Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-21
CHAM or HANDS COMPLETE

the cabinet-as receptacles for these proper
ties. One woman medium wears a black
cloth belt made deep enough to hide
great variety Of daphanous robes and
masks. This she dons next her skin and
just under black skirt When the skepti-
cal committee of ladies searches her. she
entirely diSrobes down to this skirt which
she retains for modesty's sake until the
skirt provided by the committee Is put on
over it. Then the black skirt Is unlocked
and taken off. To satisfy them that all Is
right she lifts the committees skirt, but its
band hides the useful little belt, stuffed
with spirit wardrobes.
Art of Coming United.
1--WE will suppose that the medium after
DOMINIC the clothes supplied by the skep
tics is tied In the cabinet. Quick release
after tying is simply matter Of obtaining
a certain amount of slack rope while being
tied. Every medium has a more or less in
dividual method Of obtaining this slack. If
his hands are being tied to the back rung
of chair he sits well forward during the
operation, so that when he wishes slack
all he will have to do is lean back. When
his tied wrists are being drawn down to his
knees, to the chair legs or together at the
back, he gives one sudden twist of his hand
and gets the rope tied around his wrist
lease all he has to do is twist his wrist
once around in the reverse direction and
obtain all the slack he possibly use.
The method employed by the Davenport
brothers and many others Is employed when
the wrists are tied toge Their behind the
back. One wrist being tied securely the
two ends of the cord now hanging down,
the other wrist is then put over the tied
one. The two ends. then passed round the
latter. are tied and sealed. The secret is
hot fhn fttty,, OF cot %
the cord passed over his middle finger. con-
cealed by the outer wrist To obtain the
necessary slack he bends down this finger
after the rope is tied Mr.. Maskelyne, who
recently reproduced the cloud 'materializa-
tons mentioned, was present at one of the
Davenport seances when the curtain Of the
cabinet fell at a lucky moment, which
allowed him to see their method of escape;
and he exactly reproduced their perform
ance afterward. The Magician KeIlar was
their assistant for some time and from
them learned the mysteries of rope-tying.
The medium. freeing himself while
hymn is being sung and the lights are being
dimmed. then begins his 'materializations.'
Very little apparatus is necessary to make
several changes In his appearance in the
dim light. The one robe has answered In
one case for forty recognized spirits, and to
these properties were added only two or
three wigs and boards of different shapes
The color amounts to nothing In the dark
ness Of the seance room. where red cannot
Stature is altered merely by stopping, or.
II children are to be represented, by kneel-
ing, as In the case of Mrs. Mellen, when
seized. Often a bare mask with a robe
dangling to 1t, was successfully employed
by Mrs. Mellen to represent child stand
ing by her side.
I'm some cases apparatus has been found
secreted in a trap in the base, mop
as cabinet. Another trick is to use for
wardrobes. etc. hollow door on the closet
used as a cabinet. In one room the CELL
ing. including that of the closet cabinet.
was of paneled wood The panel of the
closet ceilings was twenty inches square,
and when lifted left a trap door down
which the 'spooks,' concealed in an upper
room. could descend by a light ladder
hooked fast above. There were eight per-
sons connected with these particular ma
teria,iZing seances-seven upstairs and the
medium in the cabinet, who In this case
did not have to get out of his fastenings
One of these ghosts was a young man
entirely covered by black tights with the
exception of his right arm, which was bare
half way between elbow and shoulder and
powdered with pulverized luminous paint.
His face. even. was masked in black and
in the darkened room his luminous arm ap-
peared to float alone In space. 1t wrote
spirit messages thrust them into the pock-
cts Of sitters, played guitar and perform
ed other convincing spirit feats
Ball Turns Into an Adult Ghost,
fEefOWena, WHICH all Splrltual1StS who
see 1t will swear by. are the gradual ma
terializing' and Misunderstanding of spirits
on the floor directly before the sitters In
this the latter see first a small ball Of light,
which grows at first into cloud and then
becomes larger until there stands before
them an adult spirit A woman confed-
crate who accomplished this took off all
her clothing. put on a long black chemise,
reaching her shoe tops; drew on pair of
white stockings. and over them white slip
pers. She covered her head with black
mask. and putting a luminous robe in a
black bag. slipped down the ladder into the
cabinet Crawling under the curtains she
exposed on the floor small part OF the
robe, doubled up to form a luminous ball.
Then she gradually shook the glowing robe
from the bag. thus producing the illusion
of the swelling cloud. She was now on her
knees and. pulling the robe up over her
face she threw OF the black mask. Grad
ually she rose until the glowing figure was
the size Of an adult and then she adjusted
the robe. showed her face and raped for q
little light. She 'dematertalized into the
glowing cloud and luminous ball by simply
reversing the operation. You'll find the
whole process described in detail in my.
book
Other methods Of controlling the mediums