The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-01-24
EXPOSED AGAIN.
A A"m.seriaIised spirit" WINE Bisss.

Bangor Whig Of tuesday,
A week ago last Saturday night, q woman
arrived in this city whose card bears the mans
Of "Mrs. O. e. Whitney, Matsrialization
Medium, Bseckton, Mass" accompanied by
man who clainA to he her husband. They
established themselves at . respectable east
side boarding house and commenced giving
seances, and have giventivs, namely on Sun
day, Tuesday, Thursday. Sunday and last
tTuesday) evenings. Up h last night, call
vent merry as q marriage ball." the sssnces
being attended by many of OR first citizens
who were completely duped, and recagnizsd.
as they fully belle we'd, tho spirits Of tler de-
parted friends, many of them taking then by
the hand, and some kissing them.
Among the number who attended, howeer,
were some who doubted the genuineness OF he
manifestations, and who even went 80 far as
give expression to their doubts 4
The seances up to last evening had been
strictly private. and none but those invited
were permitted to attend. Last evening, a
change was made, and . seance of q more
| public nature was held. Meanwhile some OF
the doubtsrs who had previously attended, had
made arrangements for sn expose OF what
they believed to be an outrageous fraud. One
of these gentlemen had some lamps made In
the shape of tin tubes, filled with cotton and
saturated With tnrpsntine, BY means Of which
tho room In which the seance was held could,
ut the opportune moment, be flooded with
light There were three OF these lam ps pro-
yided, but tho bearer Of only one Of them, Mr..
Edw ard King was admitted, the others being
kept out because of the doubts Of the genuine
ness of the affair which had bsen expressed by
them. The other two, however, estaolisned
themselves ON the piazza outside the house,
waiting for the opportuDe moment In which
to rush in and assist in the exposure.
They were not kept long In waiting. After
the medium had produced" the pirate king,
a military officer in full dress, and other per-
sonages, and spun off yards of spiritual
lace" she produced the form of young
woman and an invitation was extended TO
| Those in the QUITE circe-the believers cupy-
ing the inner circls--to respond TO call.
They were told to ask SIS 1t !, that is wanted,
snd when the right one made the inquiry, the
"matsriaiizsd spirit" would bow her hsad.
A gentleman at the end OF the circle first asked
the question, but no response came, the next
in order, Mr.. King, spoken OF above, asked
the question, and the Esprit" bowed her
head 1t should be borne in mind that there
was no light in the room except what revealed
the presence of the spirit.
When the spirit indicated that Mr.. King
was the person that was wanted he stepped for
ward. Mr.. Whitney asked, "Do you recognize
the spirit" he replied, 81 think do" Mr..
Whitney said. Perhaps you would like to take
her hand" Mr.. King extended his hand, per-
hapa too eagerly, when the spirit withd rev
her extended palm. But he was there for
purpose and did not intend to be bafisd, 80
reaching forward he caught her by the some
what scSnty clothing in which she was arrayed.
Upon this Mr.. Whitney, seeing the game,
struck him blow fall Ia the face, knoc king
him down, but he did not let go his hold. ana
was soon Joined by another gentle man who
grasped the spirits" hand.
By this time the excitement was intense,
every one was on his feet-there we're ten gem
tlemen aud four ladies in the room-lsdiss
tainted and a general hubbub ensued. Mean
time the noise reached those ont of doors, who,
lighting their lamps, rushed into the house, up
stairs, and thrust the blazing torches into the
room, which in an instant was Hood OF light
Mrs. Whitney was on the. floor, having at
tempted to crawl to the door and escape,
dressed only in chemise, and having about
fifteen yards of spiritual lace entwined about
her. The man who held her by the hand chung
TO her, despite the use OF her teeth, which had
brought the blood and made bad wound on
the back of his hand
While he was holding her firmly in his
grasp, Mr.. Whitney grabbed him, tearing bis
vest open and the buttons off. but he in turn
was seized by Officer Chaplin, who had been
detailed by Marshal Reed to assist in working
mp the case" Alter the lights were produced,
the gentlemen who had SO successfully exposed
the fraud, called upon all present to come aud
look az the PROSTATE medium" and see Tor
themselves the "matsrislized spirit" and see
whether they still believed. All acknowledged
the deception but one, but be said, Il believe 1t
ia az pirit still!'
During the melee the cabinet had been
knocked into smithsreens, aud discovered the
presence OF the various dresses and costumes
in which the deceased" had been arrayed,
and added further proof, If further proof were
needed, of the sham which had been imposed
upon them.
Mrs. Whitney was allowed to return to her
room and Mr.. Whitney was taken by officer
Chaplin to the lookup to await trial on
an action of fraud which will be prosecuted
by ono Of the gentlemen in the expose Mr..
King will also institute suit against him for
assault