1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. We mentioned today's subject 4 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: in our recent episode on Emil Kua, and at the 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: time I said he was on my shortlist because he 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: was fascinating and who That's the truth. Evrgil Neil's life 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: was such a wild ride that it sounds fictional. I 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: was trying to describe it to a friend of mine 9 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: last night while we were talking, and he was like, wait, 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: is this all the same guy? And I was like, yeah. 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: His career had this seemingly bright start as a writer 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: of accounting and banking textbooks that were very well regarded 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: and used for decades because of how good they were, 14 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: and then his life took some very wild turns into hypnotism, 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: patent medicine, and fraud as well as an odd success. 16 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: He is not a rags to riches story. He is 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: a swindler and flim flamman to riches story. Although he 18 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: was plagued with the accusations of all kinds of crimes 19 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: throughout his life, including collaborating with an enemy during wartime. 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: So we're going to tackle e. Virgil Neil today and 21 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: next episode because there's a lot to get through. It 22 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: is a lot. We'll start with how youing. Virgil Neil 23 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: was born in Georgetown, Missouri, to Armistead Arthur and Ellen Neil. 24 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: That was in September of eighteen sixty eight. His birthplace 25 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: is frequently listed as Sedalia, Missouri. Georgetown is a smaller 26 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: municipality that's just a few miles north of Sedalia. While 27 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: Neil would later in his life claim that he had 28 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: been born into a poor farming family, his father was 29 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: actually a school teacher. They did own farmland, but that 30 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: was not really the source of their income. Yeah, his 31 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: dad was a really well respected teacher. While Neil's earliest 32 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: years aren't particularly well documented, which isn't that odd for 33 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: somebody in his place in life, he did, we know, 34 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: enter a two year business school program at Central Business 35 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: College in Sidelia at the age of twenty. He went 36 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,079 Speaker 1: this route instead of attending a traditional university. Even before 37 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: he graduated from the school, which happened in eighteen eighty nine, 38 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: he was already working there, teaching courses like penmanship and 39 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: mental arithmetic. Basically how to do sums and ledgers in 40 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: your head. Biographer Mary Schaeffer Conroy theorized in her biography 41 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: about Neil that this arrangement may have been a deal 42 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: that the school made with him to make paying for 43 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: his courses more viable. After he graduated, he continued to 44 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: work at the business school. Neil would later claim that 45 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: he devised an arithmetic program that was taught to students 46 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: so that they could quit we make calculations in their heads. 47 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: The school did taut a program like that in their 48 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: marketing materials over the years, but whether or not he 49 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: was the originator of it is not substantiated one way 50 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: or the other. From Sedalia, Neil moved on to Philadelphia. 51 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: He claimed to have worked at the Pierce College of 52 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: Business in Pennsylvania Briefly. There's not substantiation for that either. Next, 53 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: he moved on to Rochester, New York, and he worked 54 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: at a textbook company there, and as part of his assignments, 55 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: he wrote the book Modern Banking and Bank Accounting. His 56 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: company sold the rights to the book to the American 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: Book Company, and Neil is said to have made a 58 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: significant amount of money in that deal. American Book Company 59 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: published the material as two separate books, Modern Illustrative Banking 60 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: and Modern Illustrative Bookkeeping. He earned royalties on those two 61 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: titles for the rest of his life. The books are 62 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: really quite practical. They represent a shift in the way 63 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: that such concepts were taught to offer students a model 64 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: of real business practices to work through so that they 65 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: could understand the real world applications of their business education. 66 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: Modern Illustrative Banking walks readers through the process of running 67 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: a bank. Per its opening pages, the book quote is 68 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: designed to reproduce as nearly as possible the practical workings 69 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: of a national bank. This came with sample documents and 70 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: transactions quote to cover, in abbreviated form two days business 71 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: of the First National Bank, Rochester, New York. During the 72 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: first day, all of the business forms of the bank 73 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: are handled by the student, but during the second day 74 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: the business forms are dispensed with, and only the entries 75 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: to the various transactions are recorded. Historical data for them 76 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: being furnished in the text just for the purposes of 77 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: explaining my understanding. This isn't a course that you would 78 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: take in two days. It just is broken out as 79 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 1: though it is covering two days worth of business FYI. 80 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: It breaks down what duties are done by various positions 81 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: at the bank, and then at the end of these 82 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: two days worth of sample business quote, dividends are declared, 83 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: statements made, and the books closed. Modern Illustrative Bookkeeping opens 84 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: with the promise that it offers readers a new practical 85 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: approach to the topic instead of the ways the bookkeeping 86 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: has been taught up to that point. Quote. This book 87 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: is designed to teach bookkeeping as it is practiced by 88 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: the best business houses. We have no apology to offer 89 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: for the innovations in methods or the deviation from the 90 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: school forms of balance sheets, statements, loss and gain accounts, 91 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: et cetera. We believe the time has arrived when all 92 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: progressive teachers will welcome practical business methods, even though they 93 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: supplant long cherished school forms and practices. The book is 94 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: pretty solid in its information. It basically lays out a 95 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: two book system, one the journal day book to record 96 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: transactions as they take place, and then the other the 97 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: ledger into which those transactions are recorded as sorted into 98 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: the accounts. The whole thing emphasizes checking and rechecking your 99 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: arithmetic to make sure your books are accurate. Next, after 100 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: his success in these books, Neil decided that he would 101 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 1: actually like to have his own publishing house, and he 102 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: set one up in Rochester, New York. This was a 103 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: case where he didn't look for writers to create new works, 104 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: nor did he write anything himself during this time, but 105 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: he sure did publish a lot. He looked for material 106 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: that was out of copyright, and particularly poetry, and he 107 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: just republished that with no author to pay. His publishing company, 108 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: which was pretty much just him, kept all of the 109 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: money from sales. On June fifteenth, eighteen ninety three, as 110 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: publishing success was making him a nice amount of money, 111 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: Neil married a young woman named Molly Hurd. He was 112 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: also developing a growing interest in hypnotism during this time, 113 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: and he started studying it in earnest by the mid 114 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties. Some accounts say that he became interested in 115 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: this after seeing a stage hypnotist. That's not really something 116 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: that can be verified, but there really would have been 117 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: plenty of opportunities for him to have been exposed to 118 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: this concept at the end of the nineteenth century in 119 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: the US. We've talked about this recently on the show. 120 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: This was a period when mysticism of any kind was 121 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: becoming very popular, and it turned out that after learning 122 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: the tricks of the trade, he was pretty good at 123 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: hypnotizing people. Was also during this time that a name 124 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: we mentioned in our Emil Kua episode emerged, and that 125 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: was Exlamotte Sage. Sage was a stage name that Neil 126 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: assumed to advertise himself as an expert hypnotist toward the 127 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: United States on bookings as Xenophon Lamont Sage, assisted by 128 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: Olga Helen Sage, who was of course his wife Molly. 129 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: The two of them were frequently booked in various vaudeville theaters, 130 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: and it turned out that Exlamant Sage was pretty good 131 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: at bringing in the ticket sales. Hypnotism paid better than 132 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: any position that business school had ever prepared Neil for, 133 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: and seeing that the demand for hypnotism material was high, 134 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: Neil leaned back into his publishing experience and wrote a 135 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:40,679 Speaker 1: correspondence course under that name called The Philosophy of Personal Influence. 136 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,079 Speaker 1: He also wrote a book called Hypnotism As It Is 137 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: a Book for Everybody, which we talked about quite a 138 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: bit in the Koua episode. These works were published at 139 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: Neil's latest company, he started so many. The New York 140 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: Institute of Science and the works of Exlamant Sage were 141 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: wildly popular. An account of Neil's life that was written 142 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties estimated that the New York Institute 143 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: of Science made one point five million dollars from sales 144 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: of books and hypnotism courses, all of which were shipped 145 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: directly to customers' homes. That business model of direct sales 146 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: eventually got the company and Neil into a lot of trouble. 147 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,439 Speaker 1: The US Postal Service went after them for mail fraud because, 148 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: among other things, he was teaching palmistry, and the company 149 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: had to shudder. Coming up, we'll talk about a strange 150 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,560 Speaker 1: business arrangement that E. Virgil Neil established in the early 151 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, But first will pause or a sponsor break. 152 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,599 Speaker 1: Starting in nineteen oh three, the E. Virgil Neil and 153 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: Company banking firm and the Columbia Scientific Academy, where Neil 154 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: was a board member, kind of up the whole thing. 155 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: We're both operating out of the same offices at nineteen 156 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: thirty one Broadway that was in the area west of 157 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: Central Park where the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts now sits. 158 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: And that combination of businesses seemed like an odd arrangement 159 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: to members of the press. The New York Sun on 160 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: March third, nineteen o three ran a piece titled Here's 161 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:28,319 Speaker 1: a hypnotic Bank, psychotelepathy, and a loan shop in one office. 162 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: That article describes how a British journalist had been investigating 163 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: the Columbia Scientific Academy and had come away declaring it 164 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: to be part of quote, the American Magnetic and Psychic 165 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: Force swindle. When this journalist had tried to cancel an 166 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: order from the Academy and have his name removed from 167 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: all future distribution lists, he got a letter signed by R. F. 168 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: Robertson psych DCD, which read, in part quote, when I 169 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: got your letter, I was attracted by your handwriting, like 170 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: the educated eye of an artist who sees in a 171 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: rough piece of marble an angel. My I caught in 172 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: your handwriting at a glance, a whole life pictured vividly 173 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: before me. There was so much history in your handwriting, 174 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: so much undeveloped power and latent energy and talent, that 175 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: I could not destroy the letter without writing and extending 176 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: my previous offer. The letter continues to talk about the 177 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: journalist's handwriting, calling it quote one of the strongest I 178 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: have ever seen, and accusing the journalist of having quote 179 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: neglected the development of those God given faculties. However, that 180 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: lied dormant in every individual until brought to light and cultivated. 181 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: The letter even claims that a special meeting of the 182 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: board of the Columbia Scientific Academy was called to discuss 183 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 1: this promising handwriting and make its writer a special offer 184 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: on one of their courses. So when a reporter from 185 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,439 Speaker 1: the New York Sun read about all of this in 186 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: the British periodical Truth, he decided to go to the 187 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: academy offices and see exactly what was going on. When 188 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 1: he got there, he asked for mister Robertson and was 189 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: presented with someone by that name, And when he started 190 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: asking questions about that letter that had been republished in Truth, 191 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: he suddenly got passed off to Evirgil Neil, and Neil 192 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: was surprisingly frank in some of his answers to the 193 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: questions this journalist posed, which he later almost certainly probably 194 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: wished he had not been. He was asked about the 195 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: claim that the board of directors had met to discuss 196 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: this amazing handwriting on a canceled order. Neil told the 197 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: reporter that was actually, quote, a form of advertising, you know. 198 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: When he was questioned about who Robertson was and what 199 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: the credential site dc D ment, he was told that 200 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: Robertson was a banker who got a Doctor of Psychology 201 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: from Iowa College, which accounted for the first D, and 202 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: that the CD that followed stood for character delineator, a 203 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: degree that Neil claimed Robertson got from the American College 204 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: of Sciences in Philadelphia. Neil did not elaborate on what 205 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: that degree would actually involve. My research of that phrase 206 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: only connects it to data set sequences and computer science 207 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: should not have existed in nineteen oh three, so it 208 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: seems to have been, you know, kind of one of 209 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: those it will sound good and no one will know 210 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: how to even question me about it kind of phrases. 211 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: The Columbia Scientific Academy, which former banker Robertson was president of, 212 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: offered correspondence courses in the art of what it called 213 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 1: chi magie or chi magi I don't know, which encompassed 214 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: a variety of skills, including character reading. When the reporter 215 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: asked about the bank located at the same age. Neil's 216 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: initial response was, quote, how did you know about the bank? 217 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: Maybe not media savvy yet at that stage of his cow. 218 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: Then he told the reporter that it was a private bank, 219 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: not a public bank, and that as such it did 220 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: not have to adhere to national laws, only to state laws, 221 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: and that those were quote a little more lax. He 222 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: also explained that because the bank's customers were mostly people 223 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: and institutions who wanted short term loans, that only made 224 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: about five thousand dollars a year. The masterful part of 225 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: the way this article was written is the way that 226 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: the reporter kind of connects the dots between these two 227 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: seemingly oddly paired businesses operating out of the same offices 228 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: without ever like saying, hey, this is obviously wacky and fraudulent. 229 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: It states at one point, quote to show how nicely 230 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,479 Speaker 1: the chi magic end of the Columbia Scientific Academy dovetails 231 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: with the banking end, and how harmoniously finance and the 232 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: occult might be blended, the literature of the institution has 233 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: just let himself loose. In one of the pamphlets, here's 234 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: what it says. If you have not the money it 235 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: will pay you to borrow the money if you invest 236 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 1: in our course of instruction and master our course and 237 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: follow its teachings. It is probably the last dollar you 238 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: will ever find it necessary to borrow as long as 239 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: you live. So the article doesn't state whether there is 240 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: any kind of direction or suggestion for the reader of 241 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: such advertisement to borrow from the E. Virgil Neil and 242 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: Company Bank. But even if it didn't, a bank that 243 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: specialized in short term loans also housing a business with 244 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: dubious claims that encourages people to take out such loans 245 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: pretty dicey at best. But though the copy definitely leads 246 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: the reader to consider that problem. As I said before, 247 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: the write up in the Sun is very careful not 248 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: to explicitly state that these two businesses are connected. The 249 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: next day, The New York Sun ran an article with 250 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: the headline Worried about Neil and Company depositors You see 251 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: don't like hypnotism in banking. And in this article, the 252 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: paper shared a phone call that Neil had made to 253 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: the paper in which he blamed the paper for causing 254 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: him problems. He stated on the phone quote that article 255 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: printed in This Morning Sun about the bank has caused 256 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: the bank some annoyance. Some of our depositors have been 257 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: around this morning to find out what it all meant. 258 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: They were uneasy, you see, about the money they had 259 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: on deposit with us, and were inclined at first to 260 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: withdraw their accounts. I told them it was all a 261 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: mistake about the bank, and that I'd like to have 262 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: the Sun do something about it. When contacted for more 263 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: information on what he wanted the paper to do, Neil 264 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: said that quote, it was wrong to mix up the 265 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,400 Speaker 1: bank with the academy. There's no connection between the two. 266 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: He was adamant that Robertson wasn't involved in the bank 267 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: at all, and that the academy didn't teach hypnotism, but 268 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: only included literature about hypnotism as an extra with its 269 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 1: regular courses. He went on to say that he had 270 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: a report made by commercial credit reporting agency RG Dunn 271 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: in Company that indicated that the banking concern was sound 272 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: and above board. When The Sun contacted the State Superintendent 273 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: of Banks, Frederick D. Kilburn, he said that the State 274 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: Bank Department had quote no jurisdiction over such concerns as 275 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: the banking house of E. Virgil Neil and Company, so 276 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: far as an illegal supervision of such concerns goes, there 277 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: is none. They can run their business like a grocery store. 278 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,399 Speaker 1: So even though Neil admitted to the reporter that the 279 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: company lied to people as a form of bad advertising, 280 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: and even though there was an obvious shady connection between 281 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: these two business entities, there were just never any real 282 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: repercussions for this, aside from some of the banks customers 283 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: getting worried and maybe closing their accounts. Columbia Scientific Academy 284 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: and many other shady businesses continued for Neil, and we'll 285 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: talk more about that after we hear from the sponsors. 286 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: To keep stuff you missed in history class going, following 287 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,639 Speaker 1: newspaper mentions of Neil and the Columbia Scientific Academy in 288 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: the first years of the twentieth century offers a wild 289 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: breadcrumb trail of shady dealings. Just four days after Neil's 290 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:53,359 Speaker 1: interaction with The Sun, advertisements for the Columbia Scientific Academy 291 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 1: seemed to explode in number in papers across the country. 292 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: And the copy is so obviously dis one that appeared 293 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: in the San Francisco Examiner is designed to look like 294 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: a regular article, and its titled personal magnetism. It's subheaders 295 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,679 Speaker 1: taut how this is something that prominent men used to 296 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: gain influence, and how a reporter stumbled across secret methods 297 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: to quote, charm and fascinate the human mind. And it 298 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: also notes that this information came from high priests of 299 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: the occult who had kept the secrets for years. That ad, 300 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: which again was disguised as an article, says that quote, 301 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: one of the leading colleges of the city of New 302 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: York had spent five thousand dollars having ten thousand copies 303 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: of a book titled The Secret of Power, printed in 304 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: accordance with the author's wishes to be given away for free. 305 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: If you sent your name an address to the Columbia 306 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: Scientific Academy. The write up said, you could get your 307 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 1: free copy in the mail, and in it you could 308 00:19:57,359 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: quote develop a wonderfully magnetic person personality and learn how 309 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: to read the character's secrets and loves of others in 310 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: a few days study. That study would be done at home, 311 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: and then you could use your new knowledge to get quote, 312 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: lucrative employment or an advance on your salary, or you 313 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: could just gain friendship and influence, all without anybody being 314 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: any The wiser about you being in control of their behavior. 315 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: There are several testimonials from alleged satisfied customers included in 316 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: this ad. They included all the hallmarks of like modern 317 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: infomercial sales. One from a man named Fred Perkins reads quote, 318 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 1: I have been in great demand since I read the 319 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 1: work of the Columbia Scientific Academy. People are amazed and 320 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,400 Speaker 1: mystified at the things I do. I believe I could 321 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: make twenty five dollars per day reading character alone if 322 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: I were to charge for my services. If anyone would 323 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,159 Speaker 1: have told me I would receive so much wonderful information, 324 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: I would have thought him crazy. The ad then closes 325 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: by asking that only people who are really interested in 326 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: this information request a copy, since there is a limited 327 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: supply of them. This free giveaway, of course, was a 328 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: way for the Academy to build up its mailing list 329 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,120 Speaker 1: and then start sending these interested people literature about their 330 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: courses to lure them into spending their money, just the 331 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: way that British journalist was told his handwriting was fascinating 332 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:34,120 Speaker 1: and evidence to person with incredible untapped power. We can 333 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,879 Speaker 1: help you unleash that power if you just send us 334 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 1: some cash. There is another interesting exchange in that initial 335 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: write up in The Sun from March fourth. The report 336 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 1: that Neil produced to show that the banking firm was 337 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: above board also mentioned his involvement in another business, National 338 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,400 Speaker 1: Protective Association of the United States. When questioned about that one, 339 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: Neil said that it was an insurance company and that 340 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: he was no longer connected with it. It was still 341 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: operating at the time the reporter spoke with E. Virgil Neil, 342 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: and it was headquartered in the very same building as 343 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: the banking house of E. Virgil Neil and Company and 344 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: the Columbia Scientific Academy. Though Neil acted nonchalant in this 345 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: exchange between him and the reporter and kind of like 346 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,280 Speaker 1: he had forgotten that company was under the same roof. 347 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 1: It's a weird detail. This isn't necessarily like a breadcrumb 348 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: to connect the dots, but it offers up another piece 349 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: of evidence that he seemed to be constantly on the 350 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: move from career to career, starting up sort of a 351 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 1: shell game of businesses, always looking for the next way 352 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: to make a buck, often by trading on the hopes 353 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: of naivete or of his potential customers. He had been 354 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: dodging negative attention just enough to stay out of trouble. 355 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: But his next venture found itself in the spotlight, and 356 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,919 Speaker 1: a huge scandal broke that implicated a lot of people, 357 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:04,919 Speaker 1: many of them very well respected. While Neil faced a 358 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 1: number of legal problems all through his life because of 359 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,640 Speaker 1: his business dealings, he was also sued for more personal reasons. 360 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: In nineteen oh four, he was sued by a man 361 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: named John Showerman for using his influence to cause Missus 362 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: Showerman to abandon her husband. It's unclear how or if 363 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: that legal action was resolved, but it is evidence that E. 364 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil was kind of perpetually in hot water. Yeah, 365 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: and reading sort of the longish biography that exists about him, 366 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: I couldn't even include all the ones there's like. Oh, 367 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 1: and then he got sued for swindling a widow out 368 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: of her money, like on a kind of more one 369 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:47,400 Speaker 1: to one swindle basis, rather than setting up a whole company. 370 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: And there were a lot of instances like that. Apparently 371 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: also a bit of a womanizer, so that caused him 372 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: some problems. But undaunted by all of the legal attention 373 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: he frequently got, Neil started other questionable businesses, but one, 374 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: the New York Institute of Physicians and Surgeons, was one 375 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: that he eventually tried to distance himself from when it 376 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: got in trouble with authorities. The man who was really 377 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: the driver of that business was Neil's colleague, Thomas F. Adkin. 378 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: They had worked on a lot of these kind of 379 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: bizarre business schemes together. The main product of this entity 380 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: that it sold was something called videopathy. Ads for viteopathy 381 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 1: are wild, and they were laid out again to look 382 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,920 Speaker 1: like articles with titles like a Message to the Sick. 383 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: The claim was that Adkin could cure people of all 384 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: manner of infirmities and even bring them back from the 385 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: brink of death. It was free to get a consultation 386 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: and then, according to their ads quote, charges for treatment 387 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: are moderate. There was even a mail order option if 388 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: you couldn't get to Adkin in person. There were some 389 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 1: basic pieces of medical advice involved in the information they 390 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,959 Speaker 1: would give out. Some medications were issued, There were dietary 391 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: guidelines that they gave to people to follow, but that 392 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: all seems pretty benign. There were, however, a lot of 393 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: really dubious elements to videopathy. One write up claimed that 394 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: the in home treatment involved taking some sort of tonic 395 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,959 Speaker 1: and then staring into the eyes of a photograph of 396 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: one of the company's doctors who was scheduled to concentrate 397 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: on you at the exact same time. There was a 398 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: letter that the company sent out to patients that offers 399 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,440 Speaker 1: instructions and what sounds a lot like auto suggestion, which 400 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: we talked about in the KOA episode. It told patients 401 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: to think very hard about getting well. It diverbally speak 402 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: phrases that supported that idea. When Adkins and Neil were 403 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: charged with fraud, Neil's counsel made clear during the hearing 404 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: that videopathy was entirely the work of Adkin, not him. 405 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 1: A fraud order shut down the New York Institute of 406 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: Physicians and Surgeons on August second, nineteen oh five, and E. 407 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil kind of emerged relatively unscathed. That next venture 408 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: was a company called Force of Life Chemical Company, although 409 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: it was often shortened to just Force of Life Company. 410 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: In January nineteen oh six, headlines started hitting the papers 411 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: like claimed to raise the dead and Roosevelt causes the 412 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:36,880 Speaker 1: rests in big medical scandal and gigantic swindle probably bared. 413 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: All of these were about the Force of Life Company. 414 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: And here's what happened. An advertisement for Force of Life 415 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: crossed the desk of President Theodore Roosevelt. It read, in 416 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: part quote, in the glare of a midnight light bending 417 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,880 Speaker 1: over his crucible and retorts, Doctor William Wallace Hadley cried, triumphantly, 418 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: I have it he had succeeded in making a rare 419 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 1: chemical combination of concentrated extracts, which might truly be called 420 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: liquid life. There it was, glimmering in its sheen of ruby, read, 421 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: while the retort itself seemed to quiver and vibrate, as 422 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,680 Speaker 1: if in the effort of restraining the tremendous dynamic force 423 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 1: it held. There was less than the force of life, 424 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: the power that makes men live and think. Without this 425 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: subtle essence in your system, death would occur before you 426 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: could read three of these lines. With it in sufficient quantity, 427 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: you can combat any disease. To discover and make the 428 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,199 Speaker 1: vital principle of life has been the dream of the 429 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: chemist and the goal of the medical professor of all ages. 430 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: In addition to that ad, a letter was also mailed 431 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: out by the company to prospective customers, presumably from a 432 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: mailing list gathered up in one of their many other 433 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: little industries, and it read quote doctor Hadley's modest art 434 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: by his mysterious control over disease and death. Doctor Wallace Hadley, 435 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,919 Speaker 1: the eminent thomaturgic panopathist of this city, has made the 436 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: human heart beat again in the body of a woman 437 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,399 Speaker 1: rescued from the grave. And as a result of his 438 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: successful experiment, he makes the startling statement that no disease 439 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: should cause death. He claims to have discovered the vital 440 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,439 Speaker 1: principle of life itself, the dynamic force that creates and 441 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: maintains existence. He seems to have absolute control over human 442 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: life and the diseases that attack it. These materials, which 443 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,479 Speaker 1: intimated that death could be thwarted by less than, offered 444 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: to shipboarders anywhere in the US. And it had been 445 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,479 Speaker 1: sent to the President after it had been received by 446 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 1: a woman from Springfield, Missouri, and President Roosevelt forwarded it 447 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: to the Postmaster General, George Bruce Cordial, you who open 448 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 1: an investigation. By the way, less than might sound familiar 449 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: because it's used in all kinds of products. It's kind 450 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: of an umbrella term under which a variety of fatty 451 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: substances from both animal and plant sources are grouped. The 452 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: defining characteristic of less than is that it attracts both 453 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: bats and water, so it's really effective. It's smoothing out 454 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: the texture of foods and acting as an emulsifier. Less 455 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: Than is also taken as a supplement. It's used in 456 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It is definitely not the Elixir of Life. 457 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: Its discoverer, though, is on Holly's episode shortlist. Sure is, 458 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: it's another French scientist trying to space them out. I swear. 459 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: Investigators quickly uncovered more problematic evidence. In this case, they 460 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: set up a sting of sorts by writing to Force 461 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: of Life posing as patients. One such fake patient was 462 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 1: named Lucille Hoffmann, and she wrote to the company that 463 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: she was twenty two and she wrote this sort of 464 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: plaintive letter where she shared very personal information about herself 465 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: and her health struggles. And at first she got pretty 466 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: standard replies about various things she could do to improve 467 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: her health. But when she wrote back again she is 468 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,239 Speaker 1: not a real person. When she wrote back that she 469 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: was not getting any better, she was asked to submit 470 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: a blood sample and The investigator that was working this 471 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: case sent in a bottle of blood from a horse, 472 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: and he received a reply that Lucille was sadly dealing 473 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: with an array of medical ailments, some quite serious. This 474 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: investigator actually said jokingly in his testimony about all of 475 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: this that the prognosis was so bad that he felt 476 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 1: sorry for the horse. There was also what was alleged 477 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: to be a personal message from doctor Wallace Hadley to 478 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: this woman that read quote, I cure disease. I combat 479 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:03,480 Speaker 1: any and all maladies, make hopeless invalids well, I unclasp 480 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,479 Speaker 1: the remorseless fingers of death. I stop the rush with 481 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: which Father time hurries you to the grave. Another faux 482 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: patient created by postal investigators that kind of went through 483 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: this same process got a slightly different but similar note 484 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: which invoked the Bible by quoting Matthew eleven twenty eight. 485 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: It read, do not be skeptical, have confidence in me. 486 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: Be sure as I am that I can cure disease. 487 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: Come ye who are heavy laden, and I will give 488 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: you rest. Reverently I repeat the words, and sacredly will 489 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: I fulfill the trust put in me by the great Healer. 490 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 1: I can say no more that seems like a fun 491 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 1: place to stop for the day, although we will be 492 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: saying a whole lot more about this case and E. 493 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil next time. Oh, E Virgil Neil, you're cracking 494 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: me up. Baby. I honestly loved doing this research, but 495 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: right now I'm gonna love listener mail, kay, because it 496 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: involves nothing flim flammy, one of my favorite things, which 497 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: is sewing, and a particularly delightful project. This is from 498 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,479 Speaker 1: our listener Katie, who we read an email from not 499 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,239 Speaker 1: that long ago, but it's an update on what's been 500 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: going on with her project. She had sent in an 501 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: email that included some Han and Mansion embroidery that I 502 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: was very excited about. Katie writes, High, Holly and Tracy, 503 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: y'all were pretty intrigued with my Han and Mansion embroidery 504 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 1: a couple of months ago. It isn't abandoned, but this 505 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: is the sewing that was occupying me recently. My ten 506 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: year old daughter, whose name I'm not going to say 507 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: just because she's very young, is portraying Abigail Adams for 508 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 1: Living History at our small classical school tonight. The whole 509 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: ensemble having made a Muslim first easily took me upwards 510 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: of forty hours. She picked the fabric, which I think 511 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: is gorgeous. Fifth grader's portray American history figures up to 512 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: roughly eighteen twenty, and six graders portray anyone. From then on, 513 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: I've been visiting the classes before they choose their subjects 514 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: with lists of less obvious figures as suggestions. And yes, 515 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: many of the people on my suggestion list are people 516 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: I have heard about on your show. Among others, tonight 517 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:20,120 Speaker 1: we have fifth graders as Patrick, Henry, Sybil Luddington to Squantum, 518 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 1: and someone's own ancestors named Nancy Hart. Six grade choices 519 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: among others are Frederick Douglass, Ted Williams, Sonora Webster Carver, 520 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: and Henry Ford. Past years have seen Maria Talchief, Milton Hershey, 521 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: Juliet Child, John Marr, and Alvin York. Anyway, thanks again, 522 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: and hope you'd like to see the sewing. This dress 523 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: turned out so pretty and so sweet, and I just 524 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:48,160 Speaker 1: love it. I am so delighted and I can't even imagine, 525 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: like how joyous it must be. Listen, when I was 526 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: a kid, before I was good enough to sew my 527 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,240 Speaker 1: own clothes, it was always really delightful when I got 528 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: to pick the fabric for something. So it shows on 529 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: your beautiful daughter's face how much she loves that fabric. 530 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: I love that fabric. She looks phenomenal. So congratulations. I 531 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,839 Speaker 1: love this. I love this so much of everything about it. 532 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 1: Give me all the cute historical costumes on kids. Who 533 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: doesn't want to learn about history by dressing up like it? 534 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: That was the best part. I just had such a 535 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,360 Speaker 1: weird flashback to an awkward moment in seventh grade that 536 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: did not come up in my head until just this moment. 537 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 1: We'll talk about it on behind the scenes anyway. Thank 538 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 1: you for writing and sharing that beautiful picture with us, 539 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: and you're adorable letter, and I just love how you're 540 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: helping people learn about history this way. I'm now thinking 541 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: about the thing and I can't stop laughing. 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