Springfield Weekly Republican

THE SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS.

Peeps through the Veil.

My friend Stokes always had an answer ready to any question as to his experience in manifestations of spiritualism; whatever he saw, whatever he heard—and he owned to me that he always heard of more than was vouchsafed to him—he always honestly declared, "there is something in it." A safe declaration, as you may see, for if phenomena are proved beyond a doubt to your own mind, why, you said there was something in it, and if all turns out an imposture and delusion, then the something of course was delusion and trickery.

Stokes and I being once upon a visit to New York, undertook to see the elephants, and found that the greatest living wonder of that class was a set of "rappings," residing in a house in the upper part of Broadway. We had heard wondrous tales of them, and were ready to own upon our first visit that the half had not been told us. There were raps unmistakable in several of the rooms, on the floor, in the side wall (next the hall), in the ceiling, at the ends of the rooms. It was an ordinary brick house, three stories high, with two rooms on a floor, opening upon a hall which extended from front to rear—and the spirits evidently whisked about the whole tenement, after the manner of mice in a wainscot.

Great was the wonder. It was a sort of house of entertainment, with spirits above and spirits below, and I remarked confidentially to Stokes that the less one had to do with bad spirits the better; while I doubted if good spirits were in the habit of frequenting such places. Considering the profit he made in various ways, the landlord only charged two shillings (a quarter you know, such as we saw in our youth) admittance to the "manifestations." Prof.—and Judge—and so on, believed in them and spent many a happy hour cultivating their faith, and one of them benevolently said to the landlord, "Mr. Snooks, there is no use in your keeping the price down at this ridiculous figure; charge a dollar, I know plenty of people who will be glad to pay it."

So he told the people, and they came in flocks, so that the proprietor reaped a golden harvest, (there was gold in those days.)

It chanced that the owner of the house was a friend of ours, and the poor man was in trouble; he could not tell whether the house was enhanced in value or not by the presence of so many tenants,—he rather thought not. The present occupant was to leave the first of May, he was tired, he said, of so much noise. I never saw a plainer case; we had examined floors and walls, we could almost feel the raps, and they answered questions after the manner of spirits or the Delphic oracles, so that generally you could get at the truth, when you learned afterward how they ought to have been answered.

My faith never was so sorely tried; and I was wonderfully relieved by the letter which came to us after the May removal was over. My friend wrote: "While they were in process of moving, and before the first of May, I stepped into the house once or twice, but as my tenants still had possession, they seemed rather unwilling to have me exploring, so I walked out feeling rather mean for intruding. But going in one day with a new tenant,(the house was left late on my hands) I found only workmen there, the principal had stepped out for a moment. A great deal of hammering and noise attracted my attention, and sundry cuttings in walls and floors alarmed me for the integrity of my house. But I found they were merely cutting holes for the release of the imprisoned spirits, who proved to be—connected with an electrical machine! This was stationed in one of the rooms upstairs, with wires running into all parts of the house, while under the floors and in the walls, in various holes and corners, were the rapping machines,—a sort of pine box about four by six inches and an inch or two thick with a parchment drumhead stretched on one side, played upon by little iron hammers connected with and moved by the wires. I have one of the boxes which I brought away, and will show you when you are here again."

(Veni: Vidi: V)

I can see now how certain leading questions and remarks, among those of us who were talking, might give the hint to a messenger in the hall; and the raps came in regular order, a cough or some signal, or a heavy step on the floor, or the accidental scraping of a heel or toe, giving notice of our removal. Of course, a rap in a distant part of the room would call our attention there at once and we remembered afterward this sudden migration of the spirit when rather hard-pressed for an answer, while we were free to confess that the rappings were more phenomenal than the news we got! All this mystery was solved—that strain upon our faith removed; and we learned that the landlord and the spirits, wishing to leave the United States, emigrated to New Jersey, where they still flourish.

I have had, like your friend "J. G. H.," various experiences, but neither the Fisks nor Foxes ever gave me much attention; tables never would turn nor even tip for me; even the identical table which stepped upon the dress of a lady of my acquaintance, and when she said "Won't you please get off my dress," quietly raised its foot and released her; even that table utterly refused to budge when I spoke to it. Doubtless there was "something in it."

So there is in this wonderful reading of pellets of paper and writings on the arm. Let me tell you how to manage the first: Arrange your own place, have the light in front of and not behind you, a trifle on your right and not too much of it, and let no one stand behind to watch. Have the pellets or rolls thrown upon the table, and in stirring them over and touching them with your pencil, take up one, your hand being open, between the second and third fingers. Then as you are talking, throw yourself back in your chair, to show that you have no communication with the table and at the same time dexterously unroll the bit of paper and hold it inside your hand between the fingers. Spread out a piece of paper on the table, and by holding it down at the top, in the most natural manner in the world, with your hand slightly curved and resting on the little finger, you can read the question and answer it at the same moment. I never heard of any very remarkable answers, the wonder was only in the manner of giving them. Then dexterously roll up the paper and restore it to its place, even while continuing to write, and then carelessly picking it up, lay it upon the answer as you pass it for examination.

In the writing on the arm, the question is picked up in the same way and glanced at while the attention is turned to something else. The operator throws himself back in his chair, and gets an opportunity to read it. Then, with his hands under the table as he leans forward, he slides up his sleeve and wristband, writes an answer with a sharp pointed instrument upon the left fore-arm—mind, always the left fore-arm; spirits could write just as well on the right arm, or above the elbow, but he could not then button wristband and sleeve in a moment. When the time comes for an answer, he rubs the arm briskly to bring out the red mark, which is triumphantly shown.

Of course these things require practice and leger-de-main, but so do all the tricks of Anderson, Hermann and others, which they do not pretend are anything but tricks, if you could but find out how they are done.

Another time I may tell you of the spirit portraits, as touching which I beg leave to offer this preliminary remark—that it is rather hard to believe that any spirit, having laid aside a very ugly countenance of clay and had it put out of sight, should be supposed to carry about even the shadowy semblance of the same. Not long since a little child was having her picture taken with the hand lying on the arm of the chair. The child suddenly raised her hand, then dropped it, not at all injuring the picture of the hand or arm but leaving a little shadowy hand suspended above. With the aid of a little imagination, perhaps, we could see a whole shadowy child in the distance, or perhaps she was a mother who stood near.

I wish the treasonable manifestations in the country were as easily discovered and exposed, but until that light dawns we must be content to say, as before, there's something in it.

V.