Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-06-28
A REPORTERS STORY

spiritnalists that 80 many frauds are com
mitted in the name Of their cult. The sur
roundings Of spiritualism lend themselves
SO readily to Inception that In this fact the
sharper finds his best weapon.
Ii was just II years ago that the city ed
itor OF a Chicago paper called iii three re-
porters and a detective from Central. He
told them that he wished a case for the de-
tectiye and a good story for the reporters
worked up out oil some "doings7 that were
going on over in a fine residence on Ogden
avenue.
IL was a queer tale that the city editor had
to tell. Even police reporters and a de-
tective who knew all about how people
seemed actually to like to be sold" could
hardly believe that any person was fool
enough to be taken 10 by such a palpable
fraud as the city editor said had been perpe-
trated in the Ogden avenue house. 1t seems
that a man and his wife and their daughter
and son bad opened a parlor for the giving
Of seances. The wife was the medium. They
gathered nightly in their large double parlor
. dozen or so of the true believers in spirit
ualism. One was a Young woman Of sensi-
tive temperament and utterly unused to
ways that are dark, and anyone who has ever
attended a seance knows that the ways of
I " Jus EDAl - tW4 . 4
The city editor told bis reporters that the
young woman was well-to-do; that she had
gone to the seance one evening and the spirit
OF her dead sister was through the medium's
supposed power brought to the parlor. The
sisters raiment was all glistening. She kept
her head down, however, and recognition on
the living sisters part was not complete.
The living, however, believed strongly
enough that her sisters spirit was with her
to induce her TO give up a diamond ring
which the spirit promised she would de
materialize and take to Heaven with her"
The next night the gullible one was again
present at the seance. This time the spirit
Of a dead brother appeared in the room. The
wrath declared that his living sister was
showing Partially in the distribution Of her
gifts. you see, Mary" the spirit said,
"Helen has a dernaterialized ring, and If you
give her one think you ought to be willing
to do the same thing by me"
So it was that Mary purchased another
diamond ring valued al the amount Of $50
and gave ii to her brother Henrv's spirit to
take to Heaven. Some friends Of Mary heard
OF the matter. and not wishing her to be
swindled any further, tried To induce her to
stay away from the spurious spiritualists
place. She believed, however. and nothing
could move her, and the story coming to the
city editor, he agreed to give evidence
against the place and get a scoop for his
sheet at the same time.
Nobody but the men employed on that
job could realize how bard they had to work
in order to get into the confidence Of the
people. They went there separately on diff
ferent nights and each paid his dollar adj
mission. II was ten nights before one OF
them succeeded in getting a spirit to
come to see him. The ghosts were too
foxy.
Every night there were many other Wis
itors. most Of them being believers. The re-
porters and the detective, John Broderick,
had knowledge that back Of the scenes was
a bouncer or two who would put up a stiff
fight when an attempt should be made to
seize and hold one of the spirits and TO
light the gas Jets. 1t was the duty OF one re-
porter to catch the spirit; Of another when
the howl was made for light to ignite every
let on the chandelier; Of another, with the
detective. to c~areefor the two bouncers and
any Of the guests who might want to put
up a fight.
The reporter whose business it was to
catch the spirit was known TO the medium
and her aids as Mr.. 0lds. He tried for II
nights to get a satisfactory interview with
the spirit of his supposed deceased sister.
This was the spirit that Odds wanted to vrah
round the waist as he yelled for light. War
rants had been sworn out forthe whole gang
of "spiritualists" on the charge Of obtain
ing money under false pretenses, the basis
of the charge being that they had taken pay
on the promise to bring back the dead and
that they failed to live up to their ohliga-
tions. If the spirit was caught and proved
to be flesh and blood the case was made.
The spirit Of Olds' sister came out time
after time, but she always kept at arms
length. She wore a glistening crown that
afterward turned out to be of cheap metal
covered with Illuminating paint.
But the night came at last. The suspi-
eions of the ''showmen" were lulled. The
spirit of Miss Olds came out from the side
of the cabinet with the evident intent ion
of at last embracing her brother. There was
an embrace and a rather more strenuous one
than the spirit bargained for. Olds hur :
on and yelled for light.
A fellow reporter lighted every gas jet
in the room and the beams fell on . riot.
Olds had a buXom woman, from whose head
a blond wig had fallen, fast in his arms. A
burly bouncer emerged from the rear Of the
cabinet and tackled the reporter. who until
a few months ago had been quarter back
on the Princeton football team. Detective
Sergt. Broderic& tackled another bouneer
and one Of the believing guests. Broderick
showed that he knew now to act with two
full hands.
After a rough-andtumble fight Of ten or
Is minutes the medium, who disappeared
from the cabinet during the s%cuffle, and
the rest of the outfit were taken TO the
police station in a blue wagon. Nobody who
was present that night VIII ever forget the
glare Of hatred that came from that woman
mediums eyes as she looked on the men VINO
had called her game. She seemed to bear a
particular hatred for Olds, whom she re-
garded as the chief offender, because he had
caught Tie confederate spirit" With a
perfect torrent of vituperative words she
called down all kinds OF dire troubles on
Olds' head.
If the curses Of evil-doers could be sup
posed to be Of eject. one might have traced
to the waled ic.i0u> Of that woman a future
p,y1tovx AAftlip ntnyth from, tbaf time