armature, and was in danger
of being torn to pieces in the effort of any one holding it to keep it
down, though she could not possibly have had any hold upon the object.

Among the spectators were physicians, one or more of whom grasped
Miss Lulu's arms while the motions were going on, without finding
any symptoms of strong muscular action. Her pulse remained normal
throughout. The objects which she touched seemed endowed with a
force which was wholly new to science.

So much for the story. Now for the reality. The party appeared at
the Volta Laboratory, according to arrangement. Those having the
matter in charge were not professional mystifiers of the public,
and showed no desire to conceal anything. There was no darkening of
rooms, no putting of hands under tables, no fear that spirits would
refuse to act because of the presence of some skeptic, no trickery
of any sort.

We got up such arrangements as we could for a scientific investigation
of the movements. One of these was a rolling platform on which
Miss Lulu was requested to stand while the forces were exerted.
Another device was to seat her on a platform scale while the chair
was lifting itself.

These several experiments were tried in the order in which I have
mentioned them. I took the wonderful staff in my hands, and Miss Lulu
placed the palms of her hands and extended them against the staff near
the ends, while I firmly grasped it with my two hands in the middle.
Of course this gave her a great advantage in the leverage. I was then
asked to resist the staff with all my force, with the added assurance
from Mrs. Hurst, the mother, that the resistance would be in vain.

Although the performer began with a delicate touch of the staff,
I noticed that she changed the position of her hands every moment,
sometimes seizing the staff with a firm grip, and that it never
moved in any direction unless her hands pressed it in that direction.
As nearly as I could estimate, the force which she exerted might have
been equal to forty pounds, and this exerted first in one way and
then in another was enough to upset the equilibrium of any ordinary
man, especially when the jerks were so sudden and unexpected that
it was impossible for one to brace himself against them. After a
scene of rather undignified contortion I was finally compelled to
retire in defeat, but without the slightest evidence of any other
force than that exerted by a strong, muscular young woman.