Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-19
HE D|EO TO LEARN ALL
Barnes Committed Suicide to
Know UnknoWabIe.
OCCULT DEATH MYSTERY
Power Of Subconsciousness Evaded
His Search.
IMPEDED BY PHYSICAL BODY
Washington Man Who Had Made
Himself Famous by Theories
Insane Through Study.
MPEDED BY PHYSICAL BODY
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
BOSTON, Mass, November 19-The
actual reason why William A. Barnes,
the Washingtonian who came to Boston
| in 1897 and who since then attracted the
attention of many great educators, as
well as students of the occult, by his
startling theories and demonstrations re-
garding mental phenomena, committed
| suicide, as told by intimates, is even
stranger and more remarkable than the
| doctrines he espoused and which were
bringing him no little fame.
Mrs. Barnes, who was Miss Mamie
Fariss of Huntsville, Ala, is Frustrated
as result of the shooting.
Prof. Barnes, he was known. be-
lieved in the existence of conscious and
subconscious mind. The power of the
subcOnscious mind he believed to be abSo-
lutte. In himself he claimed the power to
bring into use for everyday purposes the
| vast influences Of the subconscious was
highly developed.
Body in His Way.
| The full and complete DEVELOPMENT of
the subliminal self however, he be-
| lieved, could not be reached while chained
to physical body. So it is now claimed
the eminent psychologist destroyed his
| physical self that he might learn the
great secrets which had hitherto baffled
his penetration.
1t is claimed that by overstudy in occult
matters Prof. Barnes was made tenn
porarily insane. He left two letters, one
| to his widow and one to the newspapers.
The latter was brief and read:
| My reason for this act is that | find
my mind is failing. do not want to be-
come an incumbrance upon my wife or
| the community
Mrs. Barnes. declares that when her
| husband left his home, in St. Botolph
street, he was extremely cheerful; in
fact more SO than was customary. He
| went to see man in Boylston street on
| a matter of business. she said, and five
| hours later she was told of his death by
| shooting in the Back Bay railroad station.
| Ihat there was any danger of financial
highly improbable. He had a large fol-
lowing and many students. His fees are
reputed to have been large. He counted
among his students many influential men
of Boston.
| DR.. Pitzer of ST. Louis was one OF his
students. The late DR.. Frisbie of the
| Church of the Advent was also an &C.
credited student.
Associated With DR.. Parkin.
Prof. Barnes is said to have been closely
associated in his investigation Of psy-
!
Washington. For year or more he had
been acquainted with President Roosevelt.
Many times they exchanged letters on
| the subject of psychology.
Sunday evenings 1t had been Prof.
Barnes habit to give talks to the public
on the practical application of some of
| his discoveries. These talks were largely
attended and received the support and
| approval of several eminent Boston di-
vines
Although Prof. Barnes was himself
| highly gifted in the use of hypnotism he
decried its use except for medical pllr-
poses in surgical cases. 1t was said of
| him that he could produce the phenomena
| of hypnotism without hypnotizing his SUBJ
| ject.
So great was the power of his personal
magnetism that by pure suggestion he
could induce many people to do his bid
| ding while In a perfectly normal condi-
| ton and unhypnotized. He was, how
ever, averse to giving demonstrations of
| this power and would never consent to
| do SO before a popular audience under
any consideration,
| Prof. Barnes once said that so complete
| was the understanding between himself
and Mrs. Barnes that they could readily
exchange thoughts without the use Of
speech.
| Inquiries of we'll known students of the
| occult in Washington last night failed
to reveal that any of them knew the DR..
Parkin referred to in the details concern
ing the suicide of DR.. Barnes
| Two of them had heard of DIR. Barnes
and had read several of his papers upon
| hypnotlsm and mental suggestion, though
neither knew him personally They con-
ceded his eminence as psychopathist.