The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-09-18

spirstusl.ssts 1T . Picnio,.
sprituals.s have moro tho gin OF prophecy than
common people have. They proposed recently 70 have
grand picnic and social gathering OF all the faithful on tho
heights Of Fort lee. Wednesday week fixed for the
affair to come or but the state Of th' weather was un
favorable None OF the spirits appeared 70 DO familiar
with atmospheric arrangements, and medium limited
that the day selected would be unpropitous It 80 hap
pened however, that it So and consequently there
was much disappointment STILL number OF tho believers,
who had made preparations for their physical comfort
on the OCCASION and whose baskets duly filled with
ham sandwiches, persisted In going 70 the trystmg
ground where they had good time as circumstances
permitted Others, ignorant Of different arrangement,
went down next day. because was fair and because
they thought was the general understanding that the
picnic should como OIL the first fine day after that xcd
In that they were again in II was the same
on Friday, when some thirty or forty sprtuahsts
assembled At Fort Lee with their baskets and
Hxings. And 60 II was not to be wondered at
that their numbers tho ground last Wednesday,
when the affair really came on, were but small There
not than thirty forty of them present But
the fact that three other large picnic parties had
selected the same time and place for pleasure day Ia
the country and that all mixed freely and good humored
ly together amply made for the pacy Of spiritualts
In this way tho affair was very pleasant The unbe.
evers found afnisos among tho faithful and joined with
for the oher and all joined promscu0usly In the
ments of the day The Soup swing was tho best patron
lied Of all the on the ground no, even EXCEPT
out the grounds, and old and young participated In tho
oxhilaratng sport Even the ladies seemed obvious OF
the fact that tho modern hoped skirts not exactly tho
best style Of dress for being elevated in They went in
for fun and seemed TO enjoy the relaxation from the ord
nary stiffness Of city fe Many Of the younger women
picturesque costumes, such as one sees only
nowadays on the stage Of the Opera All that
wanted to convert them into operate peasant girls
t1.as~
hats coqneshly tho sde Of the head and
in many instances wreathed with evergreens. The
men, too rein to their romantic notions and be-
decked their hats and caps in the STYLE Some
tered themselves in groups through the woods laughing
and singing and enjoying themselves as the huor Of the
moment prompted. Others more attached to- their ply
steal wants seated themselves round rude tables on
the grass and empted the contents Of their well stored
baskets. group Of girls and young men amused them
selves with skipping rope and mado the woods resound
with their laughter some OF them tripped up by
the mischcvous froickers Altogether the scene was
pleasant one, discordan element unucky mschance
coming to danpen the enjoyment.
Coming back TO the headquarters Of the spirituass,
that the dancing platform had been converted
into one for speaking. The auditors were seated
listen with great amusement to the remarks of the
speaker. Mrs La Fargo handsome little brunette with
beautiful eyes, the first to hold forth the beauties
OF the system Of religion This lady, who is Irish
by birth, has earned mach celebrity medium in Dos.
ton where she resides. She is temporarily located
In New York giving lectures and acting as a medium. In
the course Of the day she engaged in several contro
VERSES with outsiders in respect the new revelation
and always out best Her last catechst pretty
younggirl, with mschevous laughing eyes, who nsinuated
many hard things about the veracy Of the spirits and the
humbugging tendencies Of mediums. The blonde and
brunette the centre Of laughing and admrng
crowd. countryman of madames did not fare we'll.
She bothered him quite and finally recommended him TO
60 to Bishop Hughes for information about sprtuaism she
alleging that the good prclate was If not professor at
least a believer
The next speaker after Mrs La Fargo was Mr. Fowler
slight, sicky looking man. with beard that looked half
starved and with an accent that bespoke him Of foreign
birth. The only thing he said of any note, en-
dorsement of the pleasure and efficacy Of kissing He had
dreamed Of young lady with whom he at
the time acquainted who appeared to be suffering very
much from toothaohc and had been inspired to try the
check afocted-a in his dream of course. He subse-
quenty procured an introduction to her. and then learned
kiss she had got relief from very painful attack Of tooth
ache. The story created considerable amusement, and
the bysandcrs cracked jokes with the girls dprupos Of
the newest and most pleasant mode Of treatment for
yalids .y.f =. rf RI f.-..-t-
Brother Fowler was followed by Brother Barnes large
bury big voiced man. with peculiar style of eyebrow
elevation which gave him at times very conical leer.
This brother before opening his mouth took several
strides up and down the platform, all the time clevatng
and depressing his curious eyebrows He appeared to be
awaiting inspration and MS to hasten the process he
put bis hands Familiarity on lady near him, and made
her take turn or two with him. Having attained the
desired pitch Of inspiration he TO stand still and
opened his mouth. The first sentence showed that the
inspiring spirit had thorough disregard of all the rules
OF grammatical construction, pcrsisenty making the
brother put subsantvcs in the plural before verbs in the
OF Hdagarryyping" thoughts and make
manate" do duty for spermeate." This genternan-
though brought up TO the sea-was fond of hortcu
tural Illustrations as is the pastor Of Plymouth church
c dcecented m the beauty of men and women unfolding
ter petals IN supernal spheres and throwing their
little feeers after divine truth and gave expression to the
idea that some unfold their petals quicker than others
He spoke of the great Divine eux from heavenly spheres
impregnang the very atmosphere and of the light of
spriuasm spermanatng all matter But the best of it
was the asserting Of his belief that if the unbelieyers
present could see the spirits Of their friends s'enioying
themselves in dancing and musical operations they
would not persist in their unbeef
At the conclusion of his speech Brother Barnes ner
formed number of miracles under the influence of
the spirit. Persons who asked questions mentally
were answered in the affirmative or the negative
by brother Barnes placing the qucstoncr's hand on
some object specified by himself Doctor Gibbs a
venerable looking old gentleman, with long white
beard, and who had exaced fee Of ten cents from
all who wished to enter the grounds was one Of those
VINO made the experiment, and who triumphanty
answered the laughter of the bystanders by the
declaration that "they who laughed might VIM
But pleasant days must have end In the midst of the
enjoyment while some were dancing cotons and others
were gathered around Mrs La Fargo her uuestoners
the bell of the steamer Thomas Huse was heard sum-
monng the excursioniss board. The dance was end
ed the Hbernian nerlocutor dismissed to the care of
Archbishop Hughes, baskets and bonnets and shawls
taken down OF the branches where they had been hung
and soon all were on board the steamer bound for New
York. Dancing and singing beguiled the downward trip
and all the onists-spirtualist and unbelever
alikeappeared well pleased with the manner in which
they had spent their day at Fort Lee.
The Corner Stone Of the Perry Monu.
ment-Some Singular Proceedings.
from the Detroit Free Press, Sept. 141
On Saturday about ten thousand people from various
parts Of the United States though principally from the
amft dotfD ~, Dox-