MYSTERIES OF THOUGHTREADING.

North Otago Times, 26 July 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

MYSTERIES OF THOUGHTREADING.

Most of our renders have seen so-' called thought-renders do wonderful things-rend aloud the number of a watch, tell a name,-answer questions and the like. 'They have seen the most astonishing things done with cards, and .they have marvelled. Many of these performances are. undoubtedly tricks, but it is- seldom tlmt the tricks nre revealed, Some people believe that, all thought-read-ing performances are done by tricks; others exhibit a' sort, of belief-,'that-there is such a thing as thought transference, and that hypnotism is a controlling and governing' influence.,j But one well-known thought-rentier, | Khaldah, an Egyptian, declares openly that all mind-rending exhibitions given in public are absolute tricks. He does not believe a genuine bit of mind-reading litis been seen on the public platform, unless you cnll suggestion mind-reading. That is, it is possible for the performer to suggest certain things to his subjects nnd make them do them. But the hypnotic trances into which these subject are supposedly thrown are all bunkum—there is nothing in it, Such things as second sight, practiced for so many years, it would seem no longer could deceive the public. Yet they do, Why only the other day one of the lending performers o! this sort of stuff threw an audience into ecstasies by using the oldest of methods.

This was done by standing in the aisle of'the hail at least (SOft. from the stage on which sat the female '"subject." lie promised the audience lie would make her repeat any numbers they might whisper to him without -saying a word of any, sort to her, A number was whispered in her car; ho would merely glance towards the stage, and the woman who worked .'with him would immediately rc- ' peat the number. It seemed astonishing, It was simple. This trick is so old that It Is almost a shamo to have to expose it. It Is done thus! Between the man who walks among the audience and the woman on the stage there is an agreement that the numbers are arranged mentally in a square like this:

To Indicate "1" to her lie looks upwards and towards the left; to show that is the number she must sav he looks straight ahead; "9" is shown by a downward glance in the right-hand direction. See how easv it is ? One of Khaldah's most successful tricks is to draw something with a pencil on a piece of paper and then make someone unknown to him at the other end of the room duplicate the drawing, Although lie Is willing to expose other tricks. Kltnldnh prefers to keep this one 'to himself. Further, he regards so-called spiritualism as humbug, and asserts that about tho only supernatural element «vur Introduced In-public exhibitions is what Is really "muscle-reading." Washington Irving 'Bishop used this, nnil iimtio it very successful und&r tlmgulM' of inilid-rciidlng, lie would jnll'w some one to hide an übject at , til grew dlstjww, and then, htflUlp^

mo person s arm, or toucnmc; ms elbow, go directly to the plnco and And the object .blindfolded... Thia seems wonderful, mid no doubt it is nil her remarkable. Few people to-day can do it. for muscle• manipulation, and reading is a vary dclicuto und dilllcult operation.