The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-05-15
THE MURDER SCENE.
Fatally Performed by Irving
Bishop, the Mind Reader.
CLUB ROOM CHAMBER OF HORRORS.
The Lambs are First AstOnished and Then
Terrifed-He Lived and Died
F.. SensatiOnest.

Men YORK, May Washington Irving
Bishop, who became famous in this country
and Europe by his extraordinary, and to
many people ineXplicable, mind reading
performances, died at noon Sunday at the
Lambs club, No. "a West both street. The
circumstances attending his death We're
singular and in perfect keeping with his
remarkable career, for it was the effort to
perform a wonderful feat of thought-read-
ing which ultimately proved fatal
Friday last Mr.. Bishop came to this city
from Philadelphi to sign contract with his
manager, Mr. Richie, ana was stopping at
the Hoffman house. On Sunday night the
members of the Lambs club gave one Of
their suppers and entertainments, Mr..
Bishop being present as the guest of Henry
e. Dixey. Mr.. Bishop appeared to be in
excellent spirits and apparently enjoyed
the affair very much, when Mr.. Clay
Green, the secretary Of the club, called
upon him to contribute to the amusement
of the evening. Bishop readily consented,
and performed his famous danger
trick. This consisted of the enactment of
murder scene in the presence of the audi
ence. After Bishop had left the room a
iac,l4uife was procured and with it one of
thFgentlemen pretended to stab another
on the right breast, after which the muir
dere rand hisiconfederate proceeded to hide
the weapon.
There happened to be a piano on the
small stage used by the Lambs for their en-
tertainments, and there was not one in the
interested audience who did not believe
that the knife had been hidden in the piano,
but TO deceive the audience and puzzle
Bishop, the committeeman who had the
knife pretended to place it in the instru-
ment while in reality he slipped it into the
other gentleman's breast pocket. When
Bishop came into the room he proceeded al
most directly to the piano, when he became
very much excited, eXclaiming: You are
not dealing fair with me, you are changing
your mind. No it's all right; green and
gold and diamond PIN Then, as if by
inspiration, he bounced upon the committee
man and drew the knife from its place of
cPncealment.
His success in finding the weapon made
Bishop still more wild, and he rushed across
the room and re easing his grasp of the
medium ran up to the right man who
wore the green and gold star and the dia-
mond pin, and dealt him blow just as had
been done in the original scene. The
hearty applause which greeted this per
Torrance led him to announce another and
more difficult one, that of finding a word in
a boSE which was 70 be previously selected
by Ole of the gentlemen present.
The mental etfo,t proved too great. for he
suddenly fell to the tiOOr in a state very
much ike a cataicptiC fit the incident
causing considerable confusion among the
festive party. Just then DR.. John 4. r.
vine, of No. IA West Twenty-ninth street,
VINO is a member of the club, happened to
come in and he AZ once took charge of the
patient His prompt use of stimulants soon
brought Mr.. Bishop around when, to the
amaZement of all who were in the room, he
announced his intention of performing the
feat previously undertaken. DR.. Irvine
protested again st the attempt and all the
gentlemen attended to dissuade him; 10 7 0
purpose. how ever, for even the physicians
allusiOn to the uanger of another attack
failed to awaken Bishop 'sWhy,n said he,
Il am not afraid of these fits, for I've had
over a dozen Of them and am alive yet.
But intend to do the feat even if it kills
me, just to show all what I can do"
Finding that his patient was in high
state of excitement and was exerting that
marvellous will power for which he was
famous, DR. Irvine finally came to the
CONFUSION that it would be best not to
oppose him, but get the thing over as
quickly as possible, when Bishop made an
other demand, which was that the doctor
should act as a committee with Mr.. Clay
Green, who was to be used as the medium
for the experiment. Bishop had asserted
JIG II JuCSc IWO BculltLueu WOulu ~ 10
a INSTANT part of the house and select a
word in some book he would find the book,
the page and the word.
DIR. Irvine and Mr.. Green then descended
to the bast ment, and among a lot OF o d &C
count books picked out the word Towns
6n1,' afterwards secretiHg the book in a
dismal drawer among some discarded rub
bish. On returnieg to the room where
Bishop was sitting, DIR. Irvine again en-
deavOred to dissuade him from proceeding
in what he gravely informed him was
very dangerous experiment, but Bishop
for the second time remarked that he
would accomplish the feat even if it killed |
him. and insisted on being blindfolded,
When the handkerchief had been tied !
over his eyes he was led down stairs, his |
right hand being clasped on Mr.. Green's |
wrist. In due time he discovered the room, |
then the drawer and the book and on the |
leaves of the latter being rapidly turned |
over by him, he stopped at the right one |
and then ran over it with pencil. Sud |
denly he seemed to make a private mark |
and then feverishly requested that the book |
be brought up stairs. He had scarcely |
entered the room where the members were |
assembled when he pulled off the bandage !
from his eyes and exclaimed, ''Quick, quick |
give me bit of paper, and on receiving it |
he dashed off, "Dnesnwot," that being the |
selected word, written backward so that it |
COulu D6 EtdQ III Il he ndO per !
formed the feat but he had hardly written |
the word when he was again seized by the |
cataleptic fit, from which he never re
covered.
In his extremity DR.. Irvine hurriedly |
summoned DR. Charles e. Lee, of 20 Madi |
so4fsyenue, who, on his arrival, pronounced |
thepatient to be in an extremely danger
Gus and critical condition. Every descrip- |
ton of stimulent was resorted to, and |
brandy and either proving of no avail,
electricity was called into play, but none
had any perceptible effect, though the
Up to o'clock in the morning Mr.. Bishop
was apparently quite conscious of his con
dition and surroundings, but unable at any
time to make more than sign and it was not
until o'clock that the physicians gave up
hGes, for at that hour insensibility set in,
and the patient perceptibly sank until II
O'Clock, when the hysteric symptoms
rapidly increased and death occurred at
noon precisely.
J. A Thomas, the advance agent for Mr..
Bishop, started Immediately for Phila-
delphia to break the shocking news to Mr..
Bishops wife and mother. DIR. Irvine said
last evening that the heart beats during the
attack frequently leaped up TO l6O and 40
per minute, and the condition of the patient
was at all times intensely nervous and eX-
cited. His death was apparently easy, the
nervous system gradually giving away
under the intense strain. When reasoned
with by DR.. Irvine before the fatal feat was
performed, Bishop said that he had often
faliS1,in fit after his performances, and
seemed to consider them as necessary and