The San Francisco call., 1898-12-25

ally men, commenced to drop around promlscuously on benches or any old place that happened to be handy. Some Iell on the steps, and some with more presence of mind strolled out and dropped in the sand under the cocoa nut trees. Several sensible females fell into the arms of their beaux, but I learned that the etiquette of the sect was that the novitiate should be re- talned in those arms only until the proper resting place for one in the throes of a spiritual attack could be Iouno. Just what caused this mental ana physical collapse of equilibrium was puzzling. Dr. Castillo pronounced It : combination of warm air and re- llglous frenzy upon cerebrums not over well-balanced.'
 When tn first victim dropped our mate Bob, ran for a bucket of cold water, but her attendants would not nave It.. You mustn't try to humbug qe power ob de Holy Ghost. man. Mis- niiltnard doan want no water; she jus wants salvation
 The 'rushin'' continued. It was Wlld. weird scene. Without, a bright
 Toplcal moon was coming up out of the tongue of the ocean, throwing the shadows of the little stone church and us Whlrllng devotees into sharp relief. A gentle land breeze from the west just ~-AA SA NAAC SIdCSlQ pluIn6S or the DAlm trees.
 'Long-legged goldens stood upon tba smooth, sandy beach craning their necks in wonder at the sounds which came from he meeting house Within. the ebony-hued crowd was still sing Ing, swaying and swirling past the grandstand and it's contribution box. The pyramid of silver and copper coin had gradually grown to a foot or more Tn height and tho It with approval. The starched and vari-colored decorations of the devo- tees had. sadly wilted in the heights of their fanatic zeal. The room was hot and the pace was hotter. None but the ebony skinned Amazons of Andros ana the hardened spongers and conch divers of the Bahamas could stand it.
 'The dim glow of two ships lanterns vied with the moon in shedding an al- most uncanny light over the strange scene. It twas essentially foreign. Afri- can, wild. weird, savage, from the An glo-Saxon point of view. Some old timers were there, men who had been slaves and served masters in different parts of the Bahamas. There was a strange fascination in it all. The faces of those who fell gradually became more or less fixed, and it was said that this comatose condition freauently lasted for several days, Stranger still. Key. Fatner Matthews or the Cnurch of England is authority for the state ment that during these periods of trance or catalepsy the subject fre- quently tells of events which are talk ing place on islands far removed and separated by hundreds of miles of ocean. Dates and happenings thus de- scribed had been verified many days afterward by vessels that brought what was supposed to be the first tid- ings. ~ Accidents. storms and wrecks in distant parts of the Bahamas have thus been, not foretold. but apparently pictured upon the retina of the eve that could not possibly look on the scene by any physical means. The truth or falsity of this phase of the phenomena 1t was impossible for us to verify, though the statements are vouched for by eninently respectable white residents of Andros Island"