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Without doubt, the most successful follower of Lulu Hurst is Mrs. Anna Abbott, an American woman who, in 1891, took England and the European continent by storm with her wonderful performances. At that time she attracted the attention of the Prince of Wales, and such scientists as Dr. Oliver Lodge and Professors Crookes, Perry and others were attracted to her séances and were mystified. The newspapers spread her fame broadcast, and one of the prominent English electrical journals attempted, editorially, to account for some of her feats by attributing them to electromagnetism.

Mrs. Abbott performed the several tricks just described together with many others. A friend of mine who saw her in Winnipeg several years ago, when she was first starting out on her career, has described to me since I began writing this article one of her most effective tricks at that time. Holding a stout stick across the palms of her two hands, extended out horizontally before her, with only her two thumbs over the stick, she defied any one to take the stick away from her. The conditions of the test were that no jerking would be allowed, nor should she be lifted from the floor in the attempt to take the stick away. It is needless to say that although several men attempted to take the stick away from her, none succeeded. This certainly seemed very remarkable, for one needs only to think of it to realize how slight a grip even a very strong man can get on a stick when holding it simply by the pressure of the thumbs against the palms of his open hands. I never had seen this trick performed, nor had I tried it before, but bidding my friend place his cane in my hands, just as Mrs. Abbot held it, I asked him to try to take it away. He was totally unable to do so.

But it is of Mrs. Abbott's later tricks that I wish to speak more particularly. She was recently in New York, an during her stay gave a number of private séances which were described somewhat fully in the daily papers. At one of these, Sandow, the strong man, was present and invited to attempt to lift Mrs. Abbot. While standing on the carpet she was lifted wit ease not only by Sandow, but by a number of others who were present. She called for a board, and upon placing it upon the floor, "for better insulation," she said, even the mighty Sandow was unable to lift her when she stood upon it. In order to "make herself heavy" she not only found it necessary to insulate herself from the floor by standing on the board, but also to "complete the circuit" through the other party. This latter she did by placing one hand on his neck and the other on his wrist. When Mrs. Abbott and her vis-à-vis were thus posed, she gave the latter instructions to lift her if he could, but, notwithstanding the fact that she weighs but a little over 100 pounds, even Sandow, who poses as the strongest man in the world, was totally unable to lift her feet from off the board. This performance never fails to excite wonder, and the more so, because she herself is passive.

By some property, inherent in herself, she renders nugatory all the efforts of the strongest of men. The natural inference is that, by some means, she renders herself heavy; but, as if to show that she not only possesses this power herself, but that by the simple laying on of hands she can confer this power upon others, she calls in a little boy or girl and challenges any one to lift the latter when she has properly completed the circuit. In this latter experiment, the positions are as follows: The child stands on the board, facing the man who is to do the lifting. The latter may catch the child as he chooses and will, doubtless, place his hands under the armpits. Mrs. Abbott, standing behind, but a little to one side, places one of her hands on the child's back, between the shoulder blades, and the other one she reaches over and places on the lifter's shoulder, neck or forehead. It is almost pathetic to see the utter inability of a strong man to lift a little child, eight or ten years old, when Mrs. Abbott has thus "closed the circuit;" but that it is an absolute fact can be easily demonstrated, as I know from personal experience.

There are also many other tricks in the repertoire of the so-called electric or magnetic girl which might be mentioned, all of which seem, at first sight, to involve either the possession of superhuman strength, or else some occult power. As a matter of fact, however, they involve neither. The strangest part of them is that they are all within the ability of any of my readers to perform. Furthermore, it will be found that the very mechanical laws which these tricks appear to set at defiance are the ones upon which they depend for their success, and the chief reason why they have remained mysteries to those who have witnessed them is that they have not tried to repeat them themselves upon the first opportunity afforded.

Let us take the first trick mentioned namely, that of lifting a heavy person in the chair. Tell him to sit down and hold the chair against all your efforts. He will plant his feet firmly on the floor, thus throwing his weight chiefly on his feet instead of on the chair, as he thinks he is doing.

If you are in doubt of this, try it yourself and you will realize that it is a fact. To move the person, all that the girl has to do is to get behind and push. In the stooping position which she assumes, she will obtain a considerable purchase by bracing her arms on her knees and will thus have no difficulty in raising the chair slightly. As the sitter assumes a new position, so as to more successfully resist this effort on the part of the girl, she suddenly relaxes her push, directing the chair off to one side or the other. Before the sitter has recovered himself, she has raised the chair again, and he is allowed to throw himself again and so on; the stronger he is, and the more he opposes or tries to oppose her, the worse he is off. and the more successful she will be.

The trick is more effective if three men try to hold the chair down, because of their divided effort and the tendency, where more than one is opposing her, for them really to oppose each other, rather than her. She will be perfectly powerless, however, should even a single person sit listlessly in the chair, with no thought of opposition.

Let us now consider experiment no. 2, where a strong man endeavors to oppose her efforts to move him. While holding a stick horizontally in his two hands. She places the palms of her hands on the ends of the stick and by pressing, first gently and then more forcibly, in a given direction on one end of the stick, she compels him, at great mechanical disadvantage, to oppose such pressure. Thus while she is exerting but very little force, he, having the short end of the lever, may be exerting himself nearly to the utmost. When she realizes this, she suddenly gives in to him and even adds her own slight effort to his, and the stronger he is and the heavier, the harder he throws himself. When he has once done this, the girl has him completely at her mercy, for she keeps him off his balance and he exerts himself only to throw himself the more. With two men, or three, holding the stick, the trick is quite as easy or even easier, for there is never exact unity of action in such cases, and the men will frequently oppose each other and thus, at times, materially assist the girl.

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