The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-04-01
A CORNER ON GHOSTS.
A Partisan X Ray Expert Creates
Spooks on Short Notice.
Description of a Recent seance, Fid-
dies and Furniture Float on Air.

A recent spirit manifestation in Paris
was cleverly produced by rays. The spec
tators were uehered into parlor in which |
there was an abundance of vases and ar |
tistic glassware In corner there was an |
apparatus about "a big as an ordinary |
magic lantern enveloped In black stun. |
The guests numbered about 90.
The lights were extinguished just as In |
the ase of a regular spirit seance. A sort
of rafting was heard, and Immediately
afterward gigantic and luminous hand
passed over the heads of the assistants.
Evidently it almost touched some OF them,
for there was heard n little cry Of teriOr
that was quickly suppressed. Don't be
afraid" said the host "it is not the hand
OF a ghost i will show 1t TO you In the
light by and by" At the same moment
flock Of luminous violins appeared and flew
about In all directions. An old habitue or
the boulevard remarked that we were with
the Dayenports. "Not at all, said the
host, there never was ghost in this
house" And the violins continued To
dance over the heads of the guests. Az
last they disappeared as silently as they
had come. Then an immense globe de-
scended from the ceiling like ball OF
phosphorus, oscillating like the pendulum
OF n clook. A luminous bell appeared In
front of this globe and made regular bows
90 it. Its fiery tongue could be sssn NOV
ing while the globe waltzed around.
Suddenly at the four corners OF the room
the glasses appeared to become ignited; the
vases were illumined, and the lusters spar
kled A table loaded with cups and glasses
was lighted up. Everything seemed on
FIRE. The whole room, that was so dark
I<,fa Haf aV, nj
with phosphorcscent light of a soft and
blush color.
Then again all was darkness Gradually
a little light streamed in, and In corner
in front of a velvet portiere n human form
appeared, at first vague and vaporous,
hardly divtinguishable. But soon its out
| lines became clear and IL advanced.
lady stepped back Evidently she was not
the only one for there was n considerable
| noise of moving chairs The phantom adj
vanced few steps and then stopped IL
| was n tall woman. Her face had green
| ish pallor, and what an extraordinary face
| it wasl There were no eyes, only two
| black holes under the cyelids. The mouth
was closed; the hair was phosphorescent.
long, luminous veil enveloped this
| animated statue, and In the folds OF the
veil little sparks shone like diamonds. She
raised her right arm slowly and tossed
| flames from her hand There was no ap-
| plause All was hushed. The silent and
severe apparition was watched with in
| tense interest. A gong sounded. The ap-
| partition receded gently and gradually fad
ed out of sight
Once more there was "a noise Of moving
chairs and great sigh Of relief. In the
center Of the room an immense and lu-
minous bouquet next appeared with blue
band, upon which was written " y rays.
| Then the lights were turned on, and the
| parlor appeared i'm all Its splendor. The
| host arose "The seance Is over" he said.
"There was no spiritism about IL, no oc-
cultism, nothing supernatural Ii showed
| what y rays can do, and that Is all.
| And now for the explanation OF that
mysterious seance 1t is well known that
| the Roentgen rays, invisible TO our eyes,
| render fluorescent substances phosphores-
cent, especially screens covered with cyan
| ide of platinum. Recently well known
| maker of physical apparatus, NJ. Radi-
guet, found that under the action of X
rays all objects In glass and crystal shine
| with peculiar br.lliancy, while everything
| else remains in complete obscurity. The
| machine that produces the rays Is con-
| cealed behind several black cloths. No
| body can have any suspicion Of its exist
| ence. But nevertheless the rays pass
| through all the cloths and light up all the
| glass objects, and nothing else, so that q
| glass held in the hand and moved up at
| will can Inc distinctly seen, while the hand
| is absolutely invisible. But glass Is not
the only thing that becomes phosphores-
| cent at a distance behind the X ray appar-
atus. The same effect is produced upon
enamels, diamonds porcelain, etc.
When NJ. Radiguet made this discovery,
he, of course, Immediately said that 1t
| could produce sensational tricks, excite the
| public curiosity and create new amuse-
ment destined to dethrone the ghosts
The operator In the present case had only
two assistants. They were sufficient to
| handle the objects and display all the mar
vels Their task was simple. They had
| only to move them carefully. The oper-
ators could not be seen, but the glass vio-
Inns, vases and the glass model of the hand
were visible.
So much for the glasses. Now for the
| pbanton. A fgurante, tall and clever,
was concealed behind some drapery and
enveloped in veil that was covered by n
fluorescent substance. Her face was glazed
with phosphorescent sulphate of zinc
| powder. Ii Is needless to say that the ma
terial could not be applied to the eyes, and
| that accounts for their absence I'm the livid
face Of the phantom.-Paris Journal des
| nahate