Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-25

as nigh wages as others. We all sat In
the audience and when volunteers were
called for we went upon the stage.
while on the stage we were made to
perform all kinds of crazy stunts, and
IL we were not doing it according to
the Doctors liking he would whisper to
us and tell us so.
Il was general all-around man i'm the
hypnotic work. I did the human pin
cushion act, and permitted anyone who
wanted to come from the audience to
stick pins i'm me. The doctor allowed
the audience, at the invitation of the
doctor, of course. to hold lighted paper
under my arm, and through the aid of
chemicals the audience could smell
burning flesh. OF course the arm was
prepared beforehand. and felt nothing.
1 was placed across two chairs, and five
men were invited to stand upon me. l
knew everything that was going on,
but had been trained not to feel it, The
principal feature of that stunt is In
the placing of the body. If a person is
placed on the chairs properly he can
bear a great weight, but IL he is not
properly placed he could not hold one
man.
"Of course did all the funny stunts.
such as pretending to be stung by bees,
bitten by fieas, picking Strawberries,
ing broom for hobby horse and do
ing thousand other stunts. All that
is necessary in this sort of work is to
have perfect control of the facial mus
cles.
There We're the usual preliminary
stunts, such as telling the subject to
concentrate his mind, and look him in
the eye. With that eagle eye of his he
would make them fall one way and then
another, and the audience never guessed
that the subjects had all learned their
lessons beforehand In addition to the
daily performances, the doctor conduct
ed a side show called The Trance of
Death This was the feature which
had been extensively advertised, and
Chicago was invited to come, free of
charge, and view it.
How Fraud Is Worked
"A man was placed in a so-called
trance-like state for 16S hours, and the
doctor invited the medical association,
as we'll as newspapers, to send repre-
sentatives to constantly watch this 'phe-
nomenon.'
A partner of mine, Harry Davis, was
engaged for this. That it was a fake
am positive, as on two occasions took
the place of Davis and allowed him to
get fresh air and exercise. AS we re-
sembled each other greatly, people did |
not suspect that the same man was
not there all the time. The doctor
brought food to him in a bottle with |
rubber tube, and fed him as a baby |
is fed.
"The cot was placed in the orchestra !
pit in front of a door leading below the |
stage. We had a code of signals, and |
If anyone touched him he would know |
whether or not it was one of our men. |
The orchestra pit was dark except for |
a music light, and it was easy to turn
this to take the light from his face.
We would slip the food in through the
door 1 took it to him myself part of
the time. Once 1 went to him and gave
him the signal He asked me if anyone
was looking, and l replied in the mega
tive.
~ want to smoke a cigarette he
said; so 1 said All right and changed
places with him. He went below and
smoked, and when he had finished we
again changed places. There are only
three subjects 1 know of who can do
the seven-day sleep-Dutch Leonard,
who was with Santanelli; Harry Davis,
and myself. 1t is difficult thing to 10,
for there is practically no solid food for
you in all that time.
Requires Much Self=Control
You cannot sleep for fear some one
will be near you and people are con-
tinually sticking pins in you and open
ing your eyelids. Physicians CLAIM
that if the eyeballs are rolled back
1t is sure sign that the subject is in
a hypnotic state, or that it is a case
of genuine hypnosis. l can fool them
even on this, for | can roll my eyeballs
back into my head. 1t is necessary
tat the subject shall be all the time
ON the alert and it is pretty hard to
lie seven days and keep awake. The
only way to achieve it successfully is
to have 4 good partner who will allow
you to have snatches of sleep and be
prepared to warn you at the approach
OF anyone. Even with this the feat is
very trying one.
Many medical men made an investi-
cation of Doc Arthur's so-called trance
stunt and some of them believed that
1t was fake, but others were fooled
by 1t. They made many tests, but
Harry Davis was too old a horse in
the business to be caught by any of
the physicians tests. He was ready
for any test. One of them put a bottle
Of ammonia to the nose of the sub
Ject, but 1t had no effect This is a
favorite physicians trick, but it does
not work If the subject knows his
business. All that is necessary Is to
take a deep breath and as the breath
Is exhaled the ammonia is forced away
from the nostrlls. The physician is
fooled. Another physician opened the
eyelids and touched the ball with the
finger, expecting that because the eye
Is so sensitive there would be a re-
fiex action, but again Harry was too
good for them. This had no effect on
him.
They tickled the soles of his feet.
but he had not learned self-control for
nothing.
Davis managed to stick II out for
the seven days except when he was
relieved and when he had finished the
physicians We're no nearer a positive
proof than at the beginning of the So
called trance
How Houghton Worked the Poor
Prof. Arthur was a mighty person.
He treated his patients in his apart
ments and because the Chicago peo-
pie saw these wonderful tests at the
performances, they sent to him in
his office to be cured OF all sorts Of
troubles. Poor old men and women
who could i'll afford 10 give up their
savings TO q faker We're fieeced under
the belief that they We're going 10 be
cured of all their sufferings. They