.
"Now, them said the professor, "put
yourselves in a passive condition and shut
your eyes." AS he spoke he brushed the
eyelids OF each person gently downward and
passed the tips of his fingers across the tenn
Piles. One of the young men-evidently an
unproniising terson to experiment upon
winked and smiled: and when the operator
ordered linn to shut his eyes and told him he
could not open them, lie sl' WY and wag-
gishly Fitted III" dropping lids, looking him
amusediy in the face. With the rest the ex-
pertinent was more successful. and when the
English lady was asked her age, and where
she was born, she replied in a voice as soft as
music that she was Il years old and a native
of Central Africa. "You must have known
the king of the Gambia Islands, then ?" re-
marked Prof. Jennings interrogatively. "Oh,
yes,' replied the lady, sweetly; 81 knew
him very well-very well, indeed" "You
have often dined with his majesty,I SUPPOSE"
said the professor. Yes, very oftcn.' re-
piled the lady with bow. And if l re-
member correctly, one of his special dishes
was roast missionary. Did you find it very
nice 2" "Ntrv nice, indeed,'' answered the
lady. IL never tasted anything nicer"
The audIenc" rpAre1 with laughter, but the
iady took 10 notice of it; her e. es, with the
lacE-Iustrc expression of a somnambulist,
were riveted upon the professors handsome
countenance, and when he asked if she was
fond of flowers, she answered with the smile
Of seraph that she adored Observation-Disclosures
ly roses and viole's. The operator called her
attention to some very beautiful roses grow
ing upon the head of a Sun reporter, and,
having asked leave of the proprietor, size be-
gan to pluck them tenderly, one by one, and
arrange them into Il hoquet.
A CAPITAL JOKE.
The operator addressed himself to the cor
pulent gentleman and the trained subject sit
ting next to him. The latter was told that
he was seated upon a red-hot poker, and
sprang four or five feet into the air with a
wild and plaintiTe cry. When he descended
he began to examine his clothing, accompa-
hying the inquisition with pitiful means of
pain. THAT was a capital joke cried Prof.
Jennings, after the young maj had writhed
and groaned for a few seconds. Instantane-
ously the young man began to laugh, ~vaulting
two or three feet into the air, doubling him
self up with muscular contortiOns and scream
ing with merriment. The fun communicated
itself to the tat gentleman, and he began to
laugh too, rocking to and fro and emitting
such roats of merriment as were never before
heard in a church. Then the fat boy caught
the infection, and finally the Eng
lish lady, who had once din"d
Oh roast missionary with the
king of the Cannibal islands, and the two
young ladies and the two other young gen
tlemen, until there was such a pandemonium
Of roars and shrieks as would have done
honor to 50 many ~lunatics. In the midst of
all this The professor, who was observing the
phenomena with great gravity, snapped his
fingers and pronounced the mystic sylables,
A right" In a secon,', as if by magic, the
laughter was hushed. The fat man picked
himself up from the floor, where lie had been
rolling himself over and over for the last two
minutes in a perfect paroxysm of delight, and
took his seat with the soberness of a Judge
about TO pass sentence.
Prot. Jennings next int ormed the fat man
that it was veiy warm. Open flew the gen
tleman's vest to the peril of buttons, aud he
Was just removing coat and vest together,
when a snap of the fingers and the mystic
sylables arrested the movement. The next
moment they were all shivering with the
cold, and the next recliing MARY had a little
lamb" like so many scrool boys on decla,na-
ton day. A moment after they were all
transformed into school children and the
gray-haired gentleman sat studying a chair
which was put into his hands by the profess
sor, with the remark: 'Here's your book,
my boy" Then came the recess, and the