Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-12-17
STORY OF A GHOST.
The Remarkable Experience Of a COL
umbus O., Physician.
His Spirit Leaves His Body and After Walking
About Returns.

chatting over their after dinner cigars.
| the other day at the Augusta House
IF you care to hear it. ] will tell you
| how L seems to die. This incident
| happened 10 one DR.. Warren, a physi-
clan of Columbus, O.. about 20 years
ago l will give you the facts as they
were related to me by one of the mem
bers OF the Society for Psychical Re-
search. DIR. Warren, when in full pos
session of his faculties, appeared 10
come to the nomems of daa;l, in the
last stage of typhus fever. Before the
final lapse into Inconsistencies he dis
cussed with his friends the question Of
| immortality. His voice failed and his
| strength weakened, and, as a last effort,
he stiffened his legs. He lay for iloui 5
as dead. the church beM being rung for
| his delth. y needle was thrust int
various parts of his body from the feet
10 the hips without having any effect.
He was pulscless for a long time, ami
for nearly half an hour he appeared
absolutely dead. While MS body was
lying in his death-like trance his soul
was disengaging itself from its earthly
tabernacle. This is the account he
gave of his sensations:
| Il woke up out of unconsciousnes $
into a state of conscious existence and
| discovered that the soul was in the
body, but not OF it. With all the in
terest Of a physician l beheld the won-
ders of my bodily anatomy. intimately
| interviewer with which, even tissue for
tissue, was ]. the living soul of that
dead body, learned that the epiermis
was the outside boundary of the ulti-
mate tissues. so to speak, of the soul
l realized my condition and reasoned
calmly thus: / have died as men term
| death. and yet am as much a man as
ever, | am about to get out of the body.
| l watched the interesting process Of
the separation of soul and body
BY some power, apparently not my
| own, the ego was rocked TO and fro.
laterally, as a cradle is rocked. by
which process its connection with the
! tissues OF the body was broken up
After little time the lateral motion
ceased and along the soes of the feer.
beginning at the toes, passing rapidly
| to the heels. | felt and heard. as it
seemed, the swapping of innumerable
small cords. When this was accom-
| plished | began slowly 10 retreat from
the feet toward the head. as rubber
cord shortens, I remember reaching
| the hips and saying to myself, Now
there is no life below the hips" 1 can
recall no memory of passing through
the abdomen or chest, but recoaect
distinctly when my Whole self was COL
lected in the head. when / reflected
| thus: Il am all in the head now and
shall soon be free l passed around
the brain as # | We're hollow. COM
pressing it and its membranes slightly
on all sides toward the center. and
peeped out between the sutures of the
skull emerging like the edges of bag
of membranes. l recollect distinctly
how l appeared to myself something
| IKE Jeiiyhsh as regards color ana
form. AS | emerged from the head l
fioated up and down and laterally, like
soap bubble attached to the bowl of
a pipe, until l at last broke loose from
the body and fell lightly to the floor.
where slowly rose and expanded into
the full stature of "a man. l seemed to
be translucent. of a BLUSH cast.
i fled toward the partially opened
door, but upon reaching the door I
turned and faced the company. AS I
did 50 my left elbow came in contact
with the arm of one or two gentlemen
standing in the door. To my surprise,
his arm passed through mine withou.
apparent resistance, the severed parts
closing again without pain, as air re-
unites. l looked quickly up at his face
- - !AS iidu IiOtlCth the contact,
| out he gave me no siga--only stood
ana sazed toward the couch | had Just
left l directed my gaze in the direc-
ton OF his and saw my own dead BODY
saw a number of persons sitting
ana standing about the body, and par
ticularly noticed TWO women. appar-
emily kneeling by my left side. and r
Knew that they We're weeping have
since learned that they were nv wife
and my sister. but l had no conception
Of Individuality. Wife. sister. and
friend We're all as one to me. I did not
remember any conditions of relation
snip; at least. l did not think of any.
could distinguish sex. but nothing
more. Net one lifted her ewes from
my body.
II turned and passed out at the
open door, incL;ning my head and
watching where l set my feet as I
stepped down onto the porch. i crossed
the porch, descended the stems woll,oa