Crutl) aim jf acts pertaining to — ptrttualtem % jFrances Heeb TRUTH and FACTS Pertaining to Spiritualism By J. Frances Reed 1911 H- c\ **V ) . CLA30003; Tvo l . INDEX. Introduction 7 Preface 9 Spiritualism — Its Origin and Its Curses . 11 Spirit Rappings 15 Trance Mediums 18 Clairvoyance and Clairaudiance 20 Keeler 's Test Seance 24 How They Secure Their Information, or The Medium's Dope Book 27 An Extract From a Medium's Dope Book 30 Message and Ballot Test or Seance 33 Materialization 37 Trumpet Seance 46 Slate Writings 53 Magnetic Healing 59 Spirit Paintings 61 Philosophy of Spiritualism 63 Spiritualism as a Religion 67 Experiences of the Author 71 How the Author Gave a Seance Under a Severe Test 77 Closing Remarks by the Author 89 INTRODUCTION. This book is a guide to all physical demon- strations performed by all the leading medi- ums of the world, and by following closely the instructions in this book, you will be- come acquainted with the facts pertaining to all physical demonstrations as performed by these so-called mediums, and by a little practice, plenty of nerve and very little con- science you will be capable of performing these same manifestations, some of which the reader will find so simple that it seems almost impossible that the public can be so easily fooled. This book is a complete expose of medi- umship as practiced by THE FOX SISTERS, HOWE, SLADE, KEELER, EVANS, MOORE, JOHNSON, KELLOGG, REYNOLDS, CARROLL, KELLAR and many others of equal fame. The author challenges any of the above so-called mediums to produce any physical demonstration which is not produced by human agency and which the author will produce under the same conditions. This challenge is also open to any so-called me- dium of the world. PREFACE. In presenting this book to the world the author wishes to atone for the many wrongs he has practiced upon the public; and it is my desire to expose to the world the under- handed methods that are used by these so- called mediums. The author sincerely hopes that this book will enlighten the world as to these mystify- ing demonstrations, and sincerely hopes that it will be a benefit to all mankind seek- ing the truth of Spiritualism. THE AUTHOR. SPIRITUALISM— ITS ORIGIN AND ITS CURSES. In the year 1848 the world was astonished by the claims made by the FOX SISTERS of Rochester, N. Y., that they were able by a new-found power to communicate with the SPIRIT WORLD by the method of spirit rappings. Since that time numerous seem- ingly mysterious physiological occurrences and supernatural incidents of wizard mani- festations have taken place, and as it is an undeniable fact that every ordinary mind is superstitious and craves for something as- tounding and mystifying, is it any wonder that Spiritualism is gaining favor every year, as they claim they prove beyond a doubt of life beyond the grave? You will find among their ranks college professors, students, scientists and some of the highest men of intellect. It may seem astonishing that these bright men could be so easily 12 TEUTH AND FACTS fooled and converted to spiritualism, but the more progressive the individual, the more readily he adapts himself to solve some mystery, and if he is unsuccessful in solving same, he is ready to accept it for the truth; hence it is easier to fool a wise man than it is to fool a fool, and today there is through- out the world many of these so-called medi- ums who are imposing on the public — some of them who are so low and degrading that they will employ any means to take advan- tage of you. The author knows of several incidents where people have lost all of their earthly possessions through these arch- grafters. Many a widow has lost her home, thinking she was taking the advice of her departed husband in making an investment, while this advice was only the advice of the medium, who would derive the benefit of her misfortune. Many happy couples have been separated and many minds have been weak- ened through this so-called ' ' religion. ' ' The author has never taken more than a normal fee for his services, and the only wrong that he has ever done was to practice these PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 13 phases of mediumship upon the public, which he is making amends for now. These mediums will tell you that they can reveal the future, give you advice in regards to investments, find hidden treasures, ad- vise you in love affairs or anything else that the public wishes to pay for. Some of them claim to heal and cure the sick and do many other miraculous feats. They tell you by the most convincing argument at their com- mand that nothing dies and that the spirit merely leaves the body and that through their wonderful mediumship they can bring back these disembodied spirits on the earth plane again in material form if given the proper conditions — conditions being a word used by all mediums to overcome all obstacles that might prevent them from demonstrating their wonderful power, and if you should ask one of these so-called medi- ums why it requires darkness or semi-light to get the desired results, he will very read- ily tell you that everything grows in the dark. They will also tell you it is for this same reason that a photographer has to de- 14 TRUTH AND FACTS velop his plates in the dark, and that it re- quires conditions to produce any and all things. This being very logical, the medium always has at his command an excuse for any test that would prohibit him from show- ing his marvelous powers, and the reader will see on the following pages what a great factor these conditions are. They will tell you that those who understand the laws and control the means are able to give these demonstrations. This is quite true, gentle reader, and that is the object of this book, which will show you the laws and how to control the means as controlled by these fakirs. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 15 SPIRIT RAPPINGS. Starting with the first of these physical demonstrations, which was the Fox Sisters' manifestation, the author will explain the methods used by them to produce these raps. They used an ordinary dining-room or par- lor table in what was known as their " rap- ping seance." There are several ways of producing these raps. Probably the most convenient way is to place the heel of your shoe against the leg of the table and by a downward motion you will be able to pro- duce at your command any number of raps you may desire, and by a little practice you will be able to produce these raps to the satisfaction of your sitters that they come from the center of the table, and as wood is conductor for all sounds, the sitters natur- ally think that these rappings come from the center of the table. Another way of producing these rappings 16 TEUTH AND FACTS is by one's knee joints, which many people can throw out of joint at their will, and by placing their knee firmly against the leg of the table and twisting the lower portion of their foot, it becomes quite easy after a lit- tle practice to convey these sounds through the table. This method also makes a very convincing test. Another method of pro- ducing these raps is by the finger tips, and is accomplished in this manner: First, having the ends of the fingers perfectly dry, then placing the end of the finger upon the table, and by giving a hard downward pressure of the arm, the finger will slip upon the wood and produce these raps. The latter way can only be accomplished when there is no cloth on the table, and it was through these sim- ple methods that they claimed to communi- cate with the spirit world. In order to re- ceive these so-called messages, they made an alphabet upon a sheet of paper or slate. They would then lay the alphabet on the table and use a pencil to point to the letters, beginning in rotation from a to z, and when the pencil was upon the letter that the spirit PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 17 wished to use, it would rap upon the table and they would repeat this performance un- til a name was spelled or a message was re- ceived from the supposed departed friend. In asking questions of these all-wise spirits they would use a much more simpli- fied method, namely, one rap meaning "no;" two raps meaning "yes," and three raps meaning "I don't know;" and it is with these simple demonstrations that the Fox sisters startled the world, and yet this man- ifestation is so simple that it is almost laughable to think that the public could be beguiled into believing that these raps came from an unseen and supernatural power. And from that time on different phases of mediumship and manifestations have been originated and introduced to the public. 18 TRUTH AND FACTS TRANCE MEDIUMS. These mediums claim that they are con- trolled by spirits and that they are in a semi- conscious state and do not know what they are doing, when under this influence. These mediums do all of the talking, claiming that the dear spirits take control of their vocal organs, and through them the spirits are able to deliver their messages. They close their eyes and then sit very rigid and by bringing all of their muscles to a tension, exerting all of their nervous energy, see, or imagine that they see, or hear these mes- sages; and under this nervous strain, some of them believe that they are really con- trolled by some spirit's power. They are a good deal like the boy that told a lie so often that he believed it himself. Have you ever closed your eyes in a dark room, when your mind was in a passive state, and allowing your imagination to run PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 19 to its full limit, seen many beautiful moun- tains, rivers, faces and a great many imag- inary things that will appear before your closed optics? This class of fakirs gener- ally start by sitting in circles after some medium has told them that they are pos- sessed of mediumistic powers. They are told by the medium or the medium's spirits that they must sit in their own home in a dark room and they will soon develop their phase of mediumship, and after sitting for a few months or years, as they have been told, and not getting the desired results, they be- gin to fake like the rest of them; but in some rare cases, where people have a large imag- inary vision, they actually fool themselves into believing that they are really controlled by spirit power. Clairvoyancy, from begin- ning to end, is nothing more than imaginary, and those that wish to be classed as medi- ums adopt this simple, unconvincing phase of mediumship. 20 TRUTH AND PACTS CLAIRVOYANCE AND CLAIRAUDI- ANCE. These phases of mediumship are practiced by a class of mediums that are unable to perform the more complicated phases of so- called mediumship. The word "Clairvoy- ance" means seeing, or an insight to the spirit world. The mediums practicing this phase claim that through this wonderful power of second sight they are able to see and describe these disembodied spirits, and also to receive messages by signs and sym- bols, and to see transpiring events, and that they can also divulge your past and future. This differs from the phase called Clairaudi- ance, as Clair audiant means to hear. These mediums claim to be able to hear and con- verse with the spirits. These two phases work hand in hand. A medium practicing both of them is supposed to be able to see and describe these spirits, and also to con- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 21 verse with them. These phases of so-called mediumship are not much of an improve- ment on the Gypsy fortune-teller, who tells your fortune with cards, or by looking at the palms of your hand and is the most un- convincing phase practiced by so-called me- diums, and in order to be very successful, one must be a good reader of human nature and a close observer; also a fair guesser, and if any of their predictions come true, they herald their powers in big printed advertise- ments and add many converts to their list of suckers, but not very much is ever said about the hundreds of times that their pre- dictions are wrong. They will begin giving you a reading, as they wish to call it, by tell- ing you that you are very fond of music and art, and that you have a very refined nature; also that you are blessed with a good dispo- sition and that you are a person that uses good judgment, and much more of this sort of praise that every one wishes to hear about themselves. A great many of these medi- ums use astrology to describe their client's nature and disposition, and are able to give 22 TRUTH AND FACTS some very convincing test by what is known as the " Medium's Dope Book," which the author will treat on in the following pages. This class of fakirs is very detrimental to the country at large, and should be exter- minated, if possible; for through their own poor judgment and advice they have caused many failures and absconders, not only do- ing an injustice to their clients, but making many people indirectly involved, lose their hard-earned savings. It is surprising how many business men follow the advice of these fakirs. The author knows of cases where bankers and other large business in- terests that have the poor man's money in- vested have closed their doors by taking the advice of some of these mediums, who would not be capable of earning an honest living for themselves. This is one of the lowest of so-called mediumship practiced. They have broken up many happy homes by finding soul mates, etc. Some of them advertise to find hidden treasures and also to locate min- erals, etc. Now, gentle reader, if you were possessed of a power whereby you could PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 23 locate gold or other minerals, would you barter this power for so much per sitting, or would you use it to locate some of this valuable ore which the world today is so greedy about? And does it stand to reason that this great God-given power they speak so much of could bring so much happiness as they claim? Then why is it that these low and degrading beings are always ad- dicted to some drug or liquor habit? No, dear reader, it is the constant strain upon their nervous system, and knowing that they are doing wrong, that they become de- graded and nervous. Therefore, they con- stantly require the aid of some stimulant to keep up their notorious work. 24 TRUTH AND FACTS KEELER'S TEST SEANCE. This seance was originated and practiced by Pierra 0. L. A. Keeler, and is given in the light. The cabinet used in this seance is the same as the corner cabinet used in ma- terialization, with the exception that the front curtain is only about five feet high. In front of this cabinet is placed three chairs facing the audience, or sitters, so that the backs of the chairs are against the curtain of the cabinet. The medium will then call upon a lady and gentleman to occupy these chairs, placing the lady in the center chair and the gentleman in the chair to the right of her, the medium occupying the chair to the left of her. The lady will then hold the hands of the gentleman to her right. The medium will then place both hands upon the lady's bare arm, then in front of them is placed another black curtain, and this is pinned around their necks, leaving their PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 25 heads exposed to the sitters. Inside of the cabinet is placed a small table with writing material, telegraph instrument, tambour- ines, bells, guitars, or anything that the me- dium wishes to have the spirits manipulate. In this seance the manifestation is composed of ringing of bells, beating of tambourines, thumping of guitars, messages, etc. The messages as a rule are prepared before the seance. The mediums in these seances some- times allow a few of the sitters the privilege of looking over in the cabinet, but as the noises cease the minute they look, the only satisfaction that they receive is that there is no one in the cabinet, and the lady sitting in the center will positively swear that she had held the hands of the gentleman on her right, and that the medium had never re- leased her arm. This makes a very satisfac- tory Test Seance, especially if the medium will give short intermissions and have a dif- ferent lady and gentleman to occupy the two chairs to assure the sitters that they were not confederates. To perform this manner of manifestation the medium, in taking hold 26 TRUTH AND PACTS of the lady's bare arm, will place the left hand above his right, and will take a very firm grip upon the arm, and after sitting this way a few moments, he gradually grips tighter with his left hand that is nearest her elbow, and stopping the circulation, he will gradually release his right hand, unbeknown to the lady. Once having his right hand free, he is ready to reach into the cabinet and handle the tambourine, produce spirit hands above their heads, or whatever he wishes to do, and then, by carefully placing his right hand back upon the lady's arm, he is ready for inspection. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 27 HOW THEY SECURE THEIR INFOR- MATION, OR THE MEDIUM'S DOPE BOOK. In every city throughout the world there are any number of mediums practicing these different phases of mediumship, and in order to hold their patronage, it is very essential that they keep on hand a good stock of this information; so every medium makes a "dope book" and keeps it where he or she can refer to it in a moment 's notice. The au- thor will first explain the many different ways that these mediums secure this infor- mation. A medium is always on the alert and makes memorandums from the conver- sations of the sitters. They also watch the daily papers for death notices, etc., and also secure a great deal of information by mak- ing indirect inquiries. Children are also a great help to them in securing this desired information. Some of these mediums, on a 28 TEUTH AND PACTS pretence of looking for a lost or departed friend, will visit the coroner's office, where a record is kept of all deaths. They will also look over the burial certificates of the under- taking establishments. They have even been known to go out into graveyards, and by the aid of a city directory, obtain a great deal of this desired information. Still an- other way of securing it is from the Family Bible, where the records of the families' deaths, births and marriages are kept. They also get this "dope," as they call it, from what is known as the "message seance," or "platform test seance," which the author will fully explain in the following pages, un- der the heading of "Message Seance." This information is guarded as being very pre- cious, as it is the one big asset of medium- ship, for no medium, no matter how great and renowned, can give you any test without knowing this information beforehand; but I have heard many spiritualists remark, when they had heard of some medium being caught in some trickery, and the evidence being so plain that it ould not be denied PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 29 that he was faking: "Well, Mr. So and So might have been dishonest, but the people are demanding so much of him that he is hardly responsible for what he does; but I know that he is a genuine medium, because he brought back my little girl and told me her name, and also gave me other tests that I know he knew nothing about." But it would be very interesting for some of these mossback spiritualists to read one of these medium's dope books, and they certainly would be shocked if they could hear a few of these mediums trading and swapping their dope and telling who were the easy marks, and giving the names of their departed dead. If a strange medium arrives in a city he at once hunts up the most prominent mediums and receives this so-called "dope;" then he is ready to open up business and catch suck- ers. The author will now give the reader an illustration of how these mediums keep their dope book. 30 TRUTH AND FACTS AN EXTRACT FROM THE MEDIUM'S DOPE BOOK. A Artwell, Julia W. a methodist (maiden name Julia W. Caldson) wife of Henry H. Artwell — real estate agent She has sister in spirit-world by the name of Alice, called Al. for short. Also son George, daughter Clara and father Chas. W. Caldson. Has living mother, Clara Caldson, father-in-law Henry H. Artwell. Mother-in-law's name, Nellie, and son Clarence. Allen Hattie M. — widow — Friend of Jesse Carr dressmaker of Chicago, she has her mother's estate to settle in Tennessee, maiden name Hattie Clure, mother's name before marriage, Hopkins. Husband's name, Edmund R. (I have kept my promise to come back) (died B PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 31 1907) She has living sister, Mrs. O. J. Babcock, living with her. She does not believe in Spiritualism, is a Catholic. (Will she ever see the truth?) (She will learn in the spirit-world) Father's name, J. R. Clure. He had long black beard. Daughter Emma died when a baby. Has living daughter, Mrs. Lucile Hanf ord, living in Chicago. Bailey Horace G. (rich) -English- from Galveston (A bachelor). Father in spirit world. He was named after him. Mother liv- ing (Eliza), has nephew (Horace) in spirit-world. Has living niece (Carrie) and worries a great deal about her. Has living sister that he worships, the moth- er of the above children. (Made his money in cotton) . Baker, Thomas A. husband Baker, Alice wife Harry son Living Irma daughter Have twins in spirit world, never named 32 TRUTH AND FACTS Father's name John H. Mother Clara (maiden name) Fowler. Both living. Her father, J. J. Newton, in spirit- world. Her mother's name, May. She is living. Has sister, Mrs. B. F. Balzer, in Washington. Baker is in shoe busi- ness. PERT. TO SPIRITUALISM 33 AGE AND BALLOT TEST OK SEANCE. 'I . convincing of all p 'J be] pg of pa -: audi- pfrit Erie ir own paper a note boo, any difference ie«e one oal- oiatfor: laid on a table hi full The medium i* then : the audience, r :rg, 80 that the table with the bal . full view of the andie all times. Afi akirj^ 34 TRUTH AND FACTS these ballots and under the pretence of being under control of some Indian spirit, which all mediums have, will pick up one of these ballots and say: "I have a message from a party in the au- dience to a departed spirit, which says, 'Dear John — If you are here tonight, please give me some test so that I will know the truth. Your brother, Will Parker.' " The medium will then ask if anybody in the audience wrote this message, and if so, will they please stand up, which of course is recognized, for this question was not writ- ten by any confederate of the medium. It requires a great deal of tact on the medium's part to answer this question. If the medium has no dope on this party, the question is answered in an indirect way. The medium will answer this question by saying that, " There are several spirits around you. Most likely your brother is one of them. I see one that stands very close to you, but as he has not learned how to take on the mate- rial form, he cannot give you any message tonight; but if you will attend my etherealiz- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 35 ing, or materializing seance at my residence, no doubt you will get in communication with your brother." The next ballot that the medium picks up, he says : "I have a message here to a departed spirit, which says, 'Dear Clarence — Is there any truth in Spiritualism? Signed, (Mary Carter).'" The medium may not answer this message in quite the same way, but will give some in- direct answer that will satisfy the writer of this question; which will be very satisfac- tory to the writer of the message that it is through some disembodied spirit that this message came, and of course, not knowing how the medium was able to read the ballot, you attend more of these circles or seances to find out how these things are performed, and finally you become a mossback spiritualist, for in course of time you will receive some message that will convince you as to the genuineness of these so-called demonstrations of spirit re- turn. That is, after the medium has secured 36 TRUTH AND FACTS the required information concerning you, one of the ways to perform this trick, and probably the one used the most by these so- called mediums, is to pass out through the audience small slips of paper asking those present to write a question upon them and to sign their names at the bottom. The me- dium, in order to perform this demonstra- tion, must first write one message. Of course, this message will be the first one you answer, and will not be recognized unless you have a confederate in the audience. You then open the message up and pretend to read the question that you have just an- swered. This, of course, will satisfy the sit- ters as to your ability, but the question that you read is not the question that you had written, but the one that you will answer next. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 37 MATERIALIZATION. Materialization is where the spirit is sup- posed to take on a material form and ap- pear as they did on the earth plane. This differs from etherealization, as an ethereal form is supposed to be composed of vapor only. This phase of mediumship is the most try- ing and hardest of all for the medium to practice, and it is also very dangerous as some skeptical investigator might stick a knife into the spirit in order to determine the genuineness of this so-called phase of mediumship, and as this has been the case a great number of times, the medium, in order to muster up courage and nerve, must be addicted to the drug habit in some form. There is an exception to this, however, as some of these mediums do not give this man- ner of manifestations only to a few of their most ardent followers and friends, whom 38 TKUTH AND FACTS they can rely upon to swallow any manner of demonstration that the medium sees fit to call spiritual manifestation. This class of followers will swear by all that is dear to them that the medium is genuine and even if the medium should be caught, they will readily explain that it was impersonation, impersonation being a phase of mediumship similar to that of materialization, the me- dium claiming that when the forces are not strong enough to take on the material form, they send the medium from the cabinet to impersonate the spirit that wishes to com- municate. This phase of mediumship is generally practiced by women. The author uses the term women because he does not believe that any lady would resort to such a low profes- sion as this. The reason this phase, as a rule, is practiced by women is because they are better prepared to carry the parapher- nalia than men. In giving this class of se- ance, the medium uses a cabinet. These cab- inets are sometimes made on a square frame, being covered with black muslin, but as a PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 39 rule the majority of the mediums stretch a black curtain of the same material across the corner of the room; also having the back- ground and the floor under the cabinet cov- ered with the same material. These seances are given in dark rooms, with just enough light to distinguish the spirits as they emerge from the cabinet. The medium in these seances as a rule sits inside of the cabi- net, and is supposed to be in a trance, or controlled, and not conscious of any of the manifestations that are taking place ; but, as a matter of fact, they are about the busiest person on earth at this time. These seances open with the singing of hymns by the sitters, as in all seances. This is supposed to give proper conditions for all spiritual manifestations, as has been fully explained in the foregoing pages, and it is very essential in this seance, as it gives the medium time to make up to impersonate the desired spirit. After several spirits have ap- peared, then it becomes necessary for the sitters to sing again in order to give the spirits more strength, this giving the me- 40 TRUTH AND FACTS drum more time to change his or her make- up. If you have ever attended one of these seances, you would have noticed that they are composed of singing and then of spirits; and singing, and then spirits again, etc. This class of mediumship requires more paraphernalia than any other and the me- dium must be well supplied with this make- up. The makeup consists of gauze silk, painted on one side with aluminous paint. Women practicing this phase of mediumship have an underskirt made of this material, the under side painted with this aluminous paint. There is no danger of detection with this paint, as it will not show only in the dark. They also carry additional supply of gauze painted in this manner, so as to be able to produce three and four spirits of dif- ferent sizes at the same time, this making a very convincing test. The silk used in these so-called demonstrations is so flimsy that several yards can be put into an ordinary sewing thimble. Mediums giving this phase of mediumship can have a hole bored in the heel of their shoe and are able to carry an PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 41 abundant supply of this material. Some mediums use what is called an extension rod. An extension rod is a small tube about the size of lead pencil, having smaller tubes on the inside, and works on the order of a tele- scope. These as a rule are about three feet long when pulled out. On the small end of this rod is a hook similar to that of a button- hook, and can be used to float these so-called spirits around the room. It also being hol- low, the medium can talk through this tube and carry the impression that the voice of the spirit is many feet away from where he or she sits. This also accounts for many converts to Spiritualism, as the medium in the cabinet will be heard to cough, and a second later, the voice of the spirit will be heard in the center of the room. The me- dium must always talk in a whisper and be very careful not to let their lips meet in do- ing so, as it would be easy to detect that it was made by human agency. They must also be able to change their voice at com- mand. The author in giving this phase of me- 42 TRUTH AND FACTS diumship always used a black handker- chief and black gloves and as the back- ground and curtain of the cabinet were black, he was able to move about in front of the cabinet without detection, and by having about three yards of painted gauze, he would bring these supposed spirits out of the floor and then cause them to dema- terialize down through the floor. He gained considerable renown with this experiment. In order to materialize four spirits at one time, it is necessary for the medium to take off both shoes, and by wrapping a piece of aluminous prepared gauze around their feet and then using both hands he can produce spirits to the entire satisfaction of the sit- ters. This, however, may account for the graveyard smell that some of them possess, and as one old lady remarked, after she had been up to the cabinet to get a message from her departed husband: "I just know that was John because he smelt just like he did when we buried him. You know we kept him until mortification set in so as to be sure he was dead." PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 43 One Pacific Coast medium, in giving these seances, used to take off most of her clothes and use them for making up these spirits, and she has told me if she had been caught, she would have been a sorry sight to behold. This medium also uses a small electric flash light, and by hiding it in the folds of her dress, she was able to read messages sent into the cabinet by the sitters, and this would enable the spirits to answer the ques- tions, and is also very satisfactory to the skeptical. The ellectric flash light can also be used to make spirit light by pasting three or four folds of tissue paper over the bulb. Some mediums make these lights by wetting the end of their finger and rubbing the end of a match, but this is not very satisfactory on account of the sulphur smell it leaves. A better way to produce these lights is to cut small stars or crescents out of paste- board and paint one side of them with alum- inous paint. To produce a materialized hand the me- dium must first let a small box of matches stand in olive oil for a day or two, then put 44 TRUTH AND FACTS the oil into a bottle that can be carried in the pocket, and after bringing forth a num- ber of spirits, the cabinet control can re- quest the sitters to sing a few songs and while this condition-making device is going on, rub this oil over your hand and thrust it out through the folds of the curtain and you have an illuminated, materialized hand. This will leave no odor like matches will, and as soon as the oil has been absorbed into the hand, the light will then disappear. There is not the least danger of detection in this experiment, and it also makes a big hit with your followers. When men practice ;this phase of mediumship, they generally have one or more confederates, and if he is per- manently located, will have a trap door, or secret panel, to let his confederates in and out of the cabinet. In this case the medium sits upon the outside of the cabinet and does not take a very active part in the manifesta- tion. This, of course, is more convincing to the sitter. It is also very surprising what an impor- tant part imagination plays in these seances. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 45 People whom you would never think would let their imagination run away with them will swear that they recognized departed friends through the folds of these cabinets, although there are a great many Spiritual- ists today who cannot swallow this kind of manifestation, it seeming too material to be spiritual. The author has given this phase of me- diumship before many thousands of people, and in all his career as a medium, has never seen or heard of such a thing as spirit return, and he has been on the inside workings of the most prominent mediums of the day. Has it ever occurred to you, gentle reader, that if there was such a thing, why has not some of our friends who have been lost or murdered returned and told us how it happened? But such not being the case, mediums have to await telegraphic advice before giving their information. 46 TRUTH AND PACTS TRUMPET SEANCE. Trumpet mediums as a rule use a trumpet that is about three feet long, which is made of tin or aluminum, aluminum being prefer- able on account of it being lighter than tin. These trumpets are about four inches in diameter on the large end, and taper down to about one-half inch at the small end. There is no regulation to the sizes of these trumpets, however, and they will vary in size according to the medium's ideas. They will explain the object of the trumpet by claiming that it helps the spirits to vocalize, and that there are so many spirits too weak to talk without them. All mediums wet their trumpets upon the inside, claiming that the dampness also helps them to vocalize. The real object, however, is that after the medium has talked through the trumpet, the sitter will not be able to detect the moisture that is caused by the medium's voice. An- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 47 other object is that the sitter cannot smell the medium's breath, whether onions or whiskey — generally whiskey. This also gives a graveyard rattle to the spirit voices, so the reader can see what an essential thing it is for the medium to wet the trumpet. There are two different ways of giving Trumpet Seances. The simplest and most generally practiced way is given in the dark. The other is only practiced by a very few mediums, and is given in semi-light, that is, with just enough light to distinguish every one in the room, and as a rule they give ethe- realization in this seance, also, and some- times it is called Trumpet and Etherealiza- tion Seance. But as a general thing, these semi-light seances end up with a dark se- ance, that is, after the medium has convinced his sitters that he took no part in the mani- festation. In what is known as the "dark circle", the medium uses no cabinet but places the trum- pet in the center of the room, and then forms a circle around the outer edge of the room, and after being seated and the lights extin- 48 TEUTH AND FACTS guished, the sitters, after saying the Lord's Prayer and having sung a few songs, the medium will have the trumpet in his or her possession, and in order to gain the confi- dence of the sitters on both sides, the me- dium will place a mouth-piece upon the trumpet, and by placing the trumpet be- tween his or her knees, will ask every one to take hold of hands until the spirits begin to manifest, and after the head control has made a few opening remarks, every one will release hands, the medium then having both hands free to manipulate the trumpet. The author will not go into details in the dark circle, because it will be fully explained under the semi-light seance. In the semi- light seance, the cabinet used is exactly like that used in materialization, with the excep- tion that the black cloth on the floor extends out into the center of the room, and the trumpet is placed upon the inside of the cabinet. The medium sits on one side of the cabinet. The light used in these seances is a small kerosene lamp, and is placed in the farthest corner of the room and is so ar- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 49 ranged to throw light upon the center of the cabinet. This is done by placing a piece of paper around the lamp leaving a small place open for the light to shine through. Some mediums have a small box to set this light in. This is much better as this leaves the medium in the dark. After having the se- ance room prepared in this manner, the me- dium is ready to demonstrate his powers. In the semi-light seance, the medium can- not talk directly into the trumpet so he or she must have in their possession a rubber hose about three feet long. This hose is so pliable that it can be flattened and rolled into very small compass, and held together with a wide rubber band. On one end of this hose must be a mouthpiece painted black like the hose. The other end slips over the small end of the trumpet, and with the aid of black gloves and a black handkerchief to cover the medium's shirt bosom, the medium is then able to entertain the sitters, and to further strengthen the belief of his follow- ers, the trumpet will lay in the center of the room in full view of all present. The hose 50 TRUTH AND PACTS attached being black, the same as the cloth on the floor, it is impossible to detect it. The medium talking into the end of the hose forces the voice through the trumpet and the spectators, seeing the outlines of the medium many feet away, are perfectly satis- fied with the results, and with the aid of the Cabinet Controls, which as a rule are com- posed of some prominent doctor and a few Indian spirits, such as " Shooting Star", etc., and last, but by no means least, a little child control, who has the wisdom of a grown-up of 60 years of age — to come and sing and give an abundant supply of good advice, and with a few yards of illuminous painted gauze, such as used in materialization, is able to produce etherealization, and have these ethereal forms talk in independent voices without the aid of the trumpet, which are merely whisperings. After the end of these wonderful demonstrations, the lights are ex- tinguished in order that the sitters may be able to get much more marvelous results. The medium can then, by standing up and with the aid of the rubber hose, sliding the PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 51 end of the trumpet along the ceiling and by talking into the mouth-piece of the hose, give the impression that the trumpet is sliding around on the ceiling and that the spirits are communicating through it. After this experiment, lights will be seen to float around the room and in order to get more conditions, etc., an Indian Chief will amuse you by giving you some poor imita- tion of a steam boat, railroad train, saw mills or some of the wild beasts of the forests. After this, the doctor, or head control, will give a few closing remarks, and then in order for the medium to put away their hose and paraphernalia, the little child control will come and talk, independent of the trumpet, giving you a word of advice and good cheer, and with a "God Bless You", the seance ends. In this class of seances, the medium must be able to change his voice from a deep bass voice to that of a woman. The hardest voice is that of a child and it must have that child- ish prattle. Mediums with tenor voices make this the easiest, and it is one of the most es- 52 TRUTH AND PACTS sential in the seances, as no seance is com- plete without one of these little controls to call every one mamma, or papa, and is al- ways quite a drawing card and proves a very big asset to the medium. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 53 SLATE WRITINGS. This phase of mediumship is generally given by appointment, and some mediums have such a large patronage that they book their engagements for weeks ahead. There are several ways of giving slate-writings, the medium using the way that circumstances and conditions will permit. The simplest and best way of producing slate-writing, providing, of course, that your patron will make a future engagement with you, is to make a future appointment; or you can force this by claiming that conditions are very poor and that you would be unable to give a writing today, thereby compelling your sit- ter to return in a day or two. This gives you plenty of time to get the desired infor- mation, or "dope", upon your intended vic- tim. After securing this, write it up on a pair of slates, using a pure nitrate of silver pencil, and then by breathing upon the writ- 54 TRUTH AND FACTS ing it will disappear and leave the slates apparently clean. Then place on a table a bowl of salt water. When your sitter arrives, insist that he or she wash the slates, of course using this salt water, then place a rubber band on the slates and have your sit- ter hold one corner of same. The action of the salt water will develop the writing after the slate is dry, and after sitting this way ten or fifteen minutes, the medium relating some of his or her weird experiences, in or- der to fill in time, will then either by raps or impressions, inform the sitter that they — meaning the spirits — have finished. The sit- ter, upon opening the slates, will find to his or her satisfaction, a message, and knowing that the slates were washed and that they had never left their possession, the medium adds another booster and dupe to his or her list. Another method that is used by these me- diums is to have a pair of prepared slates awaiting their victim, and on a table there will be a pile of slates. When the sitter ar- rives, the medium will take three or four PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 55 pairs of slates and wash them. He will then put them on the table again, but in the mean- time he has exchanged one pair for the pair with the message on it. This pair will have a piece of newspaper with one side painted the same color as that of the slate, and it resembles the slate so much that the sitter, sitting a few feet away, cannot detect the difference, and after displaying both sides of the slates, the medium will lay them upon the table under the pretense of picking up a rubber band to fasten them together with, and picking up the slates, will leave the pre- pared paper upon the table. The paper, lay- ing upon a newspaper, will not be noticed, as the painted side is laying face downward, the printed side up; but as this requires some sleight of hand, it is very difficult, without a great deal of practice. Where mediums are permanently located, they are able by the aid of a confederate to give some very clever writings, and advertise for you to bring your own slates and that they may be wired and screwed together. They will also insist that you mark them for identification, and you 56 TRUTH AND PACTS may carry these slates home before opening them. This assures the sitter that the slates have never been opened, and upon finding a message upon the inside, the investigator will become a full fledged Spiritualist. To give these writings under these con- ditions, it is necessary to have the room pre- pared. If the house has a basement or cel- lar, it may be arranged in this manner : Have a trap door in the floor just big enough to pass a pair of slates. Over this tack a fur rug, cutting out a piece of the rug, and tack- ing it on the trap door, and then place over this a four-legged Dining Room or Library table, having a heavy table cover over it, and reaching almost to the floor. This is used for a cabinet. The medium will request the sitter to sit on the opposite side of the table and hold one end of the slates. The medium will then place the slates under the table, and before the sitter takes hold of them, he will substitute another pair for the ones the sitter had brought. They will then take hold of the slates. The confederate in the basement, upon receiving a signal from PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 57 the medium, will open the trap door and take the sitters' sealed slates into the basement, where he has an alcohol lamp and a small kettle for steaming open sealed questions and to melt sealing wax. He also has a supply of different size screws, wires, screw- drivers, and everything else necessary to open sealed slates and to reseal them so as they appear untouched. He then signals the medium that he is through and passes the slates back up through the trap. The me- dium then, under the pretense of being sha- ken by an Indian control, will jerk and twist until the sitter releases his hold upon the slates. This gives the medium time to make the change again, and the sitter takes hold of the original slates, not dreaming that the change had been made. Mediums giving this kind of slate-writing will entertain the sitter during all this time by informing him or her what kind of medium they would make, and as a rule will give them the phase of slate-writing, telling them by sitting with magnetized slates they would soon develop this power, and as mediums charge five dol- 58 TRUTH AND PACTS lars for magnetizing slates, you can see their object in always giving yon that phase. If the house the medium occupies does not have a basement, it is prepared in this manner: By placing a dresser or chiffonier in front of a door leading into another room and hav- ing the drawer that is to be used covered up on the inside with black cloth, and having the back end of the drawer hinged, and by having a sliding panel in the door the con- federate is able to get the slates in this man- ner. The medium uses the drawer for a cabinet and as the drawer is locked during this seance, the sitter is convinced as to the genuineness of the medium. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 59 MAGNETIC HEALING. Magnetic healing differs from Christian Science and other drugless methods in name only, and they have made thousands of con- verts to their cause by the claims of the many who have received benefits, if not cures, by these drugless treatments. These benefits and cures cannot be denied, but realizing that it is a known fact that fifty per cent of the ailments are either imaginary or caused by the stomach, the explanation is very simple. Those that are imaginary can be cured by suggestion, providing, of course, that the healer has the full confidence of the patient as to their ability to effect a cure. The ailments caused by the stomach will wear away by giving Mother Nature a few hours to adjust the trouble and set things aright again. Then the patient is en- thused and willing to give testimony in re- gards to the remarkable relief they received 60 TRUTH AND PACTS at the hands of the healer. This not only- gives the healer another patron, but adds another booster to their cause. It is these simple ills only that are cured. It has never been known of any chronic diseases being cured by these healers, although they often relieve rheumatism, sore muscles or stiff joints by the means of massaging. The author does not wish to condemn these drug- less methods of curing the sick, as he firmly believes in them to a great extent, and be- lieves that the world in general is using too many drugs for these simple ills, and that if the people would live a purer life, free from debauchery, keeping the body clean, and stop making swill barrels of their stomachs, that two-thirds of the diseases would be elimin- ated. Therefore, the author only wishes to criticise the healer who claims to be en- dowed with this wonderful gift or power. The author knows of a case where one of these disreputable curs was given just four hours to leave town on account of the liberty that he took with his patients under the ruse of his professional ability. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 61 SPIRIT PAINTINGS. , This phase of mediumship is only prac- ticed by a very few mediums, as it is very unconvincing and only takes with those who have been made firm believers in occult phenomena by some other phase of so-called mediumship. The medium giving spirit paintings must be possessed of some ability as an artist. These paintings, as a rule, are of no merit, and could not be disposed of on the market at any price, but will bring any amount, from five to one hundred dollars, under pretense of being painted in a dark seance by some spirit artist. This phase of mediumship is very simple, and all that it re- quires to perform it is to substitute the painted canvas, or slate, for the one that is blank and all that is necessary in order to give the impression that it has been painted during the seance is to apply a coat of poppy oil to it, this making the paint seem fresh 62 TRUTH AND FACTS and as though it had just been finished. This is about all that is really necessary for one to know to practice this phase of medium- ship. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 63 PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUALISM. The author wishes to dwell upon this sub- ject in order that the reader will understand spiritualism as a religion and the theories ad- vanced by them pertaining to the hereafter, etc. Spiritualism eliminates Hell from their re- ligion, and also has a different conception of Heaven, or the " Spirit World", as they so choose to call it, from any other religious sect on earth. They believe Heaven to be a condition rather than a place, and instead of passing out of this world in reality we remain right here, but in a spiritual form in- stead of a material form. The spiritual heaven is composed of seven spheres, begin- ning with the dark sphere, where all murder- ers and criminals of the worst degree go, then advancing along to the seventh, people entering these spheres according to the lives they led upon the earthly plane. Spiritual- 64 TRUTH AND PACTS ists teach progression after death, but that it may take many years for the persons en- tering the dark spheres to advance out of them into higher spheres and that they all advance from one sphere to another until they reach the seventh, where everything is perfection and only happiness reigns; but in order to progress or advance into these higher spheres, each one has a duty to per- form and must work their way up. For in- stance, the spirits entering the dark sphere must help or influence some one on the earthly plane to lead a better life, so that they would be prepared to enter a higher sphere upon passing into the spirit world and the spirits in the higher spheres to as- sist the ones in the lower spheres in their work to progress and so on; and under this theory spiritualists believe that every liv- ing being has a guiding spirit or guardian angel looking after them and that they (they meaning the spirits) not only help them in spiritual matters, but material matters also. Spiritualists also believe death to be a con- dition only and teach that nothing dies and PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 65 that there is no death. They also believe that animals as well as human beings enter the spirit world and that they are possessed of souls the same as we are, and that this con- dition of passing out of earthly plane into the spirit world is merely discarding the old house of clay or the old worn-out or diseased body that our spirits dwelled in; spiritualists believe that by not only leading a good life themselves, but by helping others to do so, they are rewarded in the spirit world by en- tering a higher sphere when they pass to the great beyond. Spiritualists recognize no God but Nature 's God, and everything that is good is their only God, and do not recog- nize Christ as a Saviour but as a pure man and a good example to follow. This, how- ever, is about all that the religion of spirit- ualism consists of. Many spiritualists lead extraordinarily good lives under this doc- trine and place so much confidence in man- kind that they prove easy victims for these so-called mediums; but it is not only these spiritualists that enrich the mediums, but church members as well. Thousands of these 66 TRUTH AND PACTS people hold these seances in their homes and swear the mediums to secrecy for fear that the public would learn how weak mind- ed they really were, and knowing that they would be ridiculed for it; the mediums then have them in their power and can use this for a weapon to blackmail them with. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 67 SPIRITUALISM AS A RELIGION. While the theory of spiritualism is very beautiful, it is founded upon no facts and is also not feasible from any sense of the word, and it is very evident that the ardent fol- lowers of this so-called religion have never given it a great deal of thought, for if they had they would soon see how impossible their theories really were, and it seems very strange that people of this enlightened age with the gift and faculties of thought could conjure themselves into believing this hum- buggery that is eating its way into the homes and churches, and like a viper de- stroying its followers, either morally or men- tally, sending hundreds to insane asylums or quick deaths. There is no religion on earth that lacks foundation for their beliefs as spiritualism does. Their very first theory and conception of the hereafter is not feasible from beginning to end, they believing that 68 TKUTH AND FACTS heaven is a condition only and that instead of leaving this world we merely discard the old shell, and that our spirit floats around in the atmosphere and mingles with the people upon the earth plane. They also believe that every animal has a soul and they, too, merely take on this new condition. Now, under this theory suppose we stop for a moment and take into consideration that beginning from the time that we have any knowledge of there have been twenty thousand million of people passed into the unknown, and besides these, think of four or five times this number of animals that also, according to their belief, possess souls and enter this spirit world of theirs. Now, gentle reader, what would be the result if this were true? Imagine how crowded the atmosphere would be with these spirits floating around right here only in a spiritual form; and if this should be the case, does it not stand to reason that every time we expanded our lungs we would be breath- ing some of our ancestors, and then again, if our atmosphere was so full of these disem- bodied spirits, would you think that it should PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 69 be so hard and require so exacting conditions in order for them to commune with us? After taking in these few points, we must come to the conclusion that spiritualism is not a religion. They teach to help one another, but this in reality is never practiced. Have you ever heard of spiritualism building hos- pitals, schools, orphanages, or doing any other charitable work ? The author will ven- ture to say you never have, as he has failed to find any in all his career, and could count all of the places of worship that have been dedicated to their cause upon the five fingers of one hand. This goes to show that the world does not benefit by this so-called relig- ion in any way whatever, and that the only person that gains anything through these teachings is the medium, who brings back your grandfather so that he can talk to you, and give you advice for twenty to thirty min- utes at a time ; but should you ask him how he passed out of this world, whether of heart failure or if he was kicked to death by an army mule, as the case might be, you would find, after asking the question, that this was 70 TRUTH AND PACTS an awful shock to him, and he would become so weak that he would have to postpone his little lecture of advice. These teachings are so ridiculous that it seems almost improba- ble that the world in general will allow it to be practiced, especially since no one but these arch grafters benefit by it; and the au- thor believes that if the money spent in mis- sionary work would be used in wiping out this vile home-wrecking "Ism," the world would be a great deal better off, for even the religion of the heathen is preferable to that of spiritualism, because it does not weaken the mind or cause so much unhappiness among their fellow men. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM Tl EXPERIENCES OF THE AUTHOR And How I Became a Public Medium. During my fourteen years of posing before the public as a medium the author has had many experiences which were quite exciting and ridiculous, and all of them quite amus- ing. Probably the most interesting of these occurrences was when I gave my first seance, which was an Etherealization and Trumpet seance, which I gave to a select few of my bosom friends to demonstrate my powers. Having received all of this information from one of the most prominent mediums of that time, and thinking that I would have a little pleasure at my friends' expense, I gave this seance, which was the beginning of my career as a medium. Seeing how easily they were duped, and thinking that it would be profitable from a money standpoint, I then decided to adopt it as a profession. This seance that I refer to took place in 72 TRUTH AND FACTS the home of one of my neighbors, and to out- do myself, I perhaps stepped over the bound- ary line and did a great many things that no up-to-date medium would think of doing. Since that time I have learned that it does not pay from a financial point to extend these physical demonstrations too far. On this evening that I have referred to, we gath- ered together a party of us, which was com- posed of eight ladies and eight gentlemen. We then placed across the corner of the par- lor a small black curtain, which mediums call cabinets. We then formed a semi-circle in order to produce the horseshoe magnet which you hear so many mediums speak of. After we had sat a few minutes in this posi- tion there seemed to appear through the folds of this cabinet a spirit, which claimed to be the father of one of my friends, and be- ing somewhat elated over the reception it received from my friend and several others of the sitters, I became somewhat convinced as to my power of deceiving the public, and owing to the strangeness and unprecedented mystery of these so-called spirit manifesta- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 73 tions, I had become a subject of interest and frequent discussion by investigating and lib- eral-minded members of the community where I resided. For the past fourteen years I have posed before the public as a spirit medium, and have given every phase of seances in all the large cities throughout the world, under many assumed names. During this time I have encountered many obstacles to overcome, and have been placed in some very trying and awkward situations. Prob- ably the most amusing of them all was one time when I was giving what is known as a Trumpet and Etherealization seance. On this occasion I received the severest shock that I had ever received. On this particular evening a reception had been tendered me, and after the luncheon was over we retired to the parlor and had quite a lengthy discussion on spiritualism, and after I had related some of my weird ex- periences it was suggested that I favor the guests with a seance. Knowing beforehand what would be expected of me, I had come prepared to do so. I then began to form my 74 TRUTH AND FACTS circle by placing the chairs around the edge of the room. This room being very large and the guests only numbering about fifteen, I placed the chairs quite a ways apart. I then proceeded to put up my cabinet, and in doing so noticed a door leading into an ad- joining room. This door was right at the front of the cabinet, but knowing my sitters were all mossback Spiritualists, I did not fear any trickery on their part to expose me, and being perfectly at ease, I began giving them an ex- cellent seance, bringing many ethereal forms out into the room. This, of course, was very satisfactory, but realizing that a great many of them were expecting some test or message, my little cabinet control request- ed them to sing in order to make better con- ditions. This would, of course, give me a chance to think of some dope to give them, and during this singing there suddenly ap- peared in front of the cabinet a spirit, which I knew did not belong to any of my tribe of spooks. This was the only time in my life that I ever thought that I had seen a real PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 75 spirit, and I can assure you that I certainly was scared, and I can also assure you that the sweetest voice I ever heard was when this little spirit began crying "Mamma, I'se afraid and can't go to sleep.'' It was all very plain to me then. This door beside the cabinet led into a bedroom, and as the lady of the house had put her little six-year-old boy to bed before I had arrived, I was not aware of the fact that there were any chil- dren in the house. Evidently the singing had aroused him, and being afraid, he got up and came into the seance room, and as everyone was singing at the time the noise he made in coming through the door was not noticed, and he certainly was the finest spirit that you would care to look upon, standing there clad only in his nightie, and if the sit- ters had only known how that child had made the cold chills run down my back they would have seen how amusing the incident really was, and as this had so unnerved me I had to inform my sitters that the forces had been broken and it would be im- possible to restore them and get proper con- 76 TRUTH AND FACTS ditions again that night, and after assuring them that I would sit again some other even- ing, we brought the seance to an end, and after we had disbanded I hurriedly went to my hotel, and in order to quiet my nerves had quite a communion with the spirits — a good supply of which I always kept in bot- tles in my apartments. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 77 HOW THE AUTHOR GAVE A SEANCE UNDER A SEVERE TEST. Relating some of the obstacles that con- front a medium and how he or she must at all times be prepared to meet these difficul- ties and to be able to think and act quickly in order to avoid a possible detection or ex- pose : On this occasion I had been engaged to give a seance at a private residence. This seance proved to be highly entertaining and amusing; also very mystifying; so much so, in fact, that I was engaged to give another spook show, as they called it, upon the fol- lowing evening; and after I had put my cabi- net on this second evening and was about ready to give them another of my mystery shows, imagine my surprise when the gentle- man of the house informed me that he would like to speak to me in the other room. I fol- lowed him into the room and found all of the gentlemen of the party awaiting me there, 78 TRUTH AND PACTS and as I entered, they formed a circle around me like a pack of Comanche Indians. One of them addressed me as: "Mr. Medium, you gave us a seance last night which proved highly interesting and mystifying, and we do not wish to condemn or say that it was performed through legerdemain or trickery ; but we would like to satisfy our curiosity by knowing the truth of how the manifestations were produced. We are all friends and have talked this matter over among ourselves, and while we do not wish to reflect on your hon- esty, we will give you twenty-five dollars extra if you will consent to go to my room and let us search you before giving this seance." I had to do some very quick and clever thinking, as I knew that I could not refuse their offer, as it would cast a suspicion on me and prove that I had the parapherna- lia on me that they were looking for; and I also knew that they were a determined set of men and could have searched me against my will of they so desired. Then again, I wanted that extra twenty-five dollars, as I knew of a certain tailor that could make PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 79 good use of it, and not wishing to be bluffed in this stage of the game, as it would be very detrimental to me. One of the medium's best assets is to be able to cope with all dif- ficulties and obstacles of this manner. Hardly had the words left his mouth when I assured them that I would only be too pleased to comply with their request, and that after I had arranged my circle that I would be at their disposal. Let me assure the reader that I had enough spook material hidden about me to bring back all of the spirits in a country graveyard, besides rub- ber hose, black gloves, etc. After arranging my circle I realized that it was then time to act, so under the pretence of wetting the trumpet I excused myself and retired to the bath-room, and locking the door, I proceed- ed, by the aid of my knife, to cut my hose and other paraphernalia into shreds. I sent them out into the sewer, where they would be safe from these inquisitive gentlemen. I then complied with their wish, and was searched from head to foot. I then opened my seance with the 80 TRUTH AND FACTS intention of not getting any results, and would claim that conditions were poor on account of the sitters not being in har- mony with the spirits, but realizing this would be very unsatisfactory, as the bath- room incident might have cast a suspicion on me, I then determined not to be outdone by them and to give them a seance regard- less of what had taken place. After keeping my sitters singing for some time, in order that I might be able to find some way to give them some manifestations, and after feeling through my pockets, found that I had only one handkerchief, and this being too small, I was in somewhat of a quandary what to do, but as the same rule of " Never give up, but try again," works in mediumship the same as everything else, I finally produced some very passable spirits, and using my hands for a mouthpiece, I also gave them a very fair trumpet seance, to the entire satis- faction of my sitters. Realizing the condition I had been placed in, and knowing that I had no spook material on me, they were highly pleased with the result, and PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 81 offered all manner of apologies to me for their conduct. But I might say that there was a certain portion of my shirt missing after this seance, and it wasn't the front of it ; either; and it is needless to say that his shirt was never sent to the laundry again. This will disclose to the investigator how the medium must think and act quickly in order to outwit those that are always awaiting some opportunity to make an expose. On another occasion, while giving a Trum- pet seance in a certain city, and having about twenty-five sitters in the room, and as I was confident that all of them were dyed- in-the-wool Spiritualists, the seance was progressing very satisfactorily, when all of a sudden I could not make a sound through the trumpet, and thinking that some one was trying to play a trick on me, I began to investigate to see if I could find what the trouble was. Thinking some one had stopped the trumpet up, I reached into the big end of it, but was unable to find anything that was obstructing it as far as I could reach with my hand. This was a very trying 82 TRUTH AND PACTS situation to be in, and I was in somewhat of a quandary what to do in order that I might be able to continue the seance. I, of course, accounted for the manifestations ceasing, claiming that the forces were very weak and that the conditions very poor; therefore, the spirits were unable to manifest. I kept my sitters singing in order to restore the lost conditions, and believe that they sang every song that a Methodist hymn book ever con- tained. This gave me sufficient time to try to determine the trouble, but the more I in- vestigated the less I found out, and as this seance was given in the dark, I was unable to see and had to depend upon feeling for the obstruction. I, of course, could have had The lights turned on, but realizing that if someone was playing a trick on me that I had better determine the trouble, if possible, I commenced to bang the trumpet around, hitting it upon the ceiling and the floor. I, of course, claimed this was done by one of my cabinet controls, a big Indian chief, who always went on a rampage when anything in the circle went wrong, and in doing this I PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 83 heard something fall on the floor. I then found that the trumpet was clear again, and that I was able to talk through it. I felt somewhat elated to think that I had over- come the difficulty, but had no more than congratulated myself over it when some one of the sitters spoke to my little Indian girl control, asking her if she had got the nickel that he had thrown into the trumpet for her. I was quite unable to comprehend his motive in doing this, as spirits are not supposed to need any of the coin of the realm, and I was quite unable to solve his motive or theory of whether it was done with good intentions or not, but as this nickel had lodged in the trumpet, it had almost caused the spirits to lose their voices. To make the matter worse, when he inquired of my little Indian control if she had received the nickel, a lady in the circle remarked that she had heard it drop on the floor. Of course, my little control gave him a very nice talk about the spirit world and assuring him that while she appreciated his generosity, that she had no use for money, as everything in the spirit world 84 TRUTH AND PACTS was free and that money was only for the earthly life, it being too material for over there. Imagine my surprise, then, when he requested her to find it and to place it in the big end of the trumpet and return it to him. This was like an old adage, "Out of the fry- ing pan into the fire." I had just stepped out of one difficulty and found I had jumped into another, as this meant that I should get down on the floor and find that nickel, if pos- sible. I, of course, started in to hunt for it right away, as I did not know how long it would take for me to find it. I crawled upon my hands and knees, feeling around over the floor, and it seemed as though I would never find it. If it had been a five-dollar gold piece and I had dropped it myself, I would not have spent as much time in trying to find it, as I did for that little measly five-cent piece ; but I could not let them know that the little spirit was unable to find it. I finally located it and returned it to the gentleman. This made him an ardent admirer of my lit- tle Indian control and brought me many dol- lars afterward, a fact that I highly appreci- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 85 ated after such a strenuous time in pleasing him. I also had a similar occurrence happen to me while giving a materializing seance. I had dropped my black glove upon the floor, and it seemed almost impossible for me to find it. I hunted for that little five-cent glove for almost an hour, for it was a matter of very great importance to me, for if the lights had been turned on and it had been discov- ered it would have been very difficult for me to explain its presence there. However, as perseverance always succeeds, I at last found it and saved many unnecessary ex- planations on my part. Mediums are constantly meeting with these obstacles, and it requires a great deal of tact upon the medium's part to give a satisfactory explanation to the sitters, for instance : I was giving a trumpet seance and some investigating skeptic threw lamp black into the trumpet. Of course, in draw- ing in my breath through the trumpet, this lamp black got into my mouth and onto my lips. I immediately detected it, but 86 TRUTH AND FACTS it was impossible for me to get the black off of my lips, so I brought a Hindoo con- trol, and while he was trying to talk, I pre- tended to be very disgusted that he should come and manifest, as he always left me with black lips, as they used sandal wood to blacken their teeth with, and that he always brought these conditions with him. Of course, this would explain to the sitters why my lips were black after the light was turned on, and would be a very satisfactory explanation to a moss back Spiritualist. But there was one party in that circle that knew the truth. I guess that his curiosity was satisfied and do not believe the party ever related the exper- ience as I never heard anything of it after- wards. In order to show the reader how easy it is for a medium to dupe his sitters, and of course when the sitters also want to be duped, how any excuse that medium wishes to make will be accepted, — one time while giving a seance in a strange city and also among strangers and not having any infor- PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 87 mation concerning my sitters, I was some- what at a loss what to do. I, of course, had my controls come and give them some very nice talks, but I realized they wished to re- ceive some test, and remembering that I had heard another medium relate an exper- ience very similar to this, I decided to adopt the method that he used and found it worked very satisfactorily. This was very simple, however, and I was so pleased with the re- sults that I thereafter adopted it when shy on dope. | It worked in this manner: All the medium has to do is to make whisper- ing sounds and it will sound like any name the sitter wishes to imagine. Some one of the sitters will say: "Is that you, Mary?" or some one else may ask if it is John, and it may be either one, just as the medium de- sires. During this same seance a rain storm came up and while I was standing upon a chair to reach the ceiling with the trumpet to carry the impression that the spirits were sliding the trumpet on the ceiling, there came a big flash of lightning, illuminating the entire room. I jumped off of the chair 88 TEUTH AND FACTS the minute the flash came, and my sitters saw me in the air, and also heard me hit the floor. I hurriedly remarked that the spirits had floated me in the air and that it was the first time that I had ever had that ex- perience. After telling how marvelous it was, my control told the sitters that they would try this experiment at every circle. This excuse was readily accepted and a great many came every seance night in or- der to see if the spirits would be able to give this wonderful demonstration again, but as I was very careful not to give any more se- ances on stormy nights, their desires were not gratified, but as a medium's best secret is not to entirely satisfy the investigators, but to give them enough in order that they will come again to receive more, this, of course, enables the medium to gather in a great many more dollars, this being the only god that they worship. PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 89 CLOSING REMARKS BY THE AUTHOR, The author wishes to apologize to the reader for any errors found in his works, and assures the reader that he has no liter- ary attainments or desires to gratify, and that his only object in writing this book is to satisfy the demand of those who are seeking the truth of Spiritualism, and in giving this expose to the public, he has endeavored to use plain, common, every day English, in order that it can be fully understood. The author has left no stone unturned in writing this book, and considers it to be a complete expose at the present time, although me- diums are a great deal like the stage ma- gician, as those who are original are con- stantly trying to create new phases of me- diumship or new tricks, in order to outdo their competitors, and also to meet the de- mands of the public, who are constantly wanting something new and different, as 90 TRUTH AND FACTS they become tired of their old act or seance; therefore new phases of mediumship may spring up at any time. However, the author believes if the reader has a full knowledge of this book that any new phase can be readily solved, as these new phases as a rule are merely old ones worked over in such a manner as to hide their identity from the public. The secret of solving new tricks is an easy one and should the reader wish at any time to account for some of these mys- terious occurrences, all that is really nec- essary is to find the only possible way that they can be done and the problem is solved. For an example, one particular medium that was traveling through the United States created quite a sensation by claiming that he could free himself from any pair of regula- tion handcuffs made, and issued challenges to that effect. This seemed almost an im- possibility, and people advanced all kinds of theories of how this was done, some claim- ing that the bones in his hands were soft and that he could slip his hands through them. This theory, however, was soon abandoned PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALISM 91 because the investigators found on some occasions that the handcuffs were un- locked. This seeming too big a mystery for them to solve, the investigation was dropped and they accepted it as a supernatural power, but as a matter of fact, it was so sim- ple that the}^ had never looked for the only way that it could be done. If they had, it would have been solved in this manner: First, it was absolutely necessary that the handcuffs be unlocked. How did he unlock them? Why, with keys, of course. How many keys does he require to do this trick? Why, only thirteen, as there are only thir- teen pairs of regulation handcuffs made, and did you note that his challenge read " Regu- lation Handcuffs ' ' % Now, isn 't this simple % Yet, it is just as hard as any of the other tricks that are performed although some require a great deal of paraphernalia to per- form, and this paraphernalia can be bought of Charles De Yoe & Co, New York, who will furnish all mediums with aluminous paint and all other spook material necessary to dupe the public with. 92 TRUTH AND FACTS In these closing remarks the author hopes that this book has answered its purpose in showing the scull dugery that is being prac- ticed throughout the world, and that it will be the means of saving thousands of dollars to the investigating public and that it will re- store much happiness to those that have been in doubt. If it accomplishes this, the author will feel that his work has not been in vain. —The End— OCT § 1351 One copy del. to Cat. Div. OCT $ ISIi