The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-09-28
That Mind RaaSiar.


in Fiske & Bsems store the other day, "thst
this mind reading is wonderful gift There
must be a sympathetic communication BE-
tween brain of 9 man Of exceptional sensi-
bility and that Of another, by which thoughts
may be photographed as upon the sensitive
plate Of the camera"
That is just it, only Prof. Bert Reese did
not do it that way. Prof Reese has an i'm
proved edition of this method. Prof. Reese
distains to use camera Such things Is
exceptional sensibility and sympathetic com
munications are old chestnuts to Prof. Reese
he scorns their very impotency.
Prof. Reese appeared at the opera house
on last Thursday and Friday evenings. He
had been pulled up as bowling wonder and
a soreechiug child Of mystery. His occult
power had been dwelt upon until his audience
was prepared to bow to him in humble
acknowledgment of its feebleness, and whom
his obese proportions emerged from the
wings and he stood all alone in tho simple
grandeur Of his intense mental activity, Q
Sigh swept through the house like sound
as of a zephyr through an octsgonal knot
hole.
You could have heard cough drop a. no
stepped to the footlishts. Every man in the
house appeared terribly anxious to have any.
ones mind but his own revealed. Several
gentlemen with secrets weighing down the
dura mater Of their intelleots, stayed away
on this account. Other gentlemen, with the
marks Of early piety on their pio mater did
likewise.
Prof. Reese called for ten statements or
answers to questions. These were written
upon slips of paper and placed in hat.
Then 9 gentleman placed them, one time,
upon the Prof's forehead. As he did so the
Prof gave each slip firm pressure with his
hand, as though to cement its contents
upon his epidermis. Then the slips were
PASSED back and he would call up the gen.
tlemen and reveal the contents of the slips
to the audience. The audience was dssed,
but the Professor wasn't. The Professor,
says Benedict. mentioned later, in that brief
moment when pressing the first slip down
upon his forehead had calmly and unosten-
tatiously removed it and substituted another.
He then read the first, and when The second
was placed upon his cuticle replaced the
first. This was continued until each of tho
slips had left matrix upon the surface of
his "sensative brain" Then he was very
careful to locate The gentlemen In whose
hands the slips were placed. This great
mental strain almost Frustrated theProfsssor
so the manager said. One must believe q
manager you know.
After this astonishing performance the
Professors manager announced the dagger
trick, and thereupon Ogden, the nice,
pretty young man who writes the ferocious
department Of the Journal when the man
Rose is away, assisted the Professor: 1t
takes two to do the dagger trick. Only for
this the Professor would do it alone. Ogden
took the dagger, went down into the pit and
pretended to stab 9 gentleman, while Reese
was in the costody Of couple Of others be-
hind the scenes. Then Ogden hid the dag.
ger in the hallway, and returning the Pro-
lessor lead him (?) to the place of hiding.
Just why Ogden did not keep the dagger in
his pocket and give it to the Professor before
he started out in the cold to find it. no one
seems to know. This performance amazed
the audience. This was two times il had
been amazed.
On Monday last the "mind reader" and his
manager drove down to La Sale to Interest
that intellectual population in their great
occult mental'science gymnastics. Mayer.
the manager, knew Mr.. A. J. O'Conor, and
secured his law Office as place in which to
give preliminary private seance to business
and professional men. Among these present
was Chas. D. Benedict, representative Of .
sash, door and blind house at Chicago. The
mind reading act was presented in the pres,
encs Of about thirty gentlemen and then tho
hat was passed. Some seven dollars were
collected. TIE Professor showed this ints
the capacious pocket of his jeans and was
about to depart when Benedict arose and
offered to duplicate the performance and
explain the trick if Q like collection would
be taken up and converted to some charity.
Mayer was furious, but when Benedict Offer
cd to wager twenty five dollars he first put
up his gold watch and then craw6shed. He
then walked over to Benedict and the three
men went into an adjoining room. Here
Reese and Mayer begged Benedict not to ex-
pose them and offered him twenty five dol
lars as hush money. He Indignantly refused
and going before the assembled gentlemen
duplicated the performance-dupliosted it
first rapidly and then slowly-and showed
Reese up as fakir to the fall satisfaction Of
all present. At this the pair jumped into
their buggy and drove away without even
leaving date behind.
Next morning Benedict came up from La
Sale and registered at the Clifton House -
'Chas. d. Benedict, Mind Reader" II vas
~. n,oh ~, hsvav ho hacama vArv an0yv