The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-20
OCCULT FOES OF THE COP.
POLICEMEN VINO SEEM TO RUN UP
AGAINST THE SUPERNA TURAL.
cicty for PsychicRl Research by the Tales
They Tell on Trial Dny-Appenrnnccs
mud ItnnD.ningS Tint S,on.st NF,,,c.

They Tell on Trial Day-Arpenrnnccs
and Happenings That Suggest Magic.
TIT The Society for Psychical Research has not
had the measure OF success which It expected,
that fact may be explained. perhaps. by its
failure to take cognizance of the things that
! happen TO policemen said the learned Police
Sergeant. Evidence Of the supernatural in
abundance is to be found, not only among tho
Mahatmas Of India or the Noodoo priests Of the
Gold Coast or tho medicine men OF the wild
Indians, but among our own policemen. This
evidence Il a matter Of public record. IL 10
taken down by stenographers and type written
for easy perusal. A glance at II Is sufficient
TO convince the most skeptical that truth is In
decd stronger than fiction. Here are some in-
stances culled from the records showing how
malevolent. how active and how wickedly i'm
genious these supernatural covers are:
"Roundsman Brown deposes and says that
on the night OF Sept. Il. 1879. he surprised
Patrolman Smith in the hallway of a LIQUOR
saloon, where smith had Just finished drink
ing II schooner OF beer. Patrolman Smith adj
mittcd that the roundsman found him In the
hallway With the empty schooner on a shelf
beside him, but explained that as he was In an
adjoining signal box performing his duty
some one came behind him and stole his club.
He looked out and saw n little girl running
/ away. He pursued her. She ran into the
hallway of the saloon. where he caught her and
recovered the club. just "a he was about to
leave the hallway the bartender came out with
a trimming schooner OF beer. In the bar
tender he recognized an old school friend
whom he had not seen for twenty years. While
| they were exchanging fluctuations on tho
happy and unexpected meeting the little girl
disappeared. the beer seized the opportunity
TO hide In the recesses OF the policeman's per-
son and the roundsman came on the scene.
Sergeant G. accuses Patrolman b OF being
OF post. He swears that while riding on a car
in broad daylight he passed the doorway OF n
furniture store and saw the patrolman sitting
in an armchair reading a newspaper. He was
perfect in all details-belt. club. uniform. color.
hat. The Sergeant sprang from the car. round
which he ran to confront the delinquent. When
he arrived at the door Of the store the arm
chair was visible. but empty, and there was no
sign Of a policeman anywhere about. Not only
that. but the proprietors Of the store asserted
in the most positive manner that no policeman
had been in their place that day. and that no
one had been sitting in the armchair for hours
previous to the Sergeant's entrance. The
Sergeant was incredulous. He searched the
premises, but found no trace Of the policeman.
nor could he understand by, what process the
Completely foiled he went his way at last. only
to meet the suspected man patrolling his post
POO yards from the chair. The, man was
duty. and denied that he had been in any store.
Nevertheless he was hailed before the Commits
sioner who sits in Brooklyn borough.
manner that he had been in the furniture store
The manager OF the store and his clerk corrob-
grated the policeman and swore that the arm
to the 81 'serEeant's visit The serseant de-
mauded to, know, what had become OF the OFF,
GET G just as se sure n"e as ssf j am si serSeant G. persist
ed the accuser. 1 did see this man sitting in
f nnt m aG%sh more pes f6nn f / ee%f iest away ne tb mps
was a good light on him and cannot have
this point the matter. which might have
been one of simple apparition. was complicated
by the. accused. who said:
II the Commissioner would adjourn this
case for a week will produce the man whom
on the occasion, described by the Sergeant he
case into the realm OF the unthinkable. be-
S the armchair how came It that he di si.riaK
SO suddenly and why was he invisible to the
sioner Just closed his eyes and his ears and
fned, the policeman five days pay.
of a i Certain nN Station. At At the desk in r't The e P12M
room was z Sergeant; In another room adjoin.
W ing T Tn tf the ,e GlaPfaIph, r Snd an seps,st Sergeant Sy 4
partition from the sitting room. A policeman
named name, G Hs n sn1o eetef red the s,ntionr wh from Pst the
There's a lot Of informers in this station
Almost Immediately after, Connor went
into the sitting room a heavy chair few across
boz on the head h .infiictine such a Wound
thar six stitches had to be put in it. The Ser
the trial Common swors positively thai he did
turned to the other men. as he was in the act
Of putting, away his club and belt at the time
looking, out Of, a window. He did not see who
threw the chair or where 1t came from. One
the other writing a letter. Neither saw where
the chair came from. The Commissioner tried
hs 9 Gned 20 C se1 t@rt twp edia aSs' n%g on Tnt peianne sesii
principles and, followed the other witnesses
VIII, With hungry Ala, Flames Sar5 as they essa bed from the
ciou that some Of the witnesses had not told
the truth, but those WHIP have had much ac-
viii be slow, in accepting = conclusion which
throws doubt on the y%sracity OF good men.
lect OF duty by some men and women. The
accusers. the two policemen and some strange
had n bottle OF ardent spirits from which they
their language was such that 1t was s. a relief
when they changed to profanity The citi-
strange women on the ear. which the oiilcers
refused to DO, threateni ne; insSsead d. to arrest
swore that they had not heard the women
utter any offensive. language. or seen them
drinking while on the ear and they had made
no threats against the comulainants. This
can all be accounted for by surprising that the
complainants were deceived by Authorizations
OF sight and hearing. or course instances
where several PEOPLE simultaneously have the
same hnllucinationS are rather unusual. but
for those engaged In psychical research.
"A CAPTAIN charged four Of his men with
swore that he saw them. All the policemen
swore that the CAPTAIN was deceived. At the
time when he thought he saw them playing
one was writing n letter to his mother and tho
last was looking up at the, ceiling. Which
sight-cven that Of n police CAPTAIN.
"One of the most surprising experiences rec
corded was that Of the Captain OF an uptown
BROOKLYN precinct who found one OF his mon
four blocks off post apparently engaged in
buying peanuts. TIE Cantain went up 10 him,
spoke 10 him. made him produce the peanuts.
and then ordered him 10 his post, Before tho
Commissioners the policeman denied the whole
occurrence. II was broad daylight at the tImeot
the alleged encounter, and the Captain scorned