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Research source

M. Rhys, a manufacturer of conjuring implements and himself an inventor of tricks, wrote the Davenpo

Date of account
Published 1924
Source
A Magician Among the Spirits
Reference
A Magician Among the Spirits · selected passage 51
Rights
public_domain
Language
English
Record updated
2026-08-24

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Record summary

Sargent, a past-president of the Society of American Magicians, and for years my private secretary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

Davis then sent for John W. Sargent, a past-president of the Society of American Magicians, and for years my private secretary. He also sent for another magician, James L. Kellogg. Both agreed with Davis that his theory of Palladino’s method was correct. Professor Miller then suggested, that in order to make the discovery complete and to corroborate any and all observations, two other persons should be selected to watch the feet of the medium. Davis accordingly selected Joseph F. Rinn, another member of the magicians society, who had assisted in various exposures of pseudo-mediums and Professor Miller named Warner C. Pyne, a student at Columbia. It was agreed that these two should be clad in black even to a head covering and smuggled into the room under cover of darkness after the seance had convened and were to sprawl under the chairs and table in order that their heads might be near enough Palladino’s feet to detect any movement.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This source supplies historical scientific, skeptical or conventional context. Its terminology and conclusions may not reflect current scholarship.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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