The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-10-12


medium, an Enquirer reporter was di-
rected to interview her, and we present
herewith the substance OF the investiga-
ton:
We arrived at Hanks at 2 p. m. last
Wednesday and found the family at
home with the exception of one son, who
was out with a hunting party from Muir
ply. There was no objection to showing
what the girl could do. but the old folks
said the power was stronger at some
times than others, and they never could
tell when to look for the strongest test
Miss Susan must have half an hour to
get ready, and an item of this prepara-
ton, as We afterwards learned, was a
bath in water from the magnetic spring
The half hour had almost passed, very
agreeable to us in conversation with Mr.
Nelson Hanks, Jr., when we were con-
scious of slight trembling in the room
and strange rafting of the windows.
"Ho, ma! she wants YOU" said the
young man, addressing his mother.
The old lady hurried away, and we
asked Nelson if the trembling in the room
had any connection with the call from
his sister
That was the call ITSELF" he answered.
But how did you know 1t was for your
mother?"
Words couldn't have made It palmer.
She has a special call for every one in
the family"
That is, when they are in the house?'
we ventured.
When they are anywhere within 10
miles, and probably more" said Nelson.
Il can guess what she wants of mother.
It's to ask whether she'll let brother Joe
know there's company here. Joe'd rather
see a newspaper man than the Presi-
dent"
Then he's a gentleman of taste and
discrimination. But she cannot tell him
< q no
any magnetic disturbance she can send
out? we ventured
Not definitely, but she has the power
TO convey to him that 1t is a person of
Importance, and that is what she has
DONE" exclaimed Nelson as a sound like
heavy reyerberations came back to us
from the hills.
We heard only the rebounds. In two
or three minutes they were repeated from
another direction, like a succession of
heavy blows upon something large, hol-
low and resonant.
why don't we hear it so out?"
That's one of the questions that no
body can answer" said the young man.
ITS as much of a puzzle to Sue as to
the rest of us, and this is true of nearly
everything she does. Many things she
would rather not do, but the choice is not
left to her"
Miss Hanks is in her 18th year, of medi-
UNI hight, with irregular but pleasing
features, compact form, and upon her
own testimony, weighs 1853 pounds. She
returned to the room where we awaited
her clothed in a very narrow skirt, be-
meath which was apparent more than a
slight suspicion of Turkish trousers, a
blouse waist, a tight-6tting skull cap,
| slippers, across the bottoms Of which
| were several narrow strips of thin sheet
steel. and she was zoned with girdle in
which steel was a factor. She brought a
box containing various paraphernaHa
needed in the test about to be made, and
| first unfolded a sheet OF white blank pa
| per about the size of a single sheet of the
! Enquirer, upon which she carelessly
! threw lot of needles. The sheet was
! then held level, about a foot above the
! table, and Miss Susan made a number Of
! passes beneath II with her hands
In less than a minute those needles were
| In commotion, like school boys in a frolic,
| like drunken acrobats stumbling over
! each other, like fairies in a panic, and
they chased around that sheet in more &C.
| centric ways than words can describe
| When she withdrew one hand the action
| was more subdued, and soon she placed
finger upon the table and traced there.
slowly, a variety of characters, among
| which were the figure 8. the letter NJ
| and the word No, and the needles as
| sumed these forms on the sheet as Der-
the most careful manipulation Finally,
some peculiar passes with both hands
formed them into q little bunch and they
| were rolled off the sheet
Their places were filed by 50 I.iliputian
puppets, laid upon their backs, and our
attention was called to little bits of steel
no larger than mustard seed, upon their
feet. One pass of Miss Susan's hand be-
meath the sheet brought them all up
standing, and then began as fantastic a
series of marchings and counter-march-
ings as ever puppets INDUCED in For
| ward and back, in compact and open or
der, by twos, by tours and I'm platoons. in
solid squares and in circles, and once
they were manipulated as the awkward
| squad tripping each other and tluD-
| bling about in the most promlscuous way.
only to be Strengthened out and set svs-
temaucally a-going again by a few deft
| passes. The hands were withdrawn, and
over went all the little soldiers on their
backs. Then upon one corner of the
street was introduced the image Of a very
small mouse, and in a flash the puppets
were on their feet and scampering away
to place of refuge in the box where
they were kept.
That is Sues pet Joke" said the IA
ther. Shed sooner meet a bear or a pan
ther than mouse, and so thinks one
ought to stampede a company of soldiers.
But this little play with the needles and
the images is just to see if the power
is all right, and now wen likely have
something else"
The girl made many passes over the ta-
bic at which she had just been at work.
then placed one finger against it and
walked slowly across the room The ia
bic moved after her turned when she
did and came back to it's place. having
traversed distance Of q feet without
apparent means of propulsion. Her
| brother stood with his back to the wall.
| when she seized one of his hands with
one of hers and pulled him across the
room as If he were a mere child She
tried the same scheme on us, and we
braced and tugged back with all the
strength our 1854 pounds would Yield, but
1t was like struggling against the Will OF
an elephant. We went across that floor
as glibly as a cyclone would carry a fea-
thor, and seemingly with as much power
as is generated by the largest electric
motor. The impression left on the per-
son thus operated upon is that of ire
! sistible strength.
Three chairs were placed in line and a
board was laid across the tops of their
backs. Upon this Miss Susan reclned.
! At their request we Joined VITA the others
] in vigorous passes over the girl for II or