Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-04-16

. poor chance to beat hasty retreat, If
such generalship should, 10 case Of
emergency, be required. We we're, at
this time, about ten feet from the door
and assumed a halfleaning posture
against the table. had scarcely made
the remark about the door being shut
on US, when il gently opened back TO the
wall, and tall, ghastly-looking man
deliberately entered the room. he was
clad in black broadcloth coat aud pants,
q satin vest, broken and hanging in
shreds, just above the right hand pocket,
showing that it was considerably worn,
aud his appearance showed what might
be called shabby gentility.' He was in
his stockipg-feet, which we're blue in
color, while nearly one-half toward the
toes were whites His head was GOV.
cred by a clean and very white night
cap, with long, broad Aaps to it, like
woman's hood. His beard was long and
black, and had wavy appearances on
the chin, while on his upper lip, toward
the angles of his mouth. il turned up to-
ward his cheek bones, in a long curl.
His complexion presented a ghastly and
cadaverous appearance, his eyes were
large, CLASSY ard rolling, and were
deeply sunken in his head, and were
shaded by very long, glossy eyelashes.
His eyebrows we're heavy, but not large,
and his forehead was very high and full.
When he entered, | must confess that |
did not feel quite at ease, and hardly
knew where | was; but recovered my
thoughts when Mr.. Hubert exclaimed I;
In the name Of God, Doctor, what do
you want2' had never seen DR.. Jewel
in my life before, and while he was SEEM
ingly meditating on his answer to Mr..
Huberts question, saw him before me
as described above" sse
Now, that is such a description as
would satisfy Detective Bucket or any of
his clan. There is nothing shadowy or
| impalpable about it, and when it is added
that in point Of materialiiy there was
nothing earthly about it, that it seemed
to lack weight and substance, and resem-
bled "the gravity and movement of q
dense and heavy shadow" seeming to
slide rather than walk, like " a man on
skates, with both feet tied together, under
very slow notion" we have as perfect q
description Of ghost as we can expect
| to have or fully appreciate till we become
| ghosts ourselves. II the narrator had
added that it cast no shadow, which was
the distinguishing mark between Dante
and the spirits in the Inferno, we could
have asked nothing more.
| The ghost spoke slowly and with APP
| parent effort, and here is what it said
"I have message to communicate,
and have hitherto failed to get any one
| to whom / could unbpsom my troubles,
because they seem to fear me, and, in
their confusion, leave me or forget to
ask me the question which you have
done. | am not happy in my present
sphere, which is one of the lowest, and
| places me in too close proximity with
earthly friends and things. | am per :
mitted, as all are, to see all that tran
spires on earth, and our thoughts, like
| those strangers in strange laad, are
continually reverting to friends and
things which we have left behind; but
those in the higher spheres are too pure
and enrapt in heavenly enjoyments to
| be defiled by such communicating scenes; /;
but my probation here will soon ter,
inmate, and the upward, higher and
more delightful will be my course. Ny
troubles are concerning my wife and
daughter, who are shortly going to Cali
fornia, and, unless they take this warn
ing, they will both be lost. The steamer
that will be waiting for them on the Pa.
cific, after being three days out, will be
destroyed by fire, and many lives lost
They must not go on that vessel, but on
another of smaller dimensions, which
will safely reach its destination. This
is my trouble, and now | shall be at
rest, and will not be here any more.
What was odd about it is that Mr..
| Secord, a spiritualist, could see nothing
of all this, though he heard distinctly all
that was said and the ghost complained
| that it had tried to make itself visible to
Prof. McBains wife, but could not, and
that it could not speak to those who could
not behold it. An honest ghost Mr.
! Secord tried TO communicate with it, but
not being able to see it, the ghost could
not answer his questions. Having de-
livered its message, and submitted to q
slight cross-examination, it vanished,
but did not 90 out of the room. On ex-
amining their watches, the gentlemen
found that they had been in the room
with the ghost just half an hour.
1t appears that Mrs. Jewel, at present
in Mortified, Minnesota, is about to start
for California. The ghost was good
enough TO leave us one test of his powers
of foreteling events, and the news from
the Pacific side will be watched for with
interest by those who care to pursue the
investigation further.
Now, it is but fair to Prof. McBain to
add his appeal to the public; and we feel
the more like doing so because he has
not tantalized us with ghost going
about kicking up general row in The
dark, pitching tables and chairs about IN
a most senseless manner, smashing crock
cry, and playing the deuce generally, but
has given US the most satisfactory appa-
rition of modern record-a ghost who
comes quietly, makes himself known, de.
livers his message and goes about his
business, in becoming manner. 1t is
ghost to respect, if not to believe in. The
Professor says:
"For the last twenty years l have
combated both with pen and tongue the
manifestations, promulgated and placed
before the world, as emanating from the
spirit land, as mere humbugs; have
looked upon Emmanuel Swedenborg's
Life Of Men after Death as the vaga.
ries of a disordered mind, have pro-
aounced Robert Dale Ovens Foot
Print the mere illusions Of a visionary
but the painful solemnify Of yesterdays
interview is so indellibly stamped on the
tablet Of my memory that it can
not fade while life lasts. / am in
capable Of treating lightly that which my
senses Of hearing, seeing and feeling in
controvertibly placed before me, and for
which science can not furnish a rational
solution; have for days borne the laugh