The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-18
MARK TWAIN AS A MEDIUM.
How He Acted as a Subject for a
Travelling Mesmerist.
(Nortn American Review. }

An exciting event i'm our village
CHannibaD was the arrival Of the mes
nerizer. / think the year was 1850. He
advertised his show, and promised
marVelS. Admission as usual, %
cents. children and negroes half price.
The village had heard of mesmerism.
i'm general way, but had not encoun-
tered il vet. Not many people attend
ed the first night. but next day they
had so many wonders TO tell that
cVerybody's curiosity was fired and
after that for a fortnight the magician
had prosperous times. | was IA or 10
years old-the age at which a boy is
willing to endure all things, suffer oil
things, short of death by IRE if there
b. he may be conspicuous and show off
before the public. and so. when l saw
the subjects" perform their foolish
antics on the platform and make she
people laugh and shout and admire, |
had burning desire to be a subject
myself Every night for three nights
/ sat in the row of candidates on The
PLATFORM and held the magic disk i'm
the palm of my hand, and gazed at 4
and tried to get sleepy. but il was a
failure; 1 remained wide awake. ard
had TO retire defeated like the ma
jority. Also. | had TO sit there and be
grawed with envy of Hicks. our Jour
neyman: Lahad TO sit there and see
him scamper and jump when simmons.
the enchanter, exclaimed. See the
snake. See the snaSe!" in response to
the suggestion that he was observing
splendid sunset: and so on-the
whole insane business.
On the fourth night temptation came
and | was net strong enough to resist.
When | had gaZed al the disk q while
L pretended TO be sleepy, and began 10
nc a icrl-f
ana made passes over my head and
down my body and legs and arms. fir
ishing each pass with a snap of his
myers i'm the air. TO discharge the sur
plus electricity; then he began 10
'craw' me with the disk, holding il in
his fingers and telling me / could not
take my eyes of it, try as | might: so
| rose slowly. bent and gazing. and fol-
lowed that disk all over the place. just
as l had seen the others do Then |
was put through the other PAGES. Tpon
suggestion | fled from snakes, passed
buckets at fire, became excited over
hot steamboat races. made love to i'm
aginary girls ard kissed them. fished
from the platform and landed mudcats
that outweighed me, and so on, all the
cutomary marVelS. But not in the Gus
tomary way / was cautious at first
and watchfUl. being afraid the profes-
Sor would discover that | was an i'm
postor and drive me from the platform
in disgrace, but as soon as l realize
that | was not in danger / set myself
the task of terminating Hicks useful
ness as a subject, and of usurping his
place.
1t Was sufficiently easy task. Hicks
was born honest; II without that in
cumbrance, so some people said. Hicks
saw what he saw, and reported ac-
ccrdingly; i saw more than was visible.
and added to il such details as could
help. Hicks had no ina gination: ! had
a double supply. He was born calm:
l was born excited. No vision could
start rapture in him, and he was cor
stipated as TO language, anyway; but
If | saw vision | emptied the dictioa-
airy on TO it and lost the remnant Of
my mind into the bargain
At the end of my first half bcur
Hicks was thing of the past. fallen
hero. broken idol. and l knew it and
was glad, and said i'm my heart Sue
cess to crime, Hicks could never have
been mesmerizcd TO the point where
he could kiss an imaginary girl in
public, or real one either, but 1 was
competent. Whatever Hicks had failed
in l made it point to succeed in. let
the cost be what it might, physically
or morally.
In 1S47 we were living in a large
white house on the corner Of Hill and
Main streets-a house that still stands,
but isn't large now. although It hasn't
lost plank: ] saw il year ago and
noticed that shrinkage My father died
in IL in March of the year mentioned.
but our family did not move out os it
until some months afterward. Ours WAS
not the only family in the house
there was another-Dr. Grants. One
day DIR. Grant and DR.. Reyburn argued
matter on the street with sword
canes. and Grant was brought home
simultaneously punctured. Old DIR.
Peake cali1ed the leaks, and came every
day for while TO look after him. The
Grants were Virginians. like Peako.
and one day when Grant was getting
well enough TO be on his feet and sit
around i'm the parior and talk, the con-
yersation fell uDcn Virginia and old
times l was present, but the group