The wageworker., 1910-05-13
HE STUDIED
TOO HARD
Bv HARRIET l.. CEDDES
Copyright. 1910 by American Press
Association

man, one of the most remarkable sci
entists of Germany. the folIowil.
manuscript was found among his va
pers:
Holding the chair OF chemistry III
the university. all the WORK OF ~.
brain has been devoted to the Gae Gili-
position and reconstru; ticn of nlatter
have long been convinced that we
must pass through matter 10 gel III
spirit-in other words O,ii medium
instead of being u person must be sci
ence. Now by chemical agents we
photograph matter which we can see
More than this. we photograph objects
we cannot see except by lie aid Of the
telescope Still more. we photographs
objects beyond the range of our vi ion
even assisted by the telescope Ergo.
may we not by the extension of the
process at last get picture "f beings
existing in spirit form!
This dry scientific preface Is but pre-
liminary to the story have to tell and
Is essential to it's understanding Ten
years ago I married Louisa Markham
Five years ago she Gied Since then
my scientific studies have run i'll but
one view. to bring her within the sight
Of my mortal eyes.
The discovery Of radium gave Il new
impulse to my Investigations Radium
Is the first substance known to exert
power without exhausting itself The
steam engine must have coal. the body
food. AS soon as heard Of radium it
tJ,,<
akin to spirit. neither requiring fuel
But since r;,dium is matter. reasoning
from analogy. spirit may also lie mat
ter. We may photograph matter even
though invisible Therefore may we
not photograph spirit!
will not ask you to follow me in
my studies of Photographic processes.
l tried to penetrate the realm of soul. =
will only say ,hat l at last discov-
cred substance which converted
into pate-or. rather. laid upon
plate-a hundred times more sensitive
| than any known form Of matter 1t
was one of many l had tried in max
ing ordinary photographs and failed.
| But on one occasion while experiment
! ing with it was called away On
returning several days later l took the
plate from the camera. and it occur
red to me to develop it.
To assign reason for this impulse
Il had no object of which l was con-
| scfous-would be to leave the scien-
tific field and enter that of psychology
am convinced that l was impel,ed by
one In the spirit world to develop the
plate. Such direction given to hu-
fhouOhf 10 do.
veloped my plate-not with the usual
| agents but others had proved by ex-
pertinent to be far more delicate-and
what was my astonishment to see the
semblance Of human forms. The diff
ference between them and living per-
sons ! cannot explain. To get an idea
of them they must be seen.
Why these figures had appeared be-
fore my camera l do not know.
could never get them again. If they
were spirits they had happened to be
where they would be photographed.
pondered long on how l might
photograph my wife. provided she was
accustomed to frequent places she had
been used to frequenting in life There
Is a window Of her bedroom at which
she used to sit and look over a view
Of rolling ground on which were scat
tered several of the college buildings.
| 1t occurred to me To keep plate con-
stantly exposed bearing on the chair
she had used in this window in the
hope that she would come there.
A weeks exposure failed to show
any impression on the plate. Possibly.
thought. ordinary light is not strong
enough for the purpose. determined
to use the strongest light available.
The room faced south. the sun being
on 1t in summer from 8 O'Clock in the
morning till about ; in the evening
rigged lense-on the principle Of the
common sunglass-outside the window.
throwing a light on. the chair compos-
ed of the converging rays of the sun.
Ny lens was arranged to turn by
clockwork so that the light thrown on
the chair would continue irrespective
of the suns apparent motion.
exposed my plate all one very clear
day. but found nothing on it when de-
veloped. For five successive days the
sun shone brightly. continued the
exposure. After the fifth exposure
faint figure appeared on the plate A
print showed a woman sitting In the
chair.
The figure was not distinct enough
for me to tell whether or no 1t was
that of my wife. l mourned the I'M
perfection Of my materials and sighed
that I had none more delicate.
caught the figure at the window sew
eral times. but the impression was. al
ways blurred. How l0nged to pro-
duce a picture that would give the
features of the face! Doubtless
would then see my wife looking at me
as she had often done while sitting in
| that chair.
Soon after this I changed the basis
of my Investigations. I laid out Sc
] rieS of experimentS at taking pictures