Fraudulent Spiritualism Unveiled[1]
[1] As to whether communication with the departed is possible, no
discussion is here attempted. The episodes following, from
experiences well authenticated, merely illustrate what sleight-of-
hand experts have long known--that most "mediums," "astrologers,"
"mind readers," and the like, can be proven to be frauds. Their
dupes are puzzled, and sometimes won over, in the name of
Spiritualism, either by the tricks familiar to all "conjurers," or
else by the psychology of deception (see page 280). Some of the
cleverness displayed is marvelous, as the following pages show.
The passages by Hereward Carrington are copyrighted by Herbert B.
Turner & Co., 1907, and those by David P. Abbott are copyrighted by
the Open Court Publishing Company, 1907--EDITOR.
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Adventure Of The Black Fisherman
Everybody knows Black Sam, the old negro fisherman, or, as he is commonly called, "Mud Sam," who has fished about the Sound for the last half century. It is now many years since Sam, who was then as active a young negro as any in the province, an... Adventures In The Secret Service Of The Post-office Department
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A few years ago, the "Hon." John Whimpery Brass, of Georgia, one of the "thoughtful patriots" of the period, who now and then found time to lay aside the cares of statecraft to nurse little private jobs of his own, allured by the seductive offers ... An Astral Onion
WHEN Tig Braddock came to Nora Finnegan he was red-headed and freckled, and, truth to tell, he re- mained with these features to the end of his life -- a life prolonged by a lucky, if somewhat improbable, incident, as you shall hear. Tig had... An Erring Shepherd
The ingenuity and perseverance of the fraternity of swindlers is only equaled by the gullibility and patience of their dupes. During the flush times that followed the war, immense fortunes were suddenly acquired by a class of cheats who operated o... An Heiress From Redhorse
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"Have you studied the case?" "Not I." "Not studied the case which for the last few days has provided the papers with such conspicuous headlines?" "I do not read the papers. I have not looked at one in a whole week." "Miss Strange, your so... An Old Game Revived
On the 18th of September, 1875, a fellow was arrested in West Virginia who sent the victims whom he proposed to bleed letters whereof the following is a copy:-- "A lady who boarded with me died on last Saturday of apoplexy. She left a trunk ... An Uncomfortable Bed
One autumn I went to stay for the hunting season with some friends in a chateau in Picardy. My friends were fond of practical joking, as all my friends are. I do not care to know any other sort of people. When I arrived, they gave me a prince... As Told By Mr Gryce
"In the spring of 1840, the attention of the New York police was attracted by the many cases of well-known men found drowned in the various waters surrounding the lower portion of our great city. Among these may be mentioned the name of Elwood Hende... Bourgonef
I AT A TABLE D'HOTE At the close of February, 1848, I was in Nuremberg. My original intention had been to pass a couple of days there on my way to Munich, that being, I thought, as much time as could reasonably be spared for so small a ci... By The Waters Of Paradise
I I remember my childhood very distinctly. I do not think that the fact argues a good memory, for I have never been clever at learning words by heart, in prose or rhyme; so that I believe my remembrance of events depends much more upon the e... Chan Tow The Highrob
Before me sits the Chinese--my friend who, when the hurlyburly's done, spins me out the hours with narratives of ancient Yellowland. His name is Fuey Fong, and he speaks to me thus: "Missa Gordon, whatta is Chrisinjin Indevil Shoshiety?" I... Deception Explained By The Science Of Psychology
The object [of this passage] is to enable the reader to see, more easily, how it is that the watchful observer is deceived into believing that a thing is so, when in reality it is not, and vice versa; and also to give an idea of the various method... Facing The Arab's Pistol
[The severest trial of all was unexpectedly encountered during a visit paid by the conjurer and his wife to Bou-Allem-ben-Sherifa, Bash-Aga of the Djendel, a tribe of the desert interior.] We entered a small room very elegantly decorated, in w... Fact And Fable In Psychology
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We went up on deck after dinner. Before us the Mediterranean lay without a ripple and shimmering in the moonlight. The great ship glided on, casting upward to the star-studded sky a long serpent of black smoke. Behind us the dazzling white water, ... Fraudulent Spiritualism Unveiled[1]
[1] As to whether communication with the departed is possible, no discussion is here attempted. The episodes following, from experiences well authenticated, merely illustrate what sleight-of- hand experts have long known--that most "mediums," "as... From The Loom Of The Dead
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Just at the time when the _Concordat_ was in its most flourishing condition, a young man belonging to a wealthy and highly respected middle-class family went to the office of the head of the police at P----, and begged for his help and advice, whi... His Last Bow
It was nine o'clock at night upon the second of August--the most terrible August in the history of the world. One might have thought already that God's curse hung heavy over a degenerate world, for there was an awesome hush and a feeling of vag... His Wedded Wife
Cry "Murder!" in the market-place, and each Will turn upon his neighbor anxious eyes That ask:--"Art thou the man?" We hunted Cain Some centuries ago, across the world, That bred the fear our own misdeeds maintain To-day. ... Horror: A True Tale
I was but nineteen years of age when the incident occurred which has thrown a shadow over my life; and, ah me! how many and many a weary year has dragged by since then! Young, happy, and beloved I was in those long-departed days. They said that ... How Spirits Materialize
From "The Revelations of a Spirit Medium"--a book out of existence now, since the plates and all copies were bought up by "spiritualists" and destroyed. The following is given by courtesy of Mr. Hereward Carrington: Reader, have you ever att... How The Tricks Succeeded
When the medium picked up the envelope in which to place my paper, there was within it a duplicate piece of paper folded the same, and of the same size (one inch and a quarter by two inches) as the one I had folded. He kept the face of this envel... Hunted Down
Most of us see some romances in life. In my capacity as Chief Manager of a Life Assurance Office, I think I have within the last thirty years seen more romances than the generality of men, however unpromising the opportunity may, at first... In The House Of Suddhoo
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The next Mystery Story is like no other in these volumes. The editor's defense lies in the plea that Laurence Sterne is not like other writers of English. He is certainly one of the very greatest. Yet nowadays he is generally unknown. His roll... Introduction To Melmoth The Wanderer
Balzac likens the hero of one of his short stories to "Moliere's Don Juan, Goethe's Faust, Byron's Manfred, Maturin's Melmoth--great allegorical figures drawn by the greatest men of genius in Europe." "But what is 'Melmoth'? Why is HE classed a... Introduction To The Corpus Delicti
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_A work (says the author) which performs more than it promises._ Voltaire never heard of a "detective story"; and yet he wrote the first in modern literature, so clever as to be a model for all the others that followed. He describes his h... Jealousy
Zadig's calamities sprung even from his happiness and especially from his merit. He every day conversed with the king and Astarte, his august comfort. The charms of his conversation were greatly heightened by that desire of pleasing, which is to t... Matter Through Matter
There is one very clever "test" that is sometimes performed which would seem to show that something of this sort IS accomplished. It is, however, nothing more than an ingenious trick, and this might be a good time to explain its modus operandi. ... May Day Eve
It was in the spring when I at last found time from the hospital work to visit my friend, the old folk-lorist, in his country isolation, and I rather chuckled to myself, because in my bag I was taking down a book that utterly refuted all his... Melmoth Reconciled
There is a special variety of human nature obtained in the Social Kingdom by a process analogous to that of the gardener's craft in the Vegetable Kingdom, to wit, by the forcing-house--a species of hybrid which can be raised neither from seed nor ...