The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1884-06-28

AS OSANAiNilNS1 MAiSh 1.-Two ohiNNSh
bur firm belief in the non existence of
spirits took place at Washington City,
last aswinter %Fhe spirituelists hcldl
their seance there. The oflice-holders,
ut the Capitol, from Tennessee attend-
ed the sessions, 1t is said, that two Of
Petitioners henchmen persuaded him
to attend, one night The Major
stood tremblingly between his two
friends, holding their hands. The
lights were put out. All was still and
melancholy as the tombs. At length,
the gloomy silence was broken by a
ropping, ripping, rdpping under the
table. Then spirits voice in muf-
fed monotone was heard to say, "Pet
ib0ne, PeHibone, PettiboHe remember,
remember gogr connection qOith the reve-
nae ring" We are told that the Ma
jor swooned away, and had to be car
ried to his room, and was restored to
mis- senses by means OF spirits that we
all believe in. .r
Major Pettibone has always been a
staunch revenue man. For number
of years he was engaged in the reve-
nue. business. Two years ago, he was
ready, on every occasion, with q noisy
defense for the tax upon tobacco and
whiskey Since his retumfrom Wash
ington, after he experienced the Bel
shaz2arish knocking at the knees
when the spirits from the Vastly deep
arraigned him, his ideas about the
revenue tax have undergone an entire
transformation, and he has been heard
to say i'll all the speeches he has lately
made in Tennessee, "Gentlcmen | am
in favor Of wiping out the whole reve-
nue. business" Mighty is the infu-
ence of the spirits.
He has said something else which
we cannot account for unless he was
under the influence of the spirits or
spirits of some kind. In all his re-
cent speeches he used the following
illustration to show the good of pro
| tective tariff:
Sometime ago travelled from Washington "a
| Memphis over nine hundred miles of railroad
ascertaned, on that trip, that these immense e.,
parallels of steel WHICH ran over the finest beds
| OF iron ore i'll the world were manufactured III
England While was speaking in the House
upon the tariff question this Illustration jus
| flashed upon me-" NA'.~
We regret, that he did not tell ex.
actly how lie felt when the "illustra
ton flashed" upon him? Was he in
spired? Did the spirits have Their
grip upon him when he saw the flash
1t might add materially to the imper
feet science OF spiritualsm should thC
Major giyeIa precise statement il
writing describing minutelyhis pccu
liar feelings aud darkness OF his intel
lectual holizonc. f G.Wt ir3u
The friends OF Pctihonc say, that Ii,
is man of ordinary ability, and WI
know that if he had bccirlcft to idmScl
he never would have used an Illustration
so damning to the principles he advo
Gated. 1t must have been an eyi
spirit that had him. We have had
protective tariff over one hunhc,
years and "the finest beds of iron il
the world" still lie undeyelopcd. Tn,
truth is, that we have had to pay suel
high duties upon all our goods, tha
we have not been able 40 accumulate
sufficient capital to devclope our min
eral wealth when this illustration
FLASHED upon the Major" the evi
spirit must have been controlling hi
mental operations. aAfa,! Ha
Ii is even rumored that the Maio
is himself a spiritualist, that he ca
practice the mesmerie art, and max
men believe themselves hogsand b.
rubbing his hands over their faces cal
put people to sleep andby shaking til
| heads of his fellow citizens can send
current OF electricity through thei
bodies. His frantic gestures, wild as
sertions give credence to the rumo
that he has been either spiritualizeC
mesmerized, neutralized, magnetic
or electrolyzed. We advise those VIII
happen to be near him when he b
gins his strange demonstrations, It
move back at "a respectable 1distmc,
for there is no telling what may tqas
upon him. Beware aof the, ma
through whose "eyes the spirits wildl
peep" 8a rs nu4 ballta.
|