SPIRITUALISTIC EXPOSURE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5308, 30 March 1878, Page 5 (Supplement)

SPIRITUALISTIC EXPOSURE.

(Philadelphia Times.)

The spiritualistic world has now another opportunity to rise and explain. Dr/Henry C. Gordon, bogus was grabbed , last night while playing spirit. Medium Gordon, next to the Blisses, is the smartest, most successful, and. most audacious of all spiritual humbugs. When he formerly resided in New York he played medium, but was caught one fine night and partly exposed, the grabbing being somewhat premature.' "Finding himself in Philadelphia, he again started in the materialising business, and moved from house to house, meeting with varying-success. He finally located in a largej fine looking spiritualist boarding-house on Fairmont-avehue, and here he gathered around him 1 a select circle of as credulous cranks as ever' fed a medium’s maw; a young-lady residing in the lower portion of the city attended one of his seances, and saw a form which; was represented, and which she believed to be the spirit of her, dead mother.. The'.young:lady fainted. , Since then she : Las, ■ been almbst crazed upon the subject. Her friends determined, if possible, to cure her. 1 , First, they gave Gordon a test. ' Ori Monday night of last week among'others a,'form appeared at the aperture in the cabinet with a long, black beard and hair. Ponco, an Indian chief, who controls the mediums and announces the spirits, but who himself is never visible, called out; “Brightly J Brightly !” “If that is Brackley—John Brackley, perhaps I might recognise him,” said one of the young lady’s friends. The form disappeared.. After the seance the young man informed Gordon of the circumstance—the medium, of course, was in a trance and knew nothing of what transpired at the seance—and informed him that ; his friend Brackley died in Pittsburgh three years ago. “Come again,” said the doctor, “and perhaps he may talk to you.” - No such person as Brackley, by the way, ever existed. - Last night a committee of three, consulting of Mr. Lippincott, a Market-street auctioneer, and his two sons, was appointed by Gordon to examine himself and the cabinet. ' The cabinet consisted of a curtain stretched across a corner of a room, and behind this was another curtain merely thrown across a wire.’‘ The committee examined the cabinet and found nothing. The performance then went on. At last there appeared at the aperture the blackhaired and black-bearded individual who represented John Brackley, the friend of the young lady’s friend. Some ridiculous spiritualists, however, persisted in recognising him as John Shedwick, formerly an engineer on' a -New Jersey railroad. • The spirit, 1 however,- persisted in being John Brackley, and so John Walsh, a South-street plumber, who has been creeping into the confidence of the medium, was called up to have a talk with John!' Mr. Walsh walked to the aperture and then stooped a little to peer in. The curtain was between him and John Brackley.The lean-looking spiritualists looked on with apparent ‘ enjoyment. A number of gentlemen "of substantial form, who were sprinkled through the audience, looked solemn and serious. • ‘ r ';- 1 : - Suddenly Mr. Walsh sprang forward and grasped in his arms John Brackley. curtain and all. That little room became a little pandemonium. The substantial-looking gentlemen each jumped to their feet, and each collared a pugilistically-disposed spiritualist: A young man in the rear struck a match; and lighted a plumber’s lamp, with-which "MK Walsh had provided him, and with this he lighted! every burner in the room. , The women mounted the chairs and screamed. ■; The young lady who had seen the bogus spirit ’ of' her mother laughed until the tears came in her eyes. John Brackley, still behind the curtain; kicked and struggled iu a most mortal mariner,'but never a word said he. A big spiritualist—the : capturing party was not large enough to hold more than portion of the audience in cheek—ran to John’s rescue, and struck Mr. Walsh in the eye. Mr. Walsh lost his grip, but as the spirit slipped through his arms he quickly put his hand through the aperture and lifted John Brackley’s scalp—a little skullcap 'Of black silk. The spirit did not dematerializej but ran td the other end of the curtain, and here it came in view of Dr. Henry ‘ o.' : Gordon, the medium, and here it was seen to stuff' a black beard beneath its vest. Mr/Walsh—buried beneath the ruins of the foremost curtain, which his last clutch had brought to the ground, disclosing the fact that the rear curtain had. been removed from its wire to make i “Helen’s" dress—Was being packed with spiritualists’ umbrellas. ' '. Meanwhile, in front of the'cabinet, a regular free fight was progressing between the spiritualists and the exposers. ' Daniel ■ Snyder, a burly photogragher, being attacked by Manager Stetson, picked the latter up, and threw him headforemost against the wall. ' Jonathau Roberts, of Burlington, New Jersey, caught Mr. Snyder by the arm, and was hitpself grasped by the throat, and thrown into a corner. Gordon having escaped from Walsh ran quickly from the-cabinet into the middle of the room, where he was caught by a young man, who threw him on his knee's. Manager Stetson —this was immediately before he was thrown against the wall—pounced upon the young man. Gordon was again up, and running quickly through the fighting audience reached the door of an adjoining apartment. Here he Was again laid hold of by another young gentleman, who threw him over a Small stove. 1 Spidam struck the gentleman in the eye, and Gordon, who had fallen upon his back, turned the stove over, upon his assailant, and quickly rising, escaped from the room and downstairs.

Mr. Roberts and a, few! other spiritualists were highly indignant .over what they termed an outrage. ■ Many of the spiritualists, however, laughed at their own folly, and quickly left the house, and, in fact, inany of them who joined the exposing party had attended .the seances for the purpose of investigation, but detected the humbug when, the .spirit ;was grabbed. After a vain attempt ■,to recover their admission fees, the , exposers left -the house in triumphal procession, with , fTohn Braokley’s black silk wig in their possession-,.;