The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-07-10
Ara Baby as "a Materialized Spirit

| ARA. Baby ~ u Maferiahzea Sp'r''
From the Boston journal.
Tho rooms of a female Spirituslist, No
/ 122 Eliot street were last night the scene
of startling sensation. A few days az"
Mrs. Seaver, supposed to be Mrs. u.
( Seaver. Christian name unKnown-ail-
,oupced A naturalization meeting for
last NIGHT at her rooms, Doubtless Mrs.
5 made ample arrangements for the
success of the meeting, as farther details
wirshow. Her apartments were well
filled with a rather mixed Company NJ
the rate of fifty cents per mead. The
cabinet used by Mrs. Seaver Is improYiscd
out of an alcovc of the room and cur
tain properly apertured for use,
After tho night shades crept around to
the support o. window curtains sufficient
" to confound the vision OF the front
rank of the audience, the work Of the
seance began. Before the improvised
cabinet hung chandelier, the Illumln-
alton from which was II thing Tor the I'M
arination to make out, of course. Inc
medium entered her ghostly haunt fully
equipped for manufacturing fifty cents
worth of spirits for eachand every pat
ron of her show, and only for the disbe-
lief of young man would have succeed
ed in furnishing u rare treat III the way
of tleshihed spirits.
Now in this audience, there was Il
Young man whose faith in the material
Zation process was not what We may call
sun TO the scratch He occupied Il seat
near the cabinet from which he regarded
all the preparations with the keenest IN
terest. As the light from the chandei-
Ter was BY degrees reduced to an artistic
degree of nothingness to suit the gener-
ating of human forms, the bright orbs of
the skeptic grew brighter, and fairly
protruded from their sockets in their ell
orts to penetrate the gloom.
The darkness became less oppressive
after few moments, and all eyes were
able To make out with considerable dis
tiEctncss the conspicuous objects about
the room. The outlines of the cabinet
were visible, and over half hundred
eyes were intently fixed upon an open
ing in the center of the curtain, whence
instructions LED the audience TO expect
the spirit forms. The first appearance
was supposed to be small hand, but
might have been pudding stick or egg
bcater, so far rs the audience were
able to make out with dtstimctncss.
But there was more 10 come, and come
it did. Not whisper, not breath was
heard from the row, of believers before
the cabinet of mysteries; dcath-like 81
lence pervaded The room. The aperture
in the curtain enlarged, and by degrees
emitted II bulky substance, which was
discovered to be child, rather
a fatter one, by the way, than there was
any dire deed of materialiLing for small
audience.
During the minute, or Whereabouts, oc-
cupied by the spirit form in making exit
from the cabinet, no eye INDUCED in such
a thing as q wink; nobody thought OF
molesting a moquto; fans had stopped.
like Mrs. Haversham's clock, apparently
never to wag aLain.
\ calm before storm, is the saying
observe what follows: the skeptic Is no
LONGER careful watcher of the cabinet
and its forthcoming He bounds
forth and seizes the form, when VIC
lent struggle en.ues The skeptic tugs
away ut the form in II frantic cndeayor
To null it clear from the cabinet, 10 which
it, feet adhere with the most remarkable
tcnucity, There Is evidently some one
/ holding fast to the other end of the mater
| iallzcd form. The baby takes this sort
| OF thing very cooliy-not whisper out
of him. The believers are dumbtoundcd
/ with the daring and sinful act OF the
yosug man, and look on the contest cN-
pecting to see him annihlatcd by the
/ wrath OF the invisible powers. The man
ager of the show, young man of about
thirty years Ofage, somehow did not trus;
in the visible powers to the same extent
the audience did. hence he rose up and
planted his feet between the optics of the
Young di>bclicvcr, causing hun to desl>t
from pulling ut that, We are forced {"
saw rag baby. In the meantime during
the ,quabblcI woman in the audience
recognized the child IL, her own darling,
,nmc months dead. TIE brrcft mother
wa, truly gricvod when she became con-
ymced of the deception that had becd
practiced upon her.
The young man who dared spiritual
wrath and received regular mntcriul!Znd
cna,tiscment took himself oil 10 the
Fourth police station, and report the mat
ter. officer Irish went up to the rooms
and restored order. 1t is suspected that
the young man who interfered with the
show was set upon his job by spirltua!
ist woman, who regards Mrs. Scaycr with
q high degree of i'll feeling.