The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-01-06
DOWSER MYSTERY.
THE OWNING ROD STILL HAS STAND
ING IN ENGLAND.

Powers OF the Water Ffnders-HOw q
Frenchman Tracked Murdcrers-Lsdy
Mrbanks Was . "Water Witch"
Psychological sharps have been deeply
stirred by attempts made to fathom the
mystery Of the "dowsers " You may not
know what dowser Is, and when you do
know you will probably discredit the exist
ence OF such a person. A dowser Is a man
or woman who Is possessed of some curl
Gus occult force which gives the owner the
power to locate hidden streams Of water
flowing 300 or 400 feet below the surface of
the earth. A dowser oan walk over an un-
known piece of country and point out tho
exact spot where we'll or pipes can be
sunk. Ho can tell the exact depth Mt which
water will be found, and also the number
of gallons an hour which can he pumped
up.
Dowsers are scientifically termed hydro.
scopists. The presence of subterranean
water has peculiar effect upon their nerv-
Gus systems. The dowser, when prosecut-
Ing his work, always carries hazel twig
In his hands. When he reaches spot
where wnter Is flowing underneath the
hazel twig bends and points downward.
This sounds fantastic and unreal, but tho
truth of 1t must be acknowledged or the
testimony Of some of the most respected
British peers doubted The psychic folks
who have been Investigating the dowsing
mystery have collected a mass of corrobo-
rative fact from scores of great landowners
and men who stand high in the opinion of
the public. These men are either liars or
the doings of tho dowsers are real.
There are five OF six professional dowsers
In England, and the leader of these Is a
young man Of 80, named Leicester Gataker
He Is accumulating fortune by his curl
Gus work, and he is kept so busy that he
employs 40 assistants, who complete the
work his strange faculties map out. Dows-
ers have recently been employed by such
august personages as the Duke Of Rutland,
the Duke of Beaufort, the Duke of Grafton.
Lord Jersey, Sir 4. Welby Gregory and a
host Of others Of like prominence Dowsers
demand rich pay. and it would seem that
II people of the caliber of those just named
did not have faith In the art they would
not take cognizance of 1t by patronizing
1t and paying well for 1t too.
1t Is practically agreed among those who
have studied the matter that the gift Ia
not only racial with the British, but Sec
tional, as all Of the dowsers come from the
west country of England. This is account
cd for by the fact that dowsing has existed
In the Cornish mino sections for centuries.
1t Is claimed that some dowsers are able
to tell of the presence Of tin and other
metals beneath the earth's surface by using
the hazel twig, or divining rod, as 1t used
to be called. Such Q faculty would, of
course, be of vast benefit to mine owner,
as he could discover the presence of metal
without first going to the expense Of sink
ing shaft.
More than score of books have been
written on the subject, several OF them by
American students of the art, and from
some of these 1t Is learned that In olden
times wielders of the divining rod used 1t
for variety of purposes, oftentimes with
success. 1t was commonly employed for
the solution of mysterious murders and
for the hunting down Of criminals. In
France it was used In the last century.
but the priests frowned upon 1t, and even
tually the practice was abolished. It may
be mentioned that in the time of the in
QUESTION dowsers were put to death az
workers In black art.
Regarding the hunting down Of crimi-
nails by the divining rod, one of the last
cases on record happened In France in the
early part of the eighteenth century. A
certain Jacques Aymar, native of Dau-
phiney, kept wineshop and apparently
took in dodgers. One day man and his
wife were murdered and their bodies hid
den in Aymar's cellar. In spite of the
fact that the murderer left behind n bottle
and bill hook wrapped in straw he could
not be traced, and the detective skill of
the period failed to find any clew.
Aymar himself had n reputation for tho
use of tho rod, and when he introduced
this instrument Of divination into the eel.
lar it became disturbed at the spot where
the mans corpse had lain. As he ap-
preached tho site of the woman's corpse,
Aymar himself became excited and fever
ish, and the rod was violently agitated
Following the indications, he traced three
assassins step by step down through the
city to tho river Rhone and down the
Rhone from Sablon to Beauclaire, where
the annual fair was being held; then to
the prison, where, among IA prisoners late
ly charged, he pointed out one, committed
for petty theft, who confessed his share In
the murder. Unfortunately the others es-
capped.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth CEN
turies dowsing was evidently IN extensive
industry. There is book written In 1889
by the Baroness Of Beausoleil. In which
she gives list of 150 mines discovered by
herself and her husband by use of the di-
vining rod. From 1860 10 100 no less
than 46 separate works on the subject of
dowsing were published, and when IL 10
remembered that book writing and print
ing In those days were rare things the
Importance of the subject can be imagined
Lord Byron's mother-i law was dows-
er. as shown from the following extract
from the memoirs of Mrs. De Morgan:
Lady Byron's mother, Lady Milbanke,
had the faculty of using the divining rod
and was often asked by her neighbors and
tenants In Durham county to exercise It
for their benefit when they wanted to sink
a we'll. Lady Byron told US that she had
seen her mothers hands held tightly BY
DIR. Fenwick, q well known scientific
physician In the north, who, going behind
Lady Milbanke, pressed the fingers OF each
hand, holding IL 80 as to make the stick
point upward in the air. Nevertheless,
when the lady had walked few steps the