The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-23
CHARGED WITH
ABDUCTING BOY
is KNOWLES, THE HYPNoTIST,
SON OF WEALTHY PENNSYLVANIA
MANUFACTURER ALLEGED VICTIM.

Boy Alleged to Have Said He Was
Abducted by HypnOtist From Ro-
man Catholic Institution and Was
Unable 10 Resist Hypnotic Power.
Mr.. and Mrs. knowles Deny Boy
Accompanied Them, and Say They
Never Saw Him Until He Respond
ed to Invitation for Volunteer.
Subjects at Charlotte Theater.
Information was received in Savan-
nah yesterday morning to the erect
that Alex Bates of Pittsburg, Pa, who
is said to be wealthy furniture manu-
facturer, will take legal steps to pros
ecute Elmer Knowles, the hypnotist,
who has been at the Savannah Theater
this week, charging him with abduct-
ing his son and using him as a subject
on the stage, and further, that the
hypnotist used his witchery to hold
the lad after he was trained for st.
Mary's College at Belmont, N. C.
Dispatches have been sent out from
Charlotte, N. c., to all the Northern
papers to the effect that during one
of Knowles performances in Charlotte
last week Father Francis of st. Mary's
College entered the theater and de-
manded that Knowles surrender the
lad. According to the press dispatches
young Bates told the priest that the
hypnotist had taken him from Ro-
man Catholic school in Pennsylvania
and forced him to accompany him over
the country and that he was unable to
resist the mans influence. The boy
is alleged to have said that he had no
will of his own when in the presence
of the hypnotiSt.
A gentleman in Savannah who came
from Charlotte, said that young Bates
was not used as the sleeping subject
in the window there, but he had been
used on the stage and two priests had
entered the theater during the per-
formance and demanded that the hyp-
notist deliver the boy to them, and
Knowles refused to do so.
knowles Denies Abduction.
Mr.. and Mrs Knowles were seen at
the De Soto in regard to the story that
the Pittsburg man intended to prose-
cute Knowles on a charge of abduct-
ing his son from school and carrying
him over the country to be used in
his public performances. They denied
the story that the boy had been abb
Quoted, and Mr.. Knowles declared
that he had never seen the lad until
he called for volunteers from his audi
ence in Charlotte and the young man
came on the stage
He admitted that Father Francis of
the st. Mary's College had visited the
theater during a performance and ask
ed for the boy, but he refused to SUR
render him until after the perform
ance. He said he allowed the priest
to come on the stage and pointed out
the boy to him. The priest had a
lengthy interview with the young man.
The boy, he said, came to him the
next day and applied for a position,
declaring that he was tired of going
to school and did not want to accom-
pany Father Francis to ST. Mary's,
but he told the lad that there. was no
opening and if there was he would
first require him to secure the written
consent of his parents.
The whole thing is a sensational
story sent out by enterprising corre-
spondents in Charlotte, and 1 do not
fear any action on the part of the
young mans father" said Mr..
Knowles. However, if he sees fit to
institute legal proceedings he is well
come to do SO. When we left Char
lotte we were informed that the young
man had left for Savannah with the
hopes of joining us here"
Young Man Carried Home.
A dispatch sent out from Charlotte
announced that the young man had
been sent to his home in Pittsburg in
charge of his aunt, who had come
South in search of the boy when his
parents discovered that he was tFav-
cling with Knowles. The Charlotte pa
pers confirm the report that the boys
father is to prosecute Knowles for abb
ducting his son.
Mrs. Knowles said that young Bates
did not look to be over II years old,
and she suggested to her husband at
the time the lad made his first APP
pearance on the stage that he was en-
tirely too young, but that the boy
seemed indignant and declared he was
19 years old, and insisted that he be
used as one of the subjects.
Mrs. Knowles said he made a poor
subject, and for this reason, if no
other, it would not have paid her hus-
band to have employed the lad to ac-
company them over the country. Mr..
Knowles, she said, learned in Char
lotte that the boy was without money,
and offered to help him, but he re-
fused to accept anything, an> declared
he had plenty of money.