The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-04

which was arrived at in 1885 by Mr.. Cur
rey on taking a census of the experiences
of some 5000 cases. The present census
relates to some 1000 persons. each Of
whom has been separately interroSated.
The question which was put to each of
them was as follows: Have you ever,
when believing yourself to be completely
awake, had a vivid impression of seeing
or being touched by a living being or IMAM
innate object. or of hearing q voice. which
impression. so far as you could describe,
was not due to any external physical
cause2'
Two hundred and twenty-three women
and 1s7 men undertook TO make the inquiry
and the census is the result of their ques-
tioning all their friends and acquaintance
and of others with whom they couid come
into contact.
The inquiry, which began in April, 1850,
and ended in May, 1892, has resulted,
broadly speaking, in the following con-
customs OF 1900 persons who were
asked the census question above quoted,
2,272 answered Yes" After an exami-
nation, with a view to the elimination of
all affirmative answers that did not come
within the precise scope of the question,
the census committee has arrived at the
conclusion that the total number of per-
sons who have had experience of such
Authorizations amounts to 1854 out CT
1900. That is to say, broadly speaking,
one person in every ton has either heard
a voice or seen an apparition, or been
touched by something invisible So far,
therefore, as the census goes, it seems To
suggest that mankind may be divided
into two unequal fractions. one-tenth
consisting of those who have had per-
sonal experience of the supernatural, so
called, the other nine-tenths being those
without experience. The proportion
h. l,-lr
cination we're not restricted to those three
heads. If other Authorizations were per-
mitted, the proportion would be nearer
one in eight. The immense majority Of
those who have experienced hallucina-
tons have experienced them through the
eye. OF the 1922, 1920 were visible 3SS
auditory and only 14t taCtile. The ma
jority of these Authorizations occurred in
connection with living persons. OF these
realistic human phantaSms so were I'M
recognized, $50 were those of the living
and 232 of the dead. There were only IS
angels and religious phantasms So gro
tesque and horrible apparitions, and in p
cases the spectral form was that of an
animal OF the visual apparitions, $50,
or nearly one-half, were seen within the
last ten years, 423 We're seen when the ob-
server was awake in bed or Immediately
after waking; in 43S cases the recipient
was uD and indoors, and POI We're out of
doors.
From the table of nationalitfes. it
would seem that the English-speaking
race see apparitions much less frequently
than Russians, Brazilians or other ma
tons, but this may be accounted for by
the comparatively small number of per-
sons Intercepted outside the English
speaking world. The apparition-seein
minority among the English-speaking
people is "a, of Russians 1873 of Brazil
ianS 23.9 ard of other nations 12.1. The
great ghost-seeing age is between 20 and
%, which holds percentage of IS per 1000
of tnformants The committee explains
deliberately how the census was taken
and the precautions that were adopted
in order to prevent deception They say
that. they feel sure the affirmative an
swers received have not been Intentionally
deceptive, or the account of the hallucina-
tons fictitious. There is less certainty
! about the accuracy of those who answered
No for many refused to answer or de-
MED their experience because they were
unpleasant. The danger of obtaining re-
turns from people who were in a fair ay-
erage is guarded against by the fact that
each collector was asked to collect 25 an
sWers on each sheet of paper. OF the col
tors q per cent. have had experiences of
their own and of the committee only one
has had any experience of Authorization
and that was of a trivial and uninterest-
ing character
If we may take the census figures as a
fair sample of the human race at large
we may conclude that of the 1000 600 GOO
persons now living on this planet tbcre
would be, if they all lived to maturity.
at least 100000 who will see and recor-
nize in the course of their lives realistic
human apparations of dead persons-that
| is to say, ghosts in the strictly technical
sense of the word.
In considering the importance of the az
from DIV rr11a ,.,l,g 49,
! conclusions of this committee, it must
not be forgotten that they ceased their
census in 1892. No evidence collected later.
than that year figures in the materials
upon which they have based their re-
port. But since 1892 great progress has
been made in the investigation of the
| question of telepathy, which underIies and
to some extent explains many of the
phenomena formerly regarded as eyDIi-
cable only by the supposed Intervention
of an invisible spirit | close this brief
| summary of the contents of this solid ana
elaborate report by quoting from the an
pendiX the well-wcighed words of MIR
Myers as to the significance Of the ac-
cumulating years of evidence as to the
| appearance of spirits of the dead or as
he phrases it, of phantasmaF appearance
in which the agent appears to be disem-
bodied intelligence" The evidence of this
he says, has so increased since 1885 that
/ nv Nl0NNl0SlClL call now dILOIu 10 neglect
! its difficult lessons" Mr. Myers continues:
Il have no wish to press or hurry any
mans belief. but I think that if the tcsti-
mony which points in this direction con
tinues to flow in as our Proceedings and
Journal show it to have flowed in dur
ing the eight years since 'Phantasms Of
the Living appeared it will soon become
a rare exception for a student who at
taches Importance to any part of our cyf-
| dence to refuse to admit the occasional
occurrence of various forms of postum
| nous communication. But if this be
once thoroughly admitted-if the signif-
canoe of this prodigious hypothesis sink
deep into. the mind-it is plain that all
theories as TO the nature of telepathy
/ between living men-nay, as to the nature
of earthly life itself-must pause in sus-
pense while the character of this tele-
pathy in excesis. of this transcendant
life, is studied as far as human powers
allow"
! TTanu ~ M