The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-28
NOTWITHSTANDING.
Mr.. Bishops shrewd Methods-Mr Labou-
chere's Bank-Note.

London Correspondence New York Times.
Mr.. Irving Bishop, a young American con-
jurer who has for several years managed to
interest semi-scientitic men and weakened
clerics in "thought-reading'' and spiritual
ism, must be highly amused at the simplicity
of the British public. Mr.. Bishop does not
do by any means such remarkable things as
Maskelyne and Cooke, but he has managed
to infuse into his seances a certain amour of
psychological and scientific interest by which
he has commanded large audiences in many
of the great cities of the United Kingdom. No
entertainer has been more cleverly managed,
nor has any public performer shown a more
subtle method in arouSlng public interest.
Mr.. Bishop has touched the very key-notes of
charity and credulity, and he has made both
fame and money. Invariably approaching a
great city with an entertainment in aid OF
some popular charity, he has won over a con-
S%tituency impressed alike by his disinterest-
edness and his ability. Seances in his own
interest have followed, and, according to all
accounts, Mr.. Bishop has gwen value re-
ceived in a series of clever demonstrations of
physical, electrical and mechanical skill.
Somehow or other Mr.. Labouchere fell foul
of him and offered to bet him $1,000 to $500
that he could not guess or read the number
of the 81, 900 bank note, which, ii won, was
to be handed over to a charity. Mr.. Bishop
took the bet and then objected to the condi-
tions. A charity in Chelsea was liked upon
to have the f1,000, and the number was only
to be known 70 one person. Labouehere fixed
on Mr.. Firth, the member of Parliament
for Chelsea, to hold the note, and on its num-
her being announced he was to hand it over
tc the charity. Labouchere in Truth, and
Bishop in the daily S pers, kept the adj
vertising bali rolling. Bishop managed his
share OF the scheme so cleverly that it was
generally understood the test and the bet
would be decided at St. James's Hall on Tues
day night. 1t was ostentatiously announced
to the London public that if LabOuchere won
n red balloon would be sent up to hover over
st. James's Hall. On the other hand, if
Bishop were successful, a white one was to
gladden. the eyes of the multitude. A very
large audience was present, and
much disappointment was expressed
when they learned that neither
Mr.. Labouchere no Mr.. Firth was present.
1t transpired that Mr.. Bishop declined to ac
cept Mr.. Firth as the note-holder, aud that
Mr.. Labouchere refused the alternative of
handing over his money to some gentleman
appointed by the audience. AT the close OF a
weary evening and a good deal of noisy alter
cation a bank-note vas produced by some
one in the audience. 1t was handed to Colo
mel Statham, and Bishop, having thrown
himself into a kind of trembling fit, took the
Colonels hand and wrote the number cor
rectly on a blackboard. The audience APP
plauded the entertainer loudly for his feat.
Bishop then declared he had won his bet
against Labouchere, and asked the audience
if they would support him in claim
ing it for the Chelsea charity. Many
cried yes and many no, and here the matter
rests, only that Mr.. Bishop some
farewell appearances in London prior to
his resuming his investigations of the mys-
teries of the East Among the clergy
who figured prominently at this not very dig
nifed affair was the Rev. Mr.. Haweis, late
musical critic of the Echo, author of "Ameri-
can Humorists," husband of the lady who
wishes to make the dress worn by tine women
of ancient Greece fashionable in England,
and owner of the brown and yellow house
with Chinese fans in the windows, near
Lords cricket ground. Eccentricity pays in
London, and Mr.. Haweis fills his church and
is quite a lion in artistic society. l question,
however, if he is quite as clever as Mr.. Irving
Bishop.