{"id":7567,"date":"2017-05-11T00:22:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T04:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=7567"},"modified":"2017-05-11T13:47:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T17:47:26","slug":"he-broke-rocks-with-his-head-and-hypnotized-men-chickens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/05\/11\/he-broke-rocks-with-his-head-and-hypnotized-men-chickens\/","title":{"rendered":"He broke rocks with his head and hypnotized men, chickens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dewey <\/a>
Dewey Deavers hypnotized a chicken in June 1961. (Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"1955 <\/a>
1955 article on Dewey Deavers focused on his work as a swimming instructor. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Dewey <\/a>
Dewey Deavers hypnotized Thomas Smith and then hanged him in 1958. He performed this feat on several occasions. The hypnotized subject remained unharmed. (Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

When Dewey Deavers died at 73, his short obituary noted only that he\u2019d introduced hypnotism to Western Pennsylvania. Perhaps the same obituary scribe would identify Leonardo da Vinci as an engineer. <\/p>\n

Dewey emerged into the world in the year 1901 in Paducah, Ky. He was a scrawny kid, targeted by schoolyard bullies. So he jumped in the nearby Tennessee River and taught himself to swim, then learned to wrestle and box and weight lift. He mastered jiu-jitsu from a Japanese instructor. A French dude schooled him in hands-and-feet fighting. Dewey went from 100-pound-weakling to 150-pound tough guy.<\/p>\n

Swimming became a passion. Dewey was in the water every day, in all seasons. He claimed he once swam up the Ohio River from Paducah to Cairo, Ill., a distance of 50 miles. <\/p>\n

Perhaps influenced by Harry Houdini, who at the time was making news by wriggling out of chains while suspended underwater, Dewey became something of an aquatic showman. He asked friends to tie him securely to a chair, then used a “back harness” to manipulate his body so he could pull a launch filled with 65 people across the Ohio.<\/p>\n

The stage suited Dewey. He traveled the country in a \u201cstrong man\u201d act. A fellow performer used a sledgehammer to break rocks over Dewey\u2019s head and stomach. This lasted a few years. Then, around 1927, Dewey tired of brushing rock dust out of his hair and moved with his wife Mattie and young daughter Rose to Pittsburgh, a promising place for a man looking for steady work. <\/p>\n

He hoped to become a boilermaker, but instead landed a dishwashing job. He became a cook, then a laboratory assistant. He never did become a boilermaker. He had more interesting things to do.<\/p>\n

Like hypnotism. Dewey taught himself how to put people in a sort of trance and, in the process, envisioned a future for himself. Sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s (newspaper accounts differ), he introduced hypnosis to Pittsburgh. Within a few years, the city\u2019s newspapers were peppered with notices alerting readers to demonstrations at Deavers\u2019 hypnotism studio at 118 Sixth St. The studio also served as Dewey\u2019s\u2019 jiu-jitsu club. In addition, Dewey taught swimming. He was a busy guy. <\/p>\n

But he got people’s attention by combining showmanship with his trance-inducing abilities. In February 1950, he hypnotized a 22-year-old ex-paratrooper named Columbo Bencevenga. He then put a noose around the Columbo’s neck and kicked away a box the fellow was standing on. <\/p>\n

Hypnosis saved Columbo, the Post-Gazette reported. It helped that Columbo had massive neck muscles (he wore a size 17 collar). The act was a hit. Dewey hanged the poor man three times in one week. \u201cI\u2019m unemployed right now,\u201d said Columbo, \u201cand I don\u2019t have anything better to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post-Gazette was quick to warn readers against attempting this at home.<\/p>\n

Dewey\u2019s hypnosis school churned out hundreds of trained hypnotists and helped turn Pittsburgh into a \u201chotbed of hypnosis.\u201d For newspaper reporters, Dewey was always good copy. One PG columnist wrote that Dewey helped him kick the smoking habit. Another story detailed Dewey’s successful hypnosis of a World War II veteran trying to recall memories of Pearl Harbor. And in 1961, Dewey hypnotized a chicken. Of course that one made the papers.<\/p>\n

In 1963, one thousand hypnotists gathered in Pittsburgh for a \u201cHypnotic Rally at the Hilton Hotel.\u201d Dewey was scheduled to speak about his self-induced hypnotic sleeps, which he said were so effective that he required only one hour of shuteye each day. <\/p>\n

To alert its readers of the gathering, The Pittsburgh Press used language certainly appreciated by the man who once hanged the same poor soul three times in one week and then put a domestic fowl in a trance: \u201cIf a stranger stares at you Downtown next Friday through Sunday, don\u2019t stare back.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Steve Mellon<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kentucky native Dewey Deavers had a flair for showmanship as he put Pittsburghers into a trance.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesHe broke rocks with his head and hypnotized men, chickens<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066,946],"tags":[961,962,1036,1046],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Digs.Hypnosis003.jpg?fit=3900%2C2883&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1021,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/01\/27\/the-twilight-years-of-pittsburghs-first-baseball-superstar-honus-wagner\/","url_meta":{"origin":7567,"position":0},"title":"The twilight years of Pittsburgh\u2019s first baseball superstar, Honus Wagner","date":"January 27, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In 1909, Pittsburgh\u2019s slogan was \u201cYou might Ty Cobb \u2013 but you can\u2019t Tie Wagner.\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/tumblr_mzx8km5Gjk1rr5swxo2_1280-e1418794117464.jpg?fit=1000%2C560&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2281,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/16\/photographer-stewart-love-atop-the-gulf-building\/","url_meta":{"origin":7567,"position":1},"title":"Photographer Stewart Love atop the Gulf Building","date":"November 16, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"He often climbed some of the area\u2019s tallest structures to make pictures.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdjxzuOpCI1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1158%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1220,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/13\/about-those-motherless-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":7567,"position":2},"title":"About those motherless children \u2026","date":"November 13, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We realize this is but a partial history of a family rocked by one of the city\u2019s great tragedies. 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