Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-04-10

ly and only an expert cOulu nave ue
tected it.
1t will be remembered that the band
aging committee first placed a kid
glove over the mediums eyes. The
glove was stiff. BY trained move
ment of his eyebrows, the medium
could raise the glove until he could see
under the bandage. Under the con-
cealment Of the music box and flowers
the medium dextrously opened the en-
velopes, took out the cards and stacked
them in his left hand while the man
ager was lecturing. Then when the boy
held I'D a sealed dummy, he had Moth
ing to do but read the top card, an
swer it, shift it to the bottom by
sleight of hand and so until the per-
formance was over. Later the cards
were resealed in the envelopes by as
sistants and returned to their owners.
The secret Of the second nights per-
formance was in the bag itself. NO
body except Abbott noticed anything
remarkable in the fact that just as the
manager was suspending the bag
from it's cord a man in the back OF the
audience shouted that he had a ques-
ton and asked that it be included. The
manager asked a man in the front row
to take the bag back and get the ques-
ton. The two men, of course, were
confederates. They simply switched
for this bag another in which the pre-
pared dummies had been placed. They
hurried back of the stage with the
originals. read them. wrote them on
slip of paper with the proper numbers
and placed the slip in the medium
Bible at the moment he laid it on the
table to go forward to his manager
when the latter was making his speech.
The rest was simple.
The third nights trick was the most
brilliant, but Abbott saw through IL AT
once. as It was merely an improvement
on the method already we'll known.
The basket in which the envelopes
were collected had double bottom Sc
arranged that when one is closed the
other is opened. The dummies were III
it when the manager collected the orig
inals. After he had poured the dunn
mics out on the stage, he tossed the
basket carelessly to one side and Il
confederate in the wings got the origl- =
nails out, read and copied them, sealed
them without the audience suspecting'
Now, the heavy folds Of the medi"
um's turban contained tiny telephone
receiver which was in place over his
ear. Concealed by his clothing, wires
ran from this to small copper disks on
the sole Of each shoe. In the floor OF
the stage were corresponding copper
disks connecting with a telephone back
of the stage. Half a dozen sets OF
these disks had been scattered on the
stage.
When the medium wished to estab-
1ish communication all he had to do
was to place the disks on his shoes
over a set of disks on the floor. A GER
tain ring Of his bell notified an assis-
tant he was ready and the assistant
read the question to him.
Variations of these methods of read
ing sealed messages and conveying
them to the medium are done In prac-
tically all of the stage demonstrations
Of this kind, according to Abbott. There
is a much wider range, however, in the
method of collecting the messages
from the audience. Some Of these are
truly mystifying, particularly those In
which the individual writes his mes
sage and keeps it in his own posses
sion.
In most cases these notes are writ
fen ON paper in tablets furnished by
the seer. Several sheets down from the
one on which a note is written Is
specially prepared sheet OF waxed pa
per This acts as a sort of white car
hon. and when developed with chemi-
calls off stage an exact duplicate OF the
copy in possession Of the writer Is IN
possession of an assistant
Sometimes visitors prepare their
ouestions at home on their own paper
which they never allow to leave thelr
nossession. These offer the greatest
difficulty to the performers, VINO resort
to extraordinary efforts to turn thern
to their own profit. Ushers, theater
managers and close friends OF the
house keep a sharp lookout for such
persons, and when they spot one resort
to every means of getting information
about them. All the house staff who
could possibly recognize them look
them over, and even ask questions
about them of others in the audience.
Once a name or an occupation or
person can be discovered the city di-
rectory, telephone books and any other
accessible sources Of information are
called into service. Even when the au-
thor is sitting in complacent ignorance
that he is the object Of so much at
tention the city is being secured TOT
information about him: And after
while he is amazed when the seer
says:
81 seem to get a message for law
yer. The Spirits are III Soii'''
one of them is trying to tell me some
thing for him. get the impression ot
a big two-story house on a street 1uli
of trees. The houses are far baGK
from the building line, and there is ;1n
iron deer on the lawn Of the one next
to him. 1t is n short street. some kind
of a place. get the name ParKlanu
Yes, it is Parkland place, and get the
number Git is the number OF the
house. Now a name comes to me. IL
is George Y. Jones. He is asking a
question. The spirit seems to be tell
ing him not to worry-that his daugh-
ter will not suffer relapse"
OF course, the medium doesn't know
the exact question Mr.. Jones has writ
ten on his paper, unless some one in
the lawyers confidence has betrayed
it. But the telephone has brought the
information that Mr.. Jones has gone 10
the theater after stopping at the nos
pital to visit his sick daughter. The
mediums shrewdness has done the
rest Mr.. Jones is exceedingly mysti-
fed by it all, and the performers repr
tation has been immeasurably enhan