THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, STODAT, FEBRUARY 24, 1889."
11
r
IE SUPERNATURAL
i
I'Strange. Cases Reported to the
American Association for
Psychical Research.
SOME REMARKABLE DREAMS
Phantasms, Presentiments and Other
Mysterious Phenomena.
ONE STRIKING TELEPATHIC CASE
nnt-IInnd Tettlmony From Living r-Mon
Extraordinary Occurrences Thnt 'Will
Be Head With Inierrxl A Dend SUter
Revisits n Broibcr AUfclIkeAppiiHtlon
A Women ??ee n Murder and niclde
' 'While Far From the Tragedy A Doc
tor Gboallj Visitor.
tCOKBESPOSBESCEOrTBE DIRrATCTI.l
BOSTON, February 23.
HEN the English So
ciety for Psychical
Beseareh began to in
vestigate scieniifical! v
such reported "phan
tasms," "presenti
ments," and other so
called supernatural
phenomena as could
be traced to first-hand
witnesses, it was pre
dicted that all such cases would be speedily
exploded, that nothing tangible would be
found, and, consequently, no result Quite
the contrary proved to be true. An enor
mous amount of testimony of the strongest
kind was got together in a few months, sub--
stantiating the truth of occurrences, which,
up to that time, no considerable body of un
prejudiced people had believed. Most of
those who did not absolutely reject all testi
mony attributed the occurrences to "coinci
dence." Many others, of course, thought
"spirit phenomena" proved beyond a doubt,
and. consequently, immortality established.
Some of the best cases were reported iroci
the United States, and within a short time
after the first reports were published in En
gland the American society was formed. In
the last two years this society has procured
enough testimony relating to different kinds
of phenomena to make several large vol
umes. There are what woald appear to be
most undeniable proofs of ghosts, phant
asms of living persons and supernatural
phenomena of all kinds. The men at the
bead of it. Prof. S. P. Langley, Fullcrton,
Bowditcli, William James, " Newcomb,
Kichard Hodgson and others have
given the undertaking all the credit of a
serious purpose, and an assurance that all
fair and scientific methods would be em
ployed, and none others. The best cases
tnr h'ir nnir nnfiirmn osa ta1I nitactiul
and" have always been very carefully inves-
tigated bv the various committees.
It might have been expected, from the
prevalence qt ghost stories, that cases of this
nature would have been reported in the
greatest abundance, and that they could not
possibly have been worth much'serious in
vestigation. Results show, however, that
by tar the most numerous and valuable
cases relate to the subject of thought trans
ference. This subject, sometimes reierred to
- under the name ot "telepathy," includes all
'cases where one mind is supposed to have
been influenced eonscionslv or unconsciously
by another apart from tfie ordinary chan
nels of sense." The society has not commit
ted itself to any belief," one way or the
otner, as regards this or other branches of
their work, but-holds the position ot au in
vestigating body. The general public has
been made to assist by circulars calculated
to bring out the tendency of popular belief
or to secure aata mr ascertaining tne per
centage ot mere cnance or coincidence:
r coincidence: It 1
pie, that by tar the
ly to a direct ques-
has been iound, tor exam
greatest majority, in reply to a direct dues-
tion, deny their belief in anything super
natural; but most answers to the next ques
tion in order indicate that they believe suf
ficiently to prefer not to spend the night in
a house alleged to be hauuted.
' A GHOST STORY.
Bemnrkable Story Told by F. C His
Dead Sister Revisits the Earl h No
Shadowy Form, but a Lifelike Appari
tion. ' By special arrangement The Dispatch
" is now enabled to present the raoststartling,
as well as the most valuable, rases which
the American society has investigated.
- They are selected irom a large number
which will be given in all details in the
volume of proceedings to be issued by the
society. The secretary, Mr. Kichard Hodg
son, 5 Boylston place, Boston, is ready at
all times to receive cases by letter, or other
wise, and to answer any questions relating
to the work of the society. Perhaps" the
best case of all is as follows:
Boston, January 11, 1883.
Secretary American Society for Psychical Be-
tcarcli, Boston, Mass.:
Sin: Repljmgto the recently published re
quest of jour society for actual occurrences of
psychical phenomer.a.IrcspcctfullysubmIt the
following remarkable occurrence, with the as
Furance that the event made a more powerful
fmpiessiun on my mind than the combined in
cidents of iny whole life. I have never men.
turned it outside of my family and a few inti
mate friends, knowing well that few would believe-
it, or else ascribe it to some disordered
state of my mind at the time; but I well know
I never was in better health or possessed a
clearer head and mind than at the time it oc
curred. In JS67 my only sistcr.ayoung lady of 18 years,
died suddenly of cholera tn St. Louis, Mo. ily
attachment for her was very strong, and the
Wow a severe one to me. A year or so alter her
death 1 became a commercial traveler, and it
was in 1KT6. while on one of my western trips,
that the event occurred.
I had "drummed" the city of St Joseph. Mo.,
and had gone to my rom at the Pacific House
to send in my orders, which were unusually
large ones, so that I was in a very happy frame
of mind indeed. Mythoughts, of course, were
about the-e orders, knowing how pleased my
house would be at my success. I had not been
thinking of my late sister, or in any manner re-'
fleeting nu the past. The hour was high noon,
and the sun was shining cheerfully into my
room. While smoking a cigar, and busily
writing out my orders, I suddenly became con
scious that mine one was sitting on my lei t,
with one arm resting on the table. Quick as a
flash I turned and distinctly saw the form of
my dead .sister, and for a brief second or so
looked bcr squarely In the face, and so sure was
I that it was she, that I sprang forward In de
light, calling ber by name, and, as I did so, the
apparition Instantly vanished.
1 Naturally I was startled and dumfounded, al
most doubting my senses, but the cigar in my
mouth and pen in band, with the ink still moist
on my letter, I satisfied myself I had not been
dreaming and was wide awake. I was near
enough to touch ber, had It been a physical
possibility and noted ber features, expression,
and details of dress, etc.
BHE APPEARED AS IP ALIVE.
Hefeyes looked kindly And perfectly natur
al Into mine. Her skin was so life-like that I
could see the glow of moisture on its sur
face, and, on the whole, there was no change in
ber appearance otherwise than when alive.
CNowcoines the most remarkable confirma
tion of my statement, which cannot be donbted
by those who know what I state actually oc
curred. This visitation, or whatever von mav
call it. so impressed me that I took the next
tram oome. ana in toe presence oi my parents
and others I related what had occurred. 11 y
lather, maa of rare good sense and very
practical, was inclined to ridicnle me, as be
taw how earnestly I believed what I stated, but
Me, too, was amazed when later on I told -him
of a bright red line or scratch on the right band
aide of my sister's face, which I had seen dis
tinctly, when I mentioned this, my mother
rose trembling to her feetand nearly fainted
away, and as soon as she sufficiently recovered
ber self -possession, with tears streaming down
Flier face, she exclaimed, that I had indeed seen
181
fciHUSHiil
my sister, as no living mortal bat herself was
aware of that scratch, which she had
accidentally made while doing some
little act of kindness after my sister's death.
She said she well remembered how pained she
was to think she should have, unintentionally,
marred the features nf her dead daughter, and
thai, unknown to all, the had carefully obliter
ated all traces of the slight scratch with the
aid of powder, etc, and that she had never
mentioned it to a human being from that day
to this. In proof, neither my lather nor any of
onr family had detected It, and positively
were unaware of the incident, yet 1 saw the
scratch as bright as if Just made. Su strangely
Impressed was my mother that even alter she
had retired to rest she got up and dressed,
came to me and told me sue knew at least that
I bad seen my sister. A few weeks later my
mother died, happy in her belief she would re
join her favorite daughter in a better world.
STICKS TO HIS STOKT.
I submit this In all earnestness bnt request
that my name should be omitted should this
become public or given to the press, which
you are at liberty to do should you so desire.
F. G.
Boston, January 14, 1SSS.
Jlr. Kichard Hodgson, Secretary A. S. P. K..
lioston:
Dear Sir Thanks for your favor of the ISth
and circulars, all of which are at hand. Will
follow your suggestion and write my father
and others who were present when I ex
plained the apparition, audon receipt of their
replies will forward same to yon.
I will add here that .there was nothing of a
spiritual or ghostly nature in cither the form
or dress of my sister, she appearing perfectly
natural, and dressed In clothing that she
usuallv wore in life, and which wa familiar to
me. Prom her position at the table, I could
only see her from the waist up, and tier appear
ance and everything she wore are indelibly
photographed in my mind. I even had time to
notice the collar and little breastpin she wore,
as well as the comb in her hair, after the tle
then worn by young ladies. The dress had no
particular association ior me or luymoiuei -
no more so than others she was in the habit of
wearing but to-day, while I have forcetten all
of her other dresses, pins and comb- I could
go to her trunk (which we have, just as she ,
left it) and pick out the very dres and orna
ments the wore when she appeared to me, so
well do I remember it. !
You are correct in 'understanding that 1 re-
turned home earlier than I intended, as it had
such an effect on me that I could hardly think
of any other matter; in fact I abandoned a
trip mat x nan uareiv comineuceu, anu unw
narily would have remained on the road a
month longer.
I will also add that about ten days before my
mother died she in all seriousness told me that
if it was His will, or in her power to appear to
me alter ner aeatn, sue would surei; ao so.
justas my sister had uone, but I have never
nau a similar experience, nut i can swear to
this fact, that- notwithstanding mV life Of COII-
?.?" "";"'". T.u, ,"1""u.""J,tt ""'.,"'",
both my mother and sister, and at such odd
and unusual times, as to half ctmvicce me that
even after their death they were exerting a
more powerful influence over me than when
they were on eartb, through some subtle, un
known agency. ' "
KOT SUPERSTITIOUS.
The members of our family are all strong
willed, positive and naturally of a sceptical
mind, with an inclination to go Into "cause and
effect" and investigate before believing; and
none of us are in the least superstitious, be
lieving only what we can comprehend or what
seems natural. I have no doubt that many in
telligent people have had a similar experience,
but through fear of ridicule, or being consid
ered of a morbid mind, have kept it secret. It
seems natural for us to make light of these
alleged visitations, or whatever they are, but
no mortal man couia convince me, or anyone
who has had a similar experience, that we did
not see just what we know we saw, and
still not be superstitious, merely being
unable to account for it, 1 have
often said to myself, "X wonder
what the feelings of another would be, it he
had, when wide awake and in his right senses,
seen what I saw with wide open eyes in broad
daylight T" If it was a common occurrence I
am sure it would set people to thinking. I
never expect to convince others, iu fact 1
don't blame them for doubting. Ilail it oc
curred to another, instead of myself, I would
asenbe it to some freak of memory or morbid
suite of mind. Had it occurred at night, I
would have doubted my own tenses, but re
member, this was at noon, in broad daylight,
when I was smoking, writiDg aud lull of busi
ness. ne an know or are pretty wen sansuea
uiuuiothiiuej a luuiK u uiougiib-iraiu-
ference," and if the soul is immortal it would !
not seem unreasonable to think such a con-
section might continue after death, but the
learned men who are associated with you aro
better able to solve such problems than tho
writer, if such a thing is possible to do.
F. O.
A STRAKGB DREAM.
A Death Foretold Ucmarkable Document
ary Case A College Professor's Expe
rience. In the case which follows, an extraordi
nary presentiment in adream of the death of
. ' . . , J.. . , . ,
n,entarv evidence of the strongest kind,
ro'- Rojce, Chairman of the Committee ot
a relative, the society has obtained docu-
on
t Phantasms and Presentiments, relates the
case.
The first of the "documentary cases"
came to us, along with much other valuable
material, from a professor in a Western col
lege, whose name we need not give, but who
is well known to Kev. Edward Everett
Hale. From the latter we have the best as
surances as to our correspondent's, high
character. The experience in question did
not happen to our correspondent himself,
but to lamtly connections oi his, Irom whom
he obtained for us the documentary evi
dence. The narrative may be introduced
bv a lew words of explanation: In the latter '
part of February. 1886, a very severe snow- I
storm visited 2ew England and the British air seemed to grow white, I could see objects
Provinces. It was especkllv inconvenient j about me. but it was a terrible effort of will to
in the Kc-rth, and long blockades on the ' perceive anything. I then felt great and pin-
Northern railways were the result. In the !ul sel?se' as iSPfatSr!,w'S t?.onestfer"
d .. j..,:,:. f wj. V lot. lug, who or where! did not know. Aftera
Boston Jdtertuer of Tuesday, March 2, 1 1 mtle time I knew with whom, but how I knew
find a dispatch from Halifax, reporting j I cannot tell, for it seemed some time after
that "the storm in Northern New Brans- ' this knowledge of personality that I saw dis
wick is the worst known for manv years. I JhicUy.in my brain, not before my eyes, a
The snecial train which should hn nr
ii lP. Lt'l J ,ln 5LTinE i
...bU ..V.W WH.U.UUJ WWW.. ..MlUai. i.i J 13
not likely to reach Halifax till Wednes
day." "Another heavy snow storm is now
raging along the entire line of the inter-'
colonfal, .accompanied by a gale, of wind. I
.N o American mails have been received since I
last Thursday (February 25)." This item,
which I have hunted up in the news of the I
day, will lorm a sufficient basis lor under
standing the letter which follows. A gentle
man, Mr. J. x., a connection of our West
ern correspondent, was at this time in New
Brunswick on business for a Montreal
house. Wednesdav, March 3, he wrote a
letter, dated St. John, N. B., and written
on the paper of the Hotel DuOerin. I have
had a part of the original in my hands. The
letter is addressed to his wife.
A STRANGE DREAM.
"I have not heard of yon for an age. The
train that should have been here on Friday
last has not arrived yet. I had a very strange
dream on Tuesday night I have never been
in Ottawa in my life, and yet I was there, in
Mr. E.'s house Mrs. bL, Miss E. and the
little girls were in great trouble because Mr.
E. was ill. I had to go aud tell my brother
(Mr. E.'s son-in-law), and, strange to say, lie
was down a cojl mine. When I got down to
him 1 told blm that Mr. E. was dead. But In
trying to get out we could not do it. We
climbed and climbed, but always fell back. I
felt tired out when I awoke next morning,
and I cannot account for the dream in any
way." Thin death, according to our Western cor
respondent, had actually occurred at New York
City at midnight on Tuesday. February 23, one
week before the dream. The delay of the
mails, the substance of the Advertiser dispatch
of March 2, and the tone of the letter itself,
seem to make it very improbable, in any case
that Mr. J. T. could have had any intimation of
the death of Mr. E., nr any special ctuse for
anxiety about him before the occurrence of
the dream. As tothe'eircumstancesof Mr. E.'s
death, they were as follows, according to our
correspondent.
Early in February, 1SS6, a gentleman. Mr. E.
livipg at Ottawa, (a connection-of :uv family
by marriage, and with whom I was "well ac
quainted, went from home on business. He
was at the time suffering from a severe cold
While in New York he became worse, and was
finally seized with pneumonia and taken to a
private ward in one of the hospitals- iu that
city. His situation became critical, and the
physician in attendance, or his daughter, who
was with him, telegraphed to his relatives in
Ottawa. Later an improvement set in, and
more favorable accounts were dispatched.
Suddenly, however, and before anv of the rest
of his family could reach bim,he became worse,
sank rapidly, and died about midnight on the
23d of rehruary.
This was on Tuesday. Ho had been uncon
scious for some hour. Mr. J. T., alo connected
with' Mr. E-'s lainily, but having no close con
nection with liinifcil, was at the time some
where in New Brunswick on business for his
firm in Montreal, which had no transactions
with Mr. .
VERIFIED BY A LETTER.
In confirmation of this account, our corre
spondent has sent us a letter from his wife's
mother to his wife, dated February 28, and
giving an account of the facts. From the
original letter we have the following copied
???' eSKi,nal tter wasseenln June.
1887, by Mr. Hodgson and myself:
The events of this week have been
cn.ii . chnfv rii,.. .., aM...Am fMm ftl
poor Mr. E. dying there all alonel His daughter
was tnere tnree noun uoiore nts aeatu.-oui ue
was lnseni-IIile; she thought be returned the
pressure of her band, bat it is doubtful.
Yonr brother and bis wife had come in on
Wednesday morning to make purchases. Then
the telegram came telling of his death; they
had not heard of his Illness, only of his having
a cold. Of course it put other business aside,
and V. had to make arrangements for the fn-
neral, and everything devolved on him. Mrs.
E. came in from Ottawa. I did not hear any-
thing till Thursday, when B. came up to tell us
it was an so hurried. Pneumonia
had caused paralysis ot the heart,whlch caused
his sudden death. They had telegraphed that
he was very ill, and they feared the result;
then, again, that he was better, and they hoped
danger was past: then in a few hours that ho
was gone. In less than two days be was
brought to Montreal and burled so very hur
ried. In addition, we have the following, written
in a letter from the wife of Mr. J. T. to a
member of the family. The original of this
letter, also, has been In our hands:
I expect J. home about the middle of
next month. What a strange dream J. had i
about Mr. E.s deathl He last saw him a rew
days after Christmas, when thev both called to
see us. I will answer vour questions about the
dream as far as I can; I fortunately kept J.'s
letters tellingabout his (
gabout his dream, as I thoughtit
very remarKauie. or several oaya uriore.
t - - -
and exactly a week after, Jlr. E.'s death there
were heavy snow storms In N. B., so that J. did
not see a Montreal paper or hear from me in
that time; 11 trains weie snowed up on the line
together. This explains why he did pot hear
from me. 1 will copy what he says in his letter
, Then follows the extract already given.l
oi weunesoay. -Marcn o, irom ot. jonn, ss.o.
- t .-. .-.: -r -r m !... ...
In answer to questions, Mrs. J. T. lias as-
sured us in writing, first, that her husband
naa nenta nothing ol Air. K. ior a longtime,
and did not know where he was. and, second,
that she herself heard of Mr. E.'s death on
Thursday, the 25th, and aton.-e wrote to her
husbandj but that he did not get this or any J
further letter from her before Thursday,
March 4. The coincidence is remarkable.
and is excellently established. As to the
, i-.Yf ' -, .l , -.i.
, closeness of the coincidence, the dream either
j occurred, as is possible, at the time of the
death, or else, as I think likely, a (ew days
later, while in any case no news or the actual
death could have passed: and it was adream
ot serious illness, with a sense of something
mysterious ana aarc connected wnn me
f matter onil in thttnrma nf 5rhimnrplnn
arises that Mr. E. is dead,
A TELEPATHIC CASE.
How a JUnn's Illness Agitated a Lady far
Awnj A Pliyilclnn Sees Phantom.
Among the "telepathic" cases the follow
ing is one ot the most striking. The gentle
man who was the unconscious agent gave
every possible aid to a careful investigation:
Boston, November 16, 1SS8.
Prof. Rotce Dear Sir Some years ago,
perhaps eight or nine,- while in a city of Rhode
Island on business, my house being then, as
now, in Boston, I received news 'which was most
unexpected and distressing to me, affecting me
so seiiously that I retired to my room at the
hotel, a large, sauare room, and threw my
self upon my bed, face downward, remain
ing there a long time in great mental dis
tress. The acuteness of the feeling after a time
abating, I left the room. I returned next day
to Boston, and the day after that received a
short letter from the person whose statement
I inclose herewith, and dated at the town in
Western New York from which her inclosed
letter comes. The note begged me to tell her
without delav what was the matter with me "on
Friday at 2 o'clock," the very day and hour
when I was affected as I have described. This
lady was a somewhat familiar acquaintance and
frieud, but I had not heard from her for many
montln previous to this note, and 1 do not know
that any thought of her had couie into my mind
for a long time. I should till further add that
the news which had so distressed me bad not
the slightest connection with her. I wrote at
once, suting that she was right as to her
that she was right as to her un
pressiou Jshe said in her letter that she was
ure i ras in very great trouble at the time
mentioned), and expressed my' surprise at the
whole affair
Twice since that time she has written to me,
giving me some impression in regard to my
' condition or situation, both referring to cases
t of illness or suffering of some kind, and both
times tier impressions nave proved correct
enough to be considered remarkable, vet not so
exact in detail or distinctness as the first time.
I feel confident that I have her original letter,
but have not been able to command the time
necessary to find it.
I will add that tho lady has told me that her
vivid impression about me was only one of 10 or
12 experiences of like sort near that time in re
lation to other people, and that in every case
her impression proved correct. She was re
covering then from a long and nearly mortal
illness, malarial fever contracted in Italy, and
was for a long time in most delicate and pre
carious condition. As her restoration to health
progressed she tells me she. found herself less
and less susceptible to Impressions of the sjrt
described. Sf.
P. S. The three occurrences above detailed
comprise all the experiences of this sort which
I have had in my life.
The accompanying statement from N.
reads as follows N. is a physician by pro
fession, and writes from "New York State;
we have not interviewed her personally:
Postmarked August 16, 18S6.J
Phop. Royce In the convalescence from a
malarial fever, during which great Hyper
esthesia of brain had obtained, but no
hallucinations or false perceptions, I was
sittingTilone in my room, looking out of the
P; JI,y thoughts were of indiffereut
i""alJS.,a",eJi 2."? "l" ?f f "JS ?. "X:
iarge.square nwiu, tiiurauy in uoiei.auo.
? te person of whom 1 had been conscious
lying face downward on the bed, in the throes
of mental and physical anguish. I felt rather
than heard sobs and grlev ng, and felt consci-
,? of,tl10 natur0 . "VetSi. ?ubectively:itt
&SS3SSSi
whidi listed 40 minutes intensely and thn
verv slowly wore away. Let me note: '
l?irst maa not mougnt oi tne person lor
some time, and there was no reminder in the
I0m- . . ,k . . . ,
oeconu -iuc ciireiicujM jciueuiuerea
with more vividness than that seen In the nor.
inal way. while the contrary is true of dreams.
Third The natural order of perception was
reversed, i. e.. the emotion came first, the sense
of a personality second, the vision or percep
tion of the person third.
I should be glad to have a theory given of
this reverse in the natural order of perception.
Respectfully, N.
AS TO APPARITIONS. "
A PhyIclnn' Story A Figure Revealed
in n Strong Light nnd Afterward Rap
Idly tfndrd Away.
As far as apparitions are concerned, this
case, which had two eje-witnesses, is an un
usually strong one. It was reported by let
ter, as follows:
AXBAjrr, N. Y.. September 10, 1S88.
Mr. Kichard Hodgson, 5 Boylstou Place, Boston,
iluFs.:
Dkak Sir I had a personal experience
last week which would, I think, be of in
teiest to your Committee on Apparitions,
and I send it, as I understand you wish to col
lect as many accounts as possible, lam not a
subscriber to your society, aud would like to
knowalittlomoic of its scope and alms. I
have, been aware of Its existence through an
advertisement which I clipped from a paper
and through friends who are subscribers.
I am a physician; have been iupractice about
11 years; am in excellent health; do not use in
toxicants, tobacco, drugs or strong tea or
coSee. Am not subject iu the least to dreams,
and have never been a believer in apparitions,
etc. On Monday last, September 3, lbsS, 1 went
to bed about 11 P. M. atter my day's work. Had
supper, a light one, about 7 P. .; made calls
alter supper. My bedroom is on the second
floor of a city block bouse, and I keep all my
doors locked except the one leading to my
Sole's room, next to mine, opening into mine
by a wide sliding door, alwajs left wide open at
night The following diagram will illustrate
the relation of the rooms.
Oil
n-r- T3
I E
1 I i
r . wL
1
I occupy room J, and my wife room 2. Her
room has but one window, and a door .open
ing only into my room. My room has three
doors (all bolted at nfg'ht) and one window,
JT1 . STiSS 1J bo?
Sm f'the ndowa? night? shutting out
early daylight. No artificial lights command
the windows, and the moonlight very seldom.
T nmlrMeeri and wnfc tn hed about 11. ana
i soon was asleep. In the neighborhood of 4
k Tut T tvto nifilfonAd riw
'strong light In
my face. I awoke and thought I saw my wife
standlngatflg.3,asshe was to arise at osO to
tane an early train, xiienentwas &u u.u,...
and pervading that I spoke, but got no answer.
t As I spoke tbe.flgure retreated to ng. 4, ana as
gradually retreated to a spot at fig. a. ne
noiseless shifting or the light maae me imu.
it was a servant tn the hall, and the light was
thrown through the kejhole as sho moveci.
i That could not be, as some clothing covered
the keyhole. I then thought a burglar roust oe
in the room as the light settled near a,
large safe in m room. Thereupon. I called
loudly to my wife, and sprang to light a
light. As I called her name, she suddenly
awoke, and called out: "What is that bright
lleht In your roomf I lit the gas and searched.
(There had been no light in eltherjoom).
Everything was undisturbed.
My wife left on the early train. I attended
tn mv wnrlr aa nsn al. At noon, when I reached
f home, the servant who answers the door m
I formed me that a man had been to my office to
I see me about a certificate for a young lady who
1 had died suddenly that morning from a hem
orrhage from the fun es. She died about lo'clock
the figure I saw about 4 o'clock. There was
but little resemblance between the two, as Jar
as I noticed, except height and figure, The
faces were not unlike, excent that the appari
, J i??"?1','.. "wii
tion seemed considerably older. 1 had seen
' "'"""" V"""'B!"UK UD'"'C' iVr7.i
innnun ni npn lnrprnsinn in v no r"a ki. uiu iivi
thongb much interested in the case, did not
consider it immediately serious. She bad been
in excellent health up to within two days of ber
death. At first she spit a little blood, irom a
strain. When she was taken with the severe
hemorrhage, and choked to death, she called
for help and for me.
This Is the flrst experience of the kind 1 have
ever had, or personally have known about. It
was very clear the figure or apparition at
first, but rapidly faded. My wife remarked the
light before I had spoken anything except her
name. When I awake I am wide awake in an
instant, as I am accustomed to answer a tele
phone in the hall and my office bell at night.
Albant, September 27, 1883.
Dear SIR On the morning of September
I was suddenly awakened out of a sound sleep
by my husband calling to me from an adjoin
ing room. Before I answered him I was
struck with the fact that, although the green
shade to his window was drawn down, his room
seemed flooded by a soft yellow light, while
my chamber, with the window on same side as
his, and with the shade drawn up, was dark.
The first thingl said was, "WhatisthatlightT''
He replied he didn't know. I then got up and
went into his room, which was still quite light.
The light faded away in a moment or two.
The shade was down all the time. When I went
back to my room I saw that it was a few mo
ments after 1 Very truly,
KB. (wifeofW.O.S.)
I Mr. Hodgson:
Dear Sir: Your note of October
11 is at band. In reply I would say, In re
gard to the light in my husband's room, that it
seemed to me to be perhaps more in the corner
between his window and my door, although it
was faintly distributed through the room.
When I first saw. tho light (lying in bed) it was
brilliant, but I only commanded a view of the
enrnorof bis room, between his window and
my door. When 1 reached the door the light
had begun to fade, though it seemed brighter
in the doorway where I itood than elsewhere.
My husband seemed greatly perplexed, and
said: "How strange! I thought surely there was
a woman in mv room." 1 ,eaid: "Did you
think it was If" He said: "At first, of
course, I thought so, but when I rubbed my
eyes I saw it was not. It looked some like Mrs.
B (another- patient of his not the girl who
aiea mat nignt). no, nowever, saia tn.it tne
figure never seemed to look directly at him,
but toward the wall beyond his bed, and that
the figure seemed clothed in white, or some
thing very light. That was all be said, except
that later, when he knew the girl was dead,
aud I asked him if the figure at all resembled
her, lie said: "Yes, it did look like her, only
older." Respectfully, MRS. W. 0. S.
October 10, 1888.
The case is interesting, as being very well
reported, and as leaving us in uo doubt
about the. reality of this odd experience.
The conditions do not make any detailed
explanation of the occurrence at all plausi
ble, although many possible causes tor the
experience may suggest themselves to our
readers.
REAL CLAIRVOYANCE.
Wliile Lying Sick In Bed a Woman Sees a
Murder and Suicide Letters From the
Lady.
The next case is one of a decidedly puz
zling sort, to which our attention was at
tracted by the following hem from a Phila
delphia newspaper, which was going the
rounds of the press:
A most remarkable case of clairvoyance is
the aborbing topic among tho residents of
South Camden, and is perplexing the wise
people of that city. The case is that of Mrs. J
Annie Field, of 805 Broadway, who died a few
days ago, and who was a very highly respected
and estimable ladv. One day while sick she
made Inquiry, during a few moments of con.
sciousne&s, relative to the health Of Turner
Berry, a well-known business man in that lo
cality, and who had been seen that morning in
excellent health. An hour or two afterward a
little daughter of Mr. Ber y called at the
Fields' residence and said her father had been
taken very ill. 0n! the following, day Mrs.
Field rose up. suddenly from her stupor and, in
apparently great agony of mind, declared
that a well-to-do brother-in-law, residing in
Pennsylvania, was away up among the Penn
sylvania forests seriously 111, and his family
were greatly agitated over his disappearance,
and could not find him. A day or twdilater a
letter came confirming this.
A DEEP MYSTERY.
The most mysterious case in connection with
Mrs. Field's clairvoyance, however, was that
i in connection with the murder of Amelia
Walker by Michael Finnigan, and the tetter's
j suicide. On e night of the murder Mrs.
, Field suddenly sprang up In bed, after having
I been in a stupor for a long time, and in terror
cried out: "See that man and woman and the
i carriage at the City Hall; see theconfusion: let
I me get near the man; let me get-near him."
The old lady was with difficulty quieted, and
then she broke out again, declaring that a ter
was causing them trouble. Then, in a very
oM oW " ackIE
rible tning was uappeniug, anu mat tne man
un tne imiowing morning jur. field began to
read the account of the murder to his daugh-
bi6 band, and was shocked to discover tbaftho
facts were identical with those their mother-
imd n in her ttUDor. Twoilara later Mrit
Field dleu.
In answer to our inquiries we have come Into
I possession of the following correspondence re
lating to jars, r leia experience:
IFIRST LETTER.
(From the late Mrs. Field's Son-in-law.)
Camden, N. J., May 1. 1SS8.
Richard Hodgson:
Dear Sir Yours of March 20 and April
21 were duly received. I
snail endeavor to narrate the Incidents
of the late illness of Mrs. Anole J. Field
to which the Evening Telegraph of March 6
alluded as "munifeatation of clatrvo ant
power.". Should you desire a more sstematio
paper, please forward the form used in such
instanct .
Mrs. Annie 3. Field, xt 5i, was a woman of
unusual Intelligence, possessing all the char
acteristics of the pure Euglishwoman of higher
birth, and no iraco of' superstition, save that
found in a strict adherence to the traditions
ana doctrines of the high Church of England.
A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
On the 15th of February Mrs. Field con
tracted a cold, which culminated in pneu
monia with typhoid fever. Five days later the
suspicions of her physician were aroused by a
marked symptom (the patient also steadily
growing weaker, with tho pneumonia and fever
conquered), and hn examination revealed un
doubted evidence of Bright's disease suffusing
tho body with Its fatal poison influencing the
mind to tho extent of a tendency to reflection
npon vanished possibilities.
Upon tho evening of. the murder and suicide
near our City Hall, Mrs. Field lay, probably in
a seml-comatoie condition, though apparently
wake, as her eye-t were open, with notning un
usual to attract attention in her occasional remark-,
when suddenly she raised herself in her
bed, exclaiming:- "Help! he's killing her
won't borne one go to ber assistance ?" Hhn
then recited to bee daughter, m close attend
ance upon her through her illness, a- long
story, detailing a walk that evening upon the
avenue upon which the City Hall is situated,
stating that, while there, a sorrel horse, pull
ing a light carriage or buggy, in which a quar
relling pair of human beings were seen, passed
her and shortly alter stopped. It was then the
quarrel became fatally warm, as Mrs. Field at
tins juncture startled her daughter with her
outcry.
-This Is a succinct description of this Incident,
which was laughed atasa meie dream, and ac
counted for by the theory that ber hearing, un
naturally quickened by disease, had caught a
conversation relating to the occurrence carried
on In the street outside, appropriating it to her
use as a personal adventure. To offset this,
however, is the fact that some years previously
Mrs. Field's entire left side had been paralyzed,
and ber brain, eye. ear and arm of that side
rendered almost useless, and at the time of this '
occurrence she was at least 11 feet from a
closed window. Her daughter, a young woman
of unusually quick perception, at that time
thoroughly wiuo awake, and six fet (or more)
closer to the windows of the room, heard noth
ing in allusion to the matter in fact, nothing
save the tramp of the pedestrians to and fro.
AN UNyAEKISHED TALE.
There was no attempt' at description, either
of personage or mode of murder, bnt a plain,
unvarnished tale of a supposed, stroll, aimless
as coula possibly be In comparative midwinter,
and the single descriptive attempt comprised
in the allusion to the sorrel horse walking out
of the city, via the- avenue on which the City
Hall stands.
Mr. Turner.Berry, of Camden, alluded to in
the publication, was an acquaintance of Mrs.
Field, Vho bad been in ill health for along
time, though for a short while previous to this
occasion had sufficiently recovered to resume
his outdoor habits, and was noticed upon the
street a few hours before the following:
, On the morning of the City Hall tragedy,
Mrs. Field, in the course of a desultory conver
sation, remarked that she would like to know
how Mr. Borry was "getting on," as he was
"again very ill In bed," a remark which'occa
sinned a smile and the assurance that she was
wrong, as he had been recently seen on the
Street. She Insisted', however, that he was
seriously indisposed, and was .indulged in ber
belief, as a mere harmless whim. Toward
evening a daughter of Jlr. Berry called, by ad
vice of her mother, to inquire about the con
dition of Mrs. Field, informing her hostess that
her father was, again critically ill. having been
compelled to retire from the public -gaze that
forenoon. This covers this case of "manifesta
tion." I believe.
My little pet dog, left alone during business
hours, by reason ot my wife's (Miss Field's) at
tendance upon her mother some distance away,
and my absence in Philadelphia, betrayedsigns
of loneliness, evinced by depression of spirits
and loss of appetite, crouching in a corner of a
lounge, and barely returning my salutations at
night. During another conversation, at about
the same time as above mentioned, Mrs. Field
questioned ber daughter about her home af
lairs, womanlike, auddenlv alludin? to the
"poor little dog sitting in the corner," fright
ened. Upon my visit that evening, after the
customary inquiries, I endeavored to change
the subject of thought by the sportsmanlike
allusion to the invalid dog sitting In the corner
of the lounge at home, and was astonished to
learn that it had been "dinned" correctly, save
in regard to location, although the corner of
the lounge was as near as could be in the cor
ner ot the room.
Hoping this will prove satisfactory to you, or
at least for the present, I tender you freely
any service Intny power to gjve you.
EMII.B G. Thattbel.
For family of Mrs. Field (deceased February
-si, lboo).
Appended Statement.
It may be necessary to add that the events de
tailed occurred within a period of 24 hours, be
ginning with the allusion to Mr. Berry (1), the
dog (2), and the trip to Murderland (8).
SECOND LETTER.
Camden, N. J., May 16, 1S8S.
Bear Sir If you will' send me a copy of my
communication ot first, I will secure the state
ment of my wife regarding correctness of con
tents, over her signature. I have not preserved
a copy of any paper containing an account
of the " Walker-Finn egan" murder, but
will try to secure ono for you if de
sired. A rough calculation of the bee
line distance of Mrs. Field from the
scene of the murder would give at least 2,600
feet, perhaps 8,500, about eight "blocks"
distant, north to east. Until you have Mrs.
Traubel's version ot these occurrences at her
mother's bedside, I think it advisable for me to
avoid further attempt at description. You
will receive. I think, full renlv to vour second.
third and fourth queries embodied in yours of
lltb inst.. when we receive the coov of mv last.
Please do not quote me as .indorsing any form
of spiritualism because of my writing replies
to your favore: courtesy demanded my action,
and I am, moreover, quite Interested in
mystery unraveling, so much so, at least, as a
plain, matter-of-lact person of no scientific
knowledge can be. If successful, will send you
a paper containing description of murder.
E. Q. Trausel.
TOTED LETTER.
Camden, N. J., June 4, 1SSS.
Bear Sir Demands compelling attention
have prevented my replying to yours of the 23d
ult. until to-day. I incloso your "typewritten"
copy of communication of May 1, upon which
you mil find (on back of fifth page) the state
ment ot Mrs. Traubel (Miss Field) over her
signature; it testifies to the correctness'of the
narrative of the letter, Which will, I hope, add
to your confidence. The indorsement in
question has been printed above, with letter 1.
It is impossible to go further into detail; the
parties bo "heard and saw" aro afraid of
their memories, and unwilling to add to the
story, though fully able to corroborate my
compilation of events, which, it Is claimed,
covers the ground quite'fully. 1 am compelled
to depend upon accident for a copy of a paper
containing an account of the murder alluded
to. It appears that the publishers destroy all
papers unused a few weeks after publication
(14 days, in some instances), and, as I applied
six weeks after, was not supplied; March 1
May. How would It answer to request one of
the papers, say the Record, to give, in its cor
respondents' column, a brief account of the oc
currence? This would prove the fact of the murder,
without extended description. If acceptable,
1 will make the request upon advisement. No
Philadelphia daily will part with a filed copy of
their publication. Should further service, as
indicated above, be desired, pleaso feel at
liberty to demand it. Ehile O. Traubel.
FOURTH LETTER.
Philadelphia, Pa., June 15, 1883.
Dear Mr. Hodgson I send you the story
you desire. It is written hurriedly, but is ac
curate. It happened, as you see, in Camden,
just across from Philadelphia. Very respect
fully yours, H. M. Watts.
Copy of the appended statement, with ac
count of the murder. At 830 o'clock on the
evening of Wednesday, February 23, within a
stone's throw of the City Hall of Camden, N.
J., opposite Philadelphia, Michael Finnegan,
a dissolute character, aged abont 35 years, shot
and fatally wounded Amelia Walker, another
- . , - . .. ,, !....,, .jr ..j i I
wit a bullet through hisown brain. His riMth
was instantaneous, but, the woman was taken
to Cooner Hospital, wliero she lived until 11:17
o'clock without recovering consciousness. The
murder, and suicide took place in a lonely
part of the town, as the Camden City Hall is
out in the suburbs. An old lady living at 438
Trenton avenue gave the alarm to the police.
The police took the bodyof the munlererto the
morgue and the woman to the hospital. On
searching around they found a horse and bngiry
which had conveyed the disreputable pair from
Philadelphia to that fatal spot. Woodford
Hughes, a switchman at Haddin avenue, was
the only witness He saw the flash ot the
pistol and heard the report. He saw a man
leaning over the dashboard of the bucgy. Soon
after be beard another shot, but he went ou
his way. It is supposed that, after shooting
bis companion, the murderer started to drive
off, but, being overcome with remorse, walked
back to ber body and killed himself.
The murderer bad blonde hair and a sandy
mustache. The wnman'was about 24, plump
and good looking. The police traced them
across the river, and it was Anally discovered
that the brother of the murderer lived at 713
South Third street, Philadelphia. He identi
fied the bodv of his brother and the woman as
"Amelia." Frank Tapping, of 314 South Sixth
street, Philadelphia, identified the body as that
01 Amelia waiter, wno, -wun ner nnsuana, a
huckster, had lodsed at his house. Both per
sons were low, disreputable and deparved.
Tho story In brief is this: On Wednesday at 2
o'clock the man and woman started from
McCauley's livery stable, on Griscom street,
Philadelphia. They drove away, bavin? a
whisky bottle with them. They crossed on the
ferry boat Beverly to Camden, and finally
brought up at the City Hall region at 6:30
o'clock.
The murderer was a politician of a low type
in the Fourth, ward, of Philadelphia.
Other cases quite as puzzling are being
investigated, and will be presented in these
columns. It is understood that the society
cannot as vet come to Any definite conclu
sion, but the thousands of cases will have to
be looked into before anything whatever in
the nature of a law governing any class of
them can he discovered. M. MV
tJnder JLove'a Spell.
)
""
Stricken Youth (at his idol's door) Say,
Billy, is they one or two v's in lover?
Life.
d SI
rf MllBlll ri -t , riawim
s
ATHLETICS ABEOAD.
Blakely Hall Tells of the Athletes
and Sports of Other Lands.
BASEBALL OK THE ISLAND OF CUBA
A famous Bull. Fighter Who Fell In love
With Sara Bernhardt
ENGLISH AND 1EISH BOY ATHLETES
twBrrris
rOB TBTC PISFATCS.l
TJB A is the only conn
try in or near the
tropics that I h a v e
e v e r visited where
men take a live inter
est in athletics. This
does. not except Spain,
for a man who sits iu
ah easy chair and
watches a bull fight
cannot expect to be
classed as an athlete. I was very much sur
prised the first time I went to Cuba at the
fondness for sport which the people dis
played. It- was not difficult to find the
cause. Every Cuban boy whose iamily can
afford the expense is sent tote United
States to be educated. The Cubans are a
quick witted and clever race of men, and
they easily imbibe whatever book knowl edge
is essential to a scholastic career here. They
mature much more rapidly than our boys.
The result is that they have plenty of time
for athletics, and they are always prominent
members of the clubs in the different schools
and colleges. When they go back to Cuba
they keep up the fad, and the resnlt is that
they have managed to infuse a liking for
sport throughout the whole island. There
are a half dozen or more athletic clubs of
thevery first order in Havana, plenty of
yachting and rowing in the harbor, and
baseball has driven bull fighting to the wall.
BASEBALL IK CUBA.
I have seen some notable games of base
ball, but never anything that approached a
contest in Havana about three years ago for
the championship of the Island oi. Cuba.
For two years the Matanzas and Havana
clubs bad struggled for the mastery, and
this was to be tne decisive game. There
were 20,000 people on the ball grounds, and
when I drove onttheclnbs had been playing
three hours and a half, and had not yet
reached the third inning. They had Had
four umpires and the grounds were lined
with police. The excitement of the people
was beyond description. Everybody on the
grand stand was hoarse from violent scream
ing, and when the third inning came to a
close with a home run on the part of the
shortstop of the Havanas, the popnlace
crowded over the balustrade and almost
smothered the shortstop with caresses. They
began ail over again the following day
under rigid police rules, and the curbing of
the excitement wherever it was possible,
and the game was brought to a satisfactory
close.
The Havanese have picked up. the slang
of the American bail field. It was very odd
to hear the incessant jabbering of Spanish
interrupted by such phrases as "home run,"
"foul tip." "fair ball." "take vour base."
etc, The excitement of the players was no
jess iiueusc i-iiau iu&i ui me spectators, out
despite all the frenzy which characterized
the game it was noticeable that the Cubans
played mighty good ball. If Manager Mu
trie sends the New York reserves down there
he will find that they will not have easy
sailing by any means. The Cubans are not
heavy batters, bnt they are the quickest
fielders
and base runners that I have ever
seen. .,
POPTJLAE BULL FIGHTEB3.
The older love of the Cubans for bull
fighting is on the wane. Undoubtedly ball
fighting is still a fascinating sport for the
old timers, bnt there has been such a sac
cession of clowns in the ball ring during
the past ten years that they have practically
killed the sport. When a'great bull fighter
turns up in Cuba an event which happens
about once in four or five years he is lion
ized to a wonderful extent for a time, but
there is every indication that ball fighting
as a national sport has seen its best days in
Cuba. I often wonder what has become of
Mazzanini, who went to Cnba from Spain
and fell violently in love with Sara Bern
hardt the day that he arrived in Havana.
Sara and he were inseparable dur
ing the stay of the French actress
in Havana. Wherever the bull fighter
went enormous crowds followed him.
The conjunction of the French actress
and the hero of the ring was almost too
much for the sightseers. Mazzanini was
a remarkably handsbmeman, and he won
his way into the affections of the people by
his amiability and good nature. He was
paid $60,000 and ail his expenses for a four
HCC&a I
weeks tour through Cuba and Mexico.
when it came to the actual business of bull
fighting, however, he proved himself more
or less oi a mull, 'ine bulls were so tame
that they excited his derision and he ex
pressed his contempt in pantomime to the
populace. The populace grew sulky and
refused to attend the bnll fights. 'Then
Mazzanini went to Mexico, where he also
expressed his contempt for the bulls and the
place generally with rather tempestuous
results. The people pelted him with chairs,
benches and everything else that they could
lay their hands on and then shot at him cas
ually as he rushed ont of the ring.
I saw a woman bull fighter once in
Havana, but the bull she was to fight proved
to be a calf. The populace conceived itself
to be insulted, Senora Gloria was impris
oned lor seven months, ana an tne proceeds
oi me iigiife were givea uver lo cnariiy. All
of this shows that it is not safe to fool with
the hot Southern blood of the people of the
tropics.
ACTIVE FRENCHMEN.
It has always been n mystery to me "why
France has not produced more athletics.
The French boys are quick, lively and
energetic. At the public baths, and i'n some
of the big schools they exhibit no end nf life
and activity, but they never develop into
strong men. They becin drinking coffee
and absinthe and smoking cigarettes too
early in their lives. The only things they
really care for are riding and fencing, and
they'excel in both. The Frenchmen are
natural swordsmen, but they huve uo con
ception whatever of the beuefits of general
physical training.
I remember at the Smith-Kilrain fight
there were two French noblemen who had
come over from Paris with Lord De Clifford
to see the mutch. They were of the ordinary
type of jockey-club sportsmen, fond of
horses, cards and foils. They watched the
two pugilists pummel each other lor a lew
minutes, then yawned and went over and
sat down on a stump, smoked cigarettes and
talked about their friends. If any one
called their attention to the pugilists they
glanced at the ring politely, then shrugged,
their shoulders and admitted that they could
not understand it at all. A lotol Frenchmen
shortly alter the fight had begun rowed over
irom a neighboring village to the island in
the Seine where the fight was going on.
They shrugged their shoulders and went
back 'at once. It bored them to look at a
mill for seeing whieTi almost any man in
Great Britain would have been willing to pay
heavily. I have often talked with French
men about sparring and kindred exercises,
but their tuiuds are thoroughly made up on
the subject. They believe that it is much
better for a boy to cultivate his brains than
his muscles, and they esteem a bit of repar
tee or a notable bon mot much more highly
than they do the most pcr.'cct pbysica'l
development which the mind of man can
conceive.
STUHDY GERMANS."
The Germans are, as a rule, too heavy for
light exercises. Thev do not keep them
selves in condition at all. It is a carious
thing that people so intelligent and living
in a climate which is admirable for athletic
exercise, should give up all the finer and
lighter forms of outdoor amusements. Run
ning, cricketing, baseball, 'lacrosse and
similar games, are at a very low ebb in Ger
many, though there is some football. Even
the sports at which the Germans
claim to excel are by no means their own.
They have been very proud of their skaters
for a long while, an'd yet Joe Donoghue, of
Newburg, has won every contest in his Ger
mantour, beating the cracks without any
special struggle. There are a great many
men in America, who are as good as Dono
ghue, too'. The curse of the German boy is
beer, just as the curse of the American boy
is cigarettes. The German Kaiser knew
what he was talking about when he
spoke on the , occasion of his birth
day, urging the youth of Germany to keep
more aloof from the beer gardens. There is
no reason that I can see why the German
athletes should not make wonderful records,
for Ihave never seen a sturdier lot of men,
and their determination and plnck is pro
verbial. Everywhere a man goes in Ger
many he, sees big.powerful and sturdy look
ing men, with broad shoulders, deep chests,
thick necks and sturdy legs. They all have
the bnild of athletes in a certain way, but
nil of them carries a hnge paunch, and all
the lightness and swing is gone from his
movements bv reason of this encumbrance.
Beer does this. It is beer all the time,
morning, noon and night. Afterevery walk
ing tonr, foofbali game, bicycle race or
fencing bout, everybody, principals, sec
onds and spectators, adjourn to the nearest
beer garden, sit down to the tibles, and
drink for hours. A man of 24 or 25 yearsin
Germany who has not lost bis waist is a
rare sight.
CLETEB IRISH BOYS.
English and Irish boys are wonderfully
fine fellows. I met a great many amateur
athletes in Ireland, and I found them the
cleverest'sort of men. There is good reason
for the prominence of Irishmen jn athletic
sports all over the world. They make great
pugilists, plucky runners and marvelous
cricketers. Indeed, they excel'in all varie
ties of sports, and many of the crack ath
letes in America who, by the way, are the
crack athletes of the world nowadays are
of Irish parentage. The love of the'people
over there for sport is as natural and
honest as their love for fresh air. They do
not drink beer, smoke very little, ana the
smooth roads of Ireland offer them a splen
did opportunity lor running and walking.
Before the trouble over the evictions and
L the misery they entail came upon Ireland,
tne people snowed their fondness for sport
of all sort by trudging from one end of the
country to the other for any athletic event.
Many of the peasants would walk 15 or 20
miles simply to watch the horses and
hounds of some notable hunt. Now they
will walk SO miles to break- up a hunt u
possible.
The young Irish boys are good runners.
Some time ago thev adopted the English
style of rnnning, but I am glad to see that
the American lorm which Myers exhibited
over there has taken good hold. Some of
the fleetest runners that I have ever seen in
Ireland and England now run in the Ameri
can fashion that is, with the arms hanging
iree ana we neaa torwara, a good deal as an
Indian runs. The conventional English
style of rnnning is to throw the shoulders
very far back, stick the elbows close to the
sides, pump and arms up and down, keep
ing time with the stride and throwing the
leg very far forward. In England the ama
teur athletes crop up at every possible
point. Every little village has its harriers,
its cricket and football teams, and there are'
contests going on constantly. The boys are
a straight-limbed, ruddy-liaced, clear-eyed
lot of youngsters.who speak without affecta
tion and are delightfully modest and un
conventional. It is a wo'nderful thing to
me that they develop after they are'22 or 23
years old into the stiff, awkward, surly and
even insolent men that one meets so often
in London.
ATHLETICS IN ENOLAND.
Every facility is offered the boys in
gland for indulging in athletics. Tho
En-
most
cmsty.and crabbed of village shopkeepers
will contribute his share toward purchasing
a cup or prize of some sort for the boys to
struggle for, and it is really remarkabie to
see the number ot people who turn out at.
an athletic meeting in some of the large
towns outside of London. ,Athletic games
in many of the big manufacturing cities
like Birmingham prove a thousand times
more exciting and interesting to the people
than a circus or a race meeting in America.
They number spectators by the thousands
over there,jvhere we count them by the
hundreds. A crowd of 10,000 people anv
where in England al an athletic meeting "is
by no means unusual, though the runners
may not be champions, and there may be
nothing more interesting than a series of
walking and running matches between men
who have merely local reputations.
What I have admired most about the
English and Irish boys is the careful man
ner in which they look after themselves
They will toddle off to bed -early no matter
what the attractions may be, getup betimes
and take a five-mile spin, wrapped up iu
owoicia uuu Heavy coau, return ana take a
cold bath and sit down to breakfast, with
out feeling that thev have done anything
uui, ui tuc uruiuury way. vv nen tnev smoke
at all it is simply to take a short p"nll at a
briarwood pipe, and as a rule nothing on
earth can coax an English boy into touch
ing malt drinks or smoking cigarettes.
They look further ahead than our own boys.
The trouble in America, as far as my
observation goes, aud I have been more or
less associated with athletics for a number
of years, seems to be that the boys
and young men take up athletics
merely in the way of a fad.
They train themselves violently agd
severely with some definite purpose in view,
such as the 100-yard dash, or the "high
jump, and if they fail to beat the record In
the course of a year tbey abandon athletics
altogether. Men are athletes in Ireland and
England until they are 40 odd vears of age.
That is the one advantage ot encket. by the
way, over baseball, and it is the renl in
..oi tne permanent popularity of the game in
urciu oriiam. a man can play cricket
until he is 50 years of age, oht nobody can
play baseball nowadays unless he is a well
trained athlete, with .youth, strength and
lots of activity to back him up. But then
I bad rather see one game of ball than a
thousand games of cricket. This is, as far
as my own observation goes, the usual
preference in America.
Blakely Hall.
A Disaster at the Dog. Play..
Heavy Villain Seek him, good Bruno,
and when thoa hast found him, tear-r-r him
limb from limb!
But Swinklemeyer of the orchestra was
eaUng a sandwich in the front row, and
Bruno had had no dinner. Judge.
Bel ietes instantly cures permanentl
Dr. Ball's Cough Syrup. Price 25c a toy
tie.
A SOCIAL WATERLOO.
Breezy Gossip on the Impending Up
heaval in Washington Society.
OLIYE LOGAN ON HANDSOME HEN.
Jlrs. Cleveland's Plans When She leave
the White House.
MES. HEAESrS FAMOUS COLONIAL BALL;
tCOKBISFOlTOIIfCT OF TOT DISPATCH. 1
Washington, February 20, 1889.
EBCULASEUM and
Pompeii were lucky in
one respect they did
not know the doom
that was impending.
Now, in Washington,
the upheaval which is
to occur less than &
fortnight hence is pat
ent to all. A certain
tone of pathos mingles,
therefore, with gay
notes of mnsic and light phrases of courtesy.
There is a positive analogy between the
prCent social situation and that of the
memorable ball which took place jqst be
fore Waterloo, that festive occasion when
all went merry as a marriage bell. On with
the dance ! Let joy be unconfined I cry the
leaders of the haut ton. Oa the 4th of
March President and Cabinet meet their
Waterloo. Until that time their wives and
families seera resolved to chase the glowing
hours with flying feet.
HANDSOME CHAPPIES.
The social event of the week haa been
Mrs. Hearst's Colonial ball. Our belles
can talk of nothing but of the enhanced
good looks of our men in powder. Wha-.
charming fellows must have been extant
in Martha Washington's dav, to be surel
"Would that we bad lived thenl" cry som
of the more romantic. Now my own opit
ion is that no men ever existed who were
handsomer than those of the present gener
ation. If the style of dressing to-day is
less flattering than it was in olden times, so
much the more reason have we to admire
the good looks of our cotemporaries, who
make a fine appearance indeed, albeit their
wear is rough cloths instead of velvets and
satins.
The colonial dress 13 remarkably becom
ing to women nf all ages. From the girl in
her teens to the grandma, of three score
there is nothing prettier than the stylo
which prevailed a centnry ago.
The floral decorations 01 Mrs. Hearst's
Iovely ball surpassed anything which
Washington has seen. There is no use to
catalogue the details of the splendid array.
Any mere enumeration of objects howso
ever beautiful is dry reading; nevertheless
let me mention one lairylike effect in green
ery portieres of smilox, looped back with
wreathes of roses! Can you imagine any
thing more Watteanesque?
Boucher, who so loved to entangle his Cu
pids in garlandsof blooms, would have rev
eled in the delineation of Various of our
American vines, the crochet-work 01 fairies,
without an excrescence in them for yards i
A BAT WINDOW BOIEANCE.
Have yon a.bay window? A pretty thing,
but like rnany.i good looking acquaintance,
not always to be relied on. I know a French
lady who worked for 20 years to save money
enongh to buy a certain house near Paris
which she had coveted in childhood, 03
Dickens did Gadshill. She bought the
house at last, and the first time she slit
down in her bay window it detached Itself
from the edifice and emptied the unfortu
nate lady on the ground. The architecture
of the present day is free-handed with its
bay windows, and nowhere more so than in
Washington.
In the room where Mrs. Hearst's guests
danced at the Colonial balUthere was a bay
window whose artistic decoration was much
admired. A net, like unto those used by
fishers, but with silks and crewels, was
stretched across a bay window.in the vacant
space was placed a rare collection of exotics.
The dancers were prevented by this devica
from testing the staving qualities ot the bay
window, and the imprisoned flowers added
a note of beauty to the animated scene.
You have heard of Mrs. Cleveland's first
waltz? Weber's last one is hardly more
celebrated. She indulged in it because she
was leaving the White Honse. Gossip
never wearies in its discussion of Mrs.
Cleveland's probabilities for the future.
"She is coming," said the ebon naiad of the
Turkish baths to me yesterday, "here to
have a baff, soon i3 she leabes de Wite
House."
WHEN SHE DOFFS THE PURPLE.
Fancy the etiquette-burdened First Lady.
her sebaceous lollicles unrelieved by the
action of intense beat .in a Turkish bath for
four long years, counting the hours until
she mav literally doff the purple and don
the Turkish bnth,sheet!
Like unto the winding sheet itself, the
pep! urn of the tepidarium reduces all
humanity to tho same level. Mrs. Cleve
land and a pretty Treasury girl; the wife of
a millionaire Senator's wife, and a female
newspaper correspondent; are equally with
out a pocketbook in the coffin, and the
frigidarinm.
You know that wise saying, "An un
devout astronomer 13 mad." I think au
unphilosophic Washingtonian is, of all
persons in the world, the most likely to end
his days in madness. One mut needs cul
tivate the calmness of philosophy here if
one does not wish to pace the halls of a
lunatic asylum. On the one hand such
amazing wealth; on the other, such pinched
necessity! I grant that Washington ex
hibits no such painful extremes as one mav
see in London, where the palaces of Bel
gravia and the slums of Westminster are
absolutely contiguous; bat, like Mercutio's
wound which, though not so deep as a
well nor snwide as a church door, served its
fatal purpose so the sharp contrasts of
opnlence and poverty proclaim trumpet
tongued in Washington the unwai ranted
differentia between man and man. I saw a
girl p3y S3 lor a corsage posey yesterday:
another, with hunger in her eyes, stood
watching her in the street as she skewered
it to her left shoulder with a long pin set
with pearls.
THE USE OP BICHES.
Political, economists are not in accord
concerning the advantage to the community
a t large of indulgence in luxury by the
rich, Some hold that the purchase of
superfluities spreads money among the
poorercjasscs more effectually, more equita
bly, than the mere reckless bestowal of
alms; others take the contrary view. Bnt
reason how they will, for or against, this
way or that, forward or backward, I shall
not' soon forget the sight of the girl with
hunger in her eyes who stood looking at the
girl who paid S3 for ber corsage posey, and
attached it to her jacket with a long pearl
piu.
Apropos of jackets, mes tret cherts, did
you know that Dame Fashion will have,
none of them? By my laith as an honest
chronicler, they are going out, The high
shoulder pufTh'as cried to the tight jacket
sleeve, "Avant, and quit my sight!"
The alternative is a cape, reaching to the
waist. In dress material, as yet. an un
derrated and sane affair; but in furs, al
ready an eccentricity, with hirrh en.inlettp
and long tabs in front reaching quite to the
feet. Olive Logan.
inilljlf
million
1P
Drilres lo Bear Testimony.
Henry Thome, Traveling Secretary of tho
Y. M. C. A, writes from Exeter Hall Strand.
London. February 2. 1KSS:
I desire to bear my testimony to the value
of Allcock's Porous Plasters. I have used
them lor pafns in the hack and side arising
from rheumatic and other causes, never with
out deriving benefit from their application.
They are easily applied, and very comforting.
Those engaged as I am in publio work, which
involves exposure to- sudden chanjea of tem
perature, will donell to keep a supply of All
cock's Porous Plasters In their portmanteaus."
to
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