The San Francisco call., 1899-06-11
R. EDISON, WEIGHING 2Io POUNDS, STANDING

the New York Press. Minnock was
anxious to show his feats before some
medical men, who, as he expressed it,
are not suckers"
Il want to have you people see." he
said. that 1 am not lying when l say
that out of two or three thousand fell
lows in my line of business, 1 am the
slickest. l have fooled hundreds of doc
tors in every State in the Union, and
whole lot of big men in the cities. But
l am all through with it now, and I'd
like to show some good scientific men
just how l do it."
Dr. Cyrus Edison, the former Health
Commissioner, than whom there is no
better known physician in the city, was
pleased to express some curiosity about
MinnOck. and so I got his consent to
preside at the ceremonies, which were
to include almost anything in the way
of self-tOrture and endurance from eat
ing cayenne pepper to mailing his hand
to a board.
Get some cayenne pepper at a drug
store" said Minnock They call it
capsicum. Then you want to get some
snuff. and big needle and some black
thread and a couple Of your wife's hat
pins, big fellows. Get a couple of nails
about like a horseshoe nail. guess
that's all we need"
William Leary, the politician and
friend of Governor Roosevelt, went
along with us. DR.. Edison invited four
friends to see the performance-Dr. Ed
ward Mostert, DR.. H. T. Alexander, DR..
Charles T, Ransom and Assistant Cor
poration Counsel Harold S. Rankin.
Theodore II. Lee, superintendent of the
American Bank Note Company, called
to see DR.. Edison professionally just be-
fore the show began, and he remained
40 watch the prince Of horses eat pep
per and do other stunts.
While we were waiting for somebody
to bring in hammer and piece of
board Minnock divested himself Of his
coat and waistcoast, lighted a cigarette
and stuck a hatpin about SIX inches
long through the lobe of his right ear.
When he drew it out there was no
sign of blood.
That's nothing" he said. won't
.one of you doctors kindly stick this pin
through my lip?" So Dr. Ransom
stepped forward and planted the hat
pin down through the inside of Min
nock's lower lip, the point coming out
over his chin.
There's an artery there, some
where" said the subject jokingly
Did you stick it through that, doc
tor?"
Dr. Ransom said he had avoided the
artery, and then Minnock withdrew the
hatpin and called for an ordinary pin
which he begged the doctor to ''sticl
right through the artery" DR.. Ran
som said he pierced the artery thi!
time, but this was probably to pleas
the Prince of Horses" because NJ
blood appeared.
IF one of you doctors will take m,
left pulse and the other the right" be
gan Minnock, Il will run one up anC
the other down, just as you suggest"
He seated himself in in chair. anC
DR.. Edison took his left wrist and DIR
Ransom the right. DR.. Ransom re
marked that if 1t was immaterial to tn
subject he would take slow pulse
This left the fast pulse to DR.. Edison
Both physicians held their watches
and DIR. Edison, at the end of sixty sec
onds, reported 120 while DR.. Ransom
had counted but ia beats.
Il can do better than that when Tn
in practice" said Minnock, but
haven't done any horse work for sew
eral weeks lately" Then he asked the
doctors to explain how it was done, ant
they promptly replied that he had ex
ercised muscular contraction in on'
arm and interfered with the regular
flow of blood from the heart pump int
that wrist.
Il guess that's right" said Minnock
"but | have made a whole lot of people
who are not doctors believe that hat
two hearts. OF course, that was wher
1 was hypnotized, you understand.
And he laughed.
I nnanad the astehnard box contain