The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1884-06-26
4 DETECTIVE BY MESMERlSM.
New York Sun.

The narrative here presented is ia
miliar to many who have heard it from
the lips of the gentleman who asserts
{ that he played the most conspicuous
part in it. He is man more than sixty
years of age, active in business, and OF
unblemished reputation wherever he is
/ known.
1T was in 1847 that my attention
was first attracted to the subject of ami
NAL magnetism, by tho appearance in
the Western town in which then lived
Of a man named Keely, who advertised
to give public exhibitions. His meth
J. cd was to select ten or fifteen persons,
males and females, from the audience,
Seat them in half circle on the stage,
and placing piece of coin or metal in
the palm of the hand of each, request
them to look steadily at it. While
their attention was thus concentrated
he made few passes over each one,
seeming to obtain control over moro or
less Of the group, causing them to
aid him in what is now the ia
miliar performance of mes
merist. Four of us young
fellows waited on Professor Keely and
requested him to teach us his tricks
for our own amusement, he replied
that he knew very little of this strange
power; he only knew that some persons
possess larger amount of personal
magnetism than others, and, where one
had u superabundance and another very
little, the one with the larger supply
after gaining the attention, often could
control the mind and will of the other.
He showed us how he magnetized his
subjects, selecting those of negative
passive, temperament, and explained
that, after having magnetized then once
or twice, he had no difficulty in gaining
entire control by simply looking at them.
In our experiments it soon became ap-
parent that possessed a larger amount
of this mysterious magnetic power than
any of the others, and I used it in
many cases to such effect that began
to notice that I was being avoided by
many ofmy old friends among the strict
church people, and whispers of our en-
ploying supernatural agencies and ex-
perimenting in the black art were
abroad. More than one old acquaint-
ance whom saw approaching turned a
convenient corner before we met. be-
gan to learn how difficult it was to stem
the superstitious current.
zone evening my friend Wells-my
principal assistant and myself were sit
ting in my room. \ tap came at the
door and there entered man about
fifty years Old He said he had heard
about our having strange power over
the minds and senses of many persons,
and had called to ask our assistance in
detecting thief. He was tho owner of
3 line of packet boats running between
|. Cincinnati and Toledo on the canal
which passed through our town. One
of his captains on his return trip had
spent the night at tavern on the op-
posite side of the canal much frequented
by boatmen, had slept with a roll of
money under his pillow, had forgotten
1t and left without removing it from his
bed next morning, had returned for it
within an hour, but it was gone, and
nothing had been seen or heard of it at
tho hotel Such crimes were rare in
those days, and detectives were not at
hand on all occasions as now. This
would be a novel experiment, and at
least prove interesting. Hitherto the
minds of our subjects had simply fol-
lowed ours. Here was the opportunity of
ascertaining if the mind of the subject
could lead.
cit had just been week since the
theft was committed, which put us to
great disadvantage in point of time. I
had often seen the old tavern, but had
never entered it. requested the pack
ct owner, Mr.. Miller to give me de-
scription of the interior and of the room
the captain occupied, which was stu
ated, he said, at the extreme end of the
long hall, into which all the bedrooms
opened on the second floor, and close to
the stairs leading to the third floor. A
person passing up or down must of ne
cessity pass this door,
crecy. Only Mr.. Miller, my friend
Wells, my subject and myself were tc
be present at our seances. I sent for a
man of the name of Reeves, an honest
good-natured countrvman, heavy and
dull almost to stupidity, but one of our
best subjects. OF course he knew moth
: ing about the robbery, and it was not
known to dozen persons in the place.
We subdued the light in the room, drew
table up near the window, seated my
friend Wells, at one end with writing
materials to take notes, the subject at
the other, and Mr.. Miller at the locked
door to prevent intrusion. I bandaged
my subjects eyes tightly, and, taking
one of his hands in mine, I made few
passes before his bandaged eyes with
my free hand, and requested him to go
with me mentally wherever 1 went. I
said to him that it was now o'clock
Thursday morning (giving the date OF
the morning of the theft, and said We
were now going to Burns tav-
ern. Immediately he seemed to con-
ceive the idea that he was leading me.
We passed mentally out of my room in
to the hall keeping my mind closely
upon the track we must travel-down
the stairs, through the passage, and in
to the street. In order to reach the
bridge across the canal we must turn to
the rlght, go TWO squares, then turn to
the left, and three squares further on
cross the bridge, turn again to the right
and one block away reach the tavern. I
observed with alarm for my experiment
that us we passed mentally into the
street he said we are now turning to the
left when he should have said to the
right; but before could correct him he
spoke Of seeing old DR.. Powell at his
gate as we passed, and l knew his resi-
dence stood at the right of my hotel.
He babe the doctor good morning as We
passed by.
"Now we are at the grocery" said he.
4. ''Whose ?" asked.
II don't know" he replied.
"Can you not read the sien?"
II will go in and see, said he. Then,
raising his head, as if looking at some
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