The Red Cloud chief., 1900-12-21

there Is great concern lest his mind
Alually weakens under the strain. 1t
-. feared that he will die. because
nuneither sleep nor eat.
y Is seventeen years old. the son
.Fand Mrs. Joseph w. Spinney OF
&chburg, Mass. Prof. Flint " a Mas
echusetfs physician, who has been In
crested IN hypnotism for several years.
lie went to Fitchburg four weeks ago
and gave exhibitions In Whitney's opera
house. The meetings were crowded The
young people went wild over some Of his
remarkable performances. A dozen boys
offered themselves AS subjects for hyp-
motto suggestion, and among them was
Spinney. Prof. Flint tried In vain to mes
merize him. lie could not impress him
for more than a minute at n time. He
could lock his hands together-the phys
teal test generally tried irst-but they
would break ava In a little while.
Spinney was Interested in hypnotism
from the first. and felt badly because he
was not a 'subject." lie attended every
gathering and spent most OF his time
during the day In practising on his boy
companions. He succeeded In hypnotic
ing several and was elated. one Of the
boys went to sleep In "A doorway under
the influence of his fixed gaze and the
waving OF his hand Then Spinney told
the boy that he was a ball. and the boy
curled himself up In a wad and rolled
along the ground.
His success In this and other cases
caused him to procure books and spend
a great deal Of time studying the science.
He talked mesmerlsm TO his mother and
elder brother constantly and tried to in
Huence them.
on the day that Prof. Flint went away
from Fitchburg. Spinney had a bad head.
ache and asked him to try to cure II.
They were together In the opera house,
and Prof. Flint passed his hands over
the lads forehead and told him thai his
head had stopped aching.
And 1t had.
But when he went out of the building
n down the street 1t was noticed that
he acted strangely. lie stopped and tried
to mesmertxe every one he met. Stop
ping a young boy IN the walk. says the
~Fltchburg correspondent OF the New
York World, he seized his head and
rubbed 1t. saying. you are blind!" The
Lao began to stagger and grope along the
street. Spinney laughed wildly and. snap
ping his fingers, brought him out Of 1t.
That night at his brothers house Spin
ney conceived the Idea that he could hyp-
notlze himself. lie Is IA fair-skinned, blue
eyed. brown-haired lad. and intensely
nervous and energetic. Placing himself
I'm front OF a looking glass he gazed into
his own eyes and rubbed his forehead, re-
peating. You can bend over backward
and II Will not hurt you" Then he tried
II, and sure enough he bent backward tn
he touched the floor with his hands. Then
he stood up and deliberately fell over
backward and struck his head on the
hoor. His mother and father were In the
room and tried to stop him. They could
not hold him.. and the heavy blows on his
head did not seem to hurt him. Then he
would suggest that one OF his legs was
made OF wood. and would stick pins In IL
TO show that 1t was numb, and would
walk stiff-legged.
In the following few days the family
became alarmed. lie was not quiet for n
second. Nhatever thought came into his
mind he would Instantly start To put II
In acton, showing, as Prof. Flint said
~af'erward. that he had hypnotIzed himself
ana that he made his own suggestions"
One OF the books he had procured told
how to hypnotic ones self and how M
one else could bring him out OF Il. lie
was sitting In the kitchen reading and
maA'hg passes at himself when his moth
OF Decame ~exasperated and put the books
IN the hre' She Is sorry now. PERHAPS the
DOCKS would have told how to bring him
cut.
lie sat stu for a while and then dis
appeared 1t was 10 o'clock that night.
AFTER every one had retired, that Mrs.
spinney discovered he was not I'm the
mouse. The family turned out and hunt
% the mousse and the barn. but did not
hhu MIN. AT IL o'clock Alexander King
OF Cleghorn. two miles from West Fitch |
burg, brought the boy home. lie had
peen round NJ that village In an excited
state OF mind, He had gone into a front |
Sard ana broken "A pane Of glass from a
WINDOW and was saving his right index
ringer on on the broken glass to show
that 1t did not hurt him.
When surrounded and captured he could
not Civ his name, but said thai he was
Jesus, and had come to that village to
see his father, God, Kindly people took
the lad In and finally MIR. King walke
win MIN to this city, the boy showing
him where he lived, When the door of
the kitchen was opened Sp!nney threw
upon the floor and began to pray.
Two days he was possessed of the idea
that he was the Savior. Then the idea
left him altogether.
But the strangest thing about this self |
hypnotic was that on Tuesday of the week
he became unsettled he had an argument
with his father In which he alleged tina
It was not necessary to sleep. He said |
that II he simply told himself that he
didn't need to sleep he woul not sleep.
To prove this he made passes before
his face and repeated. "You do not need
to sleep! You do not need to sleep" And
has not slept a wink for the last three
weeks.
Mr.. Spinney became alarmed at his
sons condition and consulted with the
city marshal. A telegram was sent to
Prof. Flint, who came at once.
you hypnotized him. and now bring
Aim out of IT," said the father.
Prof. Flint found the boy In bed. cheeks
aushed. nerves rigid, eyes set and staring,
"He Is under the hypnotic spell, all