The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-07-26
WRITING ON THE SKIN.
A Trick of the Davenport Brother
and How 1t Was Done.

"A Trick of the Davenport Brothers
and How 1t Was Done.
The conversation of little group In
the hotel corridor had turned on spiritlI-
aiistic seances. and one of the party was
reminded of Il story. Some Of you, liz
doubt, remember the furore created ty
the Davenport brothers thirty odd yea S
ago. he said, land their famous mani.
festation of blood red writing ON theil
arms. ! saw the same thing done ut
Washington at about that period und Il
circumstances that made it deeply i'm
pressive. Spiritualism was national
craze at the time, and among the well
known mediums at the capital was q MIN
named Webster. who affected to be ult..
exclusive in regard to the people he al
mitted to his seances and who was repIt
ed to have done all sorts Of miraculous
things. l heard SO much about the min
that my curiosity was highly excite d.
and / cndeavored to arrange for sittiI g
which was a matter of considerable dill,
Guilty.
AT last, however, succeeded in max
ing an appointment and called at Lii.
house early one afternoon. ! was shoyI
into a handsome parlOr, and after keep
ing me waiting long enough to get II!
nerves thoroughly on edge Webster hi n
self suddenly appeared. He was a dark
dramatic looking man, somewhat of the
Edwin Booth type. and without any pref
ace he seated himself by my side y
said abruptly, ! have message for y>u
from some one in the spirit land, soIls
one who was very dear to you Who is
it?' | asked. 1t is Captain John =.
he replied. naming my younger brother
who had been in the Federal army u nd
died about three weeks before ut one 0f
the military hospitals. l was nome n.
tarily startled. but on reflection it cid
not seem very wonderful that he shot Id
have known the name.
my brother had been well acquainted
in Washington, and very slight inquiry
wien ] made my request for an appoint
ment would have developed the fact OF
his death. This was passing through my
mind when Webster surprised me by
pulling off his coat and rolling up his shirt
Hlccvr. The white and muscular fore
arm he extended to me was without a
spot or stain. hut as looked at it strange
red marks began to appear here and there
aud joined themselves together in con
nccted script In a moment my brnthers
full name was written in crimson charac
tiers. We were near a window, in broad
daylight, and, although ! was considera-
bly, unnerved, | examined it closely. The
writing seemed to be formed by q con
gcstion of blood directly under the sur,
face of the skin. In fact. the letters
were raised little, like enclosing. In
few moments the characters began tu
fade. and presently they had entirely dis
appeared. leaving the arm as spotless as
before. The remainder Of my seance was
not especially interesting" continued the
speaker. but the writing incident per
picked me deeply and remained a mys-
terry for several years.
meanwhile Webster. who had made q
fortune, ruined himself by gambling, took
to other designations and became q com.
mon gutter drunkard about Washington.
One night he met me at Wizards and
begged for a small loan. When refused.
he took me aside and offered to show me
how the arm writing trick was done II
would give him a dollar. | accepted, of
course. and he took the blunt end of q
match and scrawled his initials on his
wrist. pressing down hard, but not
enough TO abrade the skin. For several
minutes nothing was to be seen. then
gradually the letters appeared in raised
red lines exactly as had been the case
with my brothers name. 1t was merely
a matter of temporarily arrested circula
ton, followed by temporary congestion
Anybody can do it who has fairly sensi.
tive skin and blunt piece of wood. He
had written the name just before entering
the parlor ON the day Of our seance."-
New Orleans Times Democrat.