The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 11, 1899, Page 22

20 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL SUNDAY. SUBMITTED TO ALL KINDS OF PAIN JUST TO SHOW HOW MUCH HE COULD STAND Striking Experiments Made by a Professional Faker Who Used to Hire Himself Out to Delude the Public as a Hypnotic Subject. HOMAS J. MINNOCK, the"‘Prince £ » who has been a pro- pnotic subject for the ars, showed before f physicians last Tues- of the remarkable s been performing in nent of credulous fication of the men aking a profit out of hypnotic powers, says their s ipposed ing an ounce of red pepper, and Dr. Ed- red a large teaspoon. Min- dropped it into the hot stuff, opened his mouth and cl d his lips an the spoon as he withdrew it. It took him some little timg to sw v the whole dose, and it was evide hard work. He got it all dowif finally, and there was no coughing or other effect apparent except that lte was not smiling when he opened his mouth in. “Of course, if I were getting paid for nock’s little jokes, and as he seemed to enjoy it we all smiled politely. n took a stethoscope and put nst Minnoc! right lung, and Ransome used phonendoscope his left a At the end of a few Dr. Edson announced that he noticed a roughened breathing, but did not find any lung lesion. Dr. Ransom reported there was not a clear breath- ing sound from the left lung, what the 5 a clear versicular DR. Min good , the f anything in the way nd endurance from eat- pepper to nailing hand at a drug call it to get some snu e and some black thre of your wife's hat pins, big 2 couple of nails about 1 nail. I guess that's William Leary, the friend of Governor Roosevelt, went along with us. Dr. Edson invited four friends to see the performance—Dr. E ward Mostert, Dr. H. T. Alexander, Dr. Charles T. Ransom and Assistant Cor- poration Counsel Harold 8. Rankin. Theodore H. Le perintendent of the ‘American Bank N 'ompany, called to see Dr. Edson professionally just be- fore the show began, and he remained 40 watch the prince of horses eat pep-~ per and do other stunts While we were waiting for somebody to bring in a hammer and piece of ‘board Minnock divested himself of his coat and waistcoast, lighted a cigarette and stuck a hatpin about sfx inches jlong through the lobe of his right ear. politician and When he drew it out there was mo sign of blood. “That’s nothing,” he said. “Won't .one of you doctors kindly stick this pin through my lip?” So Dr. Ransom stepped forward and planted the hat- pin down through the inside of Min- nock’s lower lip, the point coming out over his chin. he an artery there, some- where,” - said the subject jokingly. “Did you stick it through that, doc= tor?” Dr. Ransom d had ‘avoided the ertery, and then Mi k withdrew the hatpin and called for an ordinary which he b d the doctor to right through the artery Dr. som said he pierced the artery this time, but this was probably to please the “Prince of Horses,” because no blood appeared “If one of you doctors will take my left pulse and the other the right,” be- B Minnock, “I will run one up and the other down, just as you suggest.” He seated himself in in a chair, and Dr. Edson took his left wrist and Dr. Ransom the right. Dr. Ransom re- marked that if it was immaterial to the subject he would take a slow pulse. This- left the fa pulse to Dr. Edson. Both physicians held their watches, and Dr. Edson, at the end of sixty sec- onds, reported 120, wnile Dr. Ransom had counted but 114 beats. “I can do better than that when I'm in practic id Minnock, “but I haven’t done any ‘horse’ work for sev- eral weeks lately Then he asked the doctors to explain how it was Gone, and they promptly replied that he had ex- erc d muscular contraction in one arm and interfered with the regular flow of blood from the heart pump into that wrist. 1 guess that’s right,” sald Minnock, “but I have made a whole lot of people who are not doctors believe that I had two hearts. Of course, that was when I was hypnotized, you understand.” And he laughed. I opened the pasteboard box contain- EDSON, WEIGHING 210 PO 2'he’s ‘and the hypnotist was e that I imagined it augh now and smack ore. But I you can get on " that takes g s what you toxic dose, doctor?” Dr. Edson 3 mething that will test my 1 by r? I think I've got a bad I This was one of Min- UNDS, STANDING ON THE SUBJECT. oIt you me for a life asked Minnock, me for a big pol- ed Well ht, swered Dr. Ran- n, 1 1 think I have reported on worse ¢ “But would you We satisfied that I had a perfectly healthy lung?” per- sisted Minnock, who was evidently ymewhat disappointed that he had not fooled the physiclans. They admit- did it sound as if ible condition, ted that the lungs the; “I know that, because I didn’t hear T'll bet the breathing sound naturally, I can go to one life insurance company and they’ll reject me after exai tion, and I'll go across the stre another and they'll- accept me. done that.” Minnock wanted to try some stunts with his heart now, and attempted to make it beat fast and w. = The pre- vious experiments, however, had given the heart such a good, strong beat that it was with some difficulty he ran it down from 112 to 96, and then we de- cided to time his heart again later in the evening. “But I can give you the tobacco heart now, doctor,” he said, and Dr. Edson put his ear up close to the young man’s shirt and burst out laughing when he withdrew it. “That's the tobacco hear “It skips a beat occasionally its rhythm, as it were.” We didn’t ask Minnock how he did it, but the “prince of horses” volun- teered the information that he held his breath to make his heart drop an oc- casional beat. Dr. Edson nod He knew it. “Who'll hold this cigarette on my skin?"’ asked the ‘hor: as he lighted one of the paper things and puffed the end into a hot ball. He rolled 1 his shirt sleeve and said, apologe ally, that while he didn’t mind the burning he'd rather have it on the arm than on the hand or face, where the mark could show. and talked to me while Dr. pressed the burning cigarette flesh until the fire was horse said he didn’t mind it, as he rolled down his shirt sleeve. Then he described the stage fall as * he said. changes Minnock turned his head Ransom he had done it on the road with the professional hypnotist before an audi ence. He said he managed to fall so as to hit his nose in just the right spot to set it bleeding freely, but he would cut the fall out in deference to the fact that he was in a private house, and the operation was a pretty noisy one when done properly. In place of that he doubled up his fist and began punching himself in the nose. This was really quite amusing to those of us who were Tooking on, but Minnock after one pr ticularly hard blow was forced to ex claim: “Ouch, that one hurt!” He the blood at last, so that it crimson in the receptacle whic been provided for such and then he remarked, it, and it won't bleed Sure enough it stopped. : Minnoc aid this trick always took particularly well when he wa alleged ! ypnotic influence, bec 5 the first place, the fall and the resu again, ing flow of blood tartling, and then the wonder of the onlookers was largely increased oy his rent abil- ity to obey the hypnotic essor's de- mand to “stop bleedin When a cali for volunteers was made nobody jumped at the opportunity hold a lighted match while Minnock held his little finger to the flame. Dr. Edson finally had to be the torturer, and the “prince of horses” suffered his finger to be burned and blackened and blistered while he made T a party of medic in Bridgep Conn., who burned his thumb off once with 1w tapers. “0f course I was hypnosis,” he sai upposed to be in nd 1 had to laugh because the prof aid they were tickling me. T tell you it is a hard on the poor horse.” 5-cent package of snuff which T had bought in Park row was 1 and emptied out into a bowl. Dr. THE BURNING took a pinch and blew his nose a min- ute afterward. We wanted him to sneeze, but he didn’t. “It's snuff all ri t,” said the doctor, and then Minnock ded to ike large and copious pinches of it, and ay parently stufied th his nostril v apparently, be: 2> I don’t be , and none of the rest of us be- ed, that he took a v .at quan- It was enough, ho to have > me sneeze, or ny other But it had no yp- he 3 notic The torture of the on the eyelic i of the bod Minnock le; told D his e g of water iy part xt, and s chair and drops fall on With a ned back | Edson to let th until h i medicine dropper of the physician stood over the sub- 1 let the big drops fall on his Minnock - one sound or dead, withe motion or twitching of any musc This inter- ested Willlam Le and he held the watch ‘on the proceeding, announci when Dr )n had about emptied th glass and Minnock had said that could stand it all night, that the was two minutes and forty-five onds. “His will power is very strong,” was Dr. Edson’'s comment. Then nnock announced that he would go into a cataleptic state and bear the weight of as many persons & MATCH TEST. cared to climb upon his extended body He stretched himself rigid on the car- pet and two men lifted him up by the head and feet as they would a plank, depositing him across two chairs. His head and neck rested on the seat of one the other. The artist was the first to step upon Minnock’s stomach, wh he stood proudly for a moment or two without any effect on the support be- neath. Then he gave way to Dr. son, who weighs 210 pounds, and Min- nock, who was as stiff and, apparently, a trong as a steel rail, called loudly more weight to be piled on his stomach. Dr. Ransom took a surgical needle about the size of a common darning needle and disdaining a thimble, which stood conveniently by, used a edle r and proceeded to sew up N atness and dispa thread. He tied a knot, and Minne of the corner of in x out mouth something to the effect th thread irmured of the hypnotic faker way. When the needle was withdrawn he an- nounced himself in condition to show how he could destroy the reflexes in his body with ease. He sat in a chair with one k thrown over the other and Dr. Edson toc a wand of light wood about the size and length of a policeman’s night- tick, without its weight, and proceed- 000000000000 00000 C0O0000000000000000000000000C000000QC00000000CC0CTTIODTOVO0OR00OCO0O000000000 DANCES THE INDIANS ARE HOLDING IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. The White Deer Dance. Recently the Indians in .the northern part of the State have been holding dances. The Indians of Mendocino and Humboldt counties have always enjoved the unique distinction of being the best dancers of all American tribes. This as- gertion may seem somewhat bold, for in all other respects they are not noted for thefr Intelligence. Nevertheless the fact remains that they are the best dancers. When *‘Captain Billy,” the notorious In- dian murderer, escaped from the authori- tles of Mendocino County he wandered up to the northern part of the State, where through his great ability as a dancer—all of which he had learned in Mendocino—he was soon made a’captain of thé Indians in and about Yreka. The {llustrations here represent 'the Humboldt Indians in two of their cele- brated dances. The red-headed wood- pecker dance is one that has exclted the admiration of all the “diggers” of the Pacific slope. It is held usually in the autumn, and the small bows and arrows carried by the performers mean that they are the superior marksmen of the tribe, for only the small weapon is used to kill the woodpecker and the yellowhammer, with which the head dress is decorated. It takes a cunning eyve and a steady hand to spot these little birds and drop one from a limb awav up in a cotton- wood tree, and the lucky fellow who suc- ceeds is a hero indeed. The “white deer skin dance” is held to The Red-Headed Woodpecker Dance, commemorate the great braves who have been suc stalkers during the yvear. At the pres- ent time it is only symbolical, for none of the great hunters of the present gen- eration have ever indulged in the scien- tific sport of deer stalking. Every old timer in either of the two counties mentioned remembers the time when the Indians practiced this lost art, and it was mest ingenlous, too. The scheme was to dress themselves in deer skins with the head dress and all; con- ceal a bow and arrow under the disguise and creep through the wild oats, which deeds of the ssful as deer in the grew luxuriantly in those countie: mals as good old days, into a band of & they were feeding, then quietly loosen an arrow from the bow, down his game and bring the carc: home in triumph. In the dance all this is done in panto- mime and it is most intensely interesting, but quite difficult to understand to one who has not been previeusly informed as to the meaning of the performance. The strin of beads about the necks of the dance mean “wampum,”’ or Indian money. It is not earned through the chase, but through gambling, of which thg Indians are passionately fond. ed to rap Minnock’s right knee. At the first attempt he hit the spot, and the subject’s leg twitched and his foot went up, in the air about two inches. ““That too bad,” 1id ~ Minnock. “We'll have to try again. He got up and wal round his chair, and then reseated elf. w, go ahead, doctor,” he said, and . Edson hit the spot that causes the reflex of the knee about twenty times 1ever a movement of the young Then Minnock leaned back in h chair, turned up his eyes, and D Edson prodded the pupil of the right eye with his finger. Minnock said that by long practice he had been able to overcome the sensitiveness of the pup! This practice, ti > of con: erable will power and concentration ¢ thought, constituted the only expla: tion the subject could giv Cocaine probably wquld put another man’s eye in the same unsensitive condition, but no cocaine v used on Minnock. After telling us that he could keep his r 1tion down to two or three a minute veral hours at a stretch we conc led to take his word for it, as the hour was drawing toward mid- night. Minnock said that once when in a coffin and was sup- he v hypnotic trance for se'a watch was kept vs and a half. He believes he would ave died of starvation except for the that he drew less than 12,000 in all that time Twelve thousand breath§ seems like good many, but I don’t think they d last the writer one day. nock ery proud of the tricks n do with his heart, and he ran he it up and down for the doctors at such one ex- had been Min- a that after hibition listening nock” surprising rate Dr. Ransom, who with his ear against st, remarked earnestly: you came into my office with I'd put you to bed and u $5.” Minnock said first that he would show at he could do inthe way of making his heart beat fast. He fixed his eyes on the carpet, and after a minute or two of thought told Dr. Ed- son to time him. The heart showed 128 beats per sixty seconds. That was a great horse race I was thinking about,” remarked Minnock when the resuit was announced. “Did you notice that the last few beats be- gan to get slower, doctor?” Dr. Edson said this was true. “I tell you how that was,” said M ughing. “I had a good fleld horses, and the one that my money was on had a bad start. right, though, and got field, all except one ho: g 1 the running almost neck and neck witl him nearly up to the wire. I had of money on my horse and I was strange town, and if he lost the ra was broke. Just as they got to t I thought up the hottest fin imagined in my life, and my I guess my he then, but the minute wire it was all off. And when the heartbeats began to If I could only have of seconds th rt wa ht going ail they p that wa go more slowly. kept that finish up a couple o longer 1 could have made 140 This is Minnock's secret for making his heart gallop like a racer while he is sitting calmly in a apparent trying to go to sleep. The ordinar man can make his heart jump by ing a quick turn around the bloc it is given to but fey i accomplishment ilure to keep his hear st couple of onds of the loping the minute use his imaginary race ended too soon, he remarked that he had “over-trained.” His imagination serves him equally well in keeping his heart down, as he showed a few m ments later, when Dr. Edson felt his pulse and counted the beats out loud, with his eve on the watch. Then came slower ahd slower as the sixty conc d, until finally Dr. Edson stopped counting and explained When he had snapped his watch “They got going so slowly they threw me out.”” Minnock’s heart on this test s than seventy beats to what pe a i », and he said it wa Ty 1 of will and of the of the mind over the body. If says there is no such but that is because er all his life, and the word itself with him is synony- mous with trickery. One of the most rabid believers in everything which bears the brand of hypnotism whom I know told me the other day that Min- nock, despite his own confessions, is really a pure hypnotic subject, and that all his feats of enduring pain and other performances are the result of auto- suggestion. “He hypnotizes himself,” announced my friend, decisively. ‘With such men as these I have no patience, nor with the myriads of fakers who practice on the credulity of the public with just such stool pigeons as Minnock. ——ee—————— Two-thirds of all the letters posted im the .poslofflces of the world are English. powe Minnock hims thing as hypno! he has been a tric ]