The Osceola times., 1875-11-13
MOULDING THE DEAD.
The r.ate~f 2pfrisuAiiasic Dcsclspment
rinster e'~sas ~ &ah&sas-Wax nnapr~s

rhc S.ate>a SpffssuAiissic Dcyclspnent-
| rlnster c~sls ~ SfhAsls-Wax nnApr~s-
ssoAa ~ fastersaliscA h1ahas ana eace~.
i From fAe New York MGcury.z
i A new marvel has been developed
in our midst. The ghosts Of the de-
parted not only talk with the friends
as heretofore, and afford bright Gimp
scs Of themselves by naturalization,
but they now make preservable like
ness in plaster. Thus the spirits that
surround us may be turned inte mantle
ornaments, or set up in the inches pre-
served in our houses for less interesting
statuary. So say the unbclieyers, at
least; and the phenomena attending
this new departure in thsiv sIiloso-
ply is greatly agltatlng the Spiritual
lists of this city. A Mercury reporter
found medium--a Mrs. Harrison, of
Boston, now staying at the New Eng
land hotel-who is developing" in
the fresh wonder.
At the seance given to the reporter
by this lady, the arrangements were
simple but included the dark space
usually required as laboratory" for
the spirits to work in. A table was
provided with a thick curtain reaching
from its edges to the floor, and the
floor was already covered with a car
pet that seemed to preclude the Use Of
traps. Seven persons sat with their
hands on the table, the medium among
the number, and the gas in the room
was left burning.
"Will the spirits try to give lis the
cast of hands ard faces ~ asked the
medium. "Yes,' was spelled out
alphabetically, in the usual way.
A quantity of white wax had been
put into pail Of boiling water, and
by this time was melted on the surface.
The pail with its contents was set un-
der the table, the investigators were
allowed to examine the inclosed space
to see that it contained nothing else,
and then the thick. heavy curtain was
dropped and pinned carefully together.
The medium said it was necessary to
exclude every ray of light from the
laboratory" The rest of the room,
however, was left Illuminated by three
gas jets. Then there was singing dur
ing a tedious wait of nearly all hour,
enlivened only by occasional sounds
underneath the table, like raps and
splashing of hands in the pail.
At the end of that time there was a
heavy thump, and the medium asked,
Have you succeeded?' Three raps,
meaning yes, was .the immediate an
swer. The curtain was-rather leisa
urely, the reporter thought-dfawn
aside. On the floor lay bunch of the
wax, and in one of its sides was the
deep imprint of a little hand. 1t was
as though quantity of the warm wax
had been collected from the pail and
put in pile on the floor, and the back
of hand was pressed into the soft
substance. The mould thus made was
allowed to cool, and was then removed
from the carpet, to which it stuck, and
critically examined. 1t represented a
baby's chubby hand, perfect in outline
and detail. A message was spelled
out by raps, saying that the hand was
that Of dead child of a lady present.
The Mercury reporter was told by a
well l-known Spiritualist of a terrifying
rcstilt Of a seance held a few days ago.
A man desired to test new phase of
investigation, and arranged seance.
The usual conditions of dark space
beneath the table and a pail of melted
wax were complied with. He was a
skeptic, and consequently unprepared
for the dramatic result. When the
signal came for the lifting of the cur
tain, an entire face was found i'm
printed in the wax. Its features, of
course, could not be accurately dis
cerned, as they were inverted in the
mould. A cast was at once made, in
plaster, and the investigator was
among the most eager to investigate
the image. Instantly the expression
of his face changed to ghastly terror,
his eyes stared, and his color blanched.
The Others looked, too, and saw in the
base-relief the face of the investigators
brother as it had appeared in his dy-
ing moments. The wasted features
were distorted with anguish, the eyes
were wide open, and the lips were
parted. The sight was ghastly, the
more so from the white color of the
image. The brother was greatly agi-
tated, but the strange reproduction of
a well-remembercd face seemed to have
fascination for him, and he contin-
ued to gaze upon it until his friends
led him away. The image was de-
stroyed by his friends, contrary to his
request.
A CORRESPONDENT claims as msiig-
enous to Chicago the decoration of
wooden panels by placing successive
layers Of different kinds of wood to-
gether, and carvingaway the successive
layers, preserving form as well as out
line, and thus bringing several mate
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