The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-02-04
The Work of the Baldwins.

1t is lmmaterlal, SO far as Sclentlnc
investigation is concerned, whether the
so-called mind-reading entertainments
of the past week were bogus or genuine.
The principle upon which they are said
to rest is today we'll established, and
would survive any exposure of the i'm
mediate modus operandi employed by
the Baldwins. This prlnciple-which
may be roughly stated as the possibil-
ity, under favorable conditions, OF
transferring mental influences from
mind to mind without materialistic in
tercommunicatOn-do not to be sure,
admit of demonstration in Il geometric
sense 1t cannot be established by the
same absolute rules which convince the
mathematician that two added to two
makes four. Yet it is admitted by
most candid students of psychology
and may be demonstrated experiment
ally by any one who yet doubts it.
For example, if person will, upon
entering railway car, attentively con-
centrate his gaze upon another person
seated several feet in front of him,
only a few minutes will usually inter-
vene before the object of this scrutiny,
If semi-somnolent by reason of the
drowsy influences of travelling, will be-
come restless and uneasy, will writhe
in his seat and will finally turn square
ly around and return the gaze. The
same experiment will succeed, nine
times nf TIyhan tho
perimented upon Is asleep. The parlor
game called "memerism," in which one
person is blindfolded, led by two asso-
ciates into a room where one of these
associates or a confederate has con-
cealed some object upon which the COM
panions of the blindfolded one concen-
trate their thoughts, and unconsciously
walks directly to that object, afterward
picking it up, involves the same gem
eral principle in modified form. These
therefore the principle cannot be said
to have reached the standing of a fixed
science; yet the preponderance of evil
dence is heavily in its favor, and the
intelligent inquirer who enters upon an
investigation of this shadowy realm of
advanced knowledge without prejudice
or bias must soon decide to give cred
ence to at least the possibility of such
phenomena, entirely apart from any
commercial hocus pocus or humbug.
II, then, it be possible to convey
thought, silently, without materialistic
intercommunication from one mind to
another, why should it be deemed i'm
probable that in some human organ
isms this mental or psychical sensitive.
ness is more pronounced than in 9TH
ers? 1t is tolerably well authenticated,
although by no means generally con-
ceded, that the late Washington Irving
Bishop performed many remarkable
feats of mind reading and telepathy
while ina hypnotic state-such as driv-
ing blindfolded for several blocks
through the busiest Of Chicago's busy
streets, to a place where a small object
had been hidden without the possibil-
ity of his knowing anything about it.
Another performance Is recorded in ST.
lady, whose name just now escapes
our memory, with her finger tip pressed
to his chair, lifted the strapping Car
Alexander III, and carried him about
the room; and afterward, with equal
ease, hurled him against the wall of the
palace although he-said to have been
the strongest man in his empire-with
both his giant arms outstretched
braced himself against her.
The achievements of the Baldwins in
our city may have been wholly decep.
tive. wholly genuine Or mixture OF
both. We do not pretend to know
which supposition is the true one. But
in any event they have been, upon the
whole, beneficial inasmuchl as they have
directed public attention to a vista OF