The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-12-12

further pointed out, his replies were
calmly impressive enough to be devoid
of the ridiculous His sudden disap-
pearance from Philadelphia and the
adventure with the jeweled image OF
Buddha, in which Mrs. Annie Besant
is concerned. are all well-known part
of theosophy's evangelistic history. He
soon resigned from the Theosophical
society and, has now no standing as a
theosophist, while his iclainns to the
Blavatsky succession are pronounced
maniacal by the society.
What conclusively shows that Foulke
could not have been in Icdia when he
said he was is the conflict Of dates in
the telling of the bag of guineas story
While in Paris he fell in with Mr. and
Mrs. John Wilfrid, or John Wilfrid
Davis. They are declared to have been
pair of adventurers, living grandiy
through Panama blackmail. but this
seems unlikely in view Of Davis en-
thusiasm over Foulke and the money
he advanced subsequently to aid the
new religion. One of the excommrni-
Gated London thecsophists had a
golden image of the sun, which he
was selling or trying to sell
in Paris. The image Of the
sun possessed certain magical prop
critics whereby its owner could have
access to Buddha at any time. Mr..
Wilfrid gave Foullle large sum in
British sovereigns, tied up in bag, to
go and buy the talisman. He sailed
forth and reappeared several hours
later in stupefied condition with the
bag of guineas clutched intact in one
hand and the golden image of the sun
in the other. No amount of investiga-
ton has ever solved the mystery of his
movements that night. His appear
ance shortly after at Nine. Bla-
vatsl1y's house in London, where he de-
inanded and obtained from Mrs. Annie
Besant the image of Buddha. which he
had bestowed upon Nine. Blavatsky
in her lifetime, has also always had an
element Of mystery in it, considering
his subsequent adventures Mrs Be-
SAINT was in total ignorance Of the bag
of guineas and of the golden image Of
the sun. The latter is now an impor-
tant property of propaganda at the
Onset cabin.
Into this maze of mysticism there
now comes the young fellow, who,
under the name of Besant, has figured
in the criminal history Of two CONT
nents. This youth had swindled va
rious Philadelphians by representing
himself as . younger brother of the
English novelist, Walter Besant. Upon
pretense of being greatly interested in
psychological studies he had defra uded
DR.. McCosh, Of Princeton, out of va
rious sums. His many aliases render
it difficult to state what name he
legally had. Foulke encountered him
in London where he was posing in the
drawing-rooms of wealthy spiritualists
as an adept in studies relating to
Vishnu and the Rig-Veda. A goodly
sum of money was raised to send an
envoy to India to make study of the
sacred books and the alleged Besant
was chosen for the mission. He took
the money and his departure and was
not seen again. Walter Besant re publ
1ted the young man, saying he had no
younger brother. All the odium fell
upon Foullse, who insisted that he had
been as much duped as anybody. How
ever, Mr.. Foulae's attempt to gain
proselytes and recognition as the mes
siah proved futile as result o: this
incident. He disappeared from Lon
don and again turned up in Philadel
phia, saying that he had been in India.
The theosophists asserted that he had
not been in India at all and that any
how he was crazy. Then came the
death of his staunch adherent, Miss
Gurdy, and her beGuest of ten thou
sand dollars to Foulke. The latter
founded his paper and attacked theos-
ophists generally. saying they wished
to belittle him by magnifying them
selves. The whole trouble, Foulke
maintains, is the unwillingness of Mrs
Besant and her coterie to recognize
him as the duly appointed successor of
Blavatsky. The sensational expose of
the Besant woman, as given in the
pamphlet Vampires of Onset" is
known to most followers Of police court
proceedings. She was wildly in love
with Foulke and this fact injects an
clement Of romance into this dismal
story.
Of course, Foulle's business during
all this period had been going to the
dogs For weeks at u time his affairs
were in the hands of subordinates.
Finally he ceased practice altogether.
his livelihood being derived from the
income of his properties For Mr.
Foulke, with the rational eye to bust
ness which he has managed to retain
even in his wcirdest madness, made
over his real estate in trust and has
never been without competence. His
wild expenditures. however. often leave
him in sore pecuniary straits Some
months ago at Onset he had to pawn
the holy star which he received from
Socrates during one of their inter
views A popularity of Mr.. Fouike's
is the miraculous manner in which he
has acquired most of his present be-
longings. He claimed TO have obtained
the sacred image of Buddha in some
way, and the extraor
binary events in which the articles
figured induced Walter Q. Judge to es-
tablish the fact that it had been orig
inally purchased at shop in Brooklyn
for Mr.. Foulke by one OF Mr.. Foul6e's
own friends.
The disciples are as enthusiastic as
their master. Many of them are the
simple folk of a fishing village. Others
=.
admit that he may be mentally IN