El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-05-16
Rope Tying and Rapping Are
Mystifying, But ExpIainabIe
Iv-sPIRITUALIsM AND MAGIC.

cret of this was that the medium had
a set of false sleeves out of which his
hands could readily be slipped When
through with his performance all he had
to do was to place his hands back in
the sleeves and call for the lights TO be
turned on.
1t is said that nothing in the whole
category Of binding materials has SUCH
terrOrs for the medium as a piece of
ordinary white thread A large or stiff
rope will permit of manipulation quite
readily, but 1t is impossible to manipu-
late white thread without the manipu-
lation being afterward discovered
Magician and Medium Meet.
One readily may infer how difficult
it is to tell what actually does hap
pen in the darkness of a seance room
when the following experience of
trained magician and medium is told.
medium and her husband came TO
the magician's town and were invited
to spend a Sunday with him at his home.
They accepted the invitation. 1t did not
take much conversation to reveal to the
medium and her husband that their host
well understood the art of necromancy.
But the husband of the medium insisted
that his Wife could do many things
of a mediumistic nature that were not
tainted with fraud. In order to prove
this she gave private seance for the
benefit OF the host.
A Series Of Peculiarifies.
Wien this began she told the host
- place his hands, pa!rIs down, upon
the table. Then she placed her palms
upon the back of his hands. She then
lifted one hand and asked if he could
feel it when she lifted one of her
hands He replied that he~could- Then
she lifted the other, asked the same
question and received the same reply.
After two or three maneuverS Of this
kind all sorts of manifestations seemed
to appear around his lead. A music
box near her began to play. Other
things happened which could not hap
pen except by the use of a free hand
or by supernatural means. When the
lights were turned on the medium still
had her palms upon the backs of the
hands of the sitter. He was mysti-
fled, and spent many hours trying TO
solve the problem.
At last he called in his wife and tried
the same performance with her. His
theory proved correct. BY having his
hands close together, she gradually
slipped her right hand away and COW
cred his two hands with her left. II the
very elect may thus be deceived in so
simple an experiment, how must it be
with him who knows nothing Of the
tricks\of the magician?
Knee Joints Produce Rapping
About the first experience that comes
to the person who visits medium is TO
hear the rapping of the spirit who
wishes to converse with him or with
whom he wishes TO communicate Spir-
itualism had its beginning in rappings.
There were two young girls in New
York state, known as the Fox sisters
They could produce rappings of va
rious kinds, and thus started the mys-
ferrous art Of the spiritualistic medium.
They afterward confessed that these
rappings were produced by the joints |
Of their knees and toes.
In spite of their confession, there are |!
many who to this day believe that they |
were produced by supernatural meth |
DDS. And strange TO say, among those |
who do so believe are some of the writ |
ers who have written careful and de- |
tailed exposures of the methods of the /
commercial medium.
Other Ways OF Producing sound
Rappings are produced in many ways. !
A boot heel pressed against a table leg /
and properly worked up and down will /
accomplish it. OF course the rapping
is on the leg Of the table, but as the !
ventriloqUist throws his voice by call
ing attention to the point at which he /
wishes it TO appear, so the medium has
the rapping appear on top OF the table
by declaring that it will do So An
other method is TO put the thumbs end /
TO end on the table and by passing the
thumb nails past one another make a |
swapping noise Leaning heavily on a !
somewhat rickety table will also pro
duce the raps.
Hollow Boot Heel
There are many involved mechanis-ns
by which these strange noises may be
produced. and they may be so concealed
in the furnishings Sf a room that no
investigator has any faith in rapDings
produced in a mediums own apart
ment- 1t Is only when they are called |
into strange surroundings that their
work even appears mystifying. One
medium has hollow boot heel in which /
Is concealed little hammer There is |
4 mechanism which MAKES this hammer
strike the floor at the viii of the me- !
dunn.
In another case telegraph KEY in
closed box. the top of which has a very
slight play, is used to prOduuce the
rappings- BY pressing the palm of
The hand unobServed against the lid of
the box the rap is made There are
many other methods by which these
may be produced after a little
practice Not one of the men who
have exposed the practices of CONNER
clal mediums regard the rappine DrO-
iuced by such mediums as anything
'ther than natural phenomena
tomorrow Spirit Photography"