The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-11-29
HER FINAL TRANCE.
Mollie Fanchcr, Brooklyn's Famous Girl
Dying.

NEW YORK, Nov. l8.-M0llle faDcner,
the famous trance girl of Brooklyn, is
to-day believed to be dying. For TWEEN
ty years she has lain abed, and during
the first half of that time iu q trance,
during which period she neither ate,
drank, nor evinced consciousness. Since
then she has been q phenomenon in
clairvoyance. Occasionally, when her
doiDgs have been partially published,
they have aroused incredulity, and che
has heen classed as fraudulent; but the
fact that she and her family have always
refused to make cent out of her condi-
ton would seem to meet the accusation
of trickery. You correspondent called
on Snowman Barnum to day and asked
him if it were true that he had offered
her highly remuneratiye engagement
as a public exhibit. He replied: II did
80. That was several years ago. l became
convinced, through the investigation of
friends, that she was genuine wonder.
I conveyed to her proposition, under
which she would have made fortune.
and I would have cleared the same. /
offered other than money inducements.
such as all the possible luxuries of travel
| in private car, the finest quarters at
hotels, the best of attendance, and, in
short, very great betterness of her mode
! of living. She is in moderate circum.
stances, you know, although comfortably
cared for, and would have placed her
| in the most costly sort of ease besides
enrichipg her. She would not hear of
such thing for an instant. 1t might
have been thought, at first, that she was
aiming at better bargain, but she vas
not. She declared that millions would
not tempt her to exhibit herself for
single day in public. Sol had to, give
it up. That was evidence enough my
mind that her clairvoyance is genuine"
The difficulties Of investigating the
case of Mollie Fancher have alwaya
baf1ed the newspaper reporters, for she
would only receive visits from friends
who promised not to afford information
to people generally. But now that her
end is at hand, some of the gentlemen
professionally familiar with her case
consent to give few particulars. Dr.. s.
Fleet-Spi an eminent Brooklyn physi.t
clan, has attended Miss Fancher ever
since her first illness.
II am firm believer in her power of
clairyoyance,," he said. II texists. That
| is all I know, andis all anyone knows.
For wears and years she took no solid
food. During as many ensuing years her
lips were merely moistened occasionally
with fruit juices and other very slight
nourishment.
Judge William Daily said:: "It is
only a short time ago that I called on
her with my wife. While we we're there
9 lady came in and presented to her q
picture of dead friend. This photo
graph was not shown to her, but was held
out of her sight, and while she could not
possible have seen it normally, she crltl-.
cised its appearance, went minutely into
details, and certainly her mind had q
perfect view of it. Such occurrences are
every. day events and have been for
wears. or ever since she me out OF her
trance"
DR.. G. E. Adamson said that he had
visited Miss Fancher on many occasions
with DR.. Speir. He continued: i
really believe that Miss Fancher possess,
es, in the highest degree, the percep;,
tivity those fraud clairvoyants pretend
to have. She is wonder. She has no
definite methods like those swindlers.
You could take bank check and hold
the reverse side towards her, or in fact,
shield it entirely from the view OF any,
one but yourself, and Mollie would tell
you the contents of the face, the name OF
the bank, the amount and the signature.
In the same way you could read letter
and Mollie would Immediately reproduce
the contents. Mind the person testing
her would not move the lips in reading
or give any sign or indication by which
she could gain the knowledge she exhibit
ed. But the most peculiar circumstance
about her power was the watch test. |
was present one evening when gentle,
man produced stem-windiDg watch and
asked Mol!ie if she could tell him the
time indicated on its face. The case was
closed and she was unable to give the
required information. But the minute
the gentleman opened the case she was
able to tell every minute and second
recorded on the face. BE turned the
hands around, looking at the face all the
time, and holding the watch in such 9
position that Mollie could not see, it, and
she told him every move. That test
explained one thing fully to every mind
= She does not see the object. The person
testing her does, however, and when it
is pictured in his mind, Mollie sees it
lust as plainly as he does the object. The
object is negative to Mollie, but the
mind on which the object is photograph
ed is visible to her."
The Rev. DR.. Dewitt Talmage is one
of the Brooklyn clergymen who have
visited Miss Fancher at various times,
but always with an understanding that
they were not to give an account OF her
to the world until after her death. DR..
Talmage felt at liberty to only say !:
"The case will long remain wonder to
scientific men. All the particulars have
been carefully and trustworthily obtain
ed. and they will be published at the
proper time. In general, it is no viola
tion of confidence to give mere outline
of the story. At the age of fourteen she
was sent to the Broyklyn seminary for
/ young lHUlesJ W1OAo oa0 "1S
an apt pupil. She remained there four
wears, and was ready to be graduated,
when q fall from horse laid her up for
awhile. She was not over the injury,
when she fell from street car and was
dragged by her dress, suffering an injury
to the spine, which has seemed to be the
cause of all her trouble and its attendant
phenomena. That was about twenty
one years ago. Her nervous system seems
to be shattered. She had alternative
spasms and frances for month, and
that was followed by death. like contin'
uous trance of two months. Then came
nine years of wonderful and unex
planned condition. She lay in bed in ar
nnaltored position, apparently blind ane
with her eyes tightly closed. FRANCES
were iuterspersed with spells offs sort oi
ecstacy, during which she told of mar
yelous visions and supernatural expe.
riences. She seemed to have the gift o.
second sight, and this was tested daily
Her physical rigidity remained a singu
lar accompaniment of her mental exalta
tion. It was in 1875, or76 that chang,
came to pass in her. Her body relaxed
and she professed to have no recollection
of what occurred during the nine years
| ~