Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-15

XMV< pie both living ana
WT// dead, are said to
have been seen I'M
der circumstances such as excluded all
doubt to their reality-for it would ap-
pear that the up-to-date spook may be
considered real That is one point in
which 1t differs from the old-fashioned
style of phantom, which was creation OF
the Imagination. The sheeted specter of
the Cock Lane school, with clanking chain
and attributes disagreeably suggestive of
the tomb, has been relegated to the do
main of myth. Its place has been taken
by a new type of phantom, which is actual
and authentic, though only studied thus
far as a psychological curiosity. What II
is, and the conditions under which 1t ex-
lists. nobody knows yet.
The most eminent seeker after truth In
this direction of the mysterious unknown
is DR.. Elliott Coues. He is perfectly salts
fed that there are such things as ghosts,
basing his belief upon the same sort OF
evidence as Is considered to establish any
sort of fact on scientific basis. The
problem in his view has nothing to do
with the supernatural; nothing that exists
is supernatural. The question is simply
whether there are not certain phenomena
in nature which have not been recognized
or understood hitherto.
Il will tell you of an actual apparitlon
which was seen by friend of mine, man
Of scientific training, in whose Judgment
and truthfulness / have absolute conn.,
dence" said Dr. Coues yesterday. THE
witness had just gone to bed, the hght
being turned out, and was composing MINI
self for slumber, when he suddenly became
aware of a presence in the room. turther-
more, the impression was conveyed to ms
mind that it was II" presence of certain
person lately deceased, with whom he had
been on very intimate terms. lhere was
in fact, an oVerpowerinS sense OF the near
ness of the individual referred 10. Al
about the same moment there arose slowly
from the floor nebulous mass of what
looked like shining white Vapor, which be-
gan to take shape, as did the smoke from
the Casket containing the gem that was
opened by the fisherman in the Arabian
Nights tale The shape gradually as
sumed an outline more distinct until IL
presented a radiant image OF the person
who had died, Nay, more, the lips appear
ed to move, and from them came an inter
Hgible utterance-a message, In snort from
the departed. j am not at hoerty 10 say
what that message was.
Some Experiences.
"Now, why should / not suppose that this
alleged aDparition was merely a vision of
the night-that my friend fsii asleep and
dreamed it, Partly, l would reply, be-
cause NV friend assured me that such a
notion was out of the question. He was
certainly as wide awake when he saw
the phantom appear as when its seeming
substance was gradually dissipated before
his eyes and finally disappeared. Obvious
Nv. his belief to that effect was not sufii-
cient evidence; he might even have been
awake and the victim of an hallucination.
But what determines my faith in the testi-
mony Is the fact that the phantasm in all
important respects reSembled others which
have been reported upon by many credible
witnesses. i do not care to speak OF eX-
periences of my own in this lire, however
confirmatory Of my conclusions, because
In a discussion like this l think it best to
avoid taking the stand in defense of the
proposition which l myself am dvancing.
II will mention the case of another
friend of mine, who saw a considerable
number of ghosts at the same time and by
daylight. He was lying on lounge In his
library, alone, while the dusk of evening
was beginning to gather Broad awake,
he felt all at once a peculiar sensation. A
dim light seemed to grow about him and
to envelCp him, becoming steadily brighter.
Being sure that something was going to
happen, he waited quietly, and presently
he perceived shadowy figures of human
beings passing to and fro in the light mist.
They became more distinct, and he was
GRABBED to recognize some of them as peo-
pie dead, whom he had known In life. 1t
was as If he had been on the street in a
busy throng: but the crowd was of ghosts
and not of living people.
Ghosts About Us.
II am speaking with not sufficiently pre-
else description when / refer to pccu-
liar sensation of chill which is experienced
by a person whose consciousness passes for
a brief time beyond the threshold of ordi-
nary physical perception. 1t is felt very
rarely even by the few individuals who are
SO organized psychically as to be ghost
seers. When such feeling comes across
YOU, you may expect to witness phe-
nomena which usually are not under hu-
man observation. Respecting the nature
and causes of these phenomena we know
little or nothing as yet; the study of them
is in it's EXTREMIST infancy. Endless ques-
lions at once arise before the explorer who
would pursue this untrodden path of knoWl-
edge. Most in interesting of them all is that
which concerns the relation of the phe-
nomena described to the problem of hui
man Immortality. May it be that all
around us are unseen multitudes of ghosts?
The room in which we are alone may be
crowded with our dead friends; the ap-
parently deserted thoroughfare may be
thronged with invisible beings. The pres
ent population of the earth is but a hand
full compared with the billions who have
died.
Surprising that my friend was neither
dreaming nor the victim of an hallucina-
ton, what was the shape which he saw
take form out of the shining white vapor
in his bed room? Was it a human soul?
How pregnant with most intense interest
is that question: If there was no decep-
ton in the case-and 1 am convinced that
there was nohe-it is made certain that
there is an existence beyond the grave Is
that existence everlasting? What are the
conditions under which it is maintained?
Is 1t happy or otherwise? These are in
ouiries which nobody can answer. We
know that no particle of physical matter
can be destroyed, though it may be trans
formed into other shapes. Does the same
law apply to the consciousness, the SOUL
the intelligence-call it what you will-that
animates the body?
lone very Interesting discovery obtained
by research In this line is that there is
such a thing the ghost of a living per-
son. Furthermore, there is no essential
difference between the spcCter of living
Individual and the apparition of a lead
one. The latter has abandoned the body
perme nently, while the former has left it
only temporarily. An immense mass of
testimony has been adduced to prove that
phantasms CT living human beings-that is,
s'muacra representing them in form and
tea ture-do actually appear sometimes,
and even at great distances from the per-
IONS to whom the ghosts belong. Usually
such phantasms are projected without the
knowledge of their owners.
Table Lifting.
Each one of US carries his owr ghost
uithin him might 10 said Whethe