Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1910-09-09
Medium Bares Tricks.
"spiirt Rappingsr One of the Simplest
Deceits, Yet Hardest 10 Detect.

"SpiiTt Bappings' Oneof the sim pies
Deceits, Yet Hardest 10 Detect.
A st. LOUIS special to the New York
Times by Horace Monroe Kanouse, a
one.time medium, tells GLOW | fooled
the scientistswhoa are the easiest persons
in the world to deceive; that tits easier
to fool a dozen Of Them than TO deceive
six ordinary workingmen. He states
as his reason for betraying the secrets
of his profession that he is "tired of
deception, sIck OF the utter humbug-
gerry Of it all, of seeing some OF the
brightest minds of the race wandering
into a dark wilderness after the false
gods, of watching the grief-stricken
mother hungering for word or a
hau dclasp from her dead child, and
being content with mouthful Of
drivel from the lips of some ignorant
medium. 10 quit that dark and Illus
DRY land where millions ale deceived
every night of the year was relief TO
me-"
OF his own performances Kanou e
says:
81 can call up the hands of ghosts,
and TO all appearances they are real.
But it is tIickety, bare-faced trickery.
A clever man or woman can do all
manner Of things in the weird half
light, when the i'm aginations of their
aualence have begun to picture things.
The imagination is the spirit alists'
greatest aid. The conditions are always
so nearly the same. There is always
the darkeued room aud the huddled
uneasy group of sitters. Darkness is
necessary, So the mediums will tell
you. 1t is necessary for the forces TO
gather They tell their dupes that
light i, very near always fatal to spirit
forces, just as it is to the sensItized
plate of the camera.
The favorlte method of the really
sensational spiritualIst is the cabinet
seance. The cabinet, flimsy struc
ture, about a foot in each Of It's three
is brought in and curtains
are hung at its open side. A ''battery'
of three persons, the medium and two
is armed in front Of the curtain.
They sit III ordinary chairs aud h Id
hands. The medium always sits at one
end of the battery if possible. Very
rarely will he consent to sit in the mid
die chair. A curtain is pinned in front
of the sitters to Storm space in VIII ich
the weird forces may gather.'
The earliest Of the workers in mys-
terry, to use spirit rappings were the
Fox sisters. 1t is one OF the stock de M
onstrations Of nearly every medium
today. After all, it is one of the most
pulling things to the investigator. |
The medium gives three wraps on
some flat surface, and every one pres
ent hears the answering raps, appar-
emily from the under side of the table.
Everything is done in the open, the
hands of the medium are in plain
sight, and apparently there is no pos
sible physical explanation of the phe-
nomena.
The sounds are really made by the
foreftnger of the trickster. The first
joint of the forelinger is held firmly
against the table, and slipped forw ard
the merest friction of an inch. This is
done once to three times to signify
''yes." Many mediums use a little
rosin on the finger tip to make sure
of the sound, and the slight movement
defies detection.
When take my place in the that
terry "the three Of us are holding hands.
MY right'foot is touching the foot of
the sitter who is nearest me on the
left. Both my hands are claspeu about
bis wrist SO firmly that he is sure they
are never moved.
But he is very much mistaken
Hardly is the curtain pinned over us
until my left hand is free. The pres
sure on the sitter's wrist never relaxes,
but the left hand slips away, and the
thumb ard foretiuger Of the right
hand takes its place SO carefully that
the most sensitive person cannot tell
that the switch has been made.
My bodynever moves as | free nv
finger aud gently pass my hand and