Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-10-04
SCIENTISTS MYSTIFIED.
Nirs' Annie Abbott Gives an Exhi-
oition Of Her Mysterious Power
in New York

Mrs. Annie Abbott the Georgia mag
net Is creating Il sensation in New York
city by battling the strength of strong
men by some power which. if it is not
out-and-out trickery may be something
akin to hypnotism. The New York Her
aid gives an interesting account of Z, re-
cent exhibition Of her marvellous power
ut the Sturtcvant house
When the walters had cleared the din
ing room Of the hotel they put large
board platform, half a foot high at the
further end Of the room. arranged the
chairs and began to bow in the invcsti-
gators, every one of whom felt the inn
portance of his mission.
lhen, presently, Mrs. Abbott, who is
Il tiny little woman, with Il Sunken face,
but big bright eyes, came in. She looks
:1aemlc-llke a woman who lives on
strong tea and keeps alive by sheer grit
There were fat diamonds in her hair
and III rings on her fingers. She wore
an evening dress. with pretty pink ostrich
feathers hanging to it. In her hands
were handkerchiefs. on which American
tags We're embroidered
With her came her pretty daughter OF
II, Il slim child. very sweet in Il green
ish yellow dress. Mrs. Abbott said that
she was going to give an exhibition OF
her strange force or power She had
no name for it, If the spectators thought
that what she did was Il trick they would
have full opportunity to ferret it out.
She added that German doctors had
made Il great row over her. lasting three
years, during which they called each 9th
or names three feet long, but in spite Of
that she was still the great Georgia mys-
terry.
Prof. Charcor had tackled the problem
of her powers and had added experiments
to her repertoire. but even he died with
out guessing that such things as she did
We're SO.
I'm not a magnet" she insisted: I'm
not that kind. though | may draw spec
tators. I'm just an ignorant little country
girl, who was married when she was Is
years old and didn't have a chance to
complete her education.
Then her little daughter came upon the
platform. The magnet laid one hand
upon the girls neck near the top of the
spine a heavily built physician then
grabbed the girl under the armpits. Mrs.
Abbott placed one of her hands upon one
of his, but without eXertng any pressure.
He tried to lift the child, but apparently
something had occurred to her that made
her weigh II ton, and he couldn't do II.
1t was only when the contact OF hands
was broken that he was able to get her
off her feet.
Then Il very big English physician,
dressed in Il bread and butter colored suit
of clothes. three sizes too large for him,
tackled the problem, but failed as utterly.
One of the walters, acting on the lines
of Il previously arranged plan, now drove
six little street urchinS into the room.
Three were put on the stage with the lit
tie girl and made to join hands. The
boys pants all had the regulation layers
of dirt, proving that they were genuine
boys and not limitations
"Now, boys said Mrs. Abbott, don't
look at the little girl. Fix your eyes on
your feet and see that no one raises them
above the ground. Keep your toes right
down"
-Four heavy men, one Of them with gray
side whiskers. looking as Chauncey De
pew might if scissors were abolished,
tried to raise the four Youngsters off the
ground The magnet termed part of the
circle though. and they couldn't. They
struggled and fought and squirmed like
a lot of cells, but the chidren's feet only
left the ground when the contact of hands
was broken. the current or whatever 1T
was penetrating even the dirt Of the street
urchins.
Then a gray-haired gentleman had a
sort of Graeco-Roman wrestling match
with himself in trying to raise Mrs Alb
bolt from the ground. lie knelt down
N very odd positions ana threw her over
his shoulder at the start. when the mag
netic current or hypnotic flow. or what
ever If was, wasn't going. But when
the magnet clnched her teeth. trembled
violently and seemed to have sort OF
spasm and the current was on. the
gray athlete couldn't move her an inch.
He returned to his seat thoroughly
crushed. only to find his hat in a similar
condition. a newspaper man having sat
on it.
Then twenty of the fattest. strongest
and healthiest doctors were asked to come
upon the platform. Whew! But some
New York doctors look well fed. The
average weight of the fifteen men who
responded must have been la. pounds
They were all ranged in single line. with
their hands on each others necks, an az
titude similar to that of a policeman with
prisoner preceding him. and not unlike
the line in which convicts march. They
are formed into a hattering ram. the head
of the line being eighteen inches from
the wall. They We're told that on the
onward like wild. untamed creatures. and
try to push Mrs Abbott. who placed her
self between the head man of the line and
the wall, right through the masonry.
The magnet" put her hands against
the hands of the two men that they placed
man at the head of the line had his hands
on her neck. She quivered, tremb!ed
violently. and gave the word.
The rush line pushed onward, but Mrs.
\
ram svayed. and then burst in the center
from the pressure. The men against
whose hands the magnet was leaning
said that they had felt no pressure what
ever
Next a big pair of scales was brought
in and Mrs. Abbott stood upon them
\ man who said he knew all about weigh
ING machines tried TO weigh her, but
fonnd that she varied her weight every
few minutes by some device or other.
Finally he announced IN despair; she
weighs anything from seventy pounds
mn. : and retired from the field
Mrs. Abbott explained that her eNpe-
rements were hampered by the fact that
The platform of the scales and the
wheels on which it stood We're Of iron,