Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-09-01
A ventriloqlist's Tricks.

For some time past there have been
strange doings at the Jail, which have
given the impression that the place
must be haunted. Every few nights
some prisoner would hear his name
called by some one outside of the Jail
and, going to the nearest window,
would in the darkness carry on a CON
versation with some friend or relative.
who failed to m~aterialize, however. A
short time ago a man who was put in
jail for assulting his brother-in-law with
a razor and cutting his throat badly,
heard some n calling him at the
window. He got out of his bunk and,
feeling his way to the window, asked
the name Of the visitor. The name was
given and proved to be that of an Irish
friend who had taken this way of hold
ing a little chat with him. The voice
could not be mistaken and the prisoner
had no suspicion of there being any,
thing mysterious about the matter or
anything wrong. The visitor in bid
ding him goodbye told him that he had
left some tobacco for him with the
jailer. In the meantime Jailer Schontz,
hearing the voices, staid outside to sec
who was there, and though he could
hear the talk could discover no one.
The next day the prisoner insisted on
the jailer giving him the tobacco which;
his friend had left for him, and was,
quite indignant when told that his
friend had left none. The same sort of
an occurrence was repeated with other
prisoners. The colored boy who was
lately imprisoned for stealing a watch
was called for the other night by some
one outside, and on going to the window
held quite a conversation with a colored
friend of his, in which he talked over
his case quite freely, but Jailer Schontz
could not discover any one. The colored.
boy the next day was equally earnest in
demanding the packages Of smoking
tobacco his friend had left with the jail.
Ell, but of course the jailer had no such
package. In one of these cases could
Jailer Schontz discover that any one
had been round the outside of the Jail.
The puzzling matter has now been
Strengthened out and its mystery solved.
The young man, Fred Hill, confined in
Jail on the charge of being a confidence
man, seems to be at the bottom of the
whole affair and the cause of the mani
festations. Hell a remarkable mimic
and needs only to Hear a mans voice
once to be able to duplicate it. He is
also a good deal Of a v%entriloquist, and
these two features Of his own vocal abil-
ity, aided by the peculiar construction
of the Jail and the location Of his cell,
have enabled him at night to throw his
voice outside, SO that it appears topris-
ners on the south side of the Jail as if
there was some one Mt the window ca11inor
them. He has used his ventriloquism
for much amusement, and by learning a
prisoners name and something Of his
history by the prisoners mingling dur
ing the daytime has been we'll informed
for a midnight chat with them, i'm
personating some friend or relative. To
add to his enjoyment, he has invariably
added the tobacco postscript at the
close of the conversation, thus causing
the prisoners to bother Jailer Schontz
by insisting on having what their
friends have left for them.-Onaoha
Bee. -