The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-12-30
ABANDONMENT BY THE NAN
THE GREAT SPIRITUALIST.
A Tricky Sensationalist and His Conniv-
ing Devices.

New YORK. December 27.-The death OF
Charles Foster, the s~piritualistic medium.
resulted promptly in a familiar and usu-
| ally successful exposure of the trickeries of
the most expert operators in his line.
Professor Henry l.. Mott, the scientist, is
a firm unbeliever in the phenomena OF
spirit communication, and he was with a
! party Of Columbia College professors when
| the demise OF Foster was mentioned. 1t
was proposed that, the same evening, each
of the six men 60 to some well-reputed
medium, and at the same time precisely
call for q message from the dead celebrity.
| On subsequently, comparing notes, it was
found that five Of the investigators had
| simultaneously been assured of Foster 8
presence. The obituary accounts Of
FOSTERS
have tended to magnify his success by de-
scribing what he seemed to accomplish,
without attempting to explain the means,
or noting the numerous exposures OF his
| tricks. In this city he halrooms on Fourth
%stre-t. where his fee for sittings was five
dollars for each person, and in some DAYS,
b. accommodating large parties of inves-
tisatnrs, ne made as much as $500; but he
was Il spendt 1rift and carOuser, and his
money went rs freely as it came.
Slate writing and blood red manuscript
on his arm were his specialties, and beyond
those feats he attempted nothing besides
the most ordinary table tipping and chair
whirling. The slate trick consists in the
substitution of a slate on "hich the mes
sage has previously been written for the
clean one that the visitors have examined.
At |. asst, that VAS Foster way of doingit.
Scarcely ii day passed without some acute
observer
EXPOSING THE FRAUD.
but that neither l-ssened the hu nbug's re
ceipts, hurt his reputation, nor disturbed
his temper.
He made light among his boon friends of
his spiritual mediurnship, and was accus-
tolned, when in his cups to show how he
fooled his dupes. He had small liking for
sincere s~piritualists, and rarely had any
thing to do with them. Personally he was
Il hale fellow, and in no sense a crank.
However, when his brain began about two
years ago to become diseased, he changed
radically in character, and for the first
time took an interest in spiritualism be-
yond the income to be derived from it.. He
apparently became u believer, and was
much rallied by his friends on that &C.
count.
AS his mental disease trouble progressed
he got fanatical, and for a while
U TO BE
in any other way than under what he con-
ceived to be spirit guidance. He then
avowed the genuineness of his ~mediumship,
and it is thought he was a convert to him
self. But as his own credulity grew he lost
SILL, and his last seances were ~farcical in
the openness OF the devices. 1t is said that
an afternoon spent with Joseph Jefferson,
the actor, was his last effort in that line.
He Their u n far into incoherent imbe-
cility.
Chfcago's Great Expos ton in 1892,
W%AsHINGToN, December 27.-The Sunday
Capitol says: A bill is to be introduced in !
Congress to lend the name of the Govern
ment to the International Exposition, |
which is to be held in Chicago in 1892, to |
commemorate the four hundreth anniver-
sary OF the discovery of Ameriea. Chicago |
people are a good deal interested in this
enterprise and are going to push 1T with |
the energy that has made that city famous.
The Exposition will be planned after that |
OF Philadelphia, and similar legislation |
is desired, except that no financial aid or
guarantee is asked from the Government.
the people Of Chicago agreeing to foot ali