| Show 1 How ow the Arnold Dickson I Frauds F Operated Up A Sonic Some and Details by an y the Expose of Precious the of u Methods the Brothers Sham 2 Em Eth Employed G gorge J Arnold and James J 3 Dick Dickson DIckson son sou arc now on their t way to El EI Paso Tox Tc whence they th y have fled as asa a result of ot thu tho exposure by Tho The Herald of ot their frauds frauda Enough was printed by this paper immediately after the arrest of Ar o on a charge of having viciously assaulted Mrs MiS M 18 Mary M Af Brandon who attempted to seize a spirit and found round that it Was vas as a person In disguise to frighten them and they have run away for roar fear r of or arrest on o more serious charges hargos rh j raId Has l s stated that these men but has not gone into de Je details tails show showing ing how h v the public was ivas duped A full account of a number of the Jho tricks 1 b by y which h these men and others oth oUi ers PIS of Or their l h Ar ilk have the public Js Is h presented pre nt herewith hel with in order that the public may lAU be able to fathom some of the seemingly c inexplicable perform performances ances anetH Of oc the brothers It Is a remarkable r fact that Arnold F JI practiced only the crude trek of oC the amateur prestidigitator but l ul theo tricks wore were so 50 thoroughly that the ordinary observer could b bp readily deceived d Th tricks of these men mc were not BO O clever elever r nor difficult nor were their fouls feats so wonderful as are arc em employed plo od by other fake mediums Arnold Arnoldr r nd DIckson wore clever were close ob o b Fer rs j nd had thoroughly mastered their simple tricks Spiritualists Praise Kraid F I raldA X A Spiritualists are loudest and most earnest urnest in their praise of The Herald for the exposure c t and unmasking of these fraudulent mediums The real spiritualists who believe as a matter of that they may and do com communicate communicate communicate with the spirits of the dead and decry these and similar frauds that are arc masked under the cloak and md name name of oC religion They discountenance dIscountenance discountenance the bilking and anil robbery and de deceiving of the th public under the name of their religion which tend to place tim tho religious roll ous belief of tho the true truo spirit disrepute The Tho followers of the spiritualistic creed reed in this state have sent to the of ot officials of the National Spiritualists as association association of the United States a file of The Herald containing the exposures of or the pair and these men will be advertised fully in every orthodox spiritualistic publication in inthe inthe Inthe the United States and Canada Special agents agen ts of the national association were sent here some time ago to uncover un over the frauds and deceptions of these men but the grafters were too shrewd for forthe forthe forthe the agents and outwitted them These 4 agents were denied admission to all v meetings and were forced i to leave the city without accomplishing their task t sk These agents were among the first to congratulate The Herald on its work of or exposure and to offer their services to further the work A 1 Materializing The most interesting public performance perform performance performance ance of the brothers and at which the most heartbreaking scenes were enacted were their Thurs Thursday day night materializing There the faithful who regularly paid their half dollars for the privilege of conversing with their th lr loved ones whoso whose bodies had been reverently placed in inthe inthe Inthe the tomb to mingle again with the clay day from which they were first taken were vere deceived with impunity by the spurious spiritualists The materializing were al always always always ways well attended and the hall hail was almost invariably crowded The front seats were occupied by those who ho by their regular attendance had won the confidence of the manipulators of the phony apparitions These meetings were Are conducted in such a manner as to toA t A gain and hold the confidence of the credulous while at the same time a close observer could distinguish the deception and could know how it was performed During the time the hall hail was filling slowly with those who desired to wit witness witness witness ness or participate in the meeting four clusters dusters of oC two power electric lights placed In the tho ceiling gave a flood of brilliant light As soon as the hall flail was filled and the hour for the opening pening of the meeting had arrived the phonograph was started and Anona Hiawatha or some other modern spiritual air was played Then the lights were extinguished toom oom was in total darkness A I Swiss music box would be played to en entice entice entice tice the spirits from the Land of Springtime e eIn In the event that a materialization not JUt be produced quickly enough the nce would sing singa a verse of oC one nf of the hymns written by Arnold One of th these e was The Land Lond of Spring Springtime Springtime time and another was Spirit Divine ung ungto to the old music of Sweet Hour nf or f Prayer The words of this song sont are areas areas as RS follows Arnolds Hymn Spirit DIVine essence of all aU With humble hearts he to thee we call We Ve pray our every thought to bless And Ifa us on to righteousness Thy divine hand in all we e see In every mountain vaie or tree Lot Let all the earth rejoice aDd sinS oJ Hosanna to our ur heavenly king We Ye humbly seek the only way To know Thee better day by b day And if we err rr Spirit Divine Remember that we still stilt are thine O 0 give us grace grace to do and bear Let angels an ls guide us everywhere re Until on yonder beauteous shore hore We Ye Join our loved loed ones gone gOlle before Prior to the time the lights were ex cx extinguished extinguished the spectators had ample mity tc see soe the stage on which tile the materializations took place This stage Mage extended entirely across the th north northend Mid end nd of the han hall A door opening into the furnace room was situated close to the east end of the stage and the black curtains which formed the cabinet were suspended front from wires sweeping A 10 o the edge of the door The entire was encased in these curtains The wall paper on the back of the stage was as covered and the ends of the stage were also covered The heavy hea y folds of this curtain swept to the floor corn com completely com completelY covering the platform Not a n shadow could be seen on these curtains Elaborate Lighting System The control l of or the lIght was always in the hands of Arnold who was sta eta stationed stationed beside the tho door leading loading Into the furnace room Dickson was stationed on the th platform and was to tobe tobe tobe be under control for the production I r the ille spirit 5 forms which were w o to t play pla I qc t their parts during the progress of the th materialization The lighting system was on two cir circuits circuits cults One circuit which was con controlled controlled controlled trolled by a switch placed at a dis die distance distance tance from the floor where wh re it could only be reached by a man of ordinary height standing on tiptoes and reach reaching ing I g at arms length controlled three groups of two power lamps The fourth pair of lamps was situated at the extreme m rear of oC the hall hail and was controlled by what wl at is termed a 4 dimmer That is graduations gra of light could be secured by throwing the switch of or the dimmer a part of way across the face of ot the indicator indi ator This could be beao so regulated re that tha only the glov of light could be pro produced produced produced or tile the light could be made to grow gradually more and more bright until complete brilliancy was attained During D the singing of the hymns or I during the playing pla Ing of the music box or the black curtains could be seen cen to sway and move moye and a mo moment moment ment mont later u a spirit torm form would glide gUde to the front of the stage and in a sepulchral sepulchral chrul whisper would announce a name Then the thc music would cease Immediately there would be a re response response response from from the audience A grief stricken relative would call the spirit form by the name of a loved one who had bad been laid to rest beneath the shel shelter shelter shelter ter of ot the sod A conversation pitiful for forthe the heartbroken earnestness the wild longing and yearning that were portrayed I by the tones of the deluded one in the audience would be carried on for a n few moments and then the spirit would vanish with a n word of farewell behind the curtain of the cab cabinet met inet Some of the scenes enacted during these were vere of the most touch touching touching touching ing character At a held a few weeks ago in this hall the form of what was purported to be the spirit of a girl about 16 years ears of age Appeared A sample Deception Dc Oh it is my darling daughter cried crieda a mother whose child had been torn from her by the hand of death The tones of the womans voice carrying a weight of woe yet buoyed by a note of hope that hoped in defiance of a shadow of doubt that still lingered sent a thrill of sympathy through the audience Yes mother the spirit answered in the sibilant whisper which has been recognized by many as that of Arnold who pretended to be in a condition of trance Yes mother I have come to be with you ou for a few minutes And how are you dear asked the mother with a wild eagerness in her voice I am very very happy in the spirit land the shade answered Then the spirit turned its back to the audience saying sa ing See how long my hair has grown mamma Long tresses of the thickest and soft softest softest est eat hair hall fell almost to the waist of the tho spirit With hands that could scarce ly be seen the spirit lifted ted the tresses and ran its finger between the heavy strands Oh my my m darling girl the mother sobbed choking for words to express her love and grief Oh my darling how beautiful you are Am I mamma the spirit an answered answered answered I 1 am with you OU often orten when you do not know it I come to you I whenever I 1 can You must not grieve grieye for me so SD much mamma because I am happy and am caring for you and help Ing ins you all aU the time Are Arc you ou dear heart Oh I know that you ou are My God I know it I Ican Ican Ican can feel your dear dea spirit near me meI meI meI I must go now mamma because I Iam Iam Iam am getting weaker eaker I cannot stay sta long tonight because I am so weak and the whisper would die away aWa until it was almost inaudible Mother Is Deceived Goodbye goodbye the vanishing spirit said and the mother with her face lace covered with tears of grief because of her loss and with tears of transient happiness because she half believed that she had covered co ve ed with her lost daughters pure spirit echoed the good goodbye goodbe goodbye bye be as the form so beautiful in her eyes vanished behind the curtain Then the unable to restrain the feelings of her broken heart unable to control the wild emotions of grief mingled with hope collapsed with her frail fran body shaken by the sobs that sent a pang of grief to every heart in the room The Th materialization of the tile spirit of her daughter for the moment to this sorrowful mother To the un unsophisticated unsophisticated unsophisticated sophisticated to the ignorant to those who had not observed carefully with witha a view of discovering the means of per jer perpetrating this deception the illusion was perfect But to those whose eyes were not blinded by b an unreasoning faith in these men who played on the heartstrings s of their victims as the wind ploys plays through the pines in the northern forests the deception could easily be seen and understood When the th hall hail was filled and when the lights were turned out ample time was waa a given Iven for the confederates of the mediums to slip from the fur furnace furna furnace nace na room room door or from the front seats behind the sable curtains without be being beIng being ing seen by those who sat in the audi audience audience ence once behind the first row of seats This Thi first row of seats seals it has been shown was always filled by the faith faithful ful by those who wore completely de deceived deceive or who were in the game and who were er fully Cully cognizant of the proceedings that were being enacted On e inside the cabinet it was but the tt matter of or a few moments for the confederates t to robe themselves in the garments that were concealed either in the pulpit on the platform or behind the curtain that covered the rear wall Avail and appear through the folds of oC the thern front fron t curtain as the spirits of the friends and rela rola relatives tires tIes of thOse th se in the audience The fact that the mediums knew something of the Scandinavian lan languages languages and the German tongue and that many of their steady patrons were of these nationalities aided In the de do deception a nd enlarged their clientele Dickson Dick on a Ventriloquist Ve It Il Js Is not at all an unlikely ely that Dickson who wh was vas as the trace traice medium was a and was able to disguise and throw w his voice yolee to other parts Darts of the stage than where he lie was located This ts Is a common trick with spurious materializes rOld one that is effective Continued d on o 4 Page 2 1 1 4 4 1 4 e 4 M E 4 L c cc V c rr 4 i m I t L a 4 i 4 4 cp I b f i St Sty y 4 r b bi i a 4 l p George J Arnold and nd James J Dickson Arnold Is the Man Wearing the American Party Emblem Mow U w the Frauds Operated Continued from page 1 Dummies and mallol t covered nth Ith the luminous ro h dould thus toe e made mado ma do to appear and converse with hp h people in the audience completely eluding them t ent Arnld Arnold and DicksOn played pl on the ot J dupe as w Il 11 as on the theo tears oro o o tender s or of their hearts nd thus protected themselves from ex exI ext I I t j Arnold Anold frequently r warn warned the that they must never fever by any Chance anco touch one of o the spirit forms the slightest contact with one by a ft living person pe son would cause the in tant death of or the medium In the prance ance and would cause the spirit to toWander towander Wander Grander through t rough endless ages upon the tho rth unable to tb return to its own phere in the land uland of or springtime In jurat hat way the dupes dupea were kept at a dis tance anee from the tho spirits While White Dickson was in ht h the cabinet from the audience by the onvy curtains ho he had ample op to make frequent changes of ot and aided by one or more con cone federates e to Impersonate many spar spir Arnold was at the thed door or controlling fhe o e lights With his hand on the th dim dimmer mer 1 fr r switch he could Increase or or at reduce th e flow of light as occasion demanded E With Ith fth the switch controlling the three lusters Clusters of or lights set so high on the wall hat it would have hae been almost t imposible ImposIble Ible for tor one desiring to expose theand the and by throwing on the lights to lave reached the switch without first waving baying J first having overpowered Arnold id nd his friends who sat near him In Ino o melee m which would have resulted om rom such sum an attempt DIckson would 10 had an nn opportunity to conceal the spirit robes and an opportunity uld have ha vc been n tho the confederates F slip sUp into the audience during the ex exi t i Music Prevents Noises I IThe Tho playing of tine the t e music box between effectually drowned o slight noises that occurred during o e changes hangos of costume on the stage s go hind tho the curtain The rhe spirit robes which glimmered id d shimmered in the almost total Ed of oC the room and which was I by b the black hangings formed the background were n E prepared It is not known to toly toI toy I ly y outside the |
