Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-12-09
THINGS IN LONDON.
An interesting Meeting Of the Psychical
Research Society.
EXPERIENCES or A COMMITTEE.
O,cer Anttes Of N Table in q Deserted
House ON an italian Isiand--odd
Dreams, Stories, and scances

lar TO Investigate psychical subjects over
here. The other day attended an import
ant meeting Of this society. Three'o four
hundred people met in n hall TO listen to
the report Of committee who had been
APPOINTED 20 look into the claims to
spiritualstic power OF poor laboring wo-
man. who had suddenly sprung into
prominence. The committee OF three. two
men and one woman, went into careful
detail as to how the test had been
managed. They had selected n lonely cot
tage on n little island somewhere In ltaly'
and Invited the medium to come. 1hey
said the room where the seancc 'ooh
place was rather dark-pot lighted by any
artificial light. but that the moon shohe
I'm mt one window. In this case. nobooy
touched the table. They simply sat near
a.. They said there was no chance Tor the
medium 20 touch the table, or 10 pay
tricks for she had never been In the mouse
before and could not speak the language
Of TIE natives of the island. one man
firmly held the mediums right hand, the
other man pinionsd her left. while the wo-
man held her feet The speaker said. how
ever. that sh, did not hold the mediums
10 note the tables actions. and could not
do II with her head between the medium s
legs But one Of the committee had IN
vented an apparatus for the medium ;
feet 10 rest upon, which was so arranged
that II she lifted one foot or both feet or
even worked the Joint of a toe an electric
ben would ring. He said II was needless
20 remark that the bell did not ring. Each
of the speakers seemed 10 know the value
Of impressive tones. for they continually
kept shudders playing about the spinal
columns OF the audience.
WHAT THE TABLE DID.
There in the solemn stiffness of that
room on that lonely island, I'm That UNI
earthly half light. half darkness. the table
did weird and wonderful things. II rose
unassisted by human hands into the air,
spun round several times. and would
stand on one leg and bow and scrape
like French dancing master. Bird
cages few through the room. and a
musie-bOx would start 10 playing and
stop at the command Of any one. The
conclusions come to by the committee
were that there was no longer shadow
Of a doubt that mediums can influence
inanimate objects 10 move without physi-
cal ala, and that we are on the verge
Of understanding new science-a new
force.
OTHER CIRCLES.
Al this meeting met a sort Of hanger
on In shabby-genteel clothes. He SEEM
ed 10 have kind OF rambling grudse
against the society. He spoke OF them as
being stuck UP and considering them
selves better than ordinary searchers
after psychic truth. lie mentioned sev-
eral minor organizations or circles that
he belonged TO which were more salts
factory. more sociable. and about which
there was not so much red tape, where
revelations Of an ordinary kind were
not treated with so much contempt and
irreverence. In talking with him about
psychic phenomena ! told him that only
a few nights before | had dreamed that
a clock in my room had stopped at 2l5:
that / had walked with memory of the
dream, and on looking at the clock saw
that Il had really stopped at the time
mentioned. He seemed wonderfully work.
ed UP over II, and ! heard him telling n
little gray-headed woman In threadbare
dress about 1t. lie took my address, ara
the next day | received an invitatiGn to
attend meeting of his coterie 81 a little
hall near Russell Square. The hall was
the most uninviting r.ace in the world.
There was nothing Jut bare floor. bare
walls, and rows of straight-backed chairs
befsTc n Dare platform about foot high.
A little. rusty TOwer-Of-Pisa stove with
q gnarled and twisted pipe stood sucking
cold air in q corner. and the little audi
ence, In furs. muffs, and overcoats looked
Ike a slclehing-pa party. No spook that
ever breathed the breath of life would
have cared for that cheerless ROOM yet
the "circle" claimed that every crack in
the plastering was the abode Of some
dcad-and-gone potentate, philosopher. or
god The man who had invited me saw
me come in. and gave me a rckety seat
near the platform, and as | sat down l
heard whispering through the room.
Clock Clockl Clockw passed from lip
TO Lip. and / knew that my fame had pre-
coded me. one of the members OF the
Psychical Research Society had assured
me that had nothing TO fear as cOnse-
duence OF my dream. as 1t was quite
likely that the stopping Of the clock had
half walked me and that l had got up,
not fully awake. and seen where the
hands had stopped and gone back to bed
without being fully reused TO conscious
ness. but determined f. this circle could
give me any new light on the subject
that l would take It,
PROWLING ABOUT.
Soon after my arrival my acquaintance
rose and announced TO the company that
was the one 10 whom the remarkable
clock experience had happened. He said
IL could be accounted for In no other way
than that when a human being Is asleep
he is for the time being dead as door
nail and that his spirit goes prOwlng
about Of its own accord, often attending
10 matters that have been neglected
caring the day. Numerous instances had
Greedy proved IT, he said. TO the salts
faction OF thinking people. but the clock
incident was simple enough TO explain II
to a child. The meeting was OF a social
nature. They all huddled together round
the stove and told experiences.
One man, an Irishman. said he had for
gotten his pipe one day, and tod fellow
laborer that he felt as If his "woif' were
going 10 bring II 10 him. lie said when
he got home that his wife told him that
she had found the pipe and was thinking
OF taking Il TO him. when she was pre-
vented by q call from the wife OF the
very man he had mentioned the loss or
the pipe TO- The whole company mar
yelled over this.
CURIOUS EXPERIENCES.
Another man rose and told how he had
been riding on the top OF "bus" and
was told by the driver that he had once
been thrown from the bus on his head.
and that he never remembered anything
till the surgeons had cut a three-cornered
piece out OF his skull and trepanned his
brain with piece OF silver. The man
who was telling us the story said he went
home that night and had dream. in
which he saw three-cornered hole In
his skull. He said the dream troubled
him all the next day. but late that eve
ming a lady called at his house that he
had not seen I'm two years. She asked
him to ride home with her in cab and
said that she had something 10 tell him.
On the way she told him that she had
only the night before dreamed that she
was arranging her back hair before a
mirror ana had discovered that there was
a three-cornered hole In her skull. She
Eaid that the reason she called on him
was that she had dreamed that several
surgeons had advised hoHto see him about
g.
TELEPATHIC LAWS.
After this story was finished my ac-
Quaintance said that IL was a striking IL
lus'ration OF telepathic laws. Of which
we would hear wonders In the future. He
said, as many of the company knew. that
he had often demonstrated that he could
send telepatbic message 20 his sister.
that he would or would not come to tea
az certain time simply by concentrating