Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-03-18
MEN OF SCIENCE UNABLE TO Ac,
COUNT FOR MANIFESTATIONS.
RUSSIAN sPIRlTUALIsT
Some of His seances Investigated by
the Society for PsychicaI Re-
search-A Doctors Tests-Many
remarkable Achievements by a
Medium.

Russia, out of its crude materialism,
has made it's contributions to psychic
phenomena and recently it has
evolved Sambor, spirit medium, who
has attracted the attention of Europe
to his seances. The secretary for
Russia of the Society for Psychology
ical Research is M. M. Petrovo-Salo-
vovo, of st. Petersburg. The secre-
tary has made study of the work of
this medium, especially with reference
to the physical phenomena attending
his seances. Sambor is scarcely 80
years old, well built and muscular In
his seances he goes into frances in
which the physical phenomena of
| epilepsy are observed. He is capable
| of speech in these frances, but it is
speech that has reference only to the
experiments which are being con-
| Quoted.
/ Salovovo in his study of the physical
| phenomena attending these seances
does not enter into the spirit NANTES
tations, but considers only the phys
ica1 showings that are unaccountably
made.
One of the famous series of seances
gone through with by Sambor was at
| the house of S. A. Bezsonoff, of St.
Petersburg The host was a disbe-
lever in the spiritual phenomena that
were promised and was prepared to
question even the physical showings.
! Several other disbelievers were pres
ent. In all Ia persons formed in a
circle, sitting, with hands placed
palms down on their knees. Outside
this circle was a small oval table, hav-
ing on it pieces of glass covered with
luminous paint, bell and a. guitar.
On the mantel over the fireplace was
a music box that before the opening
of the first seances had been allowed
to rundown.
The medium had been searched
carefully. He came into the circle
chain, drawing up an ordinary Aus
trian chair, seating himself with his
back to the fireplace. On the mediums
left was Or. Tour, an unbeliever, and
on his right was the host. Each of
/ these men took firm hold of Sambors
wrists, and, as far as possible, held
firmly to them Lights were put out
and the medium passed into trance
state.
Suddenly luminous stars broke out
in the dark, more numerous on the
/ right of Sambor than on his left. The
medium stood up and all the strings
! of the guitar on the table outside the
| circle twinkled as if set Of fingers
had swept across them. A piece of
/ luminous glass fell off the table, and
a small object discovered
to be piece of candle-dropped from
| above to the table and rolled off on
the floor. The unwound music box on
the mantel played several airs and the
first seance ended by the medium,
still in his trance, calling for tight
DR.. Tour had not been at all salts
/ fed with the experiment. The medium
had been perspiring freely, and, owing
/ to the dampness of his wrists and the
4 strong muscular contractions of the
| trance medium he had been unable to
| hold the mans arms at all times. So,
at his request, he had his wrist firmly
! bound to the wrist of the medium in
| the next seance.
Sitting on the same Austrian chair
Zoe Coz hTN1s 1od f0r orb r1,+
and the second seance began. He
shivered and moved uneasily for a
moment, then dropped to the floor,
snoring and occasionally grooming as
| if in agony. Then from this prone
| position he began rising in the air UNI
til the arms of Tour and Bezsonoff
were extended straight up. Dr. Tour
with his hand drawn up as far as pos
sible, reached out with the other hand
to find the mans body, but could not
touch it with either hand or foot. Sud
denly as he was reaching cut he felt
the sOles of two feet on the arm that
had been bound to Sambor's. and at
the same time Bezsonoff exclaimed
that the mediums hips were resting
against his head and shoulders.
The medium then descended to the
floor and in an instant rose again,
taking the Austrian chair with him.
Two or three star groups snapped and
sparkled in the rear of the room and
Bezsonoff said he felt that the Aus
trian chair was hanging on his arm by
the back. The medium fell on a
nearly sofa in commissions. calling for
light, and when it was turned on the
chair hung to Bezsonoff's arm, though
be still held firmly to the medium S
wrist.
In the next manifestation Tours
Land was firmly bound to one of the
mediums, and a heavy oak chair from
the hall was substituted for the first
one.
] i