The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-12-05
Spiritualism in New York.

| Correspondence OF cleveland IleIaiu. oPu
itualism is gaining ground in New York IN
quiet way. Hundreds of people spend Sun
day evenings at seances or in halls listening 10
the addresses of spiritual female preachers
very large proportion OF these people are
firm believers in the manifestations and COM
municatons of spirits, and many of them be-
long to the most refined and best educated
classes. That man Of intelligence should
become converted is easily explained. His
nquiring disposition leads him to to make an
investigation of the phenomena of which he
hears SO much. He becomes interested, al
though at first he is increduous and even
cynical. Then he is at a loss to explain what
he sees. At last he can only account for the
phenomena which he has witnessed under
varying circumstances by artributng
them to supernatural agencies: 1t is
only a short step to splrltualism and
he usually takes it and becomes an enthusiast
| tic spiritualist, wondering how he was SO in
credulous before and why other people do
not believe. The particular phase of spirlu-
alism that is attracting most attention just now
is slate writing. The most successful medium
| that | know Of is Nine de Bar. She claims
to be the daughter of an English lord. She
is most INSCRIPTIONS and untruthful woman
but these qualities apparently do not injure
her professionally. The visitor may take his
own states, and put private mark on them;
madame takes them for moment and passes
her hands over them. She hands them back
and stands ten or fifteen feet away. Then a
scratching sound is heard and you feel the
Jar as you hold the states on the top of your
mead. When the states are taken down and
opened message is found written on one of
them. Madame does something more
wonderful than this. Sometimes the writing
is scored into the surface of the slate as if the
spirit had done its work with sharp pointed
instrument. She also succeeds in getting the
spirit of an artist to make drawings on the
| slate, and IN some cases an invisible hand
paints portrait on a card in oil or water
color. | know a professional man OF high
standing uptown who has large collection
of these paintings and drawings. The best
known medium is DR.. Slade, who mainly de-
votes himself to slate writing. He also has
spirit hands show themselves, so the astonished
visitor thinks. He sometimes gets spirit to
make cane walk around the room, as il
guided by a hand. A prominent Brook
leave the corner where he had
placed it and walk around the room
of its own accord, was so astonshed
that his hair stood on end. What is SO per-
picking in all this is that you believe in the
honesty of the witnesses and know that they
certainly believe what they relate to be true
Slate-writing has excited so much interest in
London that society, including some scien-
tifc men of standing, has been formed for the
purpose of making an investigation of it. DR.
George NJ. Beard, Of this city, who has made
a more thorough study of trance, alleged spir-
itlal manifestations and kindred subjects
says spiritualsm is delusion from the begin,
ming to the end-that is, all of it that is moi
trickery. In conversation yesterday, he said
that slate writing was a trick on the part OF
the medium. The states were changed. The
reason that the change was not detected was
that the sub ect was in a trance cOndl-
ton induced by expectation, wonder, and a
superstitious fear ofthe supernatural. When
in this state people can be made to see or be.
lieve anything. People, he said, think they
see table turn, or that they lift it up by put
ting the tips of their fingers on it. They be.
lieve that they lift it two or three feet from the
floor, but in reality it does not move at all
Honesty, he said, counted for nothing and
numbers counted for nothing, the more per.
sons, in fact, who were expecting manifesto
ton the more likely the delusion was to take
place. The walking cane only walked around
in the Imagination OF the subject. ANY one
who has made study of trance finds DIR
Boards explanation inadequate, but the spir.
itualists-even those who were most incredu
lous at the beginning not accept his the
cries. They say that they will believe wha
they see.
. The style of Henry James, Ir., is somewha
lightly referred to by the London World as o
the 'terpid, inyertebrate, captain s-biscuit'
sort-whCh shows surprising and lament
able want of gratitude considering Mr.. James
deep appreciation of all things British. TIL,
World goes on to quote Mr.. Howells' un
fortunate sentence about Thackeray ane
. Dickens and eIclaims: Let US burn GU
edition de tuxe and fill our shelves with dim,
copies of Daisy Miller or Their Wedding
Journey"
Miss Gussie Cropsy, young saleSwomar
in Brooklyn china store, while at leisure
during the lunch hour, agreed to propose
made by Will Everingham, clerk in the same
. establishment, to go through a mock ceremo
. ny of marriage Voss Neal, employed as
packer, but who is also a minister, performed
. the ceremony, and the parties now find tina
z the marriage was legal in all respects. Mis-
= Gussie is only II and Everingham I9-botl
old enough IN have known hetter