The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-08-24

, Deception Il Possible.

| of furniture. gs 9
| No Decept Il Possible.
"On demand 1t would furnish raps,
l signaling yes and no, telling the num-
ber OF the house, answering various
| questions. and even beating out with a
loud tattoo any tunes that might be
| demanded. OF course. much discredit
| has been thrown upon the whole bust-
ness of table-tilting and table-rapping
| by frauds. But ! can vouch that there
| was no deception In this instance. Some
force which could not possibly have
| been exer'ted by either or both OF the
| ladies under the circumstances was
| eXerted upon the table. l will nit go
into any discussion of the loud detona-
| tions and flashes of Hghk which some-
times accompanied the performance.
| orthodox science says that 1t Is not
| possible to move any object from q
distance and without contact. Let us
see. TO begin with. II that is true. The
sun acts upon the earth and upon all
| the other planets of the solar system
| from distance and without contact.
A stone thrown up returns to the earth
| from whatever distance. though there
is no ponderable medium of commu-
| nicatlon. You might say that the at
mosphere IL a medium OF communlca-
tion, but an object In vacuo falls by its
1 L.
In that case there Is no ponderabie
or otherise sensible medium for the
| transfer of energy.
| All action of matter upon matter is
| action at u distance flor no two particles
OF matter In the universe are in abso-
| lute contact. One OF the actions Of
| matter upon matter Is called attraction.
| The same force eXerted between large
| bodies. such as tina earth and the moon,
l tn t.Nn
| The Force Against Gravity.
"The energy of gravitation may be
| accurately measured, and everybody
| admits that 1t Is a force. Cam we con-
ceiVe OF any force that does not do
some work? 1t would not be a force
unless II encountered resistance. If
gravity be a universal force, there must
pe some other force equally universal.
against which 1t acts and which reacts
against 1t.
This force against which gravity
acts Is deviation. The latter Is a prin-
cipie or nature not less universal than
sraVity' IL exists everywhere and acts
upon every particle of matter in the
| universe with IA uniform energy. When
actihe AT lnfinitesimal distances upon
molecules or matter. II Is known to
science under the name of repulsion.
me molecules of a gas, which have al
ways tendency to fly apart. will fur
nish an example. When the force Of
levitation Is acting at considerable dis
tanceS upon sensible bodies of matter.
| 1t is unknown and unrecogniZed by
science. LLevitation Is the force which
| gravity has to overcome and does
overcome, as Il rule. 1t Is living
energy, which works as hard to over
come gravity as gravity does to over
come il.
Now, my contention Is that me-
chanical motion contrary to the usual
operations of the law of gravity some
times occur without the applica ton of
any recognized natural force--that
ponderable bodies do sometimes move
without any contract or impulse which
mas thus far been discovered. OBJ
Jects, as in the case OF my oak dining
table, occasionally appear to be with
drawn temporarily from the operation
or the law of gravity. Consider If
you please, that there is not a priori
reason why an object should not go up
| in the air any more than for its staying
| down.
The Different Theories CnfOlded.
"It is simply a question of the direc-
ton In which force Is applied. A table
| levitated under the conditions | have
described is not withdrawn from the
| force of gravity, for it weighs as much
| in the air as on the floor.
| In the universe there Is no up or
| down, except in relation to the point
| of view in which we look at things.
| People at the Antipodes do not stand
| on their heads. There is no natural
| necessity for things to remain on the
| floor any more than for them to fall
down to the ceiling. Levitation Is sim
ply the expression of a force acting in
direction opposite to that in which
| we are accustomed to see gravity act.
Three different theories may be ad-
vanced to account for the movements
| of the table.
'"The belief Of the spiritists is that
| the table Is moved by ghosts-that is
to say. by disembodied human intelli-
| gences. which lift 1t and hold II in the
air. The second theory Is that muscu-
| lar force is exerted unconsciously by
| the persons who have their hands on
the table. The third idea. which my
self entertain. is that motion is COM
municated to the table by other per-
| sons who are near: but who do not
| touch 1t. This last Is an expression Of
my theory of what call 'telekinesis'-
| which, being translated, means simply
the eXertion of force at a distance
without contact. Myself the only per-
son present, with the two ladies. at the
trial of table-tipping to which I have
referred, / did not go near the table,
but sat and watched the performances
How far my own ghost may have been
instrumental in the results obtained,
without any intention on my part to
| interfere / cannot say. This Is all a
matter of surmise. and I only venture
| to hazard a guess at the correct solu-
tion of the mystery. My proposition
| summed up is that there Is an astral
mechanism within us which Is able to
| acc
| fines of the body. The rappings and
| tattoos on the table were merely echoes
of the workings Of our own psychical
| consciousnesseS."