The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-07-06
TERRIBLE SPECTACLE
From the French of Catulle Mendcs,
by w. $. Duncan.

Are YOU of the same opinion as Ham
let? Do you believe that there are
more things in heaven n earth thah
are dreamt of in our philosophy! DO
YOU believe that, in D London lodging
Eliphas Levy, has evoked Appollonins
de Tyane, the humble seer, and hat
the illustrious savant, Wlllaui
Crookcs, has taken tea several INES
each week, for many months, Win
the materialized spirit of a young
woman robed in a vestment or linen,
her head surmounted by a turban OF
feathers?
Do not laugh! A spectre, even under
a turban, would cause the marrow In
YOUR bones to freeze, and the ludl-
crous effect probably would add to the
horror.
AS for myself, / did not laugh yes
terday evening while reading in tue
Boston Traveller in September, 1871,
the report of a trial which will no
doubt ultimately terminate in the
conviction of the accused.
1t is a dreadful affair. While per-
using the particulars, gathered from
the statement of a waiter of the hotel,
who overheard through the keyhole
the conversation Of the two principals,
and from the unanimous testimony or
forty trustworthy persons who as
sisted at the browning scene OF the
drama. I felt a chill run through me
as if a piece of ice had been placed
between my shoulders. What would
it have been had 1 witnessed. person
ally, the beautiful young victim, with
the bleeding wound owe her heart.
wetting her fingers there to n
the face of the assassin with a bap-
tism of crimson drops?
On the 25th of February last, about
3 o'clock in the afternoon, a famous
medium" Prof. Benjamin Haven
port "Hawenport," that is to say,
''port of safety'-and Miss Ida Sout-
chotte, a very delicate young woman
who for several years had been asso-
ciated with the professor in his eX-
periments, were sitting at dinner in
their apartments On the second floor
of the Devonshire Hotel il New York.
Famous Mr.. Benjamin davenport
was in fact, but he owed his celebrity
to illicit means, so everybody tffirmed.
The bonatide spiritualists Chstinatelg
withheld from him the confidence
which they reposed in Mr.. William
Crookes and Mr. Daniel Douglas
Home. "The most virulent attacks to
which our cause has been subjected
said the author of the History of
American Spiritu alism,' "emanate
from %rapacious and unprincipled med
iums, who, when the manifestations
do not result as quickly as circum-
stances demand, have to
trickery to insure success" Prof.
davenport belonged to this class.
In addition his record was most un-
savory. Strange stories were afiOat of
highway robberies perpetrated by him
in South America, of cheating at play
in the gambling houses of San Fran.
cisco, of revolvers too hastily dis,
charged at inoffensive dupes; it was
also whispered that the professors
wife, betrayed, ruined and beaten
even, had died of chagrin.
But, Notwithstanding these unpleas
ant rumors and thanks to the dexter
ity of his experiments, Mr.. Benjamin
davenport did not fail to exercise a
| ColISIttCl III lhluClitC oNcl a CtItull
! class of credulOus souls. who are al
ways ready to be imposed upon. Ii
would have been a difficult matter tC
persuade a large number of honorable
people of both hemispheres that they
had not seen, listened to, touched
even. thanks to him, the embodied
spirits of their brothers, their moth
ers OF their sisters. He was, further
moro admirably SnI.vnH Inv a futo
visage of n dusky hue, deep blacl
eyes fraught with a baleful glimmer
a mouth forever cOntorted in a de
moniacal sheer, and by the almost pro
phetic earnestness of his utterance
a Satancharlatan.
When the waiter at the hotel h
retired Che did not withdraw very f
in carrying away the dessert dishe
"By the way" said the medium /
Miss Ida, there is a seance this ever
ing at Mrs. Johanna Harding's
Many people will be there; some i'm
portant personages. two or three mil
lionaires. You will conceal unde
your skirt the sheet of gauZe tina
wells the apparitiOns and the lady
peruke, the BLONDE one"
Just as o please, Benjamin" an
swered Ida Soutchotte in a resigne,
voice.
The waiter heard her cross the Don
After a few moments she asked:
"Whom do you wish to evoke, Ren
jamin?'
He burst into a coarse, brutH
laugh. The chair creaked beneath hi
0utburSts of mirth.
Guess
"HOw should l guess?' said she.
Il wish to evoke-my wife,
And there was Il flesh outburst q
laughter, louder and more brutal, wit
passion and menace underlying til
merriment.
But Ida had emitted a cry.
BY a rustling of her skirts, he VIII
was listening at the door compr,
hended that she was on her knees o
the carpet.
Benjamin. Benjamin. You shall NJ
do this,' she exclaimed. with sobs.
why not? People claim that
made Mrs. Hawenport's life mise