Spook Manifestations All
Faked, Spirit detective Claims
"stooge." He wears a false vest in which he carries , "Csf t 3
flowers. The medium does not have to go through Iv' j 'mzJ-'V'' rk
any Houdini acts to get his hands free for the - " U " ' ' : "ft. ,
hands that were sewed to his trousers were rub- - ; ;W -afvr , nX
ber; his own are folded up against his shoulders. I . t ' J -' 1 ""',
The "stooge" makes a final inspection of the cabi- I , ' i , , ",. t5'"' 1" 3 8 .lrff?
net, and in closing the curtains dumps the false ' I ' V 9 a ?MW?MM
front into the cabinet. The flowers begin to appear A 1 ' " SaV rvC 3 t
through the slits in the curtain, very slowly, and I I ,f 1 , LWag&l 1 1 f.HmmmMUMfftm
are tossed out to the audience. I C v-fL , I li
Gullible World Anxious
To Believe So Psychic
Frauds Reap A Harvest
Dr. di Chilini. who tells this story of spirit fak
ing, is an investigator for the Los Angeles Minis
terial Association and student of magic. Anexposer
of frauds, he has been instrumental in the arrest
of several "mediums" in Hollywood who were pur
ported to be swindling the wealthy. Because of his
wide study of so-called "spiritual" and other such
devices, he frequently gives entertainments, explain
ing the workings of the "spooks." The Editor.
By Dr. U. L. di Chilini
(At Told to Elsie Madison)
EVERYBODY in the world is a potential sucker!
Every town in the world is a sucker town!
Statesmen, movie stars, office boys, shop girls,
truck drivers, policemen, seamstresses and busi
ness men are taken in yearly to the tune of mil
lions of dollars by occult swindlers, who play on
their supernatural superstitions, or in most cases,
beliefs.
We are born with a yearning for something
which doesn't exist, an awe for something we
don't understand. I have never found a trick or
a seance that I couldn't duplicate within three
days. If I ever do, then perhaps I'll kick in and ask
advice and pay for it!
You may say to me, "But I went to a clairvoyant
who told me my name, the date of my birth and
answered two questions I wanted answered with
out even knowing about them."
Are you sure he knew nothing about them ? His
room was dimly lighted, there was a desk lamp
focused on the spot on which you wrote your ques
tions. You had to look through light to see him
and were therefore a trifle blinded, whether you
knew it or not.
TO DEMONSTRATE: I give you a piece of paper
and a clairvoyant's lingo. Write your name on
the paper, just to get your mind on yourself and
the problems you want solved. Beneath your name
write the date of your birth, and then the two
questions you want me to answer.
While you are doing that I will walk across the
room and gaze with a mysterious attitude into the
crystal ball. . '
Of course, you should know that even a sucker
can now see things in the crystal. The new im
proved ones are manufactured .right here in my
old home town, Los Angeles not in India!
But to get back to the name that you just wrote
down. Fold your paper over, so that I can't see
what is written on it. Fold it again and again, just
for your own satisfaction. All right, give it here.
On second thought, hold it against your forehead
and concentrate on your questions.
Now, look at your paper. What, there's nothing
on it! Of course not didn't you see me change it
for a paper I had in my pocket all the time ? What
chance would you have with a clairvoyant and all
his props?
As a matter of fact, I didn't even change the
paper from one hand to the other. I just dropped
the one you had into my lap and gave you another
one. Think what I could do with dim lights and a
nifty turban! I'd even have you burn the evidence
yourself just so you'd know I couldn't have
seen it.
Here is the story of a demonstration of what
can be produced in the way of spiritualistic phe
nomena to dupe the average citizen. In this seance,
the medium was bound to a chair, with sleeves
sewed to the trousers by people picked at random.
It seemed utterly impossible for him to free him
self. He was placed in a cabinet enclosed with dark
velvet curtains with slashes in them about two
feet in length. The skeptic immediately suspects
the curtains. He believes that they are either
double or that they have pockets concealed in
them, or that there is a man concealed in the back.
I HAVE demonstrated this "seance" a number of
times and in all sorts of places, and only one
man ever figured out just what was happening.
That was Harry Blackstone, world-famous ma
gician. He was in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, at
the time that I gave the performance there last,
year. His solution was as follows:
One of the committee from the audience la t
APPARENTLY unexplainable movement of fur
niture is always a good way to Impress victims.
Light tables appear to stick to the hand of the
medium. This is done with a ring on the medium's
hand and a tiny hook on the top of the table.
Hands which appear out of the dark to give a
ghostly thrill are produced by most mediums with
false hands made of luminous gauze, or with rub
ber hands dipped in a luminous solution. They
can also be made to appear with a magic lantern.
People look stupidly to the front of the room and
never think of the trick behind them.
When I use a girl as the medium in a demon
stration, she is actually bound and tied. But the
cabinet that is put over her has a series of black
piano wires through it, which are very strong and
very taut. When I place a tambourine inside the
cabinet, I do it in such a way that it balances
on the wires, then with the proper pressure it
will bounce up and. down, finally springing off.
The bells are operated with several wires, also.
HOUDINI, who found it hard to get into seances
because of his fame, exposed the trick of feel
ing hands clutching you in the darkness of "se
ances." It was one of those simple things which
make us wonder that we didn't figure it out for
ourselves.
The medium stands by the victim and clutches
his arm with both hands. The lights go out. The
One
And The Camera Caught It!
of a Series of the World's Most Unusual News Photographs
'wff X li'' !
A bullet intended for President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, fired by Cuiseppe Zangara while Mr.
Roosevelt sat in a car at Bay Front Park, Miami. Florida, February 15. 1933. struck and fatally
wounded Mayor Anton J. Cermak of Chicago'. Mayor Cormak, who died March 6. is seen in this
photo jutt after the shooting at he was being helped to a car. Zangara was electrocuted.
Believe In ipooks? You won't If you know'the trloka,
iayt Dr. U. L. dl Ghlllnl, who demonstrate! here iome
of the ways psychic manifestations are faked. Upper left,
Or. dl Ghlllnl, with the aid of a couple of blaok threads,
tilts a heavy chair. The other photo shows Mrs. Harry
Houdlnl, kneeling, Inspecting the bonds of Miss Jean
Clark, who is about to beoome a "medium" for a dem
onstration by Or. dl Ghlllnl, standing baok of the ohalr.
victim never notices, because of the dexterity of
the operator, that one hand is substituted by a lead
clamp with the same grip. When he was asked if
he feels his dead uncle's hand on his shoulder, he
answers in a trembling voice, "Yes."
The clairvoyant racket is a combination of all
the bunco games and wire-tapping swindles rolled
into one. Wire-tapping requires considerable capi
tal and effort, while with the crystal gazer, the
palmist, the spiritual medium and the clairvoyant,
the investment usually consists of three or four
red light bulbs; one good turban; a mustache, per
haps, and a keen natural psychology plus a little
sex appeal. With these they are ready to begin
operations.
THIS type of bunco artist has it all over the wire
tappers in other respects. A wire-tapper has
one definite type of information to sell. The clair
voyant sells whatever his client wants, whether if
is love advice, business advice, a message from a
dead grandmother or a prediction of success as a
movie star.
His charge 1b whatever he can get. If you have
$100 you'll probably pay at least half if someone
can. give you your heart's desire. Psychology is
the master key to all the seemingly supernatural
arts, but it isn't the psychology we meet in cap
and gown behind the ivy-clad walls of alma mater.
The fakers who take your dollars and half dol
lars for an hour's entertainment and let it go at
that are not dangerous. They are not guilty of
anything more than petty larceny, if that, since
you have had a certain pleasure from the perform
ance. But the mystics who take it upon themselves
to give financial advice, for which they take 10
per cent of the profit for the "church," are some
thing else.
Others will predict that your husband or wife is
under an evil influence and will give him or her
mental telepathy treatments for a stupendous fee.
Don't laugh! Wouldn't you give anything you pos
sess to have devils cast out? We all would. There
is no end to the number of ills people are willing
to pay for to have cured.
THESE sly bandits have a language all their own.
They call themselves "bookies" when speaking
to one another. This term grew out of the fact that
so many of them opened book atores rather than
clairvoyant parlors for the edification of the de
tectives. I -found this message, in my mail box
an example of their code: "Steam 38's to 3's and
Wilson box."
The "38's" are suckers; "3's" are detectives;
Wilson means "will leave." There you have: "Steam
up the suckers to call detectives and you will leave
in a box."
This nefarious business is the oldest racket in
existence and is still one of the highest paid. I
would pity my own brains if I couldn't set up an
establishment right in Hollywood and clean up at
least $25,000 in two or three months.
Don't imagine from that that Hollywood is the
greatest sucker town on earth, though. It doesn't
compare with Washington, D. C. Motion-picture
people are gullible, but I happen to know that for
every screen star who is taken in by a clairvoyant
there are two representatives and one senator.
Clairvoyants in the capital city have become ex
pert lobbyists by telling these gentlemen which
way the stars, the spirits or the fates intend them
to vote.
' , PACt THREE