The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-15
Some Seem Genuine, but Yet May BE
Capable of Other Reasonable
Explanation.
VARIOUS QUEER EXPERIMENTS
MR.. sTEAD's GHOSTS" COULD ONLY
BE SEEN BY CLAIRvoYANTs.
Amateur photographer May Easily
Produce GhostIy Effects in
Their Pictures.
Correspondence Of the indianapolis Journal.

Correspondence OF the Indianapolis Journal
WASHINGTON, June 1.-THE Society
for Psychical Research is just now investi-
eating n case of spirit photography, the
Importance OF which seems to be consider
ably enhanced by its involving very we'll
authenticated coincidence" said a prom
inent member Of that famous association Of
scientific ghost-hUnters a day or two ago.
Miss Sybell COrbet, while staying with
her sister at one of Englands most historic
manor houses. took photograph of the in
terror OF the library. The lens of her camera
was left uncapped for an hour. No one was
present with Miss Corbet when the picture
was taken. but when she developed the
negative the semi-transparent head and
body OF an elderly gentleman appeared
seated in high-backed oak chair, his right
arm resting on the arm OF the chair, his
other and legs being invisible. The
figure could be seen only to the waist, and
although the face was rather indistinct, II
appeared to have a short beard. When the
picture was shown TO one Of the nearest
relatives of Lord D.. the late owner of the
mansion, she thought it exactly like him.
Strangely enough. ii turned out that Lord
D., VINO previously leased the mansion to
Miss Corbets sister. had, unknown to
them. died a few days before in London,
and was being buried during the very hour
when the picture was being exposed.
Miss Corbet is that her plate-one
OF a parcel of new ones-had not been ex-
posed before. The only men In the house
at the time were her youngest brother,
butler and two footmen, all Of whom were
young and beardIess. Fortunately, she pre-
served her Photographic notebook bearing
record OF the day and hour when the ex-
posture was made, and this tallies exactly
with Lord DIS funeral notice. Miss Cor
bet is absolutely certain that the room was
vacant when she uncapped her lens. The
butler declares that no one entered while
the exposure was being made. With regard
TO the possibility that one of the footmen
might have been taken. either accidentally
or as a practical joke the photographer
points out that the dress of the figure is
that OF a gentleman, whereas her sisters
footmen always wore livery. Her brother
soIemnly declared that he did not enter the
room
GHOST WITH AMPUTATED LIMBS.
1.-THE old manor in which the ghost pho
tograph was taken occupies the site of
what for centuries an abbey. The
library. where the ghost appeared. was
= y,
10 be the only portion of the old building
left Some opine that this fact would make
the mansion a likely place for a spiritual
manifestation to occur. Furthermore. the
fact that certain limbs of the ghost are
missing is explained by the fact that an
ancestor of Lord D.. who fought in the
peninsular war. had suffered the amputa-
ton of the same limbs. The superstition of
T. %I,,$
spirit had come to attend the funeral of the
dead peer who. although having died in
London. was being buried at the moment
from a church near his former home and
ancestral estate.
In the face of this evidence that the un-
expected figure in the dead peers chair
was Of ghostly origin, Prof. w. F. Barrett
experimental the effects that could be
produced phOtographically by the transit
tory introduction of human figure during
a long exposure of a plate The results thus
obtained by aid of a person coming into the
room. sitting a chair and moving both
his legs and left arm. were strikingly like
the ghost picture unconsciously produced
by Miss Corbet. These experiments lead
Professor Barrett to suspect that one Of the
servants OF Miss Corbet's sister came into
the room, sat down in the chair, moved his
left arm, crossed his legs and then un-
crossed them, looked down for a moment
and then at the camera, saw that he was
being photographed, got up and went
away, having been in the chair about twen-
~ or thirty seconds OF the hour of ex-
posure. This moving OF the head OF the
intruder would prolong the chin until IL
had the shaggy appearance of a beard and
would give a figure OF a ghost of an ap-
parently older man, with no legs and a
semi-transparent face. Such is Professor
Barrett's theory in spite of the testimony
that no one entered the room.
The full name OF Lord d. has been with
held from the public by the society, as is
customary upon request.
VISIBLE TO CLAIRvOYANTS.
The Society for Psychic Research has,
however, collected data of other striking
cases OF ghost photography and kindred
phenomena. William T. Stead, the noted
writer reports the strange case OF an anna
teur photographer who photographed vis-
itor standing in front OF the manteIpiece
OF the formers room When the plate was
developed there a photograph OF the
mantelpiece, but the figure I'm front OF il
had entirely disappeared. This was great
mystery but sin greater was the sequel
When that photograph was shown to clair
voyants in Chicago. who were unaware OF
any mystery connected Herewith. these
clairvoyants saw the missing man standing
with his back TO the mantelpiece and de-
scribed him quite accurately. The clair
voyants would not believe that Mr.. Stead.
who exhibited the picture, could not see
the person whom they quite unmis-
takably in the middle OF the photograph.
At another time Mr.. Stead himself sat for a
photograph. being posted next 10 solid
wooden pedestal on which was a pot con-
tanning fern. The photograph shows a
woman behind the pedestal The latter.
without bcing moved. appears if short
ened about "a foot. and through il is also
seen the bottom of a curtain
Professor Wagner. OF ST. Petersburg.
communicates 20 the Imperial Technique
Society OF Russia another extraordinary re-
suit obtained through photography. Desir-
Ing 70 photograph a hypnotized subject. he
directed upon him his camera. and by aid OF
. magnesium lamp made two instantaneous