The assistant at side of the stage can see all numbers on the blackboard and can also see the cards. He communicates the answer to the blind-folded medium by pulling a little string which runs under the stage and which causes a little metal rod to come up through a small hole in the stage floor. The medium sits with her foot directly over this small hole, and also has a hole about one inch in diameter cut in the sole of her shoe. Now, when the string is pulled the small rod presses against the medium’s foot, and when the string is released the rod, which is fastened to a spring or stout elastic band, again recedes into the floor.
Suppose the sum of several columns of figures on the blackboard is 5037. The assistant at the side of stage quickly adds them up himself, and then pulls the string seven times, and the medium calls out in slow tones, as if under great mental pressure, (not foot pressure) “Put down number seven.” The assistant now pulls the cord three times and pauses. “The next figure is number three,” says the medium. To telegraph the cipher the assistant now gives a long steady pull. The medium now calls for cipher, and then on receiving five pulls calls out the last number five. She is thus able to tell any number pointed to by any one. When vacant space is pointed to the assistant does not pull the string, and, there being a long pause, the medium knows that no figure is being pointed to, and says: “You are not pointing to any figure.” The signal to stop is a series of two pulls in rapid succession.
It sometimes happens that the assistant cannot see what number is required, say, for instance, the number on a watch or the date on a coin. In this case the performer communicates with the assistant by sign language, and the assistant now telegraphs the desired number or numbers to the medium. The signs may be gotten up as in the following table:
Closing right hand, sign for number 1.
Frowning, sign for number 2.
Smiling, sign for number 3.
Right hand on hip, sign for number 4.
Raising eyebrows, sign for number 5.
Rubbing chin, sign for number 6.
Drawing mouth to right, sign for number 7.