The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-26
STRANGE DEATH BED TRANsFOR-
NATION REPORTED FROM
BUDAPEST
THE CLIMAX OF MYSTERY
Entire Province. stirred to Depths
by Apparent Evidences of Change
of identity wrought by
Magician.
Special to The Globe.

AAOW 4dI IL - true i SoiihOb PN~Jf 49,
the old philosophers averred the perform
ance recorded here was matter Of no
uncommon occurrence in ancient Egypt
From a small village in the neighbor-
hood of Budapest comes the following
remarkable story:
'"The horrors of the deathbed have ap-
parently been added to in new and Un-
expected manner, and the question OF the
raising of the dead has assumed new
phase.
Modern surgery has hitherto stopped
at the limits of the physical being ana
has been content to consider the transfu~
sion of blood as the greatest miracle
which it was capable of accomplishing.
AN old and wealthy Czech named
Rageli had two sons, Rudolph and Jean,
and the latter, who was his favorite,
lay at the point of death. In his despair
over the threatened loss of his favorIte
son, Rageli had recourse to the assist
ance Of we'll known gypsy oracle, and
between these two a plot was arranged.
1t is alleged, which will possibly seno
both of the plotters to- the galloWS.
Rageli betrayed to the oracle the fact
that his distress would have been m1n-
imized if it had been his other sons life
which was attacked by disease, as his
whole hope was based upon the existence
Of his younger son Jean.
The oracle at once saw way to en-
rich himself and lessen the distress OF
Rageh, and told him that if he desired
to have such a plan contaminated it
would be possible for him at the critical
moment, when death was taking place,
to bring about a transference of egOs,
so that the soul of his favorite son could
be transferred to the healthy organism
of his brother, whilst the latter's would
assume the place of the one which left
the defunct body
feat the gypsy claimed that the brother
must absolutely be present
There was no difficulty whatever in
bringing such an arrangement about, as
Rudolph naturally desired to be at the
bedside of his brother at such a solemn
occasion as his death.
The gypsy oracle was there, of course,
Tor the avowed purpose of trying to pre-
vent the fatal catastrophe.
What weird scene actually transpired
in that remarkable death chamber no
earthly tongue has yet told, and but for
the strange stories which have fCated
cut Of the quiet village to the world be-
You'd, the gossiping Of peasants and the
chatter of servants, nothing would ever
have come to light, for those who made
the guilty compact are naturally silent
en- the subject.
Both of the brothers were married
and it is to this fact that the really tan
g1be evidence which has been found in
support of the extraordinary story has
been forthcoming
The brothers were both affectionate,
devoted and faithful husbands, and
among the many freaks attributed to
Rudolph since his brothers death is that
he has deserted his own wife and is now
living with the widow of his brother. the
couple showing the most passionate de-
VOtiOn for one another
In reply to the eXpostulations of his
wife Rudolph solemnIy ayers that al
though he retains the outward sembIance
of his former self he is in reality Jean
This story, which was at first received
with ridicule by the villagers and SER
wants, has been coupled with the fact
that the old gypsy was around the Rageli
house so much at the termination of the
younger sons illness and his well-found-
ed reputa ton as a sorcerer, has furnished
the necessary link in this most sensa-
ticnal story.
ITO add to the mystery of the situation
the old father has shut himself up in MS
lonely mansion and refuses to see any,
body. The servants aver that he is
haunted by the spirit of Rudolph, which
is trying by every means in its power to
avenge the diaboIical act that caused it's
disembodinent in favor of Jean.
They aver and state themselves as
being willing to bear witness to the fact
and ready to face any court Of law that
they have seen the apparition of Ru-
Golph a dozen times in the old chateau
since the death of Jean and that its coun-
tenance is SO disfgured by hatred and
despair that it resembles a fiend more
than it does the once happy brother.
another rumor credits Jean with be-
ing so Mortified by the strange tales
which are af1oat and which so peculiarly
| corroborate his own belief that he acts
at times like a de3nented person.
1.-THE rustic population are firm believ-
ers in the supernatu raI and it is difficult
to find any of them who do not firmly be-
lieve the story.
''Their supeTstitiOns are so firmly root
ed that they would not dare to modest
the gypsy or the elder Rageli, although it
is said that the police have investigated
the case under the belief that the stor-
les which have gone abroad were only a
cover invented to hide a murder growing
out of jealousy on the part of the broth
ers over the love of jeans wife.
''They have abandoned the murder
theory, however, and are at a loss to
know how they can possibly take any ac-
ton in the strange matter"
Psychologists say that changes Of iden-
tity, or the transpositiOn of egos are by
no means impossible and many well au-
Intoxicated cases of such happenings
have been recorded.
These, however, have always been ac-
cidental so far as the records show.
Hindu fakirs, who claim to be able to
withdraw their own egos from their
bodies and traverse space at will say
that one Of the principal dangers with
which they have to contend in these ex-
periments is the possibility that some dis
embodied ego may attempt to establish
itself in their own physical shells whilst
they are absent from them
This is the supreme danger they APP
prehend when passing into what Western
people call the trance state.
There are many eases on record, ia.
nliliar to every newspaper reader in which
living persons have been other than
themselves for a number of years, after
wards again assuming their own identity
It seems possible that these may have
been due to the transference of COS
Some of the more thoughtful persons
here who have devoted their attentions to
the subject do not hesitate to aver their
belief that Rudolph was hypnotized by the
old magician-at the time Of his brother s
death and made to believe that he was
Jean so that the old magician could OBJ
tain money from his father
This would not, according to the hyp-
motto authorities, be at all an impossible
feat and therefore there may be truth
in the main part of the story to the effect
that Rudolph and the father had been
III