A Remarkable Exhibition in New York.
They are having an excitement in New York which even dims the interest taken in
Grant.
It appears to be a sort of spiritual demonstration, which is peculiarly attractive to the
Yankee nation.
The performers are the "Davenport Brothers," and the description of the performance occupies a good deal of room in the New York papers.
From a long account in the
Herald we take the following:
‘
The performances of the
Davenport Brothers at the Cooper Institute continue to attract general attention and large audiences.
Last evening there was a very full and fashionable house, and the manifestations were unusually satisfactory.
This was undoubtedly the result, in a great measure, of the good order maintained by the spectators, almost all of whom were too intelligent to interfere with their own enjoyment by unnecessary vociferation.
Those who made the most noise were those whose opinions are of the least consequence.
’
Mr. Lacy, who has charge of the business details of the performances, and who conducted himself with singular impartiality, opened the proceedings with a brief speech.
He stated that the manifestations had been interrupted by the disorder in the audience on Tuesday evening; that there were certain laws governing the manifestations which were not to be broken; that he would promise a most interesting display if the audience would aid him by keeping quiet; that he would allow the audience to choose a committee for themselves, and would afford the committee the fullest opportunity of investigation; and that, on the other hand, be requested the ladies and gentlemen present to abide by the decisions of their representatives, the committeemen, and not dispute and quarrel with them.
This little speech was received with hearty applause.
Some time was then occupied in selecting the committee.
Fire
Marshal Baker was first proposed, and unanimously elected.
Several names — a stock broker's among them — were summarily voted down amid loud calls for
Walbridge.
After awhile
the Hon. Hiram Walbridge was proposed, seconded and elected.
Mr. Walbridge rose from his seat and declined to serve, on the ground that he had come to watch the committee as well as to see the performances.
Apparently very much surprised that the
General should decline any office and any chance of making a speech, the audience received his apology with decided disapprobation, Destillory conversation ensued, and finally
General Walbridge named
Judge Baker as his substitute, and the
Judge was unanimously elected.
This completed the committee, and, after several bad jokes upon the coincidence of the two Bakers, quiet was restored and the committee proceeded to business.
At the suggestion of
Mr. Lacy, who said that there had been some talk about Wires and Electricity, glass plunders were placed under the feet of the stools upon which stands the magic cabinet or closet.
The closet was carefully examined, inside and out, and was found to contain nothing and to have no visible connection with any apparatus.--The Davenport Brothers--two very intelligent and gentlemanly persons — then came forward, and were warmly welcomed.
These gentlemen were securely tied, hand and foot, by the committee, and fastened to the seats in the closet.
The committee reported themselves perfectly satisfied thus far, and certainly we have never seen better tying than that accomplished by the
Fire Marshal.
The lights were turned down.
Half a dozen
musical instruments--a guitar, banjo, tambourine, violin, trumpet and bell — were placed in the closet by the committee.
The two side doors of the cabinet were closed and locked — also by the Messrs.
Baker. Then the centre door was pushed to, and in less than a second it was bolted upon the inside and the trumpet thrown violently out of the hole in the door.
The committee rushed to the closet, the lights were turned up, and there sat the Davenports, bound as before.
The astonishment of the audience may be imagined.
Those who were skeptics a moment ago now began to doubt their own conclusions, and joined in the general applause.
The manifestations then followed in the regular order, the audience remaining very quiet and watching everything critically and intelligently.--The committee seemed to be extremely impartial, and briefly reported the results of their examinations.
A full chorus of instruments playing a jig was heard inside the closet.
The doors were hastily opened, and the Davenports had not moved.
Spectral hands and arms appeared at the closet window.
The doors were opened, and the Davenports were still bound.
While the doors were partly open the instruments were flung out, and a hand was seen to strike Fire
Marshal Baker.
Still the Davenports were tied.
Then, the doors being closed for three minutes, the brothers were discovered perfectly unbound.
In four minutes more they were bound again, better than the committee could have bound them, as these gentlemen candidly acknowledged.
Then
Judge Baker entered the closet and sat between the Davenports.
The doors were shut; the manifestations continued; and, when the lights were again turned up, the
Judge was revealed with a tambourine on his head, and reported that the Davenports had not moved a muscle.
The Fire
Marshal then tried the same experiment and made the same report.
All of the manifestations were repeated several times, to satisfy the most distrustful.
It was especially noted that in every case the inside bolt of the centre door was heard to shoot into its socket in less than a second after the door was closed.
This destroyed the theory that the Davenports untie themselves.
By way of finale
Mr. Lacy suggested that wheat flour should be placed in the hands of the Messrs.
Davenport while they were still tightly tied.
This was accordingly done by the committee, and any of the flour that had fallen within the box during the operation was neatly brushed away.
The doors were then closed for the last time, and still the manifestations continued.
Noises were heard; an open hand was shown at the window, and the trumpet was thrown out. The doors were opened and there stood the Davenport brothers, unbound and holding the wheat flour in their hands.
The committee failed to find any of the flour about the closet or upon the clothes of the Davenports, and yet they could not have avoided spilling some of it had they unclosed their hands ever so little.
For such wonders, and for those performed by
Mr. Fay in the room above, the hypothesis of legerdemain or jugglery does not seem a reasonable explanation.
No modern juggler has ever performed such deceptions, if they are deceptions, and during the many years that the Davenports have appeared in public, no one--not even the
Professors of Harvard College--has detected them in their "impositions," as some people call the manifestations.
The
Davenports, although they are spiritualists, we believe, do not announce that these phenomena are spiritual.
They simply produce the manifestations, and ask others to explain them, reserving their own theory, whatever it may be, as their private property.
In regard to the term "humbug," which is often applied to these exhibitions, it is enough to say that there is no humbug in what the audience see, and no apparent attempt at humbug on the part of the performers.
The wonders are undoubtedly worth witnessing, and well worth the money required to purchase a ticket of admission.
After a critical examination of the phenomena, therefore, we are inclined to believe that the greatest humbugs about them are the explanations and exposes given by "medical students" and other such gentry, who think they can clear up in a single night the mysteries which have puzzled wiser men for years.
