St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-13
A Clergyman's Views on the
Subject Of Spirit Pro-
ducePS.
Palpable Frauds and Hum
bugs Is What He Consid-
erS Them.
Clever TricksterS Who Worm
Big Fees Out Of the
CPedulOuS.
Absurd Spirit Messages and
Silly Guesses Given for a
Consideration.

There are, have no doubt. many peo-
pie, writes Rev. Madison G. Peters in
the New York Herald, who are sincerely
interested in spirituaism; who believe
that there are psychic powers at work
under the phenomena usually denomi-
mated spiritualistic, and who think that
in these phenomena they have secured
incOntroyertible evidence of the futule
existence of men. Many times in the
course of my investigations into these
same phenomena L have been asked,
Don't you think that there is some
thing in it, Mr.. Peters%
This is general question, and my re-
ply to it is. "1 eS, there is something in
it; the devil is in 1t"
Ii we wish TO stem this evil or cOun-
teract its influences 1t is not to be done
either by ignoring it on the one hand or
simply denOuncing it Oil the other. We
must inform ourselves and thereby in.
form the people in regard to it and show
them plainly what it is. In this way only
can we effect anything of permanent
value relative to the influence that this
vile superstition has upon 4 vast num-
Der of we'll intentioned but unthinking
people. The power or SpiritualiSm lies
in the fact that terOugh it Satan attacks
the soul in the mostsubtle manner. You
lose friend-the trial is keen, sharp,
suffocatng, almost maddening. If yOu
could marshal host and storm the
eternal world and recapture your loved
one, the host would soon be marshaled
and the cost would be inconsequential.
No fee would be too great to secure to
you direct communication from your
departed friend.
EyIay /. FIOurishes.
Therefore it is that sprituaiism -four
ishes. 1t preyS upon the deepest and
keeneSt of human sentiments, and it is
therefore no wonder that so many are
found who willingly fill the purses of
SO-called mediums. 1t was with view
to counteract this deadly influence in the
community might honestly say devil
iSh intluence-that | undertook day
or two ago to visit spiritualiSts and see
what manner of wares they had to offer.
My first call was upon Nine. Dix, at
the corner of Sixth avenue and Thirty
fifth street. l was accompanied by two
young men, and we three sat down at
rable while the madame produced
pack OF playing. cards and began to
talk.
"When 1 was very young girl"
she said, 81 developed my wonderful
power. 1t was very clear that had a
perception into the future which
marked me as very exceptional per-
son. AT one time [ was in party
where l said to an acquaintance, You
will die with a rope around your neck
and knot under your left carp OF
course he laughed at me, but it wasn't
SO many years ago that he was. hanged
for murder in the Tombs. Oh, yes, |
do a great deal of business. Almost
every hour is occupied with callers, and
my customers come to me over and over
again., thus showing that my predictions
are correct. But, boys, do not think
that L am infallible. l may sometimes
make mistakes, but you can depend
upon it as rule thatl shall be correct.
Something tells me about these things.
2 Yes, l am trance medium, but this
isn't my day for trance, SO / will read
your fate from the cards"
Then she Shuff1ed her pack, talking
all the while, and asked me to cut and
make a wish. | complied with her re-
quest, cut the cards twice, and when
this was done she dealt out the cards.
face upward. in three lines. So far as
could judge there was nothing specially
significant in the arrangement of the
cards. but Nine. Dix passed her hands
over her brows with a fine semblance of
nervousness and began to run her fin
gers from one card to another. as if
counting their spots or trying to pick
out good poker Rand. Presently she
said, placing her fOrehnger upon the
nine of diamonds, which lay at the right
end of the second line of cards:
Rough on the Medium.
I, no f,,1
filled; you are very lucky man."
This was followed by lot of rambling
talk about her own powers and about
the success that she had had in her
business. l did not tell her what my
wish was. but as a matter of fact.
inStinctively had Obeyed her commands,
and had made wish that sprung from
the bottom of my heart when | cut the
pack, and this was the wish:
Il wish that you and all your kind
might go to the bottomless pitt
Nine. Dix then Informed me that l
had two wishes left. 1t cost 81, by the
way, for this privilege, and, accordingly,
l cut the cards again without bOthering
my head with any kind of wish. She
then advised me that | was in extreme
danger of falling into hard drinking.
To use her own language, as nearly as L
can recall it, she said:
''YOu don't want to do no hard drink
ing: YOU are an ambitious man and ell
ergetic, but you are likely to resort to
stimulants. but you mustn't do it until
after you are thirty years old; then you
will steady down, and if you want to
take a drink now and then with the
boys you will be safe IN it. but for a
year or two at least you must avoid the
glass;"
With this she proceeded to give me a
long temperance lecture, full of COM
monplace aphorisms, but all directed to
nv own case, as if L were a hardened |
.drinker. That ended the second lesson
and / cut the cards again. This time |
she attempted to solve my domestic |
future. With her finger upon the queen |
of diamonds she said:
silly T,yadd&e.
'YOu are very much interested in |
blonde young lady. i am inclined to |
think that you will marry her, but you |
really ought to look out for her. What |
YOU need is dark lady, but it is very |
clear that it will be difficult for you to |
avoid the blonde. You are too much |
interested in her already. The proba-
zbility is, however, that you will marry |
twice, YOU will have four children, but |
one of them will die and you Will only |
DC dUlO " vi lDS up 1hlCO. La IhClS |
is going to be death in your family |
very soon, an old man. Your father is
living (she had her finger at this mo- |
ment upon the king of spades)? He will |
die very soon, but you are going to come |
in to lot of money and you will be rich |
before YOU know it. But you must look |
out not only for the blonde girl, but also |
for dark complexioned young man
who is your enemy"
l may state for the more complete
elucidation of this conversation that the
two young men who accompanied me |
were both blondes of the most pro-
nounced type.
On the following evening, which was
Wednesday, called upon Nine. Cliff
ton, of No. $40 West Thlrty-second |
street. Nine. Clifton, is probably the
most famous of trance mediums in New
York. She advertises to considerable
extent, aud claims to be the first of her
class who advertises. should say that