Evening star., 1924-07-06
Houdini Says One Medium
Was Able to Deceive Him
ny HARRY HoUDINT.

ny HARRY HoUDINT.
] HAVE bean frequently asked
whether at any time anything
has happened in my life that
would cause me to believe that it
il possible to communicate with the
dead must admit that at one time
I was completely satisfied that the
dead could come back. or that some
invisible intelligence was present and
that the medium, DR.. GreEorowitsch,
was = -psychic.- capable Of COM
municating with disembodied spirits.
1t must be borne in mind that the
mere fact Of . scientist having delved
for years in particular channels does
not necessarily qualify him to be an
Investigator in psychic phenomena.
Personally. I would prefer q high
grade detective at q seance- And if
you look up the records, you will find
that the majority Of fraudulent medi-
ums have been exposed by newspaper
reporters, who were willing to risk
being beaten up to expose the fraud.
In my collection Of clippings and re-
ports / must have at least a hun
dred instances where some enterpris-
ing cub grabbed the medium as the
materialized form was leaving the
cabinet.
to investigate fraud mediums, as
theirs is An entirely different field of
mystifcations-iust as q professional
gambler. il he is adroit. can easily
best = card trick magician
I have been fortunate in opportu-
mites to make studies in all branches
Of mystery. Some quite ordinary
things are frequently looked upon by
si,ewd. well educated people IS mar
yelous mysteries.
The one instance where was
really fooled was in Milwaukee, Wis,
in 1882.
l was filling an engagement there
at Gregory's Museum, when noticed
peculiar looking chap continuously
watching my performance. We struck
up an acquaintance. He is the only
human being who ever fooled me COM
pletely. as far as spiritualistic phe-
nomena went-Dr. Josef Gresoro-
witsch, a native of Munich. Bavaria.
He took fancy to me. taught
him few sleightof-hand tricks, as
he was at that time giving demon
! strations Of faith healing. hypnotism,
spiritualistic healinEs, as we'll as ma
terializations-in fact, he went through
the entire category Of metaphysical
mystery.
accompanied him to a number of
seances- One, in particular, I will
| never forget. A sick lady was sup
posed to be on her dying bed, and,
at dark circle" in her bedroom,
DR.. Gregorowitsch invoked the spirits,
who brought her medicine in . glass,
which was held in the air for that
purpose.
I was greatly impressed, and on
my asking the doctor if it was genu-
inc. he replied that only my youth
would make him forgive such a ques-
tion, and that if 1 wished he would
give me private demonstration and
bring back the spirits.
1 readily consented to be a COM
mittee, and he advised me to bring
along surgeons plaster, bandages.
nails ring. needle ard thread. and
he would allow me to bind him in
such q manner that 1t would be i'm
possible for him to move, neverthe-
less we would get manifestations.
went to his home, armed with all
the paraphernalia. One thing that
made an impression on mo was the
fact that he lived with his aunt, al
most next door to police headquar-
ters. ! thought surely q man who
lived so near police headquarters
must be honest
together. sewed the knots. put the
surgeons plaster over everything. I
tied his neck up against the back OF
the board. the banda&es running
| through a ring which I had nailed
there myself. and tied his feet to the
chair. I did not think he could move
in fact. l was positive he couldn't.
drew the curtains to exclude the
light, and pretty soon heard the
tambourines banging. We had no
bell, but he substituted 4 cup and
saucer anu opVVhp ~hACu p1&EcQ
close to him on another chair. and
the spirits answered communications
one rap for yes" and two for mo-"
Twill never forget my feelings. and
how weird 1t all seemed to me. Here
was . man tied in the dark room, Sc
eurely, up against q board knew,
because / had brought my own para
nh.1naIia and tied him myself-and 7
actually felt the presence OF spirits
In the room.
That days experience enables me
| TO understand how credulous people
feel at a seance when they imagine
that the disembodied spirit Of some
beloved relative. or some ancestral
John King. who has been dead q.
couple Of hundred years comes aloi 3
for thsir edihcation. tells them that
he II vsey happy and Is protecting
them.