davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
How the Medium Is Made
to Tilt Forward

placed an additional Alb. weight on
the table (total, including the table,
AZ lbs. Id oz). When the table levi
tated the mediums chair tilted forward
on it's two front legs and then the
table dropped.
Gas the dead weight of about as lbs.
seemed to be near the limit for this
kind of deviation l removed the
weights The table then levtated alone
and l pressed it down with consider
able force.
con some occasions q made the ex-
pertinent many times) while | was
pressing strongly downward, the mo-
dium's body tilted forward and on
other occasions it did net. She told me
that when she did not move forward
she felt no inclination to tilt at all
and when she did move forward she
simply could not help herself, although
she felt no mechanical pressure on her
body. This alternative fitting and nom
fitting of the mediums body (the two
phases occurred in alienation with
succeeding levitations) took place SO
often that / suspected the operators
were trying to bring something to my
notice, so I asked them If the levitat-
ing structure was sometimes q true
cantilever, l. e., no part of it touching
the floor, and sometimes not true
cantilever, /. e., with the free end rest
inc ba toA
"They vigorously assented to this
and demonstrated for my benefit.
said: 4 want you to evitize the table
with true cantlever and | will press
down hard on the table, They imme
diately produced deviation and found
that on all occasions OF making the
DroviLs about the structure bsanG .
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

questions by means Of raps, blows,
shuffiings on the floor, etc
"The following was the code:
Three raps meant Yes
zone rap meant Mo-
"Two raps meant Doubtful
"A continuous aeries Of raps meant
that the operators wished to say
something on their own account, L O.,
they wished the alphabet spelled out
to them, 80 that they could inter-
polate word, or short sentence.
"a long scraping sound on the floor
meant that my supposition Con which
l was basing the question: was not
quite correct, although it contained
some clements Of the truth.
"a great many emotions, such as Joy,
sorrow, agreement, disagreement, fun,
fricndlincss, anger, etc, were often
also indicated by the various styles Of
rapping For instance, loud, emphatic
blows in answer to question indi-
Gated according to their number)
strong agreement or disagreement; or
i: Il lot Of questions were asked, none
OF which seemed to hit tho exact truth,
and a final question did actually strike
it, there was a little fusillade Of raps
Indicating that the correct solution had
at last been reached. Sometimes the
operators seemed 80 pleased at my
guessing something correctly that they
suddenly raped out lively little tuns
on the floor.
"The reader should understand that
tho following description OF tho levi
tating structure Is given by the opera
tors and that am not responsible FOX
II, and do net attach undue importance
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

and on the successful occasions 1t al
ways moved back of itself until it was
against the back rail of the machine.
Fig. 81 indicates what I consider -
provisional deduction from the above
facts
"R is straight psychic rod which grips
strongly the ROD nr K and pushes di-
rectly on the chair leg at D. The rod
is fed at f by feeder proceeding
from the ankle at A of the medium.
at is pretty obvious that the inclined
rod + grips the floor at K, and does
not merely rest upon it, for in the lat
ter case it would inevitably be pushed
along the floor while the pressure was
exerted on the chair leg. | have stated
that the downward force was so great
on the pasteboard when it was on the
floor at K that I could not raise it the
merest fraction of an inch from the
floor; and further than that the force
seemed to be exertcd at the far end
of the pasteboard in regard to my po-
sition-i. E., the psychic rod was not
only pressing on the pasteboard, but
was gripping the floor round about the
edge Of it as we'll.
"The fact that the inclined rod at IS
floor end actually grips and does not
merely rest on the floor was audibly
demonstrated. Several times during
the preliminary attempts to move the
weighing machine and medium the end
at was evidently torn from its hold
on the floor, for sharp, shutting no Sc
was heard on two occasions resembling
the noise likely to be made by the for
chile pulling from its grip of plastic
gripping material. And this occurred
at moments when I was just expecting
the machine to move"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

would think it would hc bouna ta cans,
physical Inconvenience. ana e..,,...
would this be so II the reaction y..r,
Of variable and impactise natsre n
is often the case
"r
49, ., -
,,od;,,,, h,. -. -,
rooo.ior, So. -. -.
,;l;.r :. .. -.
7 bayo avn,a;ooa, 81. 49,
suro bas ao,, .,...'....'.-., ~
u nav bo So .,'-.a. D.,
ooc,,r,.onoo * ,,b.u.......
although her brain is practically MOI.
NAL, mas peculiar state of inscnsi-
s,a,,io. 1 49,. ,. ~ - 80 &C 'h'
-. - 'N'0 -
'' 'N''@' eonol1'oh g induced.
'"'''H' u SET purpose by 'he operat'rf
:" o'Dei - 'cnoer "eT 1nsensltive -
s"' 'Ai''uS mechanical actions whicf
nave '''e'i 1ocIs on nef oody- lnat
so''e'"''lg IKE inns really occurs Is
'e'ue'eu i'Aeiy Dy an incident whlct
o0A place AZ the cire.e. The medium
vas eh1ranced mot for physleA'
PhehoinehA' during winch she u alwa
torilai)' ana the control sand ne wAs
o"'s % snow the Suffers an sHperi
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
CRAWF FORD
wanted to test the cantilever

RNOI EIOOOIb ~ ~ n w Il ~ ~ ~
~ wanted to test the cantilever
Il and see whether weights
placed on the levitated table
would not tend to tip the medium
over. He writes:
"The medium sat on her usual chair,
which was standing on the floor, /. e.,
the chair was not placed on the plat
form Of the weighing machine. She
sat perfectly still with her hands on
her knees, and was thus isolated from
all the members Of the circle. / asked
her to remain quite passive and re-
port her sensations to mo.
1.-THE weight of tho table was z lbs.
14oz.
"While tho table was levitated
placed three lob. weights upon it in
succession, making total deviation
load Of 81 lbs. ID OF. The table did
not descend to the floor between the
loadings to allow me to put on the
additional weights Gas in experiment
y, but remained up the whole time.
Cup to total levitated weight OF
81 lbs. Ia OF. there was no very pro-
nounced effect on the medium. Her
trunk, however, swung gently forward
with the additional weights and she
said she felt herself being urged for.
ward. though she felt no kind Of me-
chanical pressure on her body.
IL then increased the weight Or the
levitated table two pounds Mt time VI
to 80 lbs (totnl weight, including the
table, % lbs. ID oz). Several times did
tho mediums body then swing strongly
forward, upon which the table dropped
/ therefore told hor to hold on with
her hands to thu arms Of the chai2s
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

Of the eantilever Is spread out into
broad fat surface Of area, approx
mating the under surface Of the
table. In other words, the head Of
the centilever is shaped like a mush-
room, and even bears some anal
ogy to that boys plaything known
as a sucker.
"(b) A fairly uniform vertical
column Of diameter about 4 inches.
At x the cantifever changes Its direc-
ton from vertical to more or less
horizontal. At X the structure Is
s or d inches above the floor.
"(c) Just before entering the body
Of the medium the rod widens to a
diameter Of about 7 inches. The rod
does not branch out like the roots of
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

four feet from the body Of the medium.
lsvitatsd again in the Same way, and
men turned over IN the air, very slowly
/" drss, and then jerkily, until the sur
lace was horizontal and It had attained
normal levitated position. Fig.
rSes successive positions.
AT subsequent seances the table
"rnsd completely over. a. above, both
'soadwise and endwise, L G., where in
'as one case A B Gig. u represents
20 short edge, and, In the other case.
a. long edge Of the surface.
While at position (3), /. e., where
40 liable was inclined about 45 degrees
tho foor, the operators seemed Ia
a'srsnce the greatest difficulty in the
~sFy'ng out Of this phenomenon. They
"msd to have nj trouble In levitating
'aoio as 81 ID, and in turning IT
wv IN the air to about position (2)
s1' a halt always occurred at 49,
S'"ssinnss even the table dropped
@''e' the completed phenomenon evil
'A''S being Impossible. despite the al
WV frantic efforts OF the operators
a. ether times, after a brief halt
various shakings and jcrkings In
az, the table was turned over into
>'''''ns ~ and 90. At the critical
>''"s ~ sounds were often heard on
surface and lega Of the table, q,
'ega snekers were slipping over tn,
w. OF were being forced OF. or wer.
new grips. There could be nc
''ssin2 these sounds, for they made
'sis an audible swish.
'" One or two occasions the table
-'pDsd six inches or 30 In tho air
simultaneously there was hsart
wishing asssa. shs fn1.rsnss bsin,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Experiment 40:
To See 4 the Operator Coufl
Wrife a Message u it'll Pencil

IS 4 PIECE Of brown paper ".
~ placed on the floor within tn
circle under the table and two pencs-s
CONSTRUCTED by pieces Of thick le.,
being inserted in wooden cyiind,
about six inches long and one half inrI
in diameter) were laid on top Of ~,
paper. The operators we've soon moA
ing the papers about, raising them a.
dropping them or the floor. sorapiri
with them and so on. Nnea thc bro1
paper was examined it was found 81.
have d large number Of pencil lus
on it, but no formed letters. The noci
was similarly marked.
"The next questions taat arise ar,
When is cantilcycr usoi Tor lewis
tion and when strut Tho answo
is, that for comparatively hight bodrF-
a cantilever Is almoat invariably use
and for heavy bodies, or where tl4
applied forces are great. strut ~
cantllever - IA simpler piece OF psycn
mechanism than a strut II Ia nor
easily constructed. 1t does not fequir n,
the expenditure Of 50 much rsgch
energy. Therefore, It is used vhefevc'
possible. Ono has to remember thsi
tho psychic energy available Ia u.
seanco room Is strictly ieolfed nu'
that the more used up il any one ph~
nomenon, the less the number .
phenomena"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

was comparatively doubtful. took 1t
to be roughly as follows (see Figure g.:
Here N is the medium, the levitated
table, and A B the levitating can't
lever, the last consisting Of two main
portions, A an arm springing from the
medium, and B vertical column con-
tinuous with the arm pressing upward
on the under surface of the table.
have since taken the opportunity to
thoroughly question the operators as
to its shape. A seance was held at my
own house and replies were given to
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

TN HIS newest contribution to
the cause, Experiments in
l. Psvchical Science" published
bv E. ?. Dutton & Co., w. j.
crawford, D. Sc, takes up levita-
ion. contact and direct voice-and
axes them up, by the way, in
manner which makes even the very
skeptical reader pause and reflect.
rs-s. eff all, it is we'll to note that
Professor Crawford is lecturer in
mechanical engineering (not a pro-
fessional or amateur experimenter
in the occult). His approach to the
study Of psychic phenomena is
made strictly through the channel
Of sober science. His methods are
the methods Of the laboratory. He
Uses weighing machines. He takes
the measure of the psychic force;
works out its laws; observes its
minutest effects. His purpose in
writing is, he tells us, "to advance
cur knowledge of psychic phenom-
sns and the laws underlying them"
And Professor Crawford is not by
any means the first eminent scientist
to be profoundly aware of these
phenomena.
We are plunged, almost at once,
Rto a consideration Of psychic en-
e.gy, which, the writer declares, is
5. a maximum about an hour and a
half from the opening of a seance.
At such time, we are told
although heavy man sits upon the
table, it moves about the floor with
great ease; or, the table being levitated,
strong man pushing from the top
cannot depress it to the floor; or the
table moves to the side of the circle
furthest from the medium and an ex-
perimenter is asked to lay hold Of 1t
and try to prevent It's return to the
centre, but he is totally unable to do
so; or the tables weight can be tempo
rarily so much increased that it can
not DE lifted, or on the other hand so
nueh reduced that it can be raised by
IN upward force of an ounce or two;
Or, the table being turned upside down
m the floor, cannot be raised by q
strong upward pull on the legs, being
spparent- fastened to the floor.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

the operators If they understood what
cross section was.
"They answered NO Then l went
on as follows:
20. Do you know the meaning Of
the words diameter or 'thickness'7
"a. Yes.
%. Do you know the magnitude of
the dimension we call an inch1
"a. Yes.
"When l asked them to rap out the
number Of inches In certain part
of the structure they usually hesitated
for q little, as though thinking the
matter over, and then raped out the
number decisively and firmly.
Normal Cas,tilever
According to the operators, the d.
mansions and shape of normal levi
tating cantilever arc as shown In Fig
ure 6.
"(a) Tho top Of the columnar part
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

G
that she must be under q
terrific nervous and even
muscular strain. But 1t appears that
she feels about the same afterward
and is unconscious Of inconvenience
while the seance is on. Professor
Crawford writes:
"At any rate the medium insists
that she feels nothing whatever dur
ing phenomena, yet know there is an
added weight upon her Of about 10
pounds when the table Is levitated.
The question to consider is Why she
does not feel this weight, why she ex-
periences no inconvenience of any
kind.
"The change in the character of the
muscular stress experienced by this
medium may perhaps be assumed to
be due to the reaction nowadays being
more evenly spread over her body than
WAS formerly the case. From being q
localized reaction it Is now BECOMING
ditfused one. In others the maeni
tude of the reaction per square inch
of her body is relatively small and cs
capes notice
But such an attempt at exclamation
can only contain a small part OF the
truth. 1t might suffice, if the total re
action never amounted to more than
II pounds or SO, but as a matter or
fact 1t IS often in excess of this. as.
Ter instance, when, table being levi
tated, q man presses down on the top
OF IT. Ia an endeavor to depress it TO
the floor. Allowing 80 pounds for the
muscular pressure of the man and 10
pounds for the weight Of the table, VIC
lave reaction on the medium of 40
pounds: and there are many other
cases, which | have not space to emu
nerate, IN which the total reaction on
her body must amount to at least half
hundredweight. Even if such re-
action were difrused (and this is at
any rata not always the cxss) one
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Experiment Is:
Movement Of Medium ana
Chair Along the Floor

klT OBTAINED four little metal Gid
II ers and hammered them into the
feet of the mediums chair go that It
could slide more easily and uniformly
along the floor than was the case with
out them. The only other apparatus
was Il piece Of fairly stiff pasteboard
about ~ inches long by inches
wide. / informed the operators that
would first see If there was any DOWN
ward force on the floor in front Of the
chair were being moved backward.
Accordingly l placed the piece of
pasteboard fiat on the floor beneath the
table (Which was standing within the
circle). holding the end Of it remote
from the medium in my fingers.
could thus easily tell If any downward
force was being exerted on the paste
board by the difficulty l would expert
ence in trying to lift it from the floor
l asked the operators to proceed with
the test.
Nothing happened for considerable
time and | was beginning to think that
the explanation of the operators was
incorrect when they informed me by
raps that an aura from my hand hold
ing the end of the pasteboard was in
terfering with the phenomenon. On
asking If should put on gloves they
answered in the affirmative and &C.
cordingly did so. In a short time the
chair and medium began to slide
slowly backward along the floor
During the whole period of the
movement there was q great downward
force on the pasteboard-so great, in
fact, that | was quite unable to raise
it from the floor, although / tried my
hardest. l carried out the experiment
again with like result. The medium S
chair slid back altogether about q
foot or so, but the location of the
downward force did not seem to
change, i. e., to recede from the chair.
1t thus appeared that the first part of
the operators statement that rod
issuing from the medium inclnes
downward to the floor in front OF her,
where it presses on and grips the floor
strongly, has some basis in fact.
81 then went over beside the medium
and placed the piece of pasteboarcl
vertically against one of the front legs
of her chair, resting the lower edge
on the floor. While the medium and
her chair were being slowly moved
backward along the floor l found that
there was great horizontal force ex-
erted on the pasteboard and through
the pasteboard onto the leg Of the
chair. So great was the force that
while 1t was being exerted | was quite
unable, although | tried several times,
to remove the pasteboard from its po-
sition against the leg of the chair
The force appeared TO be exerted hori-
zontally on the leg quite low down-not
more than an inch or two above the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Professor Crawford Finds That Invisible
'Operators" Work Through Medium by
Means Of Psychic Rods--Cantilever System
Generally Employed--T Takes Weight Off Me-
dunn and Puts IL Back Agai11---Affects Sitters

tree when it enters the body of the
medium, but goes in undivided.
II had thought that the fixed end
or the cantilever G. e. the end fixed to
the body of the medium) might spread
out into number of little rootlets.
nut the operators were most emphatic
that it does not, but goes in solid, al
though its diameter increases from 4
to Z inches. The diameter given for
the greater part Of the structure, viz.
inches, agrees approximately with
the diameter Of the vertical and arched
columns.
at is to be remembered that the
whole structure Is generally quite in
visible to any one with normal eye
sight The operators always said, how
ever, that under certain conditions GER
tain people who are not clairvoyan Is
would be able to see it, and this state
ment Of theirs has lately proved to be
true | will deal with this point in a
later volume.
THE theory for rapping developed
in my former book is that a psychic
rod issues from the body Of tho me-
dium--a semi-hexible rod which moves
up and down and strikes the floor or
table.
1.-THE operators say that the rod
theory, considered generally, Is cor
rect. They say that raps are produced
In two ways:
II, Soft raps, bouncing ball imita-
tion, etc.-By beating the side of the
rod on the floor as one uses q stick
for beating a carpet.
"2. Hard raps--By beating the rod
on the floor more or less axially.
awhile l was obtaining this explana-
tion from them they illustrated the
various styles of raps under cousdera-
ton at the moment by actually rap
ping in the floor.
Il asked them the approximate d.
mensions Of rapping rod used to give
fairly hard blow They gave the
blow on the floor as an example, and
then said that the diameter of the
rod used In that particular case was
about two inches and of uniform thick
ness over Its length until just before
entering the body Of the medium,
where It increased to diameter Of
about three inches.
"The operators also said that the
same rod could be used 70 make q va
riety of raps, according to the strength
with which it was struck on the floor
They illustrated this statement by
producing (they said with the same
rod) a quick variety of raps as fol-
lows:
"l. Light taps as though lsad
pencil were striking the floor.
"2, Light bouncing ball imitation,
and
"3. Hard blows.
"These three different raps were
used at this time to reply to questions
requiring an affirmative answer. g.,
II the operators wished to say Yes
they gave the three raps % CD (3)
above, ali different, in succession, 8
rather interesting development"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Veic Leritations

Besides the ordinary standard type
lpf deviation in which the table rises
vertically into the air in normal
manner, various modified and peculiar
types of the phenomenon have occurred.
At recent seance the table turned
over on its side with edge of surface
and two legs on the floor. surface re-
mote from medium. Then it levitated
in that position Gig y, remaining in
the air for about half minute, with
lowest edge about half foot above
the floor. Tho surface (S) was about
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Things Mechanical Engineer Knows Ab6

that sucker had been torn from its
grip. The operators themselves say
that during these abnormal levitations,
they have several psychic rods pro-
jecting from the medium simultane-
ously, and that they grip the surface,
the legs, and the crossbars (if the
table possesses them) with the ends
OF these rods, which resemble straight
arms, having the power to take sue
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Affecting the Sit,crs

A questioner, quoted n the book
wants to know vheth0r + Is dam.
gerous for people who are. not ~
good health to sit in seaucos. l.
which the writer replies.
eyes. The s.t1ers supply most n 81
energy required for tho nanifestafiof
and this energy is taken b. Soma nn
known form from their bodas III g.
person is in poor tes.th tfo afaia s.
vital energy may be diaastroa.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

medium. want you to take out from
her body the matter you use IN the
construction of the cantilever you en-
ploy to levitate this table weight
1914 pounds) and to place this mat
ter loosely on the Hoor-not to build
up the cantilever, but simply to place
the matter required for it on the floor
Give three raps when you have done
this
"The mediums weight began to de-
crease and in few minutes became
fairly steady. Then heard the three
raps signifying that the operation was
complete.
"Result:
Weight of medium r chair
board before the experiment. = 1887 lbs
Fairly steady weight of medium
chair r board after raps were
Decrease in weight in medium. = Is lbs.
at Is noteworthy that when carried
out the same test about eighteen
months previously | obtained the same
result within pound or two"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12
Some More Experiments in
Psychic Phenomena

ENROFESSOR CRAWFORD has
O carried out great many In
IL teresting experiments with
psychic phenomena, which are
recorded in his new book. Here are
a few in addition to those already
recounted on this page:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-10-12

to 1t. Nevertheless, it has its points
Of interest and / think should be In
cluded.
with regard to the dimensions of
the cantilever structure. l first asked