Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-07
VIEW OF HYPNOTISM.
A Very Peculiar Fact Known as the
Thrill Along the Wire.
NAY FURNISH AN EXPLANATION.
Electricity May be the Influence That Binds
Souls Together.
THEORY ADVANCED IN A LATE BOOK

The strange story OF ''The Thrill Along
the Wire, told in the New York Sun
short time ago of the weird, Inexplicable in -
huence apparently passing from one opera
tor to another over telegraph wire, has
awakened profound interest all over the
country. In that story Mr.. w. B. Sea-
brook, telegraph operator of Charleston,
s. c., gave a ''plain, unvarnished state
ment of certain facts growing out Of long
experience as a practical operator. which
appeared remarkable and almost ine1pli-
cable"
He told how he experienced peculiar
and unaccountable delight when receiving
kilograms over the wire from some persons,
while when others, although equally good
or even better operators, came 10 the wire
his feelings underwent sudden transition
from pleasure and exhilaration to dullness,
aud the work of teIegraphing became irk-
some and tirIng. One particular instance
may serve to illustrate the precise nature OF
the sensations experienced and the attendant
circumstances.
SooTHED HIM IN SICKNESS.
One night Mr.. Seabrook lay in his Office
very i'll with fever. Hearing his ''eall, he
arose and staggered to the instrument to re-
spond. He was so sick and weak that the
exertion almost caused him to faint. Im-
mediately the operator at the other end Of
the wire placed his fingers on the key and
commenced sending message. Mr.. Sea-
brook felt wonderful change come over
him. The aching head was soothed, the
throbbing pulse quieted, and a sense of ex-
ceeding restfulness took possession of him.
But when the message was finished and the
electric. currents ceased to pulsate over the
wire, the sense of relief disappeared and an
attemp to send a telegram caused distress.
The operator whose sending had appar-
emily occasiOned this remarkable change in
Mr.. Seabrook's physical and mental condi-
dition was bv no means an expert teleg-
rapher. In fact, his manipulation of the
key was exceedingly poor, and every other
operator on the circuit heartily disliked to
work with him. A correspondence de-
veloped the fact that the experience was
mutual. The operator at the distant station
said it ''made him tingle all over" to re-
ceive from Mr.. Seabrook. Almost everv-
one else, he frankly and rueiully remarked,
invariably cursed him Tor his poor work,
and he had a hard time to get along.
NO DOUBT ABOUT THE FACT.
This was only single instance. Mr.. Sea-
brook had noticed that he experienced the
same pleasure and stimulus while receiving
| from other operators, but only with COM
parativelY small number among the hum
| dreds with whom he worked. A strange
! point about the matter WAS that the pleas
| urable sensations were only experienced
while receiving, never while sending. As
to the nature and cause of this mysterious
influence he had no explanation to ofer.
| He simply stated the facts.
| This singular story has been widely circu-
| lated, and to telegraphers the story was but
| a presentation of facts well known to them,
and many operators have amply corrobora.
| ted the statements as to the actuality of the
| phenomena.
But one or two explanations of the phe-
nomena have been suggested, and those un-
satisfactory ones. May not these strange
manifestations be but phase OF that myste-
| riols force known in one form or another
for ages and now generally spoken of as
| hypnotism? And may not the phenomena
| OF hypnotism be but minor phase of the
even more mysterious something we call
electricity? II is not only possible but very
I probable that an explanation of the thrill
| along the wire" may be found here. The
most recent experiments and discoveries in,
regard to hypnotism indicate verv close
connection between that strange force and
some electrical phenomena.
a hEMAkhABLE EXPLANATION.
A remarkable book recently published.
"a Romance of Two Worlds" which has
attracted very great attention among all
classes of people, presents a theory that
seems to have considerable bearing on tba
subject under consideration. The work is
OF o-philosophical nature, and the
writer, woman, by the way thinks she
has found solution to the great problem
of life that will allay the unrest of the age
and prove panacea for all that is evil in
the world. She nuds that the universe is a
| great electric ring, of which the Supreme
Spirit is the center, while every spirit is
| provided with certain amount OF elec-
| tricity.
Internally this is the germ of the soul, or
spirit, says the writer, and it is placed there to
| be cultivated or neglected as suits the will of
man. Each one of US walks the earth
encompassed by an invisible electric ring wide
| or narrow according to our capabilities. Some
| times oar rings meet and form one as in the
| case of two absolutely sympathetic souls
Sometimes they clash and storm en-
sues, as when a strong antipathY between per-
| sons causes them almost to Ioath each otber's
presence. No soul on earth is complete alone
1t is like half fame that seeks the other half,
and is dissatisfied and restless till 1t attains its
object.
Although this theory has very fanciful
element in it, it yet would seem to contain a
certain proportion of scientific truth. The
seeming extravaganza may be simply in the
use of a new term, and in those days of
strange discoveries no new theory can be
thrust aside lightly. Undoubtedly there is
such thing as affinity of spirit. We some
times see two persons who are attracted to
each other simply and naturally as is the
magnet to the pole, whose souls are in COM
plete harmony, and whose different
characteristics unite to form one perfect
rh0la he 0f tha
form the perfect light of day. If this Atm
ity is electrical, then surely there could be
no better medium for its transmission from
one person to another than the electric tel.
egraph wire.