The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-26
THE HAZEL OWNING ROD
AN IRISH SCIENTIST MAKES A STUDY
OF THE MAGIC TwIG's POWERS.
He Concludes that the Discoveries
Made Are Not by Virtue of tcc Rod,
but OF the Operator.


|
New York Tribune
The notion that you could detect the ex-
istence end position of stream of water
flowing underground at a depth of a hun
cred feet or more by the peculiar behavior
of hazel twig in your fingers has been
| looked upon in modern times as ridiculous
| superstition. And any one who seriously
| maintained that there was even a little
foundation in fact for such belief exposed
himself to the suspicion, if not the charge,
that he was crank" Scientific people,
| and particularly the biologists, have dis
| credited all stories of this sort so long and
so decidedly that other folk have been
ashamed to evince faith in them.
Now, however a professor of physics in
the Royal College of Science for Ireland,
approaching the subject with a distinct
| prejudice antagonistic to the theory, has
been led to change his mind by an extended
investigation. His lame is w. F. Barrett,
and the subtitle of his treatise in which
is embodied the result is "a scientific and
historical research as to the existence and
practical value of peculiar human faculty,
unrecognized by science, locally known as
| dowsing.'
The first great step in this work was to
| collect all available narratives in regard
to the use of the divining rod The next was
to sift these, like testimony in court, by
| corresponding with disinterested witnesses
and finding out how far the original state
ments could be substantiated. In a few in
stances the investigator got hold of per-
son who was said to posses the faculty of
finding water with the aid of twig or SIM
liar device, and himself experimental with
| the ''dowser
In time Professor Barrett was confronted
with amazing quantity of evidence.
Scores, if not hundreds, of these tales are
given in his treatise. Here are three sam
pies: A sanatorium was to be built the
high ground in Somersetshire, England.
The site was apparently a dry one. Three
| professional "doWSerS' were sent for Sepa-
| rately, each unknown to the Others and
| each working under the conviction that he
| alone was employed. All three pointed to
the same spot. well was sunk there and
! abundant water was found.
VARIOUS TESTS.
William Ward Sphinx, justice in British
Columbia, walked about over his own
grounds for an hour, blindfolded and carry
| ing a divining rod in his fingers. Every
| time the wand dipped an attendant drove
| peg into the earth. In many cases the JUS
| tice would pass over a spot where the rod
had moved before, and it would invariably
| give the same sign again. He dug wells at
only two of the places indicated, but got
water in both. This man declared that if
| he stood over a garden hose with divining
rod in his fingers he could tell by it's con-
duct when the water was turned on and off.
| AT Newport, Monmouthshire, a well was
sunk to a depth of ffty-one feet without
| success. Local experts, noting the charac-
| ter of the soil, then pronounced the quest
| hopeless. A Cornishman, who was present,
advocated trial of the divining rod with
hnX nln haA bod
| successful experience. The lad was sent
for In his hands the twig gave distinct
signs. But the people who would have to
pay for the excavation were skeptieal and
| hesitated. The CorniShman offered to take
| the contract himself and stipulated that he
| found. The job proceeded on that basis. At
| depth of forty-eight feet the diggers
struck gushing vein and were obliged 20
flee for their lives.
Among the numerous amateur "dowsers'
| of whom Professor Barrett has heard is
| Lady Milbanke, mother-in-law of Lord
| Byron. Having Witnessed performances
with the diyining rod by a peasant during
twig into her own hands, and was startled
| by the discovery that it behaved for her
exactly as it did for the Provencal. Two
years later she was staying with the wife
| of nobleman in Huntingdonshire, and her
hostess was beWailing the failure of efforts
to find a suitable supply of water for a
| dairy. Thereupon Lady Mibanke obtained
| some hazel twigs, walked over the ground
located well for her host and hostess in
| learning that a fluent spring was struck
in consequence of her advice.
The record of several professional users
OF the diVining rod IS given in brief by the
| irish investigator. w. Scott Lawrence of
| Bishopston, Bristol was for tWenty-one
| years church warden; a fact presume blv
| affording some Indication of his character
| for honesty and veracity. For sixty years
he had reputation as a water finder, al
a stone merchant. Over hundred persons
testified that Lawrence found wells for
| them.
AN AMERICAN "DOWsER."
John Mullins of Colerne, Chippenham.
Wiltshire, practiced the art of dowsing for
gain for thirty years, and made it a rule
not to accept pay unless he found water by
| means Of the divining rod. On one OCCASION
at Waterford, the Diamond Boring Com
pany had gone to depth of one thousand
feet without success. Mullins was called in
agreed to find water at a depth of ninety
feet or less, and reached it at eighty-four
feet down. An American dowser, Cyrus
| Fuller, of Plymouth. Wayne county, Michi-
! gan, who died in 1893 at the age Of eighty
| five. enjoyed the highest reputation for in
tegrity and truthfulness. He is credited
| with having found tv D hundred wells and
| unlike most other experts of his class is
said never to have experienced a failure
| In two instances mentioned by Professor
Barrett hidden coins were found annar.
emily through the guidance of the forked
twig But in later volume he will 60
oil in this manner more fully than was
| deemed advisable in this essay
The typical divining rod is shaped son1e-
what like wishbone. and is about foot
long. The tip of one prong is held in each
| hand. and the hands are kept eight or ten
inches apart. The elbows are usually in
| contact with ones sides. and the forear-. IS
extend straight forward, HORIZONTALLY The
| twig itself stands almost vertically in front
of the dowser's chest. In the majority of
cases reported the upper part of the rod
| Swayed toward the operators body: but in
few instances it moved in another direc-
ton, namely, downward toward the earth
| The violence of the movement seems to
| vary greatly. If the twig was so held that
it could move freely it would, perhaps 'e-
| volve on an imaginary axis extending from
one hand to the other. 1t is related that
on some occasions. when the tWig could not
revolve. it would be badly twisted and bent
and would even be broken. Much variety
is discernible in the accounts, both as to
the way of grasping the rod and the lat
Ler'S behavior.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY.
Twigs from other trees than the witch
hazel worked equally well in some hands.
And a curious lot of substitutes have been
employed. Among these are an aluminium
bow, flat steel wire bent like horseshoe,
| a pair of tongs and a long German sau-
| sage. Leicester Gataker, of Bath, England,
| practiced the art without any of this APP
| paratus. merely holding his open hands out
| in front of him, palms downward. much
| as one would warm his hands over a low
| stove The sensations which different
= ,~rN az Cow