The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-02-19
MIRACULOUS POWER.
The Strange Career Of MoIat, tho
~ Conjurer.
AAsssSsas Feats Of Mind-Iscadins and
wonderful visions OF Distant OBJ
Sects Obtained Through the
Power of Second Sight.

5ects Obtained Through the
Power of Second Sight.
Tya- death was lately announced OF
Hexr Moffat, the celebrated second
sssgas reader and conjurer, at Bozeman,
IsfnhA In the act of swallowing o
D1xrs1L which severed his jugular vein,
=szns The eonjurcr bled to death in few
ruzusses.
yysrr Moffat, or Francis Morell, writes
q correspondent of the st. Louis Globe
Dcawrrat, was resident of st. Louis,
arxf slrere his wonderful talent, which
xzads him the peer of any and led him
1ssSuv. the crowned heads of Europe
anH Asia, was developed. He was q
very peculiar boy in youth and was con-
sSdesed crank. He lived alone with
his widowed mother, supporting her by
working in stove factory. His spare
1uCnnents he spent In the study of magic,
,Azs& the attic of his humble little home
~a1 transformed into chemical shop.
WheD he was seven years old one day
lhe suddenly burst into an uncontron-
as2e Ct Of laughter. His mother asked
lznn what pleased him so much. The
bgy replied that he saw his father (who
uaa then living, but not at home) rum
niuc rapidly down the mountain side
trying to overtakc jug OF whisky
wfsach he had let fall The Jug rolled
pura ot the way down the declivity, but
Ens caught by the old man before he
.Eua ho the bottom. When the father
xvasned home he confirmed the whole
.esusy to the great surprise OF all. After
fAis the boy excited much talk in the
neshhorhood in which he lived About
1xsp years later the Morells were Wis
ifcss by a friend named Robert Vinton,
With ether relatives and acquaintances
fxsns Philadelphia, who came to test
t.r lads miraculous power, asked him
vas;S,1s questions, and, among other
things, inquired what was then going
0a ~ his (vinton's) home in Phila-
,Ssc3phia
Tie boy described the house, which
.1He had never seen, stated that it was
lssla partly of brick and partly of
.ssuxsS., that there was lake In front OF
1ar Souse, which had recently been
.Lsxinssd, and concluded with descrip-
tsrz ns the people in the house, and of
fEo persons, man and a woman, who
1yre sitting on the porch.
When Vinton reached his home In
TrE2ndelphia he inquired who had been
at his home at the day and hour he had
heE the conversation with young Nor
ell He learned that there had been a
shgger of rain at the time and that the
feV1e who were fishing in the lake had
Eun 4, the house to escape the rain. The
pe1sus who were on the porch had
beeB faithfully described. even to the
color Of their hair and eyes. In Short
every detail given by the boy was
proven to be accurate.
sHe became involved In . quarrel once
.wiEh = young man named Turner. Tur-
loE was to call on q young lady, and be-
ing met ON his way by the young mind
reader, Morell, who was himself In love
with the same young lady, they spoke
10 each other and passed on. Young
Mrcn sat down on q stump and, bow
ing his head. conducted his mind to the
.par2or in which his rival and the young
lady were conversing. In the course
Of the young mans call he proposed
and was rejected. This made Moreu
happy. Meeting Turner on the street
.next day, he tantalized him about his
rejection by the young lady the night
preceding. Words were exchanged, and
M0cn drew pistol, but friends stand
ing By interposed, and no harm came
of the quarrel But Moreu fell into
,intemperate habits and lost his good
n>ue His habit when asked to ex-
esczse his faculty Of second-sight See
ing was to hold his head downward
afty closing his eyes. After waiting
3W same time, apparently In deep
fAcRght, he would declare what he saw
In his visions. He was sometimes
found alone in the fields, sitting on q
a*wup and crying. On being asked the
asEe Of his grief he said he saw great
uznhers of men engaged In killing each
FL Although he had never up to
\ time seen ship, battle or can
-. described military and naval
MA ',lring the war Of the rebellion
sk1sc4A re an onlooler.
N ne war, when he was about
Aise1 tho ,ars OF age, another gen.
Philadelphia. who had
eUan fromN \, became interested,
exsd much Of haA possessed of n noble
sheving him to hs wonderful power
vrr ths United State Iaroa c;t;as
'snss crowds in ell ~ q7a he was
1lriie in sSt. Louis, in h the many
slsed by q man in one q "What
zsay5rcs that came to see hin ..hool1"
) was doing with that pecAs, % ~ had
that the young .tsna. an
uaeu ~. Nothing. You're tne m
DO Ass stolen it," was the relN N.Y. ano
prn being searched by q poll. 'eman
ihs was present, the man was fouNd 70
us poclset-book with several hiT-
tpd dollars in 1t, which was immedi'
Aily identified by a gentleman present
> Ma The man was arrested and
luumd 10 be Black Hal, q notorious con-
kaezsue man and pickpocket.
In 1870 he began tour Of the Old
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