The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-07-01
A "MAGNETIC" GIRL TALKS.
CURIOUS CONFESSIONS OF CLEyERNEsS
THAT PUZZLED THE PROFESSORS.

Lulu liursts Secret and Turned IL to Adrnut-
nse--smpIe Explanation of Apparently AInr-
vicious Fcats.
(From the New York Word)
L ran across young woman on the
street not long since, n girl whose face
had become familiar to many people
some months ago on ;he stages of pro-
vincial theatres, very shortly after Lulu
Hurst, "The Georgia Wonder" had
created sensation Wallacks. She had
gained considerable notoricty, L remcm-
bercd, as one of many "magnctic" girls.
The fact also intruded itself that she had
been introduced to audiences as a rude,
untutored specimen of the bacllwoods,
perfectly guileless, with little education,
and remarkable only for the fact that
Providence $50 the truthful manager put
iD had gifted her with peculiar and
marvellous force which enabled her to
accomplish most extraordinary things
never before seen or heard of. AS she
trlpped along in front of ne [ saw that
she was still n large, well-built specimen
of humanity, broad shouldercd, and with
excellcntly developed muscles, which
might readily deter many strong man
from arousing her anger. Untutorcd
girls from the backwoods, you know,
very frequently strike from the shoulder
and hit hard. One thing puzzled me.
She carried an enormous sllnshade of the
latest style. This seemed wonderful
when rccOllectcd that one of the most
peculiar characteristics pertaining to this
simple maiden, i'll the days of her nCto-
ricty, was the fact that she could not
hold Oh umbrella or parasol over her
head for three consecutive minutes with
out its suddenly flying to pieces. / re-
membered also that no man could main
tlln Ill an upright position an open UNI
brellA against which she laid the palm Of
of herwhitc but large hand. And yet
here she was manipulating Il sunshadc
with all the ease and grace of n Fifth
avenue belle, without any apparently
serious consequences. l. followed her
expecting to see the dainty crimson
parachute fly violently from her hands.
Nothing of tho sort occurred, however,
and then l concluded that she was prob
ably no longer "magnctic, or that her
magnetism could be summoned and dis
missed at will; that she discarded it dur
ang Broadway promcnadcs and called it
forth again when the curtain rolled ND
on n full house. Bcsct by curiosity, /
sauntercd after the child Of the back
woods until / saw her turn corner into
Al side street. A few more steps and she
entered q wcll-known caravansary. 1t
required but a moment to find her name
on the register of the house. This ac-
e0mplished L sent up my card, and was
received at once. The young woman
had discarded the sunshade, which lay
unharmed upon sofa, and met me with
n confidence and self-possession quite Mt
variance with the manners assumed on
the OCCASION Of her initial cntrec on the
stage aS o 'wondcr." After some pre-
liminary skirmishing of q polite nature
relative to her health and other kindred
topics, / asked her if she had visited New
York for the purpose of appearing pro-
fessionally, With reminiscent laugh,
half chuckle and half gigglc, she replied:
"Oh, dear, no! | don't do that sort Of
thing any more"
"Why not?" 1 qucricd ''Has the
magnetic influence forsakcn yon2"
Again she gave way to reminiscent
risibiliiies, and murmured some unintcl-
ligible wofda which sounded like GLOW
funny"
"Are you interviewing me?" she asked
after her mirth had subsidized. sIf so /
have no objection to the ordeal, and 1
assure you candidly that you will be the
first newspaper man who will have sue
cceded in making me talk freely"
'1n the first place" she continued,
"let ne mention an important point
which everybody who came to witness
my performances totally overlooked. [
never professcd to be either magnetic or
menn eric. Other people advanced the
theory, not I. / did contend that I was
able TO accomplish somo seemingly eX-
traordiary fcata, and ] accomplished
them. There the mattcr ended. When
1 was engaged" by managers who had
Witnessed my representations they did
not inquire as to whether ] was the pos
SCISSOR of any peculiar or unknown force;
they simply made contracts with me un-
der certain conditions, namely, that [
was to give SO many performances for so
mucll money, ana J. gave them. If peO-
pie chose to write me up as mcsmcric o.
magnetic that WAS their affair, not mine. "
"Then you did not accomplish your
feats through the aid of any unknown
fOrceY
The charmingly naive child of nature
8iggled again as she answered, in u very
non-committal way: "Wo won't discuss
that point, but [ will tell you what I
will do. With ten minutes instructions
Twill enable you to perform, without
the aid OF either mesmcrism or magnet.
Ism, any feat which you ever saw me
attempt. DO you remember the con.
test? a man takes the article and holds
It before him at arms length with hand
tlightiy gripping each end of it, and en-
de@yors TO stand still after have placed
my hand gently upon it. Let us try it
l did so, bracing myself as ioidlv rs
an iron bar. The young woman laid the
palm of one white hand lightly npon tho
rod, and after moment [ felt tpUn mvsoIt Sit
swaying to and fro. Then [ was icTlSoG
violently forward, thrown backwoSd onG
yenkcd promiscuously about the apart.
ine1t until / was entirely out of breotI
end began to feel very red in the face
sat down putting and painting, while
mytfair hostess giggled gleefully. The
thing was as great mystery to me n.
ever, and / confessed the fact as soon ~