The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-04-22
THE GREAT EXPOSE
OF scAEMrs THAT ARE CROOKED
A. R'ehss.sr. \. r.-How 8 ssplfi.ual.,tie Conpiry
Tried 10 PisI Il On Coasrtsatioa OF "Irtsa.
in'-Ths People rAksa IN By SnIsdiut-A
w R,vslAtioa that startled the eonmulity

RocHrsrKK, N. Y, April ala mos
unique method Of swindling has been dis
covered here and will be exposed by to
morrow mornings Herald, Of this city
Since the Fox sisters made Rochester noted
by their spiritualis.ic performances In 1878,
oil kinds Of characters have periodically
stopped here under the guise Of being be.
lievers in, or interpreters Of. spirltualism.
Six or eight months ago q haggsrd, bouy old
woman, and eleek, silken.tongued son,
aged eighteen years, settled down here
rom the spiritualistic armament, and
called their names Van Auken. II was
given out that the boy Harry was q won.
deriul clever medium, and public seances
were given with profit until an exposure
Of fraud in their pretended spiritual per.
tormances forced them to close the ball.
Then another method Of fraud was invent.
ed by these simulators. They united forces
with Dr.. Tilden, magnetic healer, and
formed wha. they called the Tilden. Van.
Auken Spiritual Company" Operations
were secretly commenced by agents, who
directed ailing people TO the compsny's
headquarters, No. 81 Sophia street.
OLD PEOPLE coysrLrED.
Old people known to be superstihous or
nervous received notes saying some calam.
ity wodld beiall them unless they con.
suited the spiritual company. In these
consultations patients were told tha. the
company embraced two hundred and fifty
spirits, comprising General Lafayette
"Red Jacket" Starlight" Sunlight"
Running Water" "Mary Maloney,,"
"Topsy" and "Maubaaha." Several credu-
lous people dropped money into the COM
pany's Golfers, most Of whom escaped COM
paratively cheap, but one woman, NJ. J.
Dean, was mulc.ed to the extent Of
over eleven hundred dollars. 4 She has
grown wealthy keeping fancy house, and
Is regarded generally as degraded and
heartless. While sick with dropsical all.
mcnt she was told to conauls the Tilden-
Van Auken Company. She>di 60, and
agreed to give them 500 to ctre her BIZ
April |. She clains to believe they cured
her and paid them the agreed amount One
day abe received letter written by DR..
Iilden, who eaid it Was inspired by D;.
Bristol, formerly Of Dansville, who died
twenty years ago, and whose spirit it wss
claimed directs and advises the members
OF the company.
WAS IT THOUGH?
The letter said it was her duty to devote
tHe remainder Of her life to advancing the
cause Of spiritualism. By means Of the
letter and some sharp coDiuring which she
witnessed st private seances she was con-
vinced that her future duty lay in spiritual.
lstic paths. She was sTindled out OF over
$500, spent in buying one thing and an.
other for the Spiritualista, before they made
3 grand break for her pocketbook by pre-
tending to have formed q combination to
travel and give public seances. They told
her she wes to 70 as lecturer before the
cabinet, Alexander Won Humboldt gas to
be her guide and inspiration, and
words would be. furnished promptly
tor her lecture. She actually bought
Humbo!d,'s "Cesncs" aud studied
1t for week. Among other inducements
they told her abe would become the bright.
est star in the spi1itualiatic armament.
She was to buy the outfi. and wcs to pay
S. 900 therefor when young man named
Goddard exposed the fraud. He hsd been
hired as ticket seller at the Van Aukea
seances here, but failed to get his pay, SO he
went to the Dean woman to get SIS. In
conversation with him she found he could
do all the wonderful things Harry Van Au.
ken could, which opened her eyes 10 the
awindle in time to save her three thous.
and, but not until it had lost her thous.
and. Several others have been swindled
in aimilar methods for smaller amounts.