| Show Brothers Were Exposed in Los Angeles and Driven Drive From City Los Angeles Cal Cat Sept 22 The Ar I spiritualists who con conducted conducted conducted ducted their business at South Spring street were exposed and their fake methods shown up by the Los An Angeles Angeles Angeles geles newspapers In June Jutie 1902 The room they rented was fitted up with black curtains and their cabinet from froni which the spirits issued was a framework surrounded by black cur curtains thins and built up against the window At the climax of ot the meeting all light was excluded from the room except a little which came into the cabinet from the window They advertised d extensively and every night some forty or more onore people gave up a 3 half dollar doUar each The men In charge of the meeting handed every one a Ii pad of or paper upon which they wrote the name or names of the dead friends they wanted to speak to The paper was then torn off oft by bythe bythe bythe the writer and he could destroy it or do anything he wished with it The spirit spiritualists spiritualists spiritualists were supposed to know what they had written through some ome spirit messenger There was a n piece of trac tracing tracing tracing ing paper however in every tablet which transferred all an the writing to an another another another other sheet The two first rows of seats were al always always always ways filled with dummies people who had been there before and knew exact exactly exactly exactly ly what to do doWhen doWhen doWhen When everything was ready for the to begin the lights were turned down to the tile lowest capacity a boy started a 3 music box and the medium went into the cabinet and fell into a trance The noise the music box made drowned all sounds in the cabinet The medium with a sheet over his head then parted the curtains of the cabinet a trifle and said in a n sepulchral tone Dummy Helps Game This is Howard Smith A dummy in the first seat cried My darling husband And it is real really really ly iy you who have come back to me after atter all aU a ll these years Thus it went on the m medium showing himself in several di different d guises and each time some someone someone somene Oi one o ne of the dummies recognizing him as asne 01 one o ne of their relatives By the time a s seven even or eight of these dummies had talked t to the tho dead the rest of the audi audience audience ence nce o were convinced of the reality of the he t u thing whether their friends had h d ap appeared appeared p eared or not notOn notOn notOn On this particular evening the tho one of its it s exposure the reporter had grad gradually gradually ally u changed seats until he ho had wormed ormed w his way a couple of rows from the t he front The feature of the evening came no now The Tho lights were all turned out and there a ray of oC light anywhere except a faint reflection in the cabinet which came from Crom the street outside In the darkness a young woman got up from the front row of dummies and slipped sUpped Into the cabinet unseen by b the tho audience The reporter also aided by the darkness slipped sUpped into her scat seat as soon as she ihIe he left It Ho He was thus right beside the cabinet so close that he ho could hear the breathing of the two oc occupants occupants occupants and hear their low whispering Sees Ghost Dress Through a tiny rift in the time curtain he ho watched the medium help the girl into a luminous garment and then get Into one himself When they appeared there were and of appreciation appreciation elation from the tile rows of dummies and the darkness and weirdness of the whole proceeding easily fooled the rest of the people Immediately afterwards the tho girl came cam timidly out of the cabinet to regain her seat before the light was turned on She Sha was horrified to find some one in her seat and she had to squeeze onto a seat sea t with one of her companions to make it look all right The reporter had brought several friends along and they all handed In fictitious names When the supposed owner of these names appeared they tried to get to them Each time a wo we woman woman weman man sitting near the entrance to the cabinet would put herself in the way so that they could not get ge by her When they finally did succeed d the spirit re treated Into the cabinet and the reason was given that the spirits would not stay If the people were at all Irreverent All this time the medium was sup BUP supposed supposed posed to have haye been in a trance but thai reporter could hear him moving around and changing his costumes Medium Is Exposed When the lights were turned on the medium came out and sticking from one of his pockets was the filmy stuff which the two had arrayed themselves in The reporter caught hold of the end of It and started to pull It out The medium grabbed it and ran and locked himself in another room The people that night realized Oe Uc whole fake that had been practiced upon them but the thing had been going on for several months and the themen themen themen men had grafted quite a bunch of f money The fakers lost so much prestige by ly lythe bythe the exposure they gave up and left Los Angeles in disgust |
