Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-29
handle, far less firing and less liable

| The affinity" method mentioned
above was the result Of casual re
mark of a friend who had just seen |
/ demonstration for the first time. H
propounded the query. Can you fnt
| coal?' mo" said I; but on reflection
I added that some one had told M
that by holding apiece OF coal IN one
hand, the stick would in some case
| turn to another piece Of coal. He sug
gested that should try the expert
ment at once; and, sure enough, TIT
twig turned down to a lump OF Goa
| on the floor. Two water-cored ball
were then produced, and, to our as
constituent, 1t turned for water. w,
never dreamt that water could
through the rubber casing, affect the
rod In any way. These experiment,
were repeated several times with the
same results. ~
A sovereign was then dropped into
a large tumbler OF water. On my ap.
proach In the ordinary way, the roc
indicated water; but when a sover.
eign or gold chain was held in m,
hand the water was negatived, and
the rod turned to gold. A sovereign
was then placed under a newspaper
Paper, being a non-conductor, seems
to cut of all connection with gold OF
nary manner; but when gold Is held In
the hand, the paper Is entirely de-
feated, and the twig turns at from
two to three feet distance. I can now
sense" a sovereign lying on the floor
by this method at IL feet horizontal
distance.
The last experiment tried was per.
haps the most interesting Of all. A
very small box of Swedish paraffir
matches was placed open on the
ground. One end Of the rod was in.
serted among the heads Of similal
matches in another box, and tension
was applied. At the usual distance
the rod twisted violently as for water
match heads can so affect the twig
but the fact remains that they do so.
Other objects which have "sens.
ed' by affinity are cigars, tortoise
shell and ivory objects, and diamonds
To an orange, the twig reacts water.
wise, doubtless owing to the quantity
Of fluid It contains.
Operating the rod seems to affec
OWNERS in various ways. Some ex'
perience a sensation in their finger.
or arms, some become exhausted ant
others are affected by nausea. Di'
viners of the fair sex are apt to be.
come hysterical II they practice too
much. Personally have so far fel
no particular sensation or inconveni.
ence. No mental exertion seems ne
cessary. While traversing field the
operator can be thinking Of or talking
about some totally different subject.
According to Prof. Barrett, T. r. s
Of Dublin, who has gone most deeply
into the subject, the first mention o.
4 Ill u kv4a< <leNn kaa al
to about 1880. The commonly &C
of the twig Is that Of "unconscioui
muscular action" on the part Of the
diviner, the idea being that to find wa.
ter an operator must start out witt
that intention If he is to be successful
l venture to doubt this theory for the
following reasons, and am inclined t
attribute 1t to what call "humar
electricity" On two occasions while
searching for water I have suddenly
felt the tail Of the rod pressing hard
against my forearm as the result Of my
passing over metals-in both case;
iron. In. the already mentioned case
of the water-cored balls. fully ex'
pected that II the rod turned at all Il
would be In the contrary direction t
that in which 1t actually did.
Not long ago was tracing out the
run Of an old. disused coal mine with
a piece Of coal In my hand, when sud.
denly the rod flew to water, will
which the mine at that spot was nt
doubt flooded. From the configura
ton of the ground, when one consid'
cred II, the existence Of large quan,
It'll of water below that spot seemed
highly probable. The newspaper ant
wooden box tests also suggest some
other agency. One knows perfectly
we'll that gold is there, and yet, wher
sensing in an ordinary way, nothing
happens.
The writer almost hesitates to try
the credulity Of his readers further BY
stating that the rod can also be used
for tracking human beings, but 1t !!
used for this purpose today in Abbys.
sinia and elsewhere. How one set,
about it, he does not at present know
but 1t is probably merely matter o.
practice and experience for skilled
diviner to acquire the art. There ard
many things In the world which can
not be logically explained-certair
phenomena of electricity. wireless.
telegraphy and so forth. It is to bt
hoped that the coming demonstration
may tend, in the interests Of science
to solve the problem Of this strange
and interesting question.-Chambers
Journal. ....r. ,..