One of the most interesting cases I have heard of lately is that of a young man who was greatly in debt and sought the advice of a medium. The medium offered to pay his debts if he in return would take a position which the medium would secure for him in the Bureau of Records and in addition to his work furnish the medium with copies of certain documents. Fear of his debts becoming known to his parents forced him to accept the offer and the medium got the desired data but before an improper use could be made of it the young man’s conscience led him to make a clean breast of the whole affair to the police and a gigantic fraud was “nipped in the bud.” The most dastardly and unscrupulous methods that I ever heard of, methods almost beyond belief, were those used by a medium who made arrangements with a ring of “white slavers” by which he paid them a certain specified sum for any information which the “girls” in their “houses” were able to secure. In addition he also established a number of places where, under the direction of a woman, the girls drew out many secrets which would never have been told under any other circumstances. One thing which makes the work of these mediums easier is the fact that many people tell things about themselves without realizing it. I have known people to deny emphatically that they had made certain statements or mentioned certain things in a seance although I had personally heard them say those very things not more than twenty minutes before. Under the excitement of the moment their subconscious mind[118] speaks while their conscious mind forgets. This does not escape the medium who takes advantage of everything which it is possible to. An incident related to me by the late Harry Kellar shows in a striking way what can be done with information the possession of which is not suspected nor its source accounted for by the victim. He had met in Hong Kong a troupe of travelling players, known as the “Loftus Troupe” which was featuring Jefferson De Angelus. Among these players was one, Jim Mass, who, during a discussion of Spiritualism scoffed at anyone’s belief in it. Kellar told him to visit his hotel the following night and he would be given a seance. Mass did and Kellar pretended to go into a deep trance rolling his eyes and imitating all the other effects. While in the trance he told Mass his history from the time he ran away from Newark, N. J., relating his trials and tribulations and his efforts to make a success on the stage up to the time when a young lady committed suicide in San Francisco because of his jealousy. Then Kellar turned to him and said: “What is your name?” “Jim Mass,” was the answer. “That is not your right name,” Kellar retorted, “your right name is James Cropsey!” “It is a lie,” said Mass.