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Scotsman
6 October 1888
"THOUGHT READING" APPLIED TO THE DETECTION OF CRIME
Mr Stuart Cumberland, F.R.G.S., writes:-
I am repeatedly asked if there is any possibility of applying what is called thought reading to the detection of crime, and if I could not exercise my powers towards unearthing the murder mysteries in London. My answer is that, under certain conditions, it would be possible to so apply the gift of thought reading; and I feel confident that had I only had something to go upon I should be able to aid justice in the matter. I have on two separate occasions - once in Warsaw and once in Australia - successfully read the thoughts of prisoners of whom nothing could be made in the usual way. I have also, times without number, successfully experimented with imaginary criminals, reproducing in every detail the form of murder which they had in mind to commit. Such well known men as Mr W.S. Gilbert, Mr S.B. Bancroft, Signor Rossi, and General Ignatieff have been amongst my most pliant "subjects." My contention is that, if a murderer were suddenly confronted with the evidence of his crime - such as a blood stained knife with which the murder was committed - he would give some unconscious indication of his guilt. For murderers - those who slash and slay - are for the most part emotional beings; and it would be difficult for them to control their feelings under the conditions I have referred to. Under the influence of concentrated attention, the body leans and moves in the direction of the thought; and it is by watching and weighing the physical indications thus unconsciously betrayed that I arrive at a person's thought. Now, I take it that when a man has committed a murder the thought of that crime is the dominant idea in his mind, and that, such being the case, he would prove an easy subject for a thought reader who had something tangible to go upon. But, like the hare that is to be cooked, you must first have your suspected murderer to hand to operate upon. For a thought reader is not a clairvoyant, who pretends to see visions and read the past and future like an open book, but merely one who can sometimes interpret another's thoughts through outward physical signs. As matters at present stand, I am unable to be of use in bringing the Whitechapel murderer to justice; but, all the same, I am prepared to prove by practical demonstration the correctness of my theory. I am giving two farewell representations of thought reading in Newcastle Town Hall this next week; and, at these seances, it is my intention to give practical instances of my powers to re-enact by this process of thought reading any imaginary murder scene that gentlemen chosen by the audience may decide to enact in full view of the audience, during, of course, my absence from the hall.
6 October 1888
"THOUGHT READING" APPLIED TO THE DETECTION OF CRIME
Mr Stuart Cumberland, F.R.G.S., writes:-
I am repeatedly asked if there is any possibility of applying what is called thought reading to the detection of crime, and if I could not exercise my powers towards unearthing the murder mysteries in London. My answer is that, under certain conditions, it would be possible to so apply the gift of thought reading; and I feel confident that had I only had something to go upon I should be able to aid justice in the matter. I have on two separate occasions - once in Warsaw and once in Australia - successfully read the thoughts of prisoners of whom nothing could be made in the usual way. I have also, times without number, successfully experimented with imaginary criminals, reproducing in every detail the form of murder which they had in mind to commit. Such well known men as Mr W.S. Gilbert, Mr S.B. Bancroft, Signor Rossi, and General Ignatieff have been amongst my most pliant "subjects." My contention is that, if a murderer were suddenly confronted with the evidence of his crime - such as a blood stained knife with which the murder was committed - he would give some unconscious indication of his guilt. For murderers - those who slash and slay - are for the most part emotional beings; and it would be difficult for them to control their feelings under the conditions I have referred to. Under the influence of concentrated attention, the body leans and moves in the direction of the thought; and it is by watching and weighing the physical indications thus unconsciously betrayed that I arrive at a person's thought. Now, I take it that when a man has committed a murder the thought of that crime is the dominant idea in his mind, and that, such being the case, he would prove an easy subject for a thought reader who had something tangible to go upon. But, like the hare that is to be cooked, you must first have your suspected murderer to hand to operate upon. For a thought reader is not a clairvoyant, who pretends to see visions and read the past and future like an open book, but merely one who can sometimes interpret another's thoughts through outward physical signs. As matters at present stand, I am unable to be of use in bringing the Whitechapel murderer to justice; but, all the same, I am prepared to prove by practical demonstration the correctness of my theory. I am giving two farewell representations of thought reading in Newcastle Town Hall this next week; and, at these seances, it is my intention to give practical instances of my powers to re-enact by this process of thought reading any imaginary murder scene that gentlemen chosen by the audience may decide to enact in full view of the audience, during, of course, my absence from the hall.
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