Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-04-19
MYSTERY OF occULTIsM.
An Incident That Changed the View.
of q Skepticnl Student.

Oh u SAeUt1Cnk SxuO8hts
The subject had turned to occultism,
when the student who had been listen
ing attentively said: II was skeptical
for number of years in regard to the
stories heard Of occult manifesto
tons until / came face to face with u
practical demonstration right here in
, New Orleans which convinced me that
there are many strange laws Of nature
! OF which we are entirely ignorant. One
day met stranger on st. Charles
street who spoke to me as familiarly
Us II he had known me for years.
81 arrived In New Orleans yester-
day from Europe he said, and had
strange premonition that l would
meet a man Of your description and
that he would aid me-
Z laughed and replied that would
be glad to do anything in my power
To make long story short. we be-
came good friends and were in the
habit Of seeing each other quite fire.
quentiy. IIs was greatly interested in
occulttsm. but only laughed at his
many stories and told him l was a
poor subject for q convert to his
theories. Finally enc day he induced
mo to place myself under his Influence
and become perfectly receptive To
humor him did what he suggested.
BE placed pencil In my hand. and
quite unconsctously began to write
rapidly In strange hand. After COM
pietins nine pages signed the last
page with a name had never heard
before. What strange force compel
led me know not. It Just seemed that
I must write. >All this time my friend
was scanning the pages eagerly. When
he saw the name at the end he uttered
IN exclamation Of surprise.
Did you ever know that manY he
asked eagerly.
Y told him I did not
swell, that man was my dearest
friend He was drowned ten years
ago In the China scar
you can imagine my surprise. Tho
letter had written was an eerie af-
fair describing life In the spirit land,
and you can imagine the interest with
which l read 1t. 1t took mo several
days to recover from the strange shock
OF It all, and since that day I have
never made another experiment or at
tempted to delve into tho mysteries Of
occultism. However. I'm firm be-
lever In the existence of natural laws
about which we know absolutely moth
ing."-New Orleans Times Democrat.
Tho Mosaic Flooring of tho Desert.
The northern portion of tho Colorado
desert is paved with tho most wonder
full pebbles IN the world, In many parts
80 exquisitely laid as to defy success
ful imitation by the most skilled worker
in mosaic flooring. These pebbles are
made Of porphyry, agates, carnellan,
quartz, crystals, garnets, chrysolite
and other such beautiful materials.
They are packed together so that tho
surface composed Of them is like a
floor, and they look as II pressed into
It with roller. AS rule, they are
OF nearly uniform size, and each ono Is
polished brilliantly, as If oiled and rub
bed. Most Of them are perfect spheres.
and the reflection from them Of the
suns rays is gorgeous beyond descrip-
ton. Each convex surface gives back
ray Of light, and the ground for
miles seems as If literally paved with
gems. Thus the whole surface Of the
plain Is a combination Of myriads Of
reflectors, each pebble being 30 highly
polished that 1t Is like mirror. and 1t
Is believed that the lakes of the desert
mirage are produced by this means.
The pebbles are polished by tho loose
sand which Is blown hither and thither.