The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1900-01-05
HYPNorIsM AT PUGET SOUND.
A .Flub Dub Artist and his D,ver-
hiona In an Out-of-fhe-way
Community.

His name was not Roberts which 81
\ good enough reason for calling hin
that here. There was nothing strang,
: or weird in his appearance or genera.
behavior, but he did one hypnotic turn
as the musicalhall phrase is, that mys-
: titled his fellow ranchers to the verge
Of lunacy until they got used to IL.
, Roberts was one Of a group of college
bred men who, some from choice and
some from example, have located claims
in Mason county, Wash. There is a
post Office at Lake Cushman and a tri-
weekly mail by stage from the sound,
nine miles distant. Put" is the post
master. His name was Putnam orig
inally, and he is Trinity man. He has
a large ranch at the lake and summer
hotel where people come for the fishing.
Here the men gather for their mail,
usually lingering for a smoke and
yarn, and it was here that Roberts be-
gan his mysterious performances.
One day when the men met at the
post office the conversation turned 10
spiritualism, mind reading, thought
transference and the like. It was
agreed that the whole thing was rub
bish-fubdub as they say in Georgia.
If there was anything in it, why didn't
spiritualists make millions in wheat
and stocks? Why did seers Invariably
live in cheap lodgings which smelled Of
boiled cabbage? Not one Of them ever
made a cent except what their weak
minded dupes paid them.
Roberts slid off the table and said
he'd be going.
by the way" he remarked, 81 got
a $40 gold piece in Hoodsport yesterday
that looks funny. I'm afraid it's coun-
terfeit."
He handed a small, round object to
the man nearest him. Several heads
bent over it, and it passed from one
hand to another.
Its all right. Nothing the matter
with that" was the verdict.
Thanks" said Roberts, taking it
back and throwing it on the table. The
men then saw that what they had taken
for a ten-dollar gold piece was a COM
mon iron washer off a wagon wheel. 1t
was rusty and battered, and it had a
hole in the middle OF course they de-
clared with one voice that they had
been fim-fammed.
1T was mere sleight-of-hand," they
said.
mo, it was fiubdub," answered Rob-
erts.
The door opened and two other ranch
ers came in.
Hello" cried Roberts. what do
you fellows think of this ten-dollar
piece? Is it queer?"
He handed them the washer and they
examined it carefully, weighed it in
heir palms, and turned it over several
times.
Don't see anything queer about
hat" they agreed.
The trick was repeated dozen times
With unfailing success. No one was de-
eived a second time, and most of them
Ieclared that they weren't really in
'arnest, or the light was bad, or some
hing of the sort. The average victim
ways has an excuse to offer.
The affair was the sensation of the
winter, and then something else turned
p and it became back number.
The next fall Roberts and two others
the Lake Cushman fraternity ran over
o Victoria for a little celebration. One
the men returned from walk down
OWN and told Roberts that he had been
stringing old Williams, the tobacco !
ist, about that act of yours with the
asher" The said Williams discredited II
le story as absurd, and he had bet a
yo pounds of Hudson Bay mixture a
gainst the retail price thereof tLat :
ne tobacconist himself would be fooled u
the identical washer before the week b
as out =.
Accordingly, the next morning Rob
is strolled into old Williams shop, u
here he was not known, bought box 81
cigars for three dollars, handed over 4,
e washer, took seven dollars in
lange and walked out. 7"
The British sense of humor. as everv- a
e knows, is sadly deficient, and Old be
when be discovered the
asher in his till, was filed with wrath.
promptly notified the police. and
'berts' friends had to bail him out Ia
Jail about II o'clock that night. =,
The courtroom rang with laughter "
the trial the next day, and the mag tn
rate said that any man who couldn't to
an iron vashav- frr,r,, n LA -. oo