The New York herald., 1873-10-14

TO investigate the cause and upon looking bout
everything was found In order in the entry ana
sitting rOOm save, OF course, the broken glass ana
burner; but upon leaving the room q water Jug
'Jumpedn from a table and fell to the moor IN
when, upon entering the dining room, tiraja.
heavy piece OF furniture with nllering
ocKea aad me t%s ,S water abou
from the wall, near which 1t was placed, touching
1t, and fell forward upon its doors, breaking 2
frame with portraits fell from the wall OF the sit
ting room and all the masks, cups &c, OF dressing
events occurred all within an hour, and 30 great
was the crowd OF sghtseers and curious lnquirers
who nocked to the scene that the police had 10 be
called upon to keep them back. The excitement
was intense.
In the house nearly opposite to DR.. Porros, occu-
were reproduced with more effect. All the per
fumery bottles glassware and other paraphernaila
OF dressing table fell OF to the floor In atoms
without any shock TO the table or visible cause OF
their falling. A pitcher filled with water, which
was on the washstand, eaped from this, distance
oil about three yards, and broke to pieces on the
floor, leaving the stand intact. But
THE sTRANGEsT CIRCUMSTANCE
OF any yet stated Is the followfng;.ln plain sght
OF the members OF the family and OF number or
persons whose veracity cannot be doubted all the
glass and crockery ware and objects on SIDE
moved from their original positions and one large
glass goblet jumped OF, and after proceeding dis
tance Of about three yards in horizontal direc-
ton II ell straight to the floor and shattered into
her neck necklace OF black Jet without feeling 1t
removed. and other similar inexplicable occur
rences happened.
The alarm pervading both families, and the ap-
prehension that these were but the precursoiy
signs OF q violent geological commotiOn, may be
imagined but no shaking OF the earth was felt, nor
was there any creaking OF the doors or windows or
roofs or any other tfadtctd OF an earthquake per-
ceived. The phenomena also were not general, but
seemed restricted to certain classes OF objects.
on the following day-the 23d-at nine O'Clock in
the morning, in the house next to Dr. Porro, smi-
lar occurrences took place. Fearful OF such the
family had endeavored to secure their crockery
aud mirrors; but at the hour mentioned the mar
BILE slab under large mirror, which was well Sc
cured Dy two iron feet, was heard to move and fall
to the noor in pieces The street was again be-
sieged Dy curious and wondering crowd until
eleven O'Clock, when the occurrences completely
ceased.
Dir. Porro's family not wishing to remain in the
house longer, moved 10 their nephews, bon Cor
nelio Porro, in soledad street. and here happened
In the evening noise was heard, which was found
to have been produced by the fall OF washtand,
which held small bronze statue, also moved and
fell to the floor. These occurrences have given
rise to q world OF conjecture, many assert:
ing they are the work OF spirits, and
that the Porro family are, perhaps, uncon-
scious mediums, IS the same scenes occurred at
their nephew's house, in Soledad street, to which
they removed. Speculation is rife over the mat
ter, and many and varied are the discussions over
animal an ana electro nuids; L has been determined
The DtGrf0 publishes two communications on the
subject. One OF them is evidently from some big
cal or natural scientific causes but ascrlbes them
to the work OF a demoniacal agent, whose name he
gives simply as Satan, and declares the only sci
ence to explain the phenomena at Puerto Principe
is theology and modern spiritualism and cites
number OF authorities in support OF his assertion.
The second communication attempts to ascrlbe
the whole cause to electricity citing the discovery
Of the philosopher wilson that current Of air di-
rected against turmaine glass or amber electrifes
those objects positively when the air is damp; and
also the possibility of some unperceived current
producing the effects in question, as all the
In these equatorial regions electricity is formed
with extraordinary superaDundance and none OF
its effects should be wondered at In 1865, in o
colony not far from Cuba, sugar house was de-
stroyed by the wind. At the same time q strong
current OF electricity was perceived, which, it was
afterwards discovered upon clearing away the
ruins, had, without noise, twisted all the sugar
making apparatus OF pipes tubs, &C. into spiral
mass resembling skein OF thread. Some such eX-
planation may be given Of the recent phenomena.