Speaker 1: How spirits materialize? Reader, have you ever attended a seance
Speaker 1: for full form materialization? Have you ever thought you had
Speaker 1: met your dead relatives spirit at these seances? If you
Speaker 1: have never had the pleasure of attending a seance of
Speaker 1: this phase, you have missed a rare treat. The writer
Speaker 1: has assisted at many a one and will relate to
Speaker 1: you some of the wonderful phenomena occurring at them and
Speaker 1: the means used to produce them. There are hundreds of
Speaker 1: materializing mediums doing business in this country who are swelling
Speaker 1: a good sized bank account. Their business sometimes runs into
Speaker 1: the hundreds of dollars in a single week. This phase
Speaker 1: of mediumship is considered by the spiritualists as the highest
Speaker 1: possible attainment, and if you are a clever full form medium,
Speaker 1: your financial welfare is assured. Many and various are the
Speaker 1: methods employed by the different mediums to produce this phase.
Speaker 1: It is in Boston, New York, and San Francisco that
Speaker 1: it has worked the finest. The full form seances most
Speaker 1: often met with are very simply worked and easy of
Speaker 1: performance by the medium. You are usually given a seat
Speaker 1: and a circle of chairs about the front of a
Speaker 1: cabinet made by hanging heavy curtains across the corner of
Speaker 1: the room. If you are a stranger or one who
Speaker 1: looks or acts as though he would grab the spirits,
Speaker 1: you are seated at the farthest point from the cabinet,
Speaker 1: or if there are two rows of seats, you will
Speaker 1: be given a seat at the back row. I made
Speaker 1: my way to the materializing seance at which my friends
Speaker 1: hoped to materialize. I was admitted to the seance room
Speaker 1: and found about twenty persons already assembled. I was seated
Speaker 1: in the front row of chairs. The cabinet used was
Speaker 1: a closet about six feet long and four feet wide.
Speaker 1: The ceiling of both the room and the cabinet was
Speaker 1: of wood. After a thorough examination had been made of
Speaker 1: the cabinet by all those who cared to do so,
Speaker 1: the sitters were rearranged to suit medium. There were present
Speaker 1: now thirty five persons. The seance room was very large.
Speaker 1: The door had been taken off the closet that served
Speaker 1: as a cabinet, and in its stead were hung heavy curtains.
Speaker 1: The floor of the room was carpeted with a dark carpet,
Speaker 1: as was the cabinet. The light was furnished by a
Speaker 1: lamp placed in a box that was fastened to the
Speaker 1: wall some eight feet from the floor. This box had
Speaker 1: a sliding lid in front, controlled by a cord passing
Speaker 1: into the cabinet. By this means, the spirits could regulate
Speaker 1: the light to suit themselves, without any movement on the
Speaker 1: part of any of those in the seance room being necessary.
Speaker 1: When everything was in readiness, the medium entered the cabinet,
Speaker 1: seated himself and was tied and so secured to his
Speaker 1: chair that it was impossible that he could have any
Speaker 1: use of himself. He was most thoroughly secure to his chair,
Speaker 1: and his chair nailed fast to the floor by passing
Speaker 1: leather straps over the rounds in the side and kneeling
Speaker 1: the ends to the floor. After it was shown to
Speaker 1: the sitters that he was utterly helpless, the curtain was drawn.
Speaker 1: The manager now placed an ordinary kitchen table in front
Speaker 1: of the door of the cabinet, so that it stood
Speaker 1: away from it about two feet. The table contained no drawing.
Speaker 1: On the table was laid writing materials, a guitar, and
Speaker 1: small bell. The manager seated himself close to one side
Speaker 1: of the cabinet entrance and started a large Swiss music box.
Speaker 1: Before it had finished the first air, the lamp was
Speaker 1: shut entirely off, making the room achy dark. An illuminated
Speaker 1: hand and arm was now seen to come from behind
Speaker 1: the curtain and play an accompaniment to the music box
Speaker 1: on the guitar. We could see plainly the movement of
Speaker 1: the hand, arm and fingers as it manipulated the strings
Speaker 1: of the instrument. It did not appear necessary to finger
Speaker 1: the strings on the keyboard, although the air was in
Speaker 1: a key that made it impossible to tune the guitar
Speaker 1: so that an accompaniment could be performed without fingering. However,
Speaker 1: but one hand was visible and it was picking the strings.
Speaker 1: After the tune was finished, the hand left the instrument
Speaker 1: and moved out into the room to the front of
Speaker 1: the table, and from the sound we knew it was
Speaker 1: writing on the tablet that had been placed there. The
Speaker 1: arm was of bluish light and appeared to end just
Speaker 1: above the elbow and to have no connection with the body.
Speaker 1: It finished writing and seemed to float into the cabinet
Speaker 1: near the top. The light was opened, and the manager
Speaker 1: requested those who had tied the medium to examine his
Speaker 1: condition and see if the ropes had been tampered with.
Speaker 1: The examination was made and it was evident that the
Speaker 1: fastenings were undisturbed. The communication was read aloud to those
Speaker 1: present and contain the following quote. We are pleased to
Speaker 1: beat so many seecerts after light and truth here this evening,
Speaker 1: and from the conditions as we sense them, we will
Speaker 1: have a satisfactory and pleasant seance. The way to obtain
Speaker 1: the best results is for each person to maintain a
Speaker 1: passive condition and take what we have to give. You
Speaker 1: may rest assured that our best efforts will be put
Speaker 1: forth to give you entire satisfaction. The control close quote.
Speaker 1: The writing was exactly on the rule of the lines.
Speaker 1: Although written in absolute darkness. The hand and arm, although luminous,
Speaker 1: did not give out a particle of light. The arm
Speaker 1: had been at least five feet from the cabinet opening
Speaker 1: and seven feet from the medium. Surely it was not
Speaker 1: he the message read. The light was again shut down,
Speaker 1: and the music again started. Once more. A hand appeared,
Speaker 1: and floating out to the table again began writing. Of
Speaker 1: a sudden the hand disappeared, and after a few seconds
Speaker 1: I was astonished to feel a hand thrusting a paper
Speaker 1: into my top coat. Pocket. Now appeared two hands, and
Speaker 1: they played an air on the guitar. Now came three,
Speaker 1: then four hands were visible, bright as the day. Two
Speaker 1: of them began writing again, and when they had finished,
Speaker 1: two more sitters with the recipients of sheets of paper.
Speaker 1: Soon the light was opened for an inspection of the cabinet,
Speaker 1: which was made with the conclusion that the medium had
Speaker 1: not moved. Those of us receiving communications were afforded an
Speaker 1: opportunity to read them. We found them nicely written as before,
Speaker 1: and all contained tests. After the light went out again,
Speaker 1: more hands were seen. The table was floated about over
Speaker 1: the heads of the circle, as was the music box,
Speaker 1: which weighed at least fifty pounds. Another examination of the
Speaker 1: cabinet was made, and everything found satisfactory. This time the
Speaker 1: light was not put entirely out, but a very dim
Speaker 1: light was allowed. The music box was again set playing,
Speaker 1: and while yet it was played the first tune, a
Speaker 1: tall figure robed in creamy white, with gleaming sparks in
Speaker 1: her hair and on her head a sort of crown
Speaker 1: issued from the cabinet. She was recognized by a gentleman present,
Speaker 1: a spiritualist, whose spirit guide she was and who addressed
Speaker 1: her as my queen. She stood a few seconds behind
Speaker 1: the table, and then stepped out in the open space
Speaker 1: between the sitters and the table. The gentleman now arose
Speaker 1: from his seat, and standing beside her, holding her hand,
Speaker 1: conversed in a whisper with her for some seconds. This
Speaker 1: was most assuredly a lady if appearisons go for anything.
Speaker 1: Her hands were quite small and were warm and lifelike,
Speaker 1: as several including myself, can testify, having been permitted to
Speaker 1: shake hands with her. At last she started to the cabinet,
Speaker 1: and as she went appeared to grow shorter, until as
Speaker 1: she disappeared between the curtains, she was not much taller
Speaker 1: than the table. The manner now explained that the spirit
Speaker 1: had remained out rather too long and came near dematerializing
Speaker 1: before she reached the cabinet. Now came the spirit of
Speaker 1: a young man dressed in a light suit of clothes,
Speaker 1: who gave his name and said his mother was present.
Speaker 1: She was, and had a few words of conversation with him.
Speaker 1: When he disappeared into the cabinet. The lady said that
Speaker 1: it was unmistakably her son, but there was something that
Speaker 1: was not as he had been but what it was
Speaker 1: she was unable to describe. The next spirit to present
Speaker 1: itself was my son Eddie. He came out from the cabinet,
Speaker 1: calling Papa, Papa. The manager asked, who is your papa,
Speaker 1: and he replied mister Smith. All this time he stood
Speaker 1: between the table and the cabinet, and only his head
Speaker 1: and shoulders could be seen. The manager told him to
Speaker 1: step out where he could be seen. When he came
Speaker 1: round to the front of the table, it was rather dark,
Speaker 1: but I could swear it was my son. He was
Speaker 1: just the right size, with long flaxen hair and a
Speaker 1: very pale face. He wore a light colored waist and
Speaker 1: darker knee breeches and stockings, with a large black bow
Speaker 1: at his throat, just as I remembered seeing him last
Speaker 1: in health. While Eddie was still standing in front of
Speaker 1: the table, a large man came out and shook him
Speaker 1: by the hand. Eddie spoke, saying, must I go back? Grandpa?
Speaker 1: The farm turned toward me, saying, my son, this is
Speaker 1: a great pleasure to us, but we must not long remain,
Speaker 1: as it is our first attempt at materializing. He turned
Speaker 1: to go when the manager said to him, if the gentleman,
Speaker 1: is your son, you are to give him your name.
Speaker 1: The name of the child is Eddie. In my own
Speaker 1: is j a smith, replied the farm. As they vanished
Speaker 1: into the cabinet, the manager suggested that it would be
Speaker 1: well to examine and see whether the medium had been
Speaker 1: out or not. The cabinet was examined, and everything found satisfactory.
Speaker 1: Spirit after spirit came from the cabinet, one or two
Speaker 1: at a time for an hour. Some of them came
Speaker 1: to friends, and others were controls of the medium. Many
Speaker 1: of them were recognized by different ones of the sitters
Speaker 1: in the room. I, for one, could swear to the
Speaker 1: identity of my own son, Eddie, while my father was
Speaker 1: plainly recognizable. The room was again made dark. Suddenly there
Speaker 1: appeared on the floor in front of the table a
Speaker 1: light about as large as a baseball. It moved about
Speaker 1: in a circle of perhaps a foot in diameter and
Speaker 1: grew larger. It soon lost the shape of a ball
Speaker 1: and appeared to be a luminous cloud. Seemingly we could
Speaker 1: see into and through it. In the course of thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: it had become as large as a six year old child.
Speaker 1: Still there was no definite shape, only a fleecy cloud
Speaker 1: like mass, turning, twisting and rolling. At the end of
Speaker 1: perhaps a minute, it was the size and shape of
Speaker 1: an adult person. The face could not be seen, but
Speaker 1: light luminous spots visible, as though the hairs and ears
Speaker 1: were decorated with gems. The shape spoke and requested light.
Speaker 1: As the light was turned on, the luminousness disappeared, and
Speaker 1: we beheld a beautiful young lady clothed in a dazzling
Speaker 1: white costume. Her arms and shoulders were bare, and about
Speaker 1: her neck there was a necklace of what appeared to
Speaker 1: be very brilliant diamonds. Her feet were encased in white
Speaker 1: slippers with straps across the inn step in. Her ears
Speaker 1: and hair glistened and shimmered beautiful diamonds. Her face and
Speaker 1: arms were as alabaster, and altogether she was one of
Speaker 1: the most beautiful women I had ever beheld. She was
Speaker 1: recognized by a lady and gentlemen present as their daughter.
Speaker 1: They had met her here before. They were from the
Speaker 1: east and were wealthy. The spirit requested that they come
Speaker 1: to her, which they did, and were each kissed and
Speaker 1: embraced by it. They held a moment's conversation with her
Speaker 1: and resumed their seats. When the lamp was slowly turned down.
Speaker 1: As the light became dim, the spirit became luminous, The
Speaker 1: face and arms disappeared, and the body became as a cloud, again,
Speaker 1: turning and twisting and growing smaller, until it was nothing
Speaker 1: but a small light spot on the carpet, which of
Speaker 1: a sudden disappeared entirely. Immediately after this manifestation, an examination
Speaker 1: of the medium and cabinet was made, and it was
Speaker 1: certain the medium had not been away from his chair.
Speaker 1: The light was again turned out and the music box started.
Speaker 1: When two bright spots appeared on the carpet, one at
Speaker 1: either end of the table. These went through the same
Speaker 1: process of development, until when the light was turned on
Speaker 1: there was another beautiful female spirit at one end of
Speaker 1: the table, and a child of perhaps eight years of
Speaker 1: age at the other. The child was recognized by a
Speaker 1: lady present as her daughter, while the adult spirit was
Speaker 1: recognized and rapturously greeted by a gentleman who sat near
Speaker 1: me on my left as his darling angel Guardian. They
Speaker 1: had quite a long conversation in which they made use
Speaker 1: of very endearing language, each to the other. I supposed
Speaker 1: it was the gentleman's wife. The spirits did not disappear
Speaker 1: as the first one had, but when the light had
Speaker 1: been turned off, the luminous shape revolved a few times,
Speaker 1: and on two occasions assumed the garb in shape of men.
Speaker 1: And when the light was turned on again there stood
Speaker 1: the men with beards and men's forms. After some eight
Speaker 1: or ten of these materializations and d materializations before our eyes,
Speaker 1: the last couple completely disappeared. The light was again turned down,
Speaker 1: and a luminous shape came from the cabinet, followed by others,
Speaker 1: until seven of them stood on the floor. The light
Speaker 1: was turned up until we could see the seven spirits.
Speaker 1: Five were females and two males. They were of different sizes.
Speaker 1: The curtain at the door of the cabinet had been
Speaker 1: pulled aside, and we could see the medium sitting in
Speaker 1: the chair in which he was bound. The farms now
Speaker 1: filed into the cabinet again while the music box played.
Speaker 1: After they had disappeared, the light was turned up, an
Speaker 1: investigation made of the cabinet, and the seance was over.
Speaker 1: Their reader is a truthful description of what can be
Speaker 1: witnessed at the seances of mediums who are artists. None
Speaker 1: of your bungling amateur work here. The work of such
Speaker 1: a medium is always satisfactory, for the reason that if
Speaker 1: a man feels sure that the medium is a fraud,
Speaker 1: he has been so well entertained that he does not
Speaker 1: regret the money paid for the opportunity to witness him.
Speaker 1: This is the class of medium also, who frequently succeed
Speaker 1: in getting large sums of money from wealthy persons they
Speaker 1: have converted to spiritualism. Did the writer not give you
Speaker 1: the true explanation of the matter in which these things
Speaker 1: were produced, You would probably say it was conceived by
Speaker 1: a very fertile imagination. If you believed that he saw
Speaker 1: these things, you perhaps offer the preacher's explanation by saying
Speaker 1: it is the work of the devil, or that of
Speaker 1: the scientists by asserting that it is the mesmerist power
Speaker 1: over your mind, or the operator has discovered an odd
Speaker 1: force in nature, or go off on a long dissertation
Speaker 1: on hypnotism and fourth dimension of space problems. However, it
Speaker 1: is not the work of the devil, neither are there
Speaker 1: any but natural laws necessary to its production. The seance
Speaker 1: described actually occurred and was described in writing by mister
Speaker 1: smith in the language used, although it was not printed,
Speaker 1: and the writer was one of those who assisted in
Speaker 1: its production. We will now proceed to explain this particular seance.
Speaker 1: It will be remembered that the room and cabinet were
Speaker 1: carpeted with a dark carpet, and that the ceilings were
Speaker 1: of wood. The ceilings were decorated by being put on
Speaker 1: in panels. The ceilings of the cabinet would not have
Speaker 1: been like those of the room had the closet been
Speaker 1: a part of the architect's plans of the house. It
Speaker 1: was not, but was made by the medium. He simply
Speaker 1: built a lath and plaster partition from the corner of
Speaker 1: a wide chimney to the wall, thus enclosing a space
Speaker 1: of six by four feet. The panel in the ceiling
Speaker 1: of the closet was twenty inches square. This panel was
Speaker 1: doctored and could be displaced, leaving an aperture large enough
Speaker 1: for the spooks to get through with perfect ease. A
Speaker 1: light ladder, which reached within three feet of the floor
Speaker 1: of the cabinet, was hooked fast above and furnished the
Speaker 1: means of getting down and up again. There were eight
Speaker 1: persons connected with the sails described by mister Smith seven upstairs,
Speaker 1: and the medium in the cabinet. Of course, it was
Speaker 1: not necessary that the medium get out of his fastenings,
Speaker 1: and the facts are that he did not. The table
Speaker 1: was placed across the cabinet door, not to lay the
Speaker 1: instruments on, but to be very much in the way
Speaker 1: should anyone make a rush and grab for the materialized forms.
Speaker 1: In case this occurred, the spooks above would close the light,
Speaker 1: making the room perfectly dark, and the manager would do
Speaker 1: his utmost to turn the table on end or side
Speaker 1: with the legs out in the room. Before the grabber
Speaker 1: could get the lay of things and get past it.
Speaker 1: The spooks would have gone through the trap, closed it,
Speaker 1: pulled up the ladder, and the grabber would have found
Speaker 1: the medium writhing and groaning and bleeding from the mouth.
Speaker 1: The bleeding was for effect and was caused by sucking
Speaker 1: very hard on his teeth and gums. The table also
Speaker 1: served a convenient purpose in the materialization and de materialization
Speaker 1: through the floor. You now know where the spooks came
Speaker 1: from in this particular house, and how they got in
Speaker 1: and out. Now let us see how they managed the
Speaker 1: materializations and the properties used to produce them. The trap
Speaker 1: and ladder were practically noiseless in their operations, but the
Speaker 1: music box made assurance doubly sure that the least sound
Speaker 1: from the cabinet should not be heard in the seance room.
Speaker 1: When the box began its first air, the trap door
Speaker 1: was opened, and down the ladder came a young man
Speaker 1: clad in a suit of black tights. He was entirely
Speaker 1: covered with black, with the exception of his right arm,
Speaker 1: which was bare to a point a little more than
Speaker 1: half way from the elbow to his shoulder. The bare
Speaker 1: arm glowed with a luminous bluish light. This condition of
Speaker 1: things was brought about by powdering his arm with pulverized
Speaker 1: luminous paint. If you are not told the method of
Speaker 1: transforming the sticky paint to powder, you will not be
Speaker 1: able to do it, and will conclude the rider was romancing.
Speaker 1: In this case, the most essential thing to you will
Speaker 1: be to know where you can procure this paint. The
Speaker 1: rider has been unable to procure it anywhere except of
Speaker 1: a devout and company of New York City. It is
Speaker 1: put up in a package resembling six ounce jelly glasses,
Speaker 1: and you will get six of them for five dollars
Speaker 1: in order to reduce it to powder. Thin the contents
Speaker 1: of one of the glo glasses with one pint of turpentine.
Speaker 1: When it is thoroughly cut and incorporated into the turpentine,
Speaker 1: soak strips of muslim in it and hang them out
Speaker 1: to dry. When thoroughly dry, you can shake the powder
Speaker 1: from the cloth. In order to powder one of your arms,
Speaker 1: gather one of the cloths in your hands and use
Speaker 1: it as a powder puff on your arm. You will
Speaker 1: not be able to get all the paint out, but
Speaker 1: the pieces will make luminous crowns, slippers, stars, and luminous
Speaker 1: decorations for your robes. You will be under the necessity
Speaker 1: of perfuming your robes each time they are used, for
Speaker 1: the odor of the turpentine will always remain to a
Speaker 1: greater or lesser degree. To illuminate a robe or costume,
Speaker 1: the mediums always say robe. You proceed the same as
Speaker 1: in the powdering process, except add to the pint of paint.
Speaker 1: You will add a wine glassful of damar varnish, which
Speaker 1: will prevent its falling or being shaken off as powder.
Speaker 1: You are not to make the robe of muslin, but
Speaker 1: of white netting. Every lady will know what netting is.
Speaker 1: It is the lightest, thinnest material the writer ever sold
Speaker 1: in a dry good store. Ten yards of it can
Speaker 1: be put into your vest pocket. Do not scrimp the material,
Speaker 1: but get as much of it into your robe as possible.
Speaker 1: When he of the luminous arm steps from the cabinet
Speaker 1: into the dark room, no part of him is visible
Speaker 1: save the arm. He picks the strings of the instrument
Speaker 1: with the illuminated hand and fingers the keyboard with the other.
Speaker 1: He makes the sound of writing on the tablet and
Speaker 1: tears off a leaf, which he conceals, and, drawing a
Speaker 1: long black stocking over the luminous arm, places in the
Speaker 1: pocket of the sitter a communication that has been written
Speaker 1: upstairs in good light. This accounts for the even beautiful
Speaker 1: writing supposed to have been done in the dark. He
Speaker 1: covers the luminous arm so that anyone so inclined could
Speaker 1: not locate it in arder to grab when he is
Speaker 1: near enough. By mounting the table, that luminous hand and
Speaker 1: arm can be made to show as though it was
Speaker 1: floating about near the ceiling. When four hands were visible,
Speaker 1: there were two spooks at work with two arms illuminated,
Speaker 1: you can readily understand the forces that floated the music
Speaker 1: box and table above the heads of the sitters, and
Speaker 1: then explanation is useless. When the first female spirit appeared,
Speaker 1: it was in reality a young woman dressed in a
Speaker 1: gargious white costume without paint. Hence the light was turned
Speaker 1: up instead of down in order that she be visible.
Speaker 1: Rhinestones and sumatra gems being cheap, she was plentifully supplied
Speaker 1: with diamonds. Although many of those who are the queens
Speaker 1: are spirit guides of controls of wealthy spiritualists, fanatics wear
Speaker 1: real diamonds the gift of their wealthy charge are King,
Speaker 1: as they usually call him. When she started for the cabinet,
Speaker 1: she used her hands to keep her robe from under
Speaker 1: her feet, and as she went stooped lower and lower,
Speaker 1: until as she disappeared in the cabinet, she went on
Speaker 1: her hands and knees. This is what caused the appearance
Speaker 1: of de materialization. When mister Smith's son Eddie came from
Speaker 1: the cabinet, he was represented by a boy of about
Speaker 1: eight years of age, the son of one of the
Speaker 1: female spooks upstairs. He receives two dollars a night for
Speaker 1: his services, the same as the largest spooks. He was
Speaker 1: powdered until he was very white, a blonde wig put
Speaker 1: over his brown hair, and dressed as most boys are
Speaker 1: at the age mister Smith's son died. Mister Smith recognized
Speaker 1: him by his size, his light complexion, and flaxen hair,
Speaker 1: and the fact that he called him Papa and gave
Speaker 1: his correct name. His father was made up from the
Speaker 1: description given by the medium and acknowledged by mister Smith
Speaker 1: as correct. Of course, he knew his own name, for
Speaker 1: it was given him by the slate writer. We now
Speaker 1: come to a part of the phenomena that all spiritualists
Speaker 1: who have witnessed it will swear by. What is referred
Speaker 1: to is the materializing and de materializing of the spirit
Speaker 1: from the floor and before your eyes. In this you
Speaker 1: see first a small light which grows larger and larger,
Speaker 1: until there stands before you a fully formed female or
Speaker 1: male spirit, as was described in mister Smith's experience. In
Speaker 1: order to accomplish what he witnessed, the same spook, who
Speaker 1: had before been recognized by a gentleman as his queen,
Speaker 1: prepared herself in the following way, divesting herself of all clothing.
Speaker 1: She donned a simple long chemise that reached her shoe tops.
Speaker 1: She drew on a pair of white stockings and over
Speaker 1: them a pair of white slippers. Into her hair and ear,
Speaker 1: she put rhinestone diamonds, and around her neck a necklace
Speaker 1: of the same beautiful but valueless stones. On each year
Speaker 1: lobe and around her neck were put small spots of
Speaker 1: the luminous powder to represent the diamonds. While it was dark,
Speaker 1: her face was powdered and her eyebrows and eyelashes darkened,
Speaker 1: while a dark line was drawn under each eye. She
Speaker 1: now took a black mask that covered her head and
Speaker 1: her robe in her hands, and went down to the cabinet.
Speaker 1: Arriving there, she put the black mask over her head
Speaker 1: to prevent the luminous diamonds being seen until the proper time.
Speaker 1: She carried her robe in a black bag. Crawling from
Speaker 1: between the curtains and under the table, she exposed on
Speaker 1: the floor a small part of her robe. This she
Speaker 1: shook and moved about, allowing it to escape from the
Speaker 1: bag until it was all out. She was now from
Speaker 1: under the table and on her knees, and it was
Speaker 1: time the head show on the farm. So getting close
Speaker 1: to the robe, she threw off and under the table
Speaker 1: the black mask. The shape was now the size of
Speaker 1: an adult. She adjusted the robe to her person and
Speaker 1: rapped for light. As a matter of course, when any
Speaker 1: light was made, the luminousness of robe was drowned, and
Speaker 1: she appeared in simply a white costume. The necklace and
Speaker 1: ear drops could now be seen, but when the light
Speaker 1: was such as to reveal them, the loos when of
Speaker 1: spots had disappeared, leaving the spectator to think the ones
Speaker 1: he now saw were the ones he had seen in
Speaker 1: the dark. The process of de materialization will now be apparent,
Speaker 1: and the description will only tire the reader. One small
Speaker 1: spook was all that was required, as he could be
Speaker 1: made to represent boy or a girl as was desired
Speaker 1: by clothing him in the garments of Edith's sex. At
Speaker 1: the close of the seance, the full force of spooks
Speaker 1: came into the room. After disappearing, they shinnied up the ladder,
Speaker 1: drew it after them, closed the panel and the trap
Speaker 1: in the floor above it, replaced the carpet and pushed
Speaker 1: over the place a heavy bedstead, from which they took
Speaker 1: the castors. They now carried the letter downstairs and concealed
Speaker 1: it in the coal house as they went through it
Speaker 1: on their way home. They will get their pay next day.
Speaker 1: Should ever so close an examination of the cabinet be made,
Speaker 1: you could not find anything wrong. This particular medium has
Speaker 1: taken investigators into the cellar beneath the cabinet and the
Speaker 1: room above it scores of times, yet nothing was discovered.
Speaker 1: You are not always to search for the trap of
Speaker 1: the ceiling, nor yet in the floor. A trap is
Speaker 1: not possible in the ceiling, except a closet is used
Speaker 1: as cabinet and the ceiling is of wood. Where this
Speaker 1: condition of things does not exist, you must search elsewhere.
Speaker 1: The floor is a very likely place when it cannot
Speaker 1: be made in the ceiling. If you do not find
Speaker 1: it there, examine the base or mop board. If it
Speaker 1: is in the mop board, you will find upon examination
Speaker 1: that there is a joint in it near the corner
Speaker 1: of the cabinet. But you will find it solidly nailed,
Speaker 1: with about four nails each side of the joint. This
Speaker 1: appearance of extraordinary solidity will be absolute proof that it
Speaker 1: is not solid. The nails are not what they appear,
Speaker 1: but are only pieces about one half inch in length
Speaker 1: and do not even go through the board. The piece
Speaker 1: is fastened on the other side with a couple of
Speaker 1: bolts that hold it very firmly in place. There is
Speaker 1: a corresponding opening in the mop board in the next room,
Speaker 1: although no attempt is made to so carefully conceal it,
Speaker 1: as no one is ever admitted to it. Through this trap,
Speaker 1: the spooks into the cabinet by crawling and wiggling. It
Speaker 1: is not a very desirable trap, for the mop board
Speaker 1: is scarcely ever wide enough to permit of a trap
Speaker 1: that the spook could get through in a hurry. Besides,
Speaker 1: they must assume their costumes after they get into the
Speaker 1: cabinet or tear them to pieces. You can see how
Speaker 1: this would make it very inconvenient. If the room is wainscotted,
Speaker 1: the spook will have all the sea room necessary in
Speaker 1: his trap, for it will extend from just below the
Speaker 1: molding on the top of the wainscotting to the floor
Speaker 1: behind the strip of quarter round. It is next to
Speaker 1: an impossibility to detect these traps by examining in the cabinet.
Speaker 1: They were constructed to avoid discovery, and no pain spared
Speaker 1: to make them so absolutely perfect that not one chance
Speaker 1: in a million is taken. The proper place to seek
Speaker 1: for traps is in the adjoining room, upstairs, or in
Speaker 1: the cellar. One is foolish to undertake to find a
Speaker 1: trap by thumping the walls or floor, for if you
Speaker 1: happen to thump one, the medium who is smart enough
Speaker 1: to make use of a trap is also sharp enough
Speaker 1: to make provision for its being thumped, and your sounding
Speaker 1: method goes for nought. Bear in mind that when you
Speaker 1: are examining the cabinet, you are seeking at the very
Speaker 1: place that is prepared most effectively to withstand your investigations.
Speaker 1: Do not forget the manager in your search. He or
Speaker 1: she is never searched, or never has been up to date,
Speaker 1: which has been the cause of many a failure to
Speaker 1: find the properties of the medium. When the sales was
Speaker 1: given in a room and cabinet furnished by a stranger
Speaker 1: and skeptic, do not be deceived into a belief that
Speaker 1: all of the sitters are strangers to the medium. There
Speaker 1: may be one to five persons present who pay their
Speaker 1: money the same as yourself, and who may appear to
Speaker 1: be the most skied gyptical of anyone in the room.
Speaker 1: They will generally be the recipients of some very elegant tests,
Speaker 1: and weep copiously great grief fladen tears when they recognize
Speaker 1: the beloved features of some relative. They are the most
Speaker 1: careful of investigators, and when the medium's trap is located
Speaker 1: in the door, jam will pound the walls and insists
Speaker 1: on the carpet being taken up. When they will get
Speaker 1: upon their hands and knees and make a most searching
Speaker 1: examination of the floor. They are the closest and most
Speaker 1: critical of the investigators, but they are very careful to
Speaker 1: examine everywhere except where the defect is located. Because one
Speaker 1: or two men seem to be making such a critical investigation,
Speaker 1: do not allow that fact to prevent you making one
Speaker 1: on your own responsibility. Wait until they have finished, and
Speaker 1: then examine not only where they did, but more particularly
Speaker 1: where they did not. Their examination is only for the
Speaker 1: purpose of misleading others. Their tests are received in a
Speaker 1: way to cause those about them to think they admit
Speaker 1: them very unwillingly, are because they were so undeniable that
Speaker 1: they could do nothing else. A great many will probably
Speaker 1: deny that confederates are ever employed. They are not by
Speaker 1: mediums who are not smooth enough to produce that which
Speaker 1: appears so wonderful as to make a good business for them.
Speaker 1: The writer could advise those mediums who give such rank
Speaker 1: seances to employ a few floor workers they are easily obtained,
Speaker 1: and see what a difference it would make in the
Speaker 1: amount of business they will do. Get good ones those
Speaker 1: who know human nature and know when they have said
Speaker 1: all that is necessary. Most of them are inclined to
Speaker 1: say too much, thus causing the ordinary man to suspect
Speaker 1: that they are confederates.