The San Francisco call., 1897-03-15
Psychical Society Girds It
self to Delve After
the Unseen.
Il Moves, Elects Officers and
Appoints Investigating
Committees.
Ghosts, Thought Transference, Clair.
voy vance and Hypnotism Will Be
Carefully Studied.

The California Psychical Society. at the
age of one year, has pulled itself together,
and with new life and energy has set about
its proper work of making bold and seri-
Gus excursions into the strange realm of
the occult-into the hidden mysteries of
ghosts, rappings, "second-sight, thought
transference, hypnotism, clariaudience
and the like.
Committees OF some of San Francisco's s
leading citizens have just begun system
attic Investigations of hypnotism and tele-
pathy or thought transference, and other
committees of the society's members will
soon be organized and working along
other lines. A great many hypnotic sub
iects and all sorts of people seeming to
have strange powers and strange expert
ences will be secretly and carefully
studied.
They will be quietly gathered from amid
the life of San Francisco, which seems so
full of occultism of every sort ever
dreamed of, and especially from the large
number of people who do not know
strange things, but who go about their
life and business without saying anything
about it or linking themselves with any of
the long list of societies founded on things
mystic.
The Psychical Society was organized
over year ago, and its membership of
about hundred was made up of leading
professional, business and scientific men
who felt some interest in the immaterial
things generally punched as occult" and
who believed that whatever truth about
them could be gained by man was worth
seeking by strictly scientific methods.
DR.. George Nj. Terrill became president
and J. DalZell Brown, cashier of the Cali
fornia Safe Deposit and Trust Company,
secretary. David Starr Jordan and some
other prominent university men expressed
at least tolerant sy pathy with the aims
of The society, but did not actively asso-
ciate themselves with it. The So
ciety engaged for one year as lecturer ].
j. Morse, an eminent spiritualist of Lon
don, who returned in Decem ber. During
the year the society pursued little if any
original research and its elegant quarters
in the Wenban building on Sutter street
were not often enlivened.
But original research which shall afford
evidences of the truth or falsity of alleged
occult phenomena and impartial evidence
of the clrcumstan ces, methods, conditions
etc, of them is the chief avowed purpose
of psychicai societies, among which the
ones at London and Boston are the only
ones which have achieved much fame
and dignity. Both of these societies en-
roll distinguished scientific and profess
sional men. the great physicist, Pro-
lessor Crookes, who gave the world the
Crookes tube. was last year president of
the London society, and Professor James
of Harvard has led the work OF the Boston
society. These societies have published
many large volumes of transactions which
are full of wonderful things
1t has been the ambition of the most
active mem bers of the local society to do
what the London and Boston societies are
doing, to plunge into the mystical un-
known and make definite contributions to
psychical science which shall give the
society some value and fame.
That was the spirit in which the annual
election was held few days ago. The di-
rectors elected were: James TreadweIl,
the mining millionaire, B NJ. Bradford,
secretary of the Alameda and San Joaquin
Corral Hollow Railroad, J. Dalzell
Brown, Attorney Maurice V. Samuels,
Jose Costa, Consul for Uruguay, Walter
These directors will in few days elect
officers.
Delinquents were dropped, and the
mem bers remaining mum mbered eigty-ive.
The library was moved into the En-
porium bailding and q librarian engaged.
IT is proposed to have monthly lectures
by eminent men, and at the end of the
year to publish transactions which shall
give the chief results OF the Investigations
made.
Investigating will be done by commit
tees, each committee taking special sub
ject. The new committee on hypnotism
consists OF twenty members, and it has al
ready held two interesting sessions.
Several of the members have privately be-
come expert hypnotists, SO that no pro-
fessionals are called in. J. Dalzell Brown
is especially interested in this subject, and
is an expert operator himself.
HyDnotlsm IS the only one OF the things
to be studied which has achieved recopni-
tion in the general scientific world after
being so long classed with witchcraft and
demonology, but there is limitless field
for study and discovery in this strange
thing, and the psychical society is goine
to dig into its mysteries. One of the
problems which the committee will study.
according to one of its membe is the
possibility of clairvoyant powers being
developed in subject by the influence OF
hypnotism.
TIE committee on telepathy is Just get
ting to work and other committees will
investigate clairvoyance, mediumsbip
etc. The attitude of these Investigators
is supposed to be wholly interrogetory
and unirfiuenced by assum ptions, preiu-
dices or preconceived notions
'Our plans are so incomplete and indefi-
mite that l can't say much of what we
shall do, said J. Dalzell Brown yester.
day. "In measure we are cropping along
new lines. We believe there is truth there
and we want to find it. These are things
which everybody interested in life and
living should investigate. We will hold
the work of the society to strict lines and
do our work quietly and seriously, avoid.
ing public notoriety."
So at last San Francisco enters seriously
into the pursuit of the psychic mysteries
which have fed ignorant superstition since
the creation of man.