The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-04-20
THE ORIGINAL M1ND-READER
Mr.. j. Randall Brown Declares that He
Taught Bishop His Tricks.

Mr.. j. Randall Brown Declares that He
Taught Bishop His Tricks.
81 claim to be the original mind-readeb" said
Mr.. j. Randall Brown, who will give an exhib |
ton of his powers at the National Theatre to-
night. "Years before the late Washington
Irving Bishop was heard of had given exhibit
tions of what has since been called mind read
ing in Chicago, in New York, before the faculty
of Yale College, and in connection with the
late Dr. Gross, of Philadelphia, one of the
most eminent physicians and scientists this
country has ever produced"
"You knew Washington Irving Bishop, did
you"
"Knew him? 1t was through me that he was
made aware of his powers as mind-reader. L
showed him how to develop his powers at my
rooms in New York in 1877 Bishop soon went
to England while l went to the West and Aus
tralia In England Bishop won great notoriety,
and on his return to New York this English
vogue at once won attention for him from the
Anglomanacs of that city and of Boston.
Bishop undoubtedly had wonderful gifts-more
wonderful than any other man know OF ex-
cept myself," said Mr.. Brown modestly.
When asked how he first became aware of
his powers as a mind-reader, Mr.. Brown said
that as school boy in st. Louis, when he
played hde-and-s seek with his companions, and
when it came his turn to be ''it,n he never had
any difficulty in geing straight to the places
where the other children had hidden them
selves. They accused him of peeking and in
order to prove that he did not take any unfair
advantage of them he used to tie handkerchief
over his eyes, and then, to his surprise, he
found that it was much easier to go straight to
the hiding youngsters They We're @ astonshed TOMS ed
come up behind him, cover his eyes with their
hands, and then ask him il he really could tell
where one of their number was who had gone
the vicinity. The first time that this
was done the children did it as bluff.
But young Brown, by some process which
he could not understand sc, seemed en- ed to to
where the particular child was, and, with the
other boys still clinging to him and keeping
their hands on his forehead and over his eyes,
he would find out the place Of concealment.
He did not suppose then that he did this by
feeling through the hands of the children their
thoughts, but he believes now that was the rea-
son he was able to perform those wonders.
ssWhat is your theory Of the phenomena
which we call mind-reading?" asked the re-
porter.
81 don't care to advance any theory myself"
said Mr.. Brown, "but will tell you OF an ex-
pertinent which DR.. Gross, of Philadelphia,
made with me in 1875 that may throw some
light on the subject: DR.. Gross got up gal
vanometer in order to decide whether there was
any current passing over wire between the
head of person whose mind was being read
and the head Of person engaged In the read
ing. There dial something like the face
of a compass, and it was expected that If there
Were a current developed the needle would be
DETECTED this way and that way DR.. Gross
had been the subject in many experiments made
by me. He had fixed his mind intently upon
some object in the room, number of bank
note, peculiar name, and in each case had,
by means of a wire connection read the Doc
tors thoughts. When they undertook the test
with the galvanometer one of the party was ap-
pointed to watch the needle. The Doctor and
took up our positions The Doctor began to
think upon the object which he had selected,
and l placed myself in a receptive mood neces-
tn Presently
watching the needle noticed that it began to
move A little while later l wrote upon a paper
number which DR.. Gross said was correct. 1t
was concluded by all the wise men there that
the moving of the needle was due to the pass
ing through the wire of some force. What to
call that force they did not know. 1t was
thought that possibly there passed from the
brain of DR.. Gross and from my brain two
forces which acted somewhat in the same way
as two currents Of electricity would act. The
theory was advanced that possibly there was a
sort of electrical communication established be-
tween our two brains"
DIR. Gross had an idea, as Mr.. Brown relates
it now that possibly the moving of the needle
demonstrated that mind and matter were some
what alike; that mind was another form OF
matter, and that the connection of the two
minds by the wire showed in the moving needle
the action of thought.
All through these experiments there was a
suspicion on the part of many that Brown was
a trickster or clever fellow at guess, or that
possibly there was colluson. 1t was then pro-
posed that test should be made in order to
prove that there was no colluson. EX-Goy
ernor Pollock went down to Wilmington
twenty eight miles below Philadelphia and DR.
Gross, Mr.. Brown, and a number of others went
to the Office of the Western Union Telegraph
Company in Philadelphia. They engaged the
use of two wires between the two cities. One
wire had previously been detached from any
connection with battery, and the ends in vii
mington and Philadelphia were loosened sc
that each might be wound around the head OF
Governor Pollock and Mr.. Brown, respectively
When all was ready message was sent from
Philadelphia to Governor Pollock, asking hin
to think intently of some particular number
He sent back word that he had selected the fig
ures and was ready for the experiment. Mr.
Brown, after a very few moments, wrote ou
the number. Word was telegraphed to VIII
mington that the mind-reader had announced
his answer When it was telegraphed to then
Governor Pollock said that Mr. Brown had ar
rived at the right result.
Mr.. Brown does not know exactly how to ex
plain how he can tell at one end of long wir
what somebody else is thinking of at the othe
end. He says that he has tried the eXperimen
with long piece of wood, but it will not sue
ceed Iron wire does pretty well, but he find
that he can read most easily through copper
1t may be noted here that electricity is bes
passed through copper, less easily through iron
and that 1t cannot be transmitted through wood
Mr. Brown declares that all these tests ar
matters of history, and that they took plac
before Bishop was known.
Mr. Brown repudiates the idea that he per