The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1905-01-19
A BELIEVER IN SPIRITS
Rev. DR.. Heber Newton De-
clares They Greet the Living.
CLAIMS MEN MAY POSSESS KALOS

| Many So Called Superstitions, Minis
ter Says, Are Being Proved to Be
| Scientific Facts-Cites Instances nl
Which Persons Have S.aoyvn Powers
That Cannot he Set Aside.
! persons who have not studied care
| fully in the line of psychicS," saQ Tie
Rev. Dr. r. IIeber Newton Of New
| York III an address before the Ameri-
can Institute for Scientific I,esearcl..
| shave no idea of the marveior3-
| ness Of the finds which are being
| made in this new realm. The most
| striking feature Of our present day Is
| that one attcr another OF the beliefs
| Of tie far past, spread wide among
| men. which have been supposed to be-
mere superStitiOnS, have been strangely
| vindi;ating themselves before the U;i'
Of reason, at least giving ample causc
| to warrant Il scientific inVeStiga ton
az generation ago nobody but a foo
! would have been inclined to believe IL
| the claims Of the dowser. The plain
people have persistently believed that
| certain men were gifted with power
of locating springs of water Now the
PSychical Research society after care,
| full investigation, reports that there is
| little question as to the fact, though
| no theory has yet sutficed to interpret
| It.
TIE middle ages believed that the
| saints were surrounded by halos. Again
| the scientist laughed in his sleeve II
he was courteous enough not to laugh
| openly. Iet Baron Rechenbach show.
| ed that certain scientists recognized i
| luminouSneSs in magnets. and since the
| earth is now known TO be great mag
net man may also be a good sized one.
| THE middle ages also believed that
| saints received the imprint OF Tie
| wounds of Jesus on their hands and
feet-a beautiful superstition. said our
scientists. Now medical scrutiny col.
| feSses that the stigmata are facts
| though exceptional facts, to be explain.
ed naturally. OF course. as every othe
marvel IS - be explained.
"ClairEo-anrc was nothing but IL ~ y
O. the wiSp. but it also is now ii Coz
| Jesse power Of certain organizations.
| Mo!lie Farcher, over IN Bgooklyn, las
| proved stronger than the inurelulity o.
| our s;;vaNt& Read that charming ~
| ture of Joan Of Arc by Mark Twai:
and you will admit with him that til
| peasant girl with her powers of clair
audience. hearing her mystic voices.
fact which defes explanation by or
knowledge up to date.
~ know woman Of fine culture an
high character who will not trade &c
gift for commercial purposes, but WI
has that most remarkable. p2Te'
known as psychometry powe,
holding Il sealed letter in her hand III
| giving diagnosis Of the physical CO..
! dition Of the writer and a picture Q
| his character: of taking a bit of stem
| from an ancient villa of Cicero, for eX
ample the nature Of which IS cA;i~.l'
unknown TO her. and calling ~
vision of the villa as it existed III g
eros tine and Of its owner. She + -
capable Of fraud. and her case Is T..
one OF others which I know.
"Mesmerism was duly laughed
| Of court ut the opening of our cert'i,'
and, 10, it is back again, in 600. >t,r
ing. under the alias Of 'hypnotism.' "
| one may run on through list q
strange unaccomtable. mysterious y
most unbelievable powers Of maN lo1'
ing up to that nightmare of the DO
matte scientist sDirit;sn. The boz
| of li,;{e,
of their power Of communication wiz
us il the flesh is one Of the o!>,a>
most widespread and most insistcnt -
liefs of man. and it has revived strange
" in our day.
"Tor the first time in the history C.
man these powers have been scicn
tifcally investigated in oar day. ii
ready the result is that a co1siderah'"
number Of eminent men Of science
have had the courage to ayow that. 3
err allowing for illusion. fraud anG O.
cry possible hypothesis of interpreter
ton. they have been driven Up to t.
ultimate solution of the problem 80
| belief in the actual communication 81
the spirits Of those whom we call dey
with the living.
II make bold to say that there is n
| field for human investigation half 81
! promising as this. none which should
SO appeal to educated, intelligent. phil
] anthropic men to support and endow.
ANY one who walks with his eyGc
i open, ready to hear what men have t.
| tell. viii find stories pouring IL rn"'
| him from men whom he cannot n}i*
| trust as liars and whom he knows to IL
| sane and sensible. which Will Stage
| him
| "Now, here is dark continent de
! manding exploration. promising tie
richest finds Already we find Il nc'N
| therapeutic agent at work in our midst
not new, but newly realized ana
working revolutionizing influence III
modern medicine The possibilities O.
| mental medicines are only being o>sc
| ed. It's application to the most 7iS
| tressing form of human malady. inSaH
| ity, is full of beneficent results. Its %