The Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All AgesBarnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)
General
The Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)
Impostors and imposture
To raise the table, the "medium" puts her knees under and against the
frame of it, then lifts her heels, pressing the toes against the floor,
at the same time bearing with her arms on the end. To make the table tip
forward, one knee only is pressed against the frame at the back side.
The raps are made with the toe of the medium's shoe against the leg,
frame, or top of the table.
What feels like a hand pressing the investigator's fingers when he puts
them against the blanket, is nothing more than the medium's feet, the
big toe of one foot doing duty for a thumb, and all the toes of the
other foot being used to imitate fingers. The pressure of these, through
a thick blanket, cannot well be distinguished from that of a hand. When
this experiment is to be made, the medium wears slippers that she can
readily get off her feet.
To make the table heavy, the operator presses her knees outwardly
against the legs of the table, and then presses down in opposition to
the party who is lifting, or she presses her knees against that surface
of the legs of the table that is toward her, while her feet are hooked
around the lower part of the legs; that gives her a leverage, by means
of which she can make the whole table or the end furthest from her seem
quite heavy, and if the person lifting it suddenly relaxes his hold, it
will come down with a forcible bang to the floor.
To work the "spirit-dial," the medium has only to press the string with
the toe of her foot against the top of the table, and slide it (the
string) along till the index points at the letter or word she wishes to
indicate. The frame of the dial is beveled, the face declining toward
the medium, so that she has no difficulty in observing where the index
points.
After concluding her performances under the table, this medium sometimes
moves her chair about two feet back and sits with her side toward the
end of the table, with one leg of which, however, the skirt of her dress
comes in contact. Under cover of the skirt she then hooks her foot
around the leg of the table and draws it toward her. This is done
without apparent muscular exertion, while she is engaged in
conversation; and parties present are humbugged into the belief that the
table was moved without "mortal contact"--so they report to outsiders.
This medium has a "manager," and he does his best in managing the
matter, to prevent "Samson being caught" in the act of cheating. The
medium, too, is vigilant, notwithstanding her appearance of carelessness
and innocent simplicity. A sudden rising of the blanket once exposed to
view her pedal extremities in active operation.
Another of the "Dark Circle" mediums gets a good deal of sympathy on
account of her "delicate health." Her health is not so delicate,
however, as to prevent her from laboring hard to humbug people with
"physical demonstrations." She operates only in private, in presence of
a limited number of people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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