Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-08-11
ONLY % AT PHILADELPHIA.
EUsAPIA PALADINO's POWER.
Her Remarkable Manifestations In
VcstIgatcd in France.
paris Letter.

Is It a fact that inert obi ects have been
set in motion. not in the usual WHY, ty
material contact with some mover but
solely by means Of some unknown and
invisible vital force. emanating from
the organism OF a person placed At a
distance? II so. then science has to face
fact far more disconcerting 10 its cal
culafions than any X-rays. If not,
then a satisfactory explanation has 10
be found for phenomena which have
been observed by scientific men Of I'M
doubted competence, under circumstances
that seem 10 exclude all possibility OF
fraud or error Colonel Albert de
Rochas, formerly OF the Ecole Polytech-
nique. Of Paris. and now attached to the
French Ministry Of Public Instruction,
has just published the notes taken Of
such observations, day by day, as they
were made from September 10Th to 18th
of last year.
The person who uses this supposed
force is the famous Eusapa Paladino.
who has already been repeatedly under
the close and systematic observation
Of professional men Of science Italian.
French, Russian, German and English.
She is a peasant woman Of Naples, and
Is now about 10 years Of age. Her
father was killed by brigands when she
was a child, which may partly account
for a nervous terror with she Is afflicted
When only years old she was
subject 10 hallucinations seeing eyes
looking at her from behind walls and
bushes. She is Of a hysterical dispo-
stion and is a ct subject for hypnotism.
although she enters into her present
trance states Of her own accord
When Is she began taking part in
Spiritualst seances with much success; ;
but they tired her and she left off all
experiments with her strange powers
until she was %. Then a spirit
ualist induced her to undergo a
systematic course Of observations and
for several years she formed the astonish-
ment Of sceptics and the delight OF be
levers as medium quite out Of the usual
line. The wonderful things related Of
this time Of her life have nothing to do
with the present phenomena, which do
not need the intervention Of spirits for
their explanation. Still. whatever clever
ness at sleight Of hand she may be
supposed TO possess, she must have
acquired al this time. She has always
remained quite ignorant, so far as or
binary education goes. though naturally
Of good understanding.
The first TO examine Eusapia PaladinO
In the name OF positive science was her
countryman. the well-known DR.. Lombro-
so. with other medical authorities on
mental arrangement and hallucination
In 1891 at Naples. IN 1892 at Milan. in 1896
at Naples and Rome, in 1894 at Warsaw.
and afterward in France, she occasioned
mysterious movements that baiiied every
effort Of scientific men TO explain. In
August Of 1895 she was taken to Cam
bridge. Eng. where the phenomena were
judged by rules laid down by Mr.. Maske-
lyme. the authority on legerdemain. The
whole attention OF the observers was
centered on one point-to find out II Eusa
pia freed one Of her hands at any time
from the control supposed 10 be constant
~ exercised over both. Every facility
was offered her for doing so II she wished,
and IL was discovered that she actually
prohted by the opportunity.
CHANCE OF FRAUD EXCLUDED.
The raising Of the question OF fraud
consequent upon this made il necessary
that there should be new observations
under circumstances which would render
fraud impossible, at least on the part OF
Eusapla herself. This has been done
with such success that the fraud If there
be any, must be attributed to the men OF
science. The test experiments made IL
with a special view 10 the criticisms
made at Cambridge. in order to get rid
OF every suspicious condition.
Eusapia was quite unaware OF the
tempest she haA raised. She was
brought to a country house Of Colonel de
Rochas who had organized new com
mission Of seven Independent men OF sci
ence. some of whom like herself were
accustomed TO hypnotic experiments. but
none of whom had ever had any dealings
with Eusapla Paladino. II was $50
O'clock In the evening OF September 18th.
-Four sets OF observations had been made
on previous days. beginning always after
$50 IN the evening. No notice had been
given either to Eusapia or 10 the com
mittee that experiments might be made
az this hour OF the day She was in her
normal walking condition. and there was
no sign OF the apparent trance. which
usually accompanies the phenomena In
the drawing-room there was heavy
table. a little over three feet long. On
one end OF II was placed a large petro-
leam lamp having white muslin shade
The whole surface OF the table WAS bril-
llantly Illuminated NJ de Gramont
brought from q valise IN his room let