In the first experiment the medium was an ordinary American citizen. The
precautions against the slightest bodily movement on his part were
perfect. Mr. Joseph G. Cannon planted both of his feet on the medium's
left foot and seized his left hand in both his own. Senator Aldrich did
the same on the other side. The Honourable Sereno E. Payne grasped the
medium by the throat, the Honourable John Dalzell straddled on his
chest, Senator Burrows of Michigan strapped his ankles to the chair, and
Senator Scott of West Virginia thrust a gag into his mouth. As a further
precaution, before the seance began, a representative of the Sugar Trust
went through the medium's pockets. The medium struggled and groaned and
made other signs of distress, but at all times remained under absolute
control. Yet it is a fact that, in spite of all restraints imposed upon
him, this ordinary American citizen did succeed in raising a family of
two sons and a daughter and even in sending the eldest child to college.
At various times one even caught sight of a loaf of bread or a pair of
shoes sailing through the air, and once, for a moment, the Committee
distinctly smelt roast turkey with cranberry sauce. At the end of the
seance the medium was in a pitiful state of exhaustion, but declared
that he was quite ready to go on.

In the second experiment the Committee made use of the Mayor of one of
our large cities and of the boss of the party to which the Mayor
belonged. The boss acted as medium, being securely strapped into a chair
about three feet away from another chair, on which the Mayor was
sitting, blindfolded. Again the standard precautions against fraud were
gone through, but this time the medium's efforts met with almost
immediate response. At the merest droop of the boss's right eyelid, the
Mayor leaped up from his chair and turned completely around. The boss
smiled faintly, whereupon the Mayor balanced himself for 3 minutes and
42 seconds on his right foot and for 2 minutes and 35 seconds on his
left foot, and then began to run about the room on all-fours in an
amusing imitation of a spaniel fetching and carrying for his master. The
boss inserted the point of his tongue into his cheek and withdrew it
again, repeating the process several times in rapid succession. In
response, the Mayor's face went into a series of spasmodic smiles and
frowns that aroused general laughter. At the conclusion of the
performance, the boss gently clicked his tongue a