Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1876-05-27
WHOLE NO. S16.
MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS


terious sounds are those produced by
the ventroiloquist; familiar, because
almost every country fair is visited by
one or other of these exhibitors; mvs-
terious, because the real source of
/ sound does not correspond with the ap-
parent. 1t lies within the province Cd
! the anatomist or Psychologist to explain
how it is that some men can speak as if
from the stomach instead of the throat,
and without any perceptible move
ment of the lips; but the person
who can do this, the ventriloquist,
may make himself most bewildering
deceiver of those who listen to him.
Ourpower of ofdetermining the exact direc-
ton whence sound comes is less than
we usually imagined. 1t is said that ;-5a;-
VILE Carey, who could well initiate the
whistling of the wind, would sometimes
amuse himself by exercising this art in
a public cotfee-house; some of the
guests at once rose to see whether the
windows were quite closed, while others
would button up their coats, as if cold.
Sir. David Brewster notices ventrlo-
qulst of exceptional skill, NJ. St. Gille,
who one day entered IL church where
some monks were lamenting the death
of a brother. Suddenly they heard a
voice, as if from over their heads, be-
wailing the condition of the departed in
purgatory, and reproaching them for
Their want of zeal; not suspecting the
trick, they fell OH their faces and
chanted the De Pi'0fundis. A commit
tee appointed by the Academic des
Sciences to report on the phenomena
OF ventrlloqulsm went with VI. st. Gille
to house Of lady, to whom they an
nounccd that they had come to investi-
gate case of aerial spirits some
where i'll the neighborhood. During
the interview she heard what she termed
spirit voices above her head, under
meath the floor, and in distant parts of
the room, and was with difficulty con-
vlnced that the only spirit present was
the ventriloqulstic voice of NJ. st. Gillt.
Brewster tells of another master of this
art, Louis Bri.bant, valet de chambro
to Francis L., whose suit WAS rejected
by the parents of beautiful and we'll
lowered girl with whom he was III love
lie called Oh the mother, after the death
OF the father, again to urge his suit;
and while he was present she heard the
voice of her deceased husband, express
sing remorse for having rejected Louis
Brabant, and conjured her to give her
immediate consent to the betrothal
Frightened and alarmed she consented.
Brabant, deemin9 it desirable to behave
literally i'll the marriage arrangements,
but having not much cash at command,
resolved to Try whether his ventlilo-
quism would be as efficacious with a
money-lending banker as it had been
with the widow. Calling Oh the Old
usurer at Lyons, he managed that the
conversation should turn upon the sub
Ject of demons. spectres and purgatory.
Suddenly was heard the voice OF the
usurers father complaining of the hol-
rlble sufferlngs he was enduring in pur-
gatory, and saying that there was no
way of obtaining alienation except by
the Insurer advancing money to the visi
tor for the sake of ransoming Christians
III the hands of the Turks The usurcr
was terrified, but too much in love with
his gold to yield at once. Brabant
went next day and resumed the conver-
sa;lon, when shortly We're heard the
voices Of IL host of dead relations, all
telling the same terrible story, and all
pointing out the only way Of obtaining
relief. The usurer could resist 40 lon
ger; he placed 10000 crowns in the
hands of the unsuspocted ventriloqui>t,
who of course forgot to pay it over for
the ransom of Christians either iii Tur-
key or anywhere else. When the usurer
learned afterward how he had been
duped he died of veXatiOn. OF all pro-
ducers of so-calle1 mysterious sounds,
DR.. Tyndalls sensitive or vowel flame is
one of the most curious. Out of par
ticular kind Of gas, with burner of
peculiar construction, the learned Pro
lessor produces a lighted jet of flame
nearly two feet in height, extremely
narrow, and SO exquisitely sensitive to
sounds that it sings and dances up and
down in response to everything that is
sung or said, with different degrees Of
sensibility for different vowel sounds.
" The slightest tap on distant anvil
reduces it height to seven inches. When
a bunch of keys is shaken, the flame i5
violently agitated and emits a loud
roar The dropping OF siXpence in
hand already containing coin at dis
tance of twenty yards. knocks the flame
down, 1t Is not possible to walk across
the floor without agitating the flame,
The creaking of boots sets it in violent
l. l.,
of paper, or the rustic of silk dress,
does the same. 1t is@tartled by the
patter of rain drop. l hold il watch
near the flame; nobody hears it tick;
but YOU will see the effect upon the
flame; at every. tick it falls and roars.
The winding up of Il watch produces
tumuit. TAe twittering of a distant
sparrow shrieks III the flame; the note
of crick ct would do the same. \
chirrup from "a distance of thirty yards
cause it to fall and roar In reference
to the power of the flame to respond to
poetry, the Professor says The
flame selects from the sounds those to
which it can respond; it notices some
by the slightest nod, to others it bows
more distinctly, to some its obeisance
is very profound, while to many sounds
it turns an entirely deaf ear. ."-Cham-
bers' Journal
An illustration Of the value of
timber on waste lands is afforded by the
sale of wood which took place on the
estate of the Earl of Cawdor in Nairn-