Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-19

furnished, and then a request for Mrs. X. to
put her hand on his head was complied
with. Taking the pencil. Mr.. Palmer
slowly traced the word.
was not quite satisfied, but that perhaps
Palmer might have seen in some way the
word, or that womanlike Mrs. X. had
breathed il inaudibly to the rest and his
quick ear had caught it. Although 1t
looked as IL he had fully done as he ap-
peared to do 1 asked him to try 1t with me.
Taking care this time that none but the
artist with me knew what IL was. pur-
posely selected the small word "But" in a
letter, because the mental strain on the
mind reader was intense, and the larger the
word the greater the effort. When Palmer
took my hand used all my will power to
let my hand lie passive in his so that the
muscles would not guide him at all. As
before he poised the hands over the page
likeI bird for q few minutes, and then
swiftly alighted on the word. And again in
sisted "that is it." Palmer was right
MYSTERIOUS WRITING.
At Mr.. Palmer's request wrote SEN
tence on piece of paper and put it away in
my pocket, and then taking the silk string
in his hand he reproduced the sentence had
written. To make this more difficult 1 chose
the Latin phrase fdcilis est descens,s duerni.
The test was not accomplished easily.
Palmer made three or four attempts before
he succeeded in writing the sentence, and
was forced to rest between each effort. In
this case no one had seen the written sentence
on the paper until its reproduction on the
mirror, when it was taken utand compared.
do you understand Latin, Mr.. Palmer"
I asked. 81 never studied that or any
other language but the English, he re-
piled. Comment is hardly necessary on this
feat, and it would seem that the acme Of
mind reading science had been reached.
But it had not, for the subsequent efforts on
Palmer's part cast his previous attempts far
in the shade.
"Mr. Palmer" said the artist present, "I
am interested in pictures, and If you can
please find and write a word or sentence
that has been thought OF, can you not find
and draw portion of a picture In the same
manner"
That was poser for the mind reader, but
after moments thought he said: II never
tried anything like that or heard of anyone
else who had, and cannot say that will
succeed, but will do the best I can"
A FEAT IN DRAWING.
The small assemblage had by this time
been impressed with the fact that there was
hardly anything in the way of reproducing
what was in the minds of other persons and
no test was too difficult for Mr.. Palmer, and
they one and all believed be would succeed.
Opposite page 1873 of the novel pierre
and Jean," by Guy de Maupassant, is
picture of girl in yachting costume. The
girls hat and head were the subjects chosen.
In the same manner as the words were found
pnl raa1f4 4aa, o,,,41 - fA1
girl. The artist was now directed to place
his hand on Mr.. Palmer's head.
Taking the paper and pencil in a hesitat-
ing manner he (Palmer) slowly drew the top
of girls sailor hat, then the sides, and
then the rim. At that point the artist, who
had selected the portion of the picture to be
drawn, reached out his diseugaged hand for
the book to look at il. Palmer instantly
stopped short, and could not 90 on.
1t seemed Tor a time that his mind read
ing" had found its limit. The artist ex-
planned, II wanted the book because I
could not remember how the hair was ar.
ranged" That was a partial explanation
of Palmer's failure, and after short rest he
tiled it again. This time selected the pic
ture to be drawn and was the medium.
The subject was mans face, with beard
and yachting cap, from the same book. I
took extreme care to remember just how the
cap and head looked. In this the operator
was very successful. The drawing, although
crude, proved that Palmer was drawing as
we'll as he could just what had in my
mind. The beard, the last portion to be put
IN, was scratched there with nervous energy.
A REMARKABLE INCIDENT.
A remarkable thing might be here noted
about the drawing of these pictures. At
times Palmer would take his pencil from
the paper, raise it six inches or foot, and
then put it down just where he took it from
or at the exact termination of line from
which another line had to be drawn to help
complete the picture, and in no case was his
pencil put the hundredth part of an inch
out of the way. If the readers have doubt
as to the difficulty of forming the
lines while blindiolded, let them
close their eyes, make line with a
pencil, then lift the point and try
to put it back again in the same spot.
The third drawing test was the most sue
cessful. In this case number of figures
were drawn on piece of paper, and one of
them was a face made with angular lines.
1t was that face which was selected to be
drawn. The selection of the subject and
the drawing were accompl shed by Palmer
with great difficulty, but when it was fin
lshed 1t was the most complete OF all so Tar.
The fourth and last test was an elaboration
of what is called the envelope test" only
picture of boat, drawn by the artist, was
substituted, but before sealing it in the en-
velope it was shown to the soprano, and she
IMPRESSED ITS OUTLINES
clearly on her mind. AS in the previous ef-
forts it was located without any difficulty.
Bnt it was only after repeated attempts that
the drawing was commenced and Palmer was
then breathing heavily and his hand shaking
violently. He persevered until he had put
in the mainsail and had started to make the
jib, when he dropped the pencil and sank in
a chair e1claIming, 81 am exhausted; l can
work no more"
If external evidence could be accepted he
was, for he was in state Of collapse and
had aged in appearance over ten years since
the evening began.
Mr.. Palmer has never given public per-
formances except in few small towns IN
the West, and but few private exhibitions
previous to this, although he says he has
been able to do mind reading for Is
years.