Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-05-15

No method of deception practiced by
spirtualistic mediums of the commercial
class is better fitted for the conquest of
doubters than that of allowing the medium
to be tried or otherwise fastened in such a
! manner that It is seemingly impossible for
| him to do the tricks that are afterward
done. Inssome of the materislism" seances
the medium is tied. and in fact has no
direct part in the manifestation that after
ward takes place. But, as a rule, the
mediums escape in whole or in part from the
harness placed about them and do have
some part in the manifestations
One of the most striking instances of
rope-tying in which the medium bad a
part In the subsequent manifestations was
that OF the first Anna Eva Fay, who
toured this country There are several
Anna Eva Fays. by the way She per-
mitted herself to have her wrists firmly
bound tied behind her back and fastened
into a ring attached to stanehion. A
bandage was placed around her neck and it
was attached to a screw-eye farther up on
the stanchion, and she was seated on a
stool in front of this post Her feet were
tied together with long rope. the one end
of which was constantly held by member
of the committee Of volunteer spectators.
In order to make assurance doubly sure
that she could in no wise escape from her
predcament all knots were carefully sewed
together In this position. and tied as she
was every member of the committee as
serted that she could not possibly escape
or reach any Of the objects placed with her
in the cabinet. Yet as soon as the curtain
was drawn a bell began to ring. Then a
glass of water was set in front of her
and the water disappeared from the glass
Later guitar was played and then thrown
over the curtain OF the cabinet. After all
of these manifestations, the medium asked
that the curtain be drawn aside, that her
bandages be re~examined. and then that
member of the committee be blindfolded
and seated by her side. He was to place
his hands upon his knees and make sure
they did not move Yet directly the sound
of a nail being driven home was heard
Other manifestations followed, one after
another, aRd no person in the room nor
any one OF the committee had the slightest
idea how it was accomplished. Not one Of
them believed that Anna Eva Fay had pro-
duced the manifestations herself.
| Yet they were entirely mistaken. for the
woman was not tied so that she could not
move Although her hands were tied to-
gether behind her and the bandages passed
through the ring in the stanchion. there
was about six inches OF slack in the band
ages on her hands She was something OF
contortionist, and by taking advantage
| OF the slack she twisted and slipped her
body around so that she could reach The
articles in the cabinet with her bound
hands, Yet neither her head nor her feet
were moved during the performance. OF
course this trick requires great physical
agility.
I Other mediums have PERMITTED them
selves to be placed la packing cases. large
paper bags locked mail bags. and in other
places from which il would seem impossible
TO escape. and still have brought forth
manifestations just the same. In one case
medium was locked in strong packing