The Elbert County tribune., 1899-08-03
SHE GAVE THE NEWS.
NINE. cABANAL KNEW eov
oAHomENT WAS GOING ON
"ad Well Organized s,an-Sin, u,.-
"ahd' In the Spirit World to su,,,x
her with Informa,Ion-who Can r,-
plain How rhe.s Thing. Happen.

~ a"ahened interest all over
'"e country In physical phenomena.
eaused by the appointment OF several
oonmittees composed of well known
scientists. to study and report unon
'hese matters. says the New York TEL
es,apn' said one plain-spoken old
puiiosopher, as he replaced his glass
upon the table, emitting the sound of
cracked Ice and the odor of mint:
lnats all rot People allow alto
gether too much weight 10 the indorse-
msnt OF these fake spirituaiists by coll
iese professors and other students
men whose severe scientific training
mas blunted their good, sound horse
sense You're right" added a well
known bookie; these highly educated
tolks are often the easiest marks for
the con men, We all remember Hun
cry Joe's easy touch of Oscar Wilde
and Prof. Leidy's hearty Endorsement
of the Keely motor"
One of the party. who had for many
years been special correspondent for
one OF the New York dailies. was asked
IL he had ever had any strange expe-
riences with the occult during his trav-
els. He smiled-with the others-and
said; Until Prof. Hyslop of Columbia
college told the other day of the start
ing communications he recently re-
ceived from the spirit world through
Mrs. Piper, the Boston medium. using
her as long-dlstance telephone and
her hngers as the transmitter and re-
celVer, ! was at a loss to understand
some remarkable phenomena that came
under my observation in Anam. sew
eral years ago. when following the
French army during its war with the
Black Flags of Tonkin. In Haiphong.
the chief port Of Tonkin. WAS a small
hotel, kept by French woman-Mme.
Cabanal-who had lived there ever
since the French occupation, ten or
twelve years previously. and It was she
who seemed to be possessed OF powers
somewhat akin to those claimed for
this great Boston medium. Two days
after the commissaire-genera the
civil governor of the french posses
sions in Anam. had left Haiphong with
the entire French fleet to make what
he called "a demonstration along the
coast, telling the newspaper CORE
spondents that he would neither bonn
bard any cities nor behead any man
darins, was sitting with Nine. Caba-
nal and others under the portico of
the hotel. when she suddenly re-
marked:
They are bombardng Hue nowl'
What do you mean by now |
asked.
Just at this moment she replied
But the ire-general told
me. he would not lombard any cities
said l.
Mime. Cabanal only shrugged her
shoulders and replied: "They have
killed nearly thousand natives al
ready and have themselves sustained
no loss to speak of-one man injured;
that is all.
Hue, the capital of Anam, forti-
fed city on the Chinese plan-that Is,
with well built works, but obsolete
guns, weakly defended-was several
hundred miles away, and there ex-
listed none of the modern means of
quick communication in those days In
Anam, so paid little attention TO
Nine. Cabanal's advance news, though
bHt tOiu mt II 10 my
newspaper as authentic.
"A few days later the fleet returned
to Haiphong. and learned that the
very day and hour my landlady gave
me that information the bombardment
was in progress. The French fleet hau
drawn up in line of battle beyond the
range of the old smoothbore guns in
the forts protecting the Anamese cap
ital. and poured a deadly fire upon the
defenseless city beyond the walls. kill
ing, It was given out officially. about
500 men, women and children. The
only casualty on board the French yes
sells was an injury to his knee sus-
tanned by a young sailor boy acting as
a powder monkey, who tripped and fell
during the engagement while running
across the deck Of the vessel with
loaded shell. Nine. Cabanal's informa-
ton was absolutely correct, and II ]
had then as much faith In her occult
powers, or her good judgment. which
ever II was, as | had later on | would
have cabled her news and scored a
beat
'It must be that she, too. was a
long-distance telephone. for a number
of times after that. during my stay at
the Hotel du Tonkin, this remarkable
lady gave me valuable news which It
seemed absolutely impossible she could
have obtained through ordinary chan
nels. l can well understand that II
she really did receive her Information
from departed servants the service
would be good, for this unfortunate
creature had buried nine husbands.
who fell victims to the pestiferous eli
mate OF the Red river delta, and was
widow when / knew her. A conspic-
nous Instance OF human long-distance
telegraphy of more recent date was
the information given me by Major
Pond last summer long before any
vessel or news had come down from
Baffin's bay and Smith sound, that
Lieut.. Peary has not succeeded in get
ting as far north as he expected that
season. About three weeks later au-
thentic news came by way OF ST
Johns. N. F.. that the Windward.
Lieut.. Pearys expeditionary ship. had
been caught by early ice and was
frozen in, so that her return for sup
plies would be impossible. i had not |
thought OF Major Ponds information
before this. but now ! knew 1t was a
remarkable piece of advance news, for
Capt. Bartlett. who brought the latter |
news to St. Johns. was the first arrival
from that part of Greenland. | there
fore sought Major Pond and inquired
the source of his early accurate in
formation.
"'oh. saw an item in some small
western newspaper and, knowing they
could have no real news OF that kind,
I didn't even notice its name What
I want to know" said the correspond
IL 49,. aI.n a Mra Plner or q L