The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1900-07-11
MOUSE RoUTs THE "HoRsE.n
An Instance in Which the Hypnotic
Trance Test Proved n Dis-
NAL Failure.

Zone Of the queerest experiences Of
my whole career and I've had lots of
EN-" said a well-known theatrical ad-
vance agent who, relates the New Or
leans Times-Democrat, was in town
few days ago, happened in the fall
of 1896, when l was acting as business
manager, press boomer, ticket taker
and liar-in-ordinary for hypnotist
who was making tour of the small
towns in southern Illinois, Indiana and
Ohio. The professor was a pretty
smooth old fakir, but his show was
lacking in novelty, and we were trying
desperately to think up some sensa-
tional feature when we encountered a
chap named O'I}rien, who was profess
sional horse for mesmerists. \ horse
is stage slang for a ready-made sub
ject, who submits to all sorts of tests,
and this fellow suggested that we stir
up a Little excitement by burying him
alive OF course, the dodge is old now
but it was fresh then, and we started
at once to put it into execution. We
were at n bustling town on the Ohio
river at the time, and we announced
that on such and such q day Prof ---
would throw a man into n trance,
nan him up in a coffin and bury him
eight feet deep, where he would remain
for 4s hours The disintermeut and
opening of the casket at the opera
house were events on which we de
pended to draw huge crowd The
whole affair was dubbed the great
East Indian hypnotic trance test and
O'Brien figured as Il wealthy traveller
who had consented to submit to the
ordeal purely in the interest of sci
ence.'
"Of course, there were any number
of details. that had to be arranged"
continued the agent, "but the burial
finally came off according to pro-
gramme. Long practice at what is
called the sleep test made it compar
atively easy for O'Brien to lie quiet
for couple of days and danger from
suffocation was avoided by three
inch wooden tube, which connected
the coffin with the outer air. The eX-
pertinent created immense excitement
IN the vicinity, and we easily persuaded
a dozen VIGOROUSLY hungry citizens to
act as committed to watch the grave
by shifts, and see that no food or slim
ulants were passed down the tube, and,
needless to say, The whole town came
out to keep them company. Folks
talked in awed whispers of the uncon-
scious man lying down there in the
cold, dark ground; a number of prom
inent physicians certified to the gen
'uineness of the trance. Everything
was pointing TO tremendous success,
when Just at dusk a &'ightful mishap
occurred. A small field mouse darted
suddenly out of the grass, made two or
three bewildered dashes, and fell head
long into the wooden air tube AT the
next instant the most awful, blood
freezing, inhuman howl ever heard by
mortal ears issued out Of the bowels
of the earth. Even to me, who knew
O'Brien was wide awake and In 10 peril
whatever, the yell was deeply horrify-
ing, while the effect upon others may
possibly be imagined, but never ade-
Quately described. Women tainted and
men became hysterical, and all the
while those hideous shrieks kept pour
ing swiftly out of the tube. Well, to
make long story short, shovel bri-
gade was organized, and in less than
ten minutes O'Brien was reached and
hauled out He was then in a state of
limp collapse, but he had strength
enough to denounce the test as a fake
and declared that we had inveigled
him into it by taking advantage of his
poverty. When he got that far along
the professor and / quietly slipped
away and left town unostentatiously
on a freight. The crowd was certainly
in lynching temper. What happened
to O'Brien was merely a breakdown Of
nerve. lie was wrought up to a high
pitch, anyhow, and the mouse landing
suddenly on his neck drove him insane
with panic for the time being. Thao
episode resulted in the passing of or
dinances prohibiting the burial test in
scores of northern cities"