Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-01-31

&4ANpgi ism L ALWAYS con
sidered to be the work of eharlatans
who should be declared Migrants and
placed on the chain-gang, while its
devotees L rated as soft-brained people
who ought to be confined in an asylum
for imbeciles.
But had an experience that con
verted me. My wife had read OF
"seances" that were being given by a
medium, and proposed that we 90 wit
ness them. At first the suggestion so
astOunded me that I though her crazy;
but she said of course she did not be-
Geye in such nonsense, only thinking
it would be q harmless way to spend a
pleasant evening. She enjoyed a
Straightforward performance, she said,
and she considered these spiritual
manifestation and materializatiOns as
nothing more. / agreed to go, with
/ holding a desperate resolve I made at
/ the time. / am man of powerful
/ physical strength and proportions
over six feet Highland would before
this occurrence, have bargained to
/ hold a prize-fghter after L had once
! gotten my hands on him. I determin-
/ ed that when one of those spirits came
near me 1 would catch and hold it, and
/ prove it real flesh and blood.
We went. There was a good crowd.
! 1t was a small room. The only fUrni-
| ture was & cabinet in a corner farthest
from the auditors. The room was
! darkened. To soft music spirits began
! to appear. They came from the cabi-
net, in which the medium, q dried
! herring old man, weighing one hundred
/ pounds, was seated, and were family
/ visible in white raiment. One, larger
! than the rest, walked off from his fell
lows and came toward me. Come
little further" 7 said to myself "and I
Will see whether you are of diaphanous
! material or not" 1t came, / grasped
it firmly around the waist. I5 made a
noise that was neither a groan nor a
| howl, but seemed like a subdued moan
| struggling for louder utterances, and
dragged me to the cabinet. Here my
breath stopped short, my brain reeIed,
and 1 lost consciousness for moment
/ The next instant the spirit was gone,
the lights were raised, and I stood at
the door of the cabinet stupidity gazing
at the medium who occupied his seat
| as when first he entered, sleeping as
quietly as an infant.
Trembling, scarcely able to stand, I
tOttered to my seat and fell into it as
| limp as a dishrag. I was frightened,
but not fully converted. I felt that
nothing short of an immortal could
escape my strong hold as this had
| done; but in search Of confederate,
whom, Of course, 1 suspected, L min
utely inspected the room. I found no
place where one could be hidden. I
had the cabinet taken to pieces. No
fraud was there.
doctor" said the medium, who
called at my Office next day, this was
/ Too 7 inf z ~,
control. Your intention was under
stood, and the spirit approached you
in consequence. Are you still a skep-
tic ?"
"Count me henceforth as q believer"
I answered. "TruIy, are there more
things in heaven and earth than are
dreamt of in our philosophy. The fact
that any force can shake me off in an
instant, as did that last night, is all
sufficient proof that it is not Of this
world" HORACE ADLER.
"Nen who think themselves the
| closest investigators are always the
most careless" said the medium, "
when he had returned to his room.
"YOu converted him ;" this to the big
fellow who sat beside him, with an arm
as hard as railroad iron and q hand IS
big as a canvased-ham. "He was SO
frightened he couldn't understand how
his breath left him so quickly"
eff he could see that, now. he'd
know" said the man, holding up
fist as full Of knots as a Zulu's club.
can speakin' Of breath, do you know I
come mighty nigh suffocatin' after I
got back in that panel closet, point
ing to the wall. at a tight place to be
IN, in more respects than one. &c hi.
/ cdgO Ledger.