River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-01-16
MIND READING.

reading" and so-called "muscle-read-
Ing" 1 also purpose proving that there
| is in reality such thing as true
mind reading" devoid of any trickery.
| Also that mind reading" proper is
very limited in it's scope and can sell
dom be relied upon under test condi-
tons; also that public mind readers,
as rule, are takers.
True mind reading" is exactly what
! The term signifies, viz, reading the
mind. This is limited to a word or,
now and then, sentence. To say
that person can read another's mind
as they can read an open book is the
| height of absurdity.
| All professional mind CD readers
that depend, in the least, on physical
contact are, lacking a better term,
muscle readers This does not
mean that they read the muscle but
| that they are guided by the uncon-
scious muscular action in the interpre-
| tation of thought.
| will give, herewith, two illustra-
lions of genuine mind reading; not
genuine because they are from my
own experience but because they con-
| form to the rule for the test. l do
not hesitate to say that | cannot al
ways command the necessary condi-
| tionS.
Cd Twenty-six years ago during
conversation on the wonderful posi-
5ilities of the human mind, remarked
| to little group of interested friends
that, under certain conditions not nee
essarily abnormal, one could become
sufficiently passive to positive mind
| to read the unspoken word or words
without coming in physical contact
with the one concentrating the mind
| thereon.
No sooner had I given utterance to
| the thought than / was impressed to
make the experiment. Acting upon
the impulse, / asked one OF the group
to think intently on a word. She said,
81 have it," / Immediately answered
so have |.
Naming the word at once and cor
rectly, l was of course, Informed that
| had guessed it. / then requested the
young lady to think of another word
~ VGIy ulllICulL vi uhu0uuA OhO' inv
| said, II have it," / Immediately an
swered, 80 have l. Not only the
one, but both of them. You chose a
word, but changed your mind and took
another l then gave the words.
She said that 1 was right, but while
still skeptical-as also were others
present-she could hardly attribute it
to guessing. Not stopping to investi-
gate the matter she said, Il hardly
know what to think of it, but know
what to think of him-he's witch"
And out of my presence she darted.
Let us consider this moment. Had
she given me but one more test /
would have failed. Why? Because
l was aware that I had reached the
| limit for that particular time; i. e., the
limit of passivity. l had ceased to re-
main sufficiently passive to receive the
impress of her thought. 1t will be re-
membered that the moment she decid-
ed upon the word / too had it. The
thought is almost if not wholly stimuli
! taneous; therefore it is not matter of
guessing, but of knowing. The mo-
ment you have to stop to think it be-
comes guesswork.
This was mind reading" pure and
simple. Yes, simple, for had nm eff
fort been made it could not hay6 been
| done.
When Victor Hugo was asked if IT
was not very difficult to write poetry,
he replied, mo, it is very easy or i'm
possible" So with mind reaatng"
CD A gentleman possessed OF unusual
psychic power called one night "a my
roommate and myself saying, IL have
something interesting yet quite sad
that want to tell you about. 4 friend
of mine, whom you both know, is in
| trouble. His motive was not wrong,
| but were his act to become ks,own it
would result in landing him behind the
bars. I'll relate the incident, CO. will
not mention his name lest unintcS.ion-
ally or inadvertently you might speak
of it in connection with this incident
and thus get him in trouble"
l was quite DESTROYS of knowing the
name of the young man. PleasS OBJ
serve that 1 say DESTROYS, not anxious.
Why? Because anxiety would daseat
4 lAS NCly On0 III t1CWs AAAtCly U&ulu
have aroused my objective min6 to
such an extent as to produce positive
| instead of a negative condition. (you
can't make mental impression tsSon
positive mental condition; the Uand
must be negative in order to receive
the impression.)
| I, therefore, became passive, know
ing full we'll that could get the name
as soon as he dwelt upon it aggsn
But few moments elapsed wheir l
informed him that / could name f>'e
| young man. AT that the following ca
loquy took place:
You cannot possibly do it,
Il have SIS that says I can"
Il know you are a good 'mind-resd-
err but so am l, and I know you are
wrong so it would not be right to tase
your money"
'You can't rightfully take my money,
for am 'mind-rea6er' enough to knew
you are trying to bluff me- So pass on"
He passed on, but had not proceeded
| far until again interrupted him, thus:
You are now thinking of another
man in order to throw me of the track
can also name the other man, the one
you are now thinking of. So confident