MEDIUM’S TRICKS

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 May 1931, Page 9

MEDIUM’S TRICKS

EXHIBITION OF “FAKES.” Many cunningly devised “fakes” with which bogus mediums have deceived credulous people for years were exhibited in London recently at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research at South Kensington. There were cleverly-marked cards, innocent-looking trdys, which concealed “faked” messages, books with false covers, which hid carbon paper, and a cigar box secreting mercury in one oi! its walls, which enabled a bell to be rung to order. For the first time there was on view the stool used by the famous American medium, Anne Eva Fay. The medium sat on tile stool, with her hands and feet bound to the sides. Objects placed in front of her danced about when the lights were turned out.

For years these phenomena were ascribed to spirit agency—until it was discovered that the sides of the stool came away when a cunningly-con-cealed spring was pressed. No matter how tightly Anna Eve was bound, she could release herself, ring bells, blow trumpets and throw things about.

But the most curious of the “fakes” on exhibition was a trumpet used by a famous direct-voice medium. Written messages were handed to him in the dark, and he replied through the trumpet in the voice of the “spirit” to whom such messages were addressed. The medium put the message in a large cap, which fitted on to the end of the trumpet. In this cap there is a battery and a small bulb. By pressing a button he could read the message in a bright light, which could not be seen by anyone else. '