The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1888-01-20
STUDY OF MESlfERISM.
SOME VERY CURIOUS EXPERIMENTS
MADE AT THE CAPITAL.

SOME VERY CURIOUS EXPERIMENTS
MADE AT THE CAPITAL.
Journalist Crof1ut's Exhibition of Skill in
Hypnotism-suggestcd Burglary COM
mittcd by "sensitive"-Not So Sue.
cessful with Another Subject.
w. A. Croffut has recently taken up the
study Of mesmerism, OR hypnotism, as the
scientists prefer to call it. Mr.. Croffut
has developed considerable skill in this
direction, and the other night gave an ex-
hibition ut his house before q noteworthy
audience, Among others present were
Postmaster General Villas and his family,
Senator Ingalls,, Senator Platt, of Con-
necticut; Gen. A. w. Greely and his wife,
Admiral and Mrs. Russell, Mr.. Coleman,
the commissioner of agriculture; Col.
Nicolay, marshal Of the United States su-
prcmc court; Gen. Bryant, assistant at
torney general; Professor Thompson, of,
the geological survey, and q number Of
other scientific gentlemen and physicians.
Before beginning his experiments Mr..
CrofTut explained that he had been very
much interested in reading, in Paris let
tcrs, of the experiments conducted By Drs
Charcot and Luys in Europe.
v1cARIoUs CRIM1NALlTY.
Mr.. Croffut remarked that the expert
mcntation with dangerous drugs and
medicated compounds under scientific
conditions would be postponed to another
evening but he would Immediately make
tests as to the vicarious commission Of
crime. After performing some minor ex-
periments and getting his subjects into
good condition, Mr.. Croffut attempted the
feat of compellinga a fellow being to COM
nit q crime by Gle force Of his own will,
acting upon the will of that fellow being.
One of the subjects, a young woman en-
ployed in the government printing Office,
was told to go into the audience and pick
the ladies' pockets. She manifested great
horror of the act and refused, but by an
imperative command the mesmcrizer in
duced her to comply, and without much
display of ingenuity she got a phantom
purse, not q real one, from Mrs. John G.
Fremont The experiment was not salts
factory as to the practical employment of
an agent
Another sensitive, a clerk in depart
mcnt, was mesmerized, and Mr.. Croffut
explained to him that in house of one
of the ncighbors, in an upper chamber, in
a certain corner and q certain drawer in
contained $4,000. He described the stu
alton of the house minutely, the way to
go there, the arrangement of the dressing
case and so on, repeating it over several
times until the subject had the geography
impressed upon his mind. Then handing
him two keys he said:
1.-The larger key will open the front
door of the house and the smaller key will
open the drawer of the dressing case in
which the pocketbook will be found.''
lie told the young man that if he would
steal that pocketbook he would give him
the money. There was good deal of dis
cussion between the mesmerist and his
subject concerning the liability of discov-
cry and arrest, but when assured that
there was not the slightest possibility Of
anybody interfering with him, and that
there were no dogs about the place, he
consented to undertake the burglary
Four or five gentlemen in the room were
asked to follow the subject on his trip.
Due arrangements had previously been
book i'll the situation described. The
young man ran out into the street, turned
the corner, ami when he came to the
house described by Mr.. Croffut recognized
it at once by the description. He then
began to show the greatest degree of ag;
tation, looking nervously behind all the
tree boxes and around the corners, and
finally jumped over the fence, saying to
those who accompanied him as pals
| of whose presence he seemed only half
conscious--that he did SO lest the gate
should make noise.
NERVOUS AND CAUTIOUS
When he reached the porch his nervous
| ness seemed to increase, as we'll as his
caution; but he unlocked and opened the
| door quietly, crept into the hallway.
| looked round all the corners and into all
| the rooms, found his way up stairs into
| the apartment described, drew out the
| key unlocked the drawer indicated and
| found the pocket book. He was starting
away with it, when one of those who nc
| companied him called his attention to the
| fact that he had left the drawer open, and
that he had better restore things Us he
found them. He replied that that was q
good idea, and doing SO, put the key in
his pocket. He then crept around the
room, looking into other places, and when
| asked why he did SO, replied that he was
| looking for something else he could steal.
| One of the party suggested to him that it
was n bad place to steal anything but
money, for jewelry could be traced while
| money could not This seemed to strike
him as sensible, and he remarked that the
| pocket book was full of bills, and he h:d
| better be satisfied with what he had got.
Then lie crcpt down stairs with great
| caution, shut and locked the front door
carefully after him, and reaching the
street, started to run like u frightened
deer. One of his attendants caught him
by the arm and asked him where he was
| going He said he was going home, but
the attendant suggested lie must return
to Mr.. Crotfut's house and give him his
share Of the money. To- mesmerized
thief stopped II moment and said: "Ycs,
it would be mean not to give him his
share; lie put us on to the job; we will go
back and deal square with him."
lie returned to Mr.. Croffut's house,
handed that gentleman the pocket book
and counting out $4,000 in imaginary
money, divided it equally between the
two.
This experiment seemed to demonstrate
that, proper conditions existing, crime
may be committed second hand through
mcslncric influences.
With another subject Mr.. Cro1fut was
not so successful lie convinced IL young
man that his brother had been killed by
an Indian, whom he was advised to mllr-
der in revenge, and was told that he could
find him on the Capitol steps. The sensi-
tive, though generally obedient under
mesmeric influences, refused to believe
such an absurd story, and after long
argument with Mr.. Croffut, in which the
subject showed as much shrewdness as
the operator, declined to attempt the deed
he was urged to commit.-Cor. New York
Tribune.