Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-13
Takes the Idle Hour to Bring Out the
Best Spook Yarn.
NIGHTMARE RIDES TO ORDER
Ielegraphic Connection With Land
of Dreams.
P r 0 B L E MS IN PLY SICS



Society for Psychtcal Research and a popu-
lar authority on things occult. / had VEN
tured question as to the effect of war
upon ghosts, whether we might not antici-
pate an unusual stock of select military
ghost stories IN the near future
The ghost market will receive no addi-
lions from battlefield or camp" said he. ''or
from the seat of our recent naval opera
IONS. Army or navy life in time of actual
war mas the same effect, sir upon spook-
seeing as 1t has upon crime. 1t reduces ii
| to minimum Soldiers and sailors at the
front ever have their minds concentrated
upon their responsible duties, which involve
| purely material things. When bedtime
| comes they are too tired and sleepy to see
anything. Military life in time of peace
however, is stimulating to the ghost mar
ket. Idle life in between the moments of
routine on shipboard in barracks is an
ioeal condltion for the propagation of phan-
tasms Some of our choicest ghost stories
l come from such sources. Tie jack tars
capacity for ghostseeing is, of course
proVerblai. / should say that peaceful mill
tary life is more productive of ghosts than
the average civil occupation. 1t Is all due
| to the same cause which makes the country
folks see more 'haunts' in winter than in
summer. In summer they are all active
out of doors, working in the fields and get
ting good and tired before going to bed.
In winter, on the other hand the spooks
swarm in the country because these honest
newers of wood and drawers of water are
comparatively idle. 1dleness is the root of
superstition well as of evil. No l should
not say, either, sir, that this war business is
gong to cause great scarcity of ghosts
Inc people at home are seeing more of
them than usual even if it is summer
1hey are worrying about the thousands of
men down in the West Indies whose lives
they imagine are hanging by thread liable
10 De cut any time. Every change of the
NINA
Is battle there is almost sure to he q
score or so of wiseacres who surely knew
1t all Just while 1t was happening.
but ghosts, Sir, are growing out of style
nowadays. There are new things occuIt
coming in every Gay. Look at this evidence
atout Faces and Figures in the Dark
Yes something entirely new. Just VIVA:
you are after. Here is a St Louis woman
VINO says she attains, while wide awake
the same kind of uncomfortable concsntra-
ton she experiences while dreaming Her
most frequent experiences occur Just after
awakening from short sleep ana before
she opens her eyes In a bright yellow
iGht, as though against the inside of her
e9eids, Will appear the most beautiful dec
orat1ye patterns finals she says, curves
splfalS leaves, blossoms etc, all N black
lines. The drawing of these comes as natural
10 her, she says here writing. Then look
here We find that for several generations
back her ancestors were decorative engray-
eis. she appears to have inherited impress
slcns upon her optic centers resulting from
| their life work.
Testing Cerebral Force
lien, again. Here, sir, we have q COM
mittee investigating some new-fangled ma
chlnes now out for testing mans cerebral
1crce or psychic action of the will These
you see consist essentially of light body
| suspended In glass bell-jar by means of
silk In some, or other fiber in others The
| weight hangs SO that a very slight force
exerted upon 1t from one side or the other
| causes 1t to rotate about the point of sus-
| pension Now one of these is placed on
some STABLE foundation, and as a person ap-
p1oaches 1t ths pendulum will begin to
| move This SON etin1es occurs when the
hand alone is brought near. Now the
theory is that the more the suspended body
| is moved, the greater is the psychic force
OF the subject. Captivating idea, Isn't it,
Think of having a machine of this kind to
aid one in analyzing character when en-
ploylng a clerk for instance, for sizing
up the chap who's calling on your daugh-
ter. All very well and good. 1t seems rea-
sonable enough. Here you have the nova
bic part sealed in glass jar and no out
SIDE air can move 1t. But since our COM
mlttee pried into the phenomenon there
hasn't been rush for such machines They
hlled jar full of smoke sealed 1t up and
watched operations. glass of warm wa
ter showed itself to have as much psychic
force as a mans BRAIN provided 1t was
heated to the same temperature. and more
when 1t was made hotter. The explanation
Is all very simple now-always is when
some other smart fellow does the explain
ing for you, isn't it? The heat in the APP
preaching persons body hand simply
causes the temperature of the air inside
the glass jar to rise slightly Now when
ever air gets warmer or cooler it becomes
disturbed. The smoke showed this very
plainly The warmer air, that nearest the
subject, made for the top of the jar, and
that furthest away for the bottom The
suspended indicator of psychic force was
so sensitive and light that it moved per-
ceptibly with the air currents shame to
knock such a novel inspiration in the head
isn't it?
Crystal-gazing Is just now becoming
rad in this country, as 1t has been in Eng
land for the past few years. Glass balls
from IL to 3 inches in diameter solid or
holloW-to contain water-are now sold
mounted on ebonized stands. The images
summoned into these crystal balls have
astounded some of the most skeptical.
Another simple arrangement is an ordinary
glass of water with two high candles such
as will give the necessary lighted spot to be
ssZed. at in the water. Under proper Cir
cumstances of concentration a very small
picture will form in the brilliant circle
thrown by the lights. The figure will grad
ually become more and more distinct and
you may study its actions as distinctly as
II 1t We're Photographic image focused
uron the ground-glass of a camera. Spooks?
Well, that depends See here what one
authority says about it. He says there is
nothing superstitious about it. Its revela-
tAoA4o
world, but, In reality, indica tons of what
is going on in ourselves behind our ordi-
nary consciousness. Strange faculties ara
surely operating, but further experiments
are what are wanted.
Wire to Ghost Land.
why, certainly. All Of this is more fas-
Gil ating than skulking about in haunted
houses looking for ghosts of actual size to
present themselves. Here we have instru-
ments for carrying on a sort of tslegraphic
correspondence with ghostland, which the
mere 1t is explored Is brought deeper and
deeper within our own skulls. Then thsre
is dreamland 1 see that its psychology Is
now popular fad. But how about this
idea? Something novel and accessible to
every one. Send a man to bed with his foot
or ankles so bound as to keep tina foot In
the position of one standing on tiptoe, or
with several fingers tied together with a
string or perhaps put a tight glove on one
hand. Don't tell your subject what your
purpose Is in doing all this, or you will
ruin your chances. Take his testimony
after he awakens and note whether he
dreams he is standing tptoe, dancing
sees some one else with g. foot SO placed,
or whatever the induced phenomenon may
be. If three of his fingers are tied he may
dream of the number three, or perhaps six
or nine. Show your amateur subject some