The San Francisco call., 1908-05-27
PSYCHOLOGIST ASKS
TANGIBLE PROOFS
SkepticaI Professor Scouts Tale
of Buried City Under
Campus

BERKELEY. May 26.-"We have dis
covered by means OF our psychic instru-
ments traces which indicate former
civilization" declare members ef the
Berkeley society for psychical research
today. we have no occult power" re-
piled the hard headed scientists Of the
university. 'and we want to see some
OF the stones and walls dug UP from
the city buried under the campus be-
fore we are convinced
Prof. John c. Merriam. who Enjoys
world wide reputation as an expert in
matters pertaining to aroh aeology and
paleoRtology. declared today that he
was not convinced of the buried citys
existance.
of course" he said, Il know nothing
OF occult powers and don't know di-
vining rod from a psychical compass
Professor Voyle and his conferes have
the advantage over me in this respect.
7 would like TO see some of the
stones and pieces of concrete dug up
from the walls OF the ancient city. L
had always supposed that there was
little of q former civilization on the
western coast except those few In
Ian bones we recently dug up on the
campus.
BEDROCK SOON REACHED
Bedrock in the neighborhood OF the
university is reached near the Surface,
and would be greatly interested II
some OF the specimens exhufned from
the buried oity could be brought into
my laboratory for examination and
study.
we scientists are greatly puzzled by
the so called discoveries of Professor
'Noyle. He may be able to do a great
deal with his two branched divining
Uwig-more than we ever suspected.
Il always thought, as do other SCI
entists Of the time, that the only trace
OF a former civilization was the ex-
istence Of Shell mound and other In
along the bay shore from Oakland TO
Martinez.
Two skeletons OF Indians dug UP
on the university grounds near the
Faculty club house were relics of the
former people who inhabited the bay
region They were exhumed by werk-
men q few feet beneath the surface
Of the earth. which shows that the soil
covering the bedrock is only a few feet
deep.
LACK PSYCHIC INSTRUMENTS
We have not, of course, used a
divining rod and mystical psychical
compass in our quests, preferring
something more tangible which TO
base our operations"
Professor Voyle admitted today that
he had none of the stones and walls
such as should meet the test required
by the university savant He said. he
had his divining rod and psychfcal
compass and they were sufficient TO
him, for had he not as recently as
Sunday conducted z party of is per-
sons over the university grounds and
did not the divining twig point downs
ward when the subdivisions of the
great city buried beneath the classic
soil were under foot?
These phenomena are answer
enough for the members of the So
ciety." said Professor voyle in his
laboratory today. I'VE have not the
evidence that the university scientists
require, but stones have been un-
earthed in other places, and why not
in Berkeley?
The lines of former civilization
have been pointed to US by the never
falling divining rod. 1 have surveyed
the campus day after day, and the
Of the lines of the former civiliza-
tion is directly below.
sELENIUM ALSO PREHISTORIC
'It was the custom of the ancient
surveyor to make a hole deep in the
ground and in it place a metal or ele-
ment. The surveyors lines Were for
ever marked, for when he placed the
divining twig over them their location
was disclosed much superior way of
making permanent bounoary lines
than the present one.
Il believe that an element called
selenium. or possibly teliurium, was
placed in the holes made by the pre-
historic divide of the soil 1t was
some metal substance which exercised
an influence over the divining twig
held in the hands Of an adept, for the
twig always points downward at the
spot
Age following age has obliterated
the traces of former civilization OF
many thousands of years ago, but the
surveyors lines still remain. for the
twigs over which they exercise an in
fuence still point downward These
metals have been found in the east,
where boundary lines have been def
nitely shown as the substances indi-
cate.
The last tests OF the party from the
Berkeley society for psychical research.
formed for the purpose of these inves-
LEGATIONS. was made last Sunday when
we went over the campus and found
the four corners of the great buried
city.
TWIG INDICATES SQUARES
We found that the prehistoric
square 1000 feet on a side was divided
internally by 100 smaller squares. each
100 feet in width. The members of the
society have not yet attempted to go
into the matter further. Although we
are satisfied with the observations thus
far made, we will continue to investi-
gate"
Other members of the society offer
practically the same explanation of
the discovery as their president. Mrs.
George Shaw. in whose hands the di-
vining rod is said to work wonders,
declared today that the publicity of the |
discovery was very annoying.
Prof. Shaw, my husband, who is 1
member of the university faculty. is a
materialist and does not take much
stock in the discovery OF former civil
izatfon. /, however. have the greatest
faith in this subject, and, although 1 !
have not written anything about the
present discovery, i have contributed
several articles to eastern magazines on
other discoveries equally as important
TO the world of scie1ce."
r. Lothrop has been appointed secre-
tary OF the new branch Of the research
society and viii present a report of
the findings OF Professor voyle and the
party Tuesday night
CLYDE STEAMER FLoATED
NEW YORK. May 26.--The Clyde
line Sfaorna~ Car1fro1a which xx-a,,+