They Were Horses

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 99, 25 April 1885, Page 4

They Were Horses

A .sensation- has been caused in medical circles by tho exposure of the methods employed by a Dr. Townsend, who has been i giving illustrations ot his mesmeric powers Ifn Chicago city. Tho subjects acted as mesmeiiacd people generally do, and a I number of physicians applied tests to them. I The iusersibility to pain displayed by tho I subjects was remarkable, and the doctors i were puzzled. On Friday night ono ; Robinson, actuated by an alleged failure on the part of tho management to pay his salary, walked out in front of tho uudiencc and shouted : "This thing is a fraud, and I can prove it. I've beon a subject here, and can stand any kind of test." The exhibitions were given by Robinson, who was prodded with needles, burned with lighted cigar?, had cayenne pepper thrown in his eyes, swallowed the bitterest drugs, and submitted to all sorts of torture -without the slightest perceptible tremor. Kobineou explained that tho ability to endure pain wa* cultivated, and that there wore men who made it a business, and who were known among professionals as •'horses." Five or six " horses " wero discovered who paid they were pet forming with Dr. ToAvnsend. Some of their feats were almost incredible. For instance, they allowed needles to be inserted under the finger nails or through tHe tongue without wincing All of these men with whom the doctors talked said they were in the employ of Dr. Townsund, receiving so much per night. As a result of the investigations of the medical men, a novel seance was held tonight at tho house of a prominent physician, in which the performers were half- a dozen professional subjects who had trained themselves to the business. They stood without moving a muscle while the needles were thrust through thoir ears and arms and under the nails of the fingers. Cayenne pepper was swallowed by the spoonfu* without a wink. All the "horses" said they had been employed as subjects by professional mesmerists, and declared that the ability to endure pain is a simple matter of pluck and training, and that all public exhibitions of so-called mesmerists were conducted by the aid of hired subjects. — ' l Boston Herald. "

Stockings first became fashionablo in Queen Elizabeth's time. The "Vitgin Queen " is also responsiblo for the first suggestion ofa" dross improver." A Chinaman, on being saved from drown ing by being pulled out by his pigtail, remarked, " I thank queue." Thirty thousand pounds is estimated as the sum spent daily in 25,000 beershopa in Paris.