The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-08-31
Bishop a Trick Performer.

Il
'The whole quest on of mind-read
ing as practiced by the late Washing
ton Irving Bishop lies in familiarity
with the phenomena of little things. v
The speaker was Charles Howard
Montagu OF Boston, says letter from
that city to the New York Herald, who
is the only American who has accom-
plished in public tricks practiced by
the well known performer who has
just died.
II have read the stories of Mr..
Bishops sad ending, and will say
without reserve that the act Of discov-
ering the word in the book calls for nc
great mentIl effort The trick is one
of the simpler ones.
1.-The claim publicly made by Mr..
Bishop" Mr.. Montagu continued,
''was that he passed into hypnotic
condition similar to but not as intense
as the hysterical frances into which
some of Charcot's patients pass at La
Salpetriere, Paris. Hypnotized, but
not completely so, was Bishops asser-
ton. There was, of course, nothing
of the kind. There was naught that
savored of a metaphysical phenomenon.
1t was simply the clever act of a very
clever and almost abnormally acute
man.
'.Mr. Bishop admitted to me without
any reserve that he depended upon the
same means as myself. This CONVEX
sation occurred after 1 exposed his
claims of hypnotization. We met and
compared notes. He explained that it
was matter of business with him
dollars and cents-the same as with
fikirs and sleight-of-hand performers.
''Mr. Bishop associated during his
earlier days with palmers, magicians,
straightforward men Or whatever you
may call them. The so-called science
of mind-reading was known to some
of those people years ago. One in par
ticular, a man OF the name of Brown,
used to perform in rather crude way
the act OF reading names from letters
strung across the stage on line. Mr..
Bishop obtained his start from Brown,
and he improved the original idea so
that you would not have recognized it.
He used to peek down beneath his
bandage whenever he could, and every
act was accomplished in theatrical
sort of way. He would locate satisfac-
torily to himself the object borne in
the mind of the person whose hand he
held and then he would turn away
only to return and reach the object
; with an impressive gesture of his hand.
1.-The simple act of touching the OBJ
ject unaccompanied by stacy gesture
would not have the impressive effect
on the audience that the other method
would. He informed me that he prac-
ticed great deal in finding an object
in the dark. He would observe a
speck on the wall aud then he would
darken the room and train himself to
! walk toward the given point and touch
i it with his finger promptly.
'The whole question Of 'mind-read-
ing depends upon a familiarity with
and the ready observance OF trihes.
The world is full of little things which
pass unnoticed by 999 men out of L.
600. The story of the basis of my
success is that depended upon two
rules. First, / followed the line OF
least resistance in favorable subj ects
whose hand or arm held. Second,
with contrary subjects acted opposite
the line of the greatest resistance. Mr..
Bishop did likewise and so does the
Englishmen, Stuart Cumberland, by all
means the cleverest 'mind-reader' in
the world. Mr.. Cumberland exposed
the metaphysical or hypnotic claims
of Mr.. Bishop in a recent article in the
Nineteenth Century Review.
9Th prove good natural subject
for successfully going through the
tricks you must be OF a delicate phys
ique, quick of perception, have keen
active brain, and possess faraiiiirii;ss.:: .;
with the ways OF MANKIND. This last
| qualification was one OF Mr. Bishops
strongest points. By concentrating
your mind upon the object under con-
sideration, and by following the invol-
untary and almost imperceptible mus
cular movements OF the person whose
! mind you are supposed to be reading,
you will accomplish your end. There
are subjects who will fool you, how
ever, every time. John Boyle O'Reilly,
the editor of the Pilot, used to circum-
vent me in every experiment He
would likewise circumvent Mr.. Cum
berland or poor Mr.. Bishop. The sub
ject may not be conscious of muscular
action. used to induce it by pulling
the arm in an opposite direction"
asked Mr.. Montagu especially if
the effort of finding an object by hold
the arm of a second person caused in
tense nervous strain and subsequent
prostration. Washington Bishop, it
is claimed, died from the commissions
caused by the intensity of his brain
efforts.
The reply was: mot all. After a
long evenings work with trying un-
satisfactory subjects / used to feel
fatigued. No more, / fancy, than an
actor who feels his part-Booth or
Salvini for instance, or perhaps, to
afford q better illustration, Jane
Hading or Clara Morris the
strain of hard nights performance.
l think l fell asleep with creator
readiness after an evenings mind
reading than otherwise. Mr.. Bishops
epileptiform attacks-they were not
catalepsy-were caused by disease
from which he suffered for years.
Congestion Of the brain and death
super1ened, as it sometimes does after
epileptic commissions.
Bishop has recently pulled the
wool over the eyes of some clergymen
and alleged scientific mon at st. Louis,
] hear. l am reminded of a remark
NJ h;c fo ,,,, In 70 tho coionfifo