The Expose by the Famous Fok Sisters.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 334, 16 January 1889, Page 4

The Expose by the Famous Fok Sisters.

Modern experience verities that of Solomon. There is no new thing under either sun or moon. Human nature, ever ready to forsake its old altars for that of an unknown deity, is as credulous to-day as i* was superstitious in its childbed. If thero is any change it i.« not to our advantage in respect to acumen ; for it to have required rather moro cunning to decei\ o the ancients than uo. Lucian, as being a h.iidheaded sceptic, is very naturally rontempfcuoub with the Paphlagonians for their readiness Io believe a god incarnate on the word of a lustrous-eyed, swoet-voteed adventurer, who knew how to foam out ins frenzy with the aid of a liotle soap-woit. But, after all, it took considerable ingenuity to entrap the simple dwellers by the Euxine. The egg of a goose is as easy to periorats and clear of its contents as that of a bitialler bird ; but surely some skill and trouble was toithcomintr to find a new bom snake small euough to occupy the prepared domicile. Then the aperture hud to bo iilled up and smoothed over wiih some white substance resembling the shell. This in turn had to bo deposited in a muddy hole, to be disinterred by the prophet « ho, ha\ ing hidden it, was most likely to receive a vision of its whereabouts, j^ui was this all; for Alexander, prince of mediums, was obliged to procure a huge tame snake, and fit % on the head of his uncanny pet a painted linen mask to represent the human face of the beneficent >_;od. And soiely must his patience have been tried before he could teach his serpentine pupil to wear so uncomfortable a decoiation. Alter that, however, a correctly-darkened room, and the clever manipulation of horse-hair guiding lines, assured all but determined unbelievers that this was veritably Glycon, ' third in descent from Zeus, and the light of the -world.' But there was positive genius in both plan and practice ; and all of it was necessary to the satisfactory materialisation of /Esculapius -u oio for the second time. With us, however, an apple tied to a string and a girl's supple-jointed 10c aie proofs sufficient that the dead die not. The 'rumour ' already mentioned in ' The Globe ' i& now fully confirmed. The two famous sisters, known as Kate and Maggie Fox, stand forth publicly as self confessed impostors ; w hue the billy crowds that regaided them as heaven-inspired ha%e deserved Lucian's scornful description of those who wear the foim? of intelligent beings, but are 'as sheep iv all be.-ides.' According to the confession 01 Maigaret, or "Maggie Fox, the gieat hoax of the nineteenth centui} began inthemischie\ous fun of two children, who detei mined to give their pious but exceedingly timoions mother a 'scare.' The 'medium' *vas at this tune but ei^bt yeai^ old. and her sister Katu a year and a half ) oungei. The girls first tied an apple to a stiing, and this they used to * bump over the" floor ' at nigh when all was dark, and they were supposed to be fast asleep. The good mother, r-ever taspectins; such young Ci-oaaute capable of a trick, heard the strange -.onnds with a quaking heart. Finall\ , she called in counsel some of hei nei^liboui'-, v i>o would not belie\e without audible testimony. Tnis set the children to studying huw the , could Miceevstally keep up the little lipple of excitement, so pleasantly bieaking the monotony of \iilage life. The apple was not always available, e\en in ths dork. Of course tho simplest substitute was to rap j on then wooden bedstead #iih their knuckle^ ; buo this would not auM\ei when r.lie candles were lit and suspicious eyes upon Them. Oi the trick they m<y Lj said to ha\e originated, ilaigarel -jay-- — 'I think, when I leilees about it, that it \v;u a most woi.derfu! discovery for such \ ounci children, and all thiough our miocnier. Al\ .""later Kate was the *u->l to uisrowr t^at bj <i movement of her hnueio she could pioduce a certain noi-o ur h the knuckle^ and joints : acid that, wg couM pioduco .-liui'uir .->ocmds witli our toe-, binding wo could make raps with out feet-'-nisb with one foot and after a while with both — we i practiced until we could do tins eu-ily. I Like most perplexing 1 hinge, v hen once made clear it is a^toni-hinc' how easily it i-> done. The • lappings * aic v the io,ult 01 a pei-fect contiol of the uniscie-s ' t the leg below the knee which « v At,!ii the tendons of the fooc, and aUcv action* oi the toe and ankle joints, not commonly known. Such peifeco contiol j- only possible fiom careful practice aoa \eiy early ago ; .1 child of 12 is almost coo old. With contiol oi the muscles of the toot the toe-> may bu brought down to the floor without' any mo\emcno percej)tible to the eve. The whole foot, in iacl, can oe nu.uu to %i\e rapping:- by the uso on!y of the mu-cle^ below the knee. Tlnec ibou-and people wit ne.-sed adcmo.ibcia<ion or tliisccplanatiou in ~Ne\v Yoik, Kate Fo.z Jonkm- bui vj, pie=ei-t in confirmation. Tho ' medium 'sat on a caaii with her feet on a sounding-board, so that the raps murht be the moio audible to all in the hall. It was evplained that 4ic produced the lapping with her bip: toe. A committee of physicians evamined her feet For this purpose bhc had dipped oil\i shoo, but retained her stockings. L'le^entlv the audience heatd a series of • rat-tat-: alb,' .swelling fiom taint to lou.-i, and seeming to travel up the walls and alon^ the, iooJ. Then she stepped fiom tlie platfoim to the orchestra floor, and theie xepeifced the experiment with signal hnccc^a. Finally, the returned to the stage, stood up on the eounding-board, and called to the 'kind, dear spirits,.' Thus was followed by a, hurricane of apparent responses, the knock* seeming to come from all pait^. ot the house. The 'slate-writing' trick wa, next exposed. A .-late ivas handed to a committee of MXteen, chosen by the audieiicy. This \va> carefully examined, and even wiped clean by one of them with a v/et clobh. The slate wa^ then passed aroun.l among the spectators, and scrutinized by anyone who chose to do so. When returned to the platform ie was placed on a newspaper. The lecturer then called for a piece of chalk, which was placed under the .slate. After a few moments the date was lifted, when the under-suiface boic the lollowing * spirit message ' : — * I would not come back to live in a woild where one smile must balance a thousand tears ; for in this realm of bliss there ib nought but smiles and happiness —Frederick William. ' It was then shown that the slate had a false surface. The portion actually written upon was left upon the newspaper when the slate was under examination. The sheet of slate was ' backed ' by a piece of newspaper exactly corresponding to that part of the paper which would otherwise have been concealed by it ; so that nothing ■whatever appeared to lie upon the paper. The piece of chalk was forced beneath tins false piece in such a manner as to push one end up into its frame. Then when" the performer appeared to simply pick up the j slate, he fir.st gave it an unnoticad pressure which set. tho false surface securely in its place, where rubber adjustments retained it firmly. These weie bub two out of a number of exposed 'tricks of trade.' Space forbids an account of the others,

With regard to the childish beginning of all bhis deception, Margaret asserts that they had firsb no idea of connecting their fro] io with any other 'spirits' than fchoir own superabundant ones. What encouraged their fun and suggested further mysteries was the simple-minded mother's remark that she wondered whether a disembodied spirit could havo taken possession of her two girls. The confession says : 'We were led on by our sisters (Mrs Undoihill, then J\Jrs Fish), purposely, and by oiu mother unintentionally.' iii fact, Margaret bitterly blames, this elder sister for having deliberately turned whac was intended ior a mere ' lark ' into a moneymaking fcchomo whose over increasing pioiits demanded constantly augmented deceptions. 01 spirits communicating with mortals she avows herself totally fccoptieal. Sho tells us that, because her friends believed it possible to summon up the spirits ot the dead, t-he often tiied to do &o, with the retult that she knows 'it cannot, be done.' When in London once, bheexenweut to the sexton of a chmchyard and gained permission to go among the graves at midnight. Lotvir.g her seivant at the gate, she wont alonu, and stood o\or eac^ grave and implored the spirits that had once infoimcd the dust beneath her to come back and give her some token of their presence. But all uas silent around. The sleepers ab her feet weie not less palpable to bight than their deathless essences to her strained senses. And so one of the greatest factors in this? leligion of shadows resolves itself into a negation. Though Lazaius himself returns to us, he keeps the sepulchral seal ot silence all inviolate.