The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-01-05
PARIS NEW GHOST CULT.
,,.cGREGoR A TYPICAL HER
opuANT OF THE NE WCULT.

~ Cgmostic ScrOIIs-An Hermettc
a,Sardou. Madam Holmes
the Governor of the Military
co,Iere Firm Believers.
copyright. 1892. by S. S. Mcclure Coz
20 10 ris society is going spook-struck
.,,1 winter. ghost-crazed, mystery
ao5. the long-haired professor or the
NJ, NE ID to be in evidence once more.
.5 the romantic maiden of the mys-
vac IS to be seen in the salon again,
l., svmbolic signs and barbarous
~ stuck all over her garments.
$50 is in the midst of an occult re-
,,,a,. this winter little else will be
100 IN the drawing-rooms than expe-
cents in orderland-wonders." 1t
.onn5ed strange, and scarcely credN
Vie at first. The announcement OF
tnis startling revival was made by
.ooiatv man as we slipped the Cafe
1,irscb of the Just, in the Cafe de la
potx after dinner at Martins, and
tbat very evening I found in my mail
an envelope of dainty make, with an
warts coronet embossed on the corner;
inside tehre was a card: lie Comte ct
Ia Comtesse MacGregor ode Glenstrae)
dimanches PA, ceremonies egyptlnlies'
tina tset me thinking.
The Count and Countess MacGregor
hegan their Paris career many years
og0 as Mr.. and Mrs. Mathers. English
nsonle are not loved in Paris, unless
indeed they belong to the fine flower
Of cultivated aristocracy so the Math-
ers menage did, not penetrate very rap
idIy into the best Partisan circles.
They took counsel together.
,rbsys was then, as there al
wavs Is. a Celtic boom in
paris: members OF old Scotch or Irish
families even without a cent to their
name. find doors open to them which
remain coldly closed to rich English
narvenus. Mr.. Mathers dug up Mac
Gregor ancestor and became MacGre-
qor-Mathers; a year afterwards he
turned 1t round and became Mathers-
MacGregor. Again little while and
the "Mathers'' disappeared. and the
enrolling "de Glenstrae" was added.
From that to the Countship was only
q step; it was soon taken. This Celtic
Count is now one of the personalities
of Paris. received by the old nobility
and by the world of writers and artists,
and procuring the presence at the
Countess salon of some of the best
and most interesting society people.
The foregoing brief account of the
Odyssey of the new fledged Count will
give the honest American reader the
impression of a couple of fakirs; moth
ing could be further from the truth.
Everyone in Paris knows the story;
the main parties to it will tell it them
selves with a smile; it is not uncom-
mon case in this curious city, where
b,,p -
attain their social ends by means
which they are apt to call American"
but at which even the traditional
American "bluffer" would stand
aghast.
The interest LIE Conlte MacGregor (de
Glenstrae) has for us is that his
Egyptian ceremonies are a sign of
the times. The Count has long been
dabbler in occult lore: some years
ago in the days of the Literary and
Artistic Rosicrucians' he, with the
famous Doctor Papus and the still
more famous and rather ludicrous
"sar Peladan," was at the head of a
movement designed to penetrate Art
and Letters with the mysterious inf1u-
ence of what was vaguely called the
Ancient Wisdom" 1t was an effort
to bring a kind of dreamy Oriental or
Medieval Mysticism into fashion and
1t had a distinct utility in rescuing
many young artists and writer's from
gutter realism" which was tending
to become general.
Since then, it appears the Count has
developed into a full f1edged Mage, ."
and this winter is coming out definitely
IN the new role.
For various reasons I did not accept
the invitation to the "Egyption cere-
monies" but I took care to find out
what they were. They represent the
revival in modern Paris of the ancient
Worship Of Iris, the mysterious ancient
Egyptian Goddess. The Count, it ap-
pears has been studying in Egypt, and
mas oeen initiated as priest of these
"orld-old mysteries. He claims to have
acquired by his initiation wonderful
n come, Sharkey! Get around, Nc
GoVern! and the dogs, stepping to
their places, are quickly harnessed'
Their owner losses a bundle of fish
ines and pole terminating in a steel
OIade into the sled-box, places his bait
vaIeIulIy IN corner, starts the dogs
unII the outfit is going fairly; then
win "Hi-yah" to speed them on.
jumps into the box and sets his face
pwaro the blood-chilling blackness of
.le lake. After him come other dog
teelns' some stringing out over the ice
.slers racing side by side, while the
eneouraging hoops of their drivers an
s"er each other across the spaces of
ne night By the time the sun rises
UIe could see, if he could take in the
s sIoIe breadth and length of the ice
ns'i squadron of from 500 to 1000
lhese outfits. He would also see
ma maHy men patiently trudging on foot.
~ IHese are mere "pot-luckers." who
intent themselves with the fishing
,r,ee or four miles from land. Your
NV, I'VE Hsnermen considers ten miles a.
m poLeIate journey, and sometimes
Ts round trip to thirty.
v,ba- ne mas had good luck at the spot
FinI. ne last fished, he returns there
vhi SI ne puts up a square of sail-cloth
II 4 ~ ne has brought along, fastening
bis Two poles set in the ice. This is
cro,, imp In the lee Of it the dogs
wort nesting close together. Their
has t, ~ over for the time; the mans
DOLE Jus' begun. With his steel-clad
ica az. cnops row of holes in the
OF o,, lu lets a line attached to the end
tbro,,ot Vi Two crossed sticks down
know each mole. This device is
priatai,. tlp-up," the term appro-
fish is describing its action when n
FISH is lug ht' The inducement to the
food is inInhow-frozen perhaps-but
considaraIS1rce In winter and there is
pike a. III. competition among the
he tbirS ~ , eaktast time. Before he gets
tles .iIi1 nne down the first stick vvsg.
~ ana then stands upright ""e
h,i Lp. ZIP, yap!" bark tba do,s e..
e'' way of announcing You've